The High Holidays start next week?! What??!!
Okay, not exactly. Rosh Hashana begins Monday Night, September 6 (that’s the evening of Labor Monday) and then Tuesday and Wednesday September 7 and 8.
But next Sunday Morning, August 8, we begin the final month of the Jewish year, Elul.
I know, it caught me off guard, and I do this for a living, so I can only imagine that for everyone else it must feel like, “Huh? It’s the middle of the summer! I was in the middle of watching the Olympics. Remind me later…”
Which is exactly the point.
Beginning Sunday Morning, (and every morning in Elul) we will sound the Shofar. We will add Psalm 27 with the key verse, “Achat Sha’alti…/One thing I ask of you Adonai, that I may dwell in your house forever.” We’re starting a period of examining our actions, our thoughts, or life. We’ve even got a daily alarm to remind you!
So, there you go: Two automatic reminders, and you didn’t have to change one setting on your phone!
This process of reflection and self-examination ahead of Rosh Hashana always begins in Elul (and its not just the name of the month, but an acronym that spells out a verse from the Song of Songs“Ani L’Dodi, V’dodi Li, I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine.” It’s meant to be a time of connecting and reconnecting, to ourselves, our family, friends, community and world.
The actual Days of Awe, Yamim Nora’im (aka, The High Holidays) are over a month away. But between your beach read, your Netflix Binge, your true-crime podcast, enjoying live music again, or a dinner with friends and family, consider how this month of Elul can impact not just your experience of Rosh Hashana and the holy days that follow but your life.
Here are some super easy ways to get into Elul:
1) Tune in to Rabbi David’s Elul Podcast, dropping (that’s what the kids call it) tomorrow night, Tuesday and each Tuesday thereafter.
Tune in on our YouTube Channel.
2) Join our daily minyan each morning at 9 AM, every morning( in person Monday thru Shabbat (Sunday Zoom only) and on zoom.
3) Join our Music Prayer Lab on Wednesday, August 11 at 7:00 pm for an experience of improvisational music and prayer making. No experience or prior knowledge of music or prayer required. In person and on zoom.
4) Come to our BAI Slichot (“Prayers of Forgiveness”) Service on Saturday Night, August 28th. An evening of music, study and prayer and be there to change our Torah covers from blue to white. In person and on zoom
5) Read! A wonderful book by Rabbi Simon Jacobson called, “60 Days: Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays” is a workbook/Journal/resource/guide taking you from the first day of Elul through the end of Yom Kippur. Every day there are readings, practices, and questions that give great depth and meaning to this 60 day period of potential for transformation. You can purchase it here.
6) Read: “This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared” by Alan Lew, a brilliant meditation on Days of Awe and how we can be active participants in the prayers and rituals of this time.
7) See: An incredible film, “Fantastic Fungi”– Just exquisite. Life affirming, remarkable, beautiful. (On Netflix)
8) Read: Naomi Levy, “To Begin Again: The Journey Toward Comfort, Strength, and Faith in Difficult Times”
9) Listen: to some inspirational music. I’ve created two playlists of music that I connect with this season and bonus- they are collaborative-so you can add songs to both that are inspirational to you as well.
Elul begins Sunday, and with it the beginning of the High Holy Day season.
That’s it. You can now go back to whatever you were doing! Keep having a wonderful summer and see you very soon!
-Hazzan Harold
