The beginning of this secular month coincided with the beginning of the new Jewish month. Now that doesn't always happen and isn't very common but causes a bit of confusion among the secular community when it does. But that is neither here nor there. This new month is called Elul.People talk about Elul being the last month of the year, before Rosh Hashanah comes in to begin our new year. However, that is not quite correct either. Here's a funny trick about the Hebrew year. Our big new year's celebration (think more apples and honey than party hats and champagne), when the year changes... actually falls in month #7 in our year. Yes, you read that right. Tishrei is month #7 and yet our year will flip from 5771 to 5772 at that time. I know, odd but true. In fact Jews have several new years. But again... that is neither here nor there nor what this blog is about.Today I am talking about what we do in Elul. Elul is that chug chug chug up to the top of the roller coaster. Elul is the getting out all the ingredients before you bake a cake. Elul, in some traditions, is the dating period between us and G-d. We are preparing, we are learning about ourselves, and we are looking back at our past and towards our future.Elul is an amazing time of year. We have built in a whole month to process the year, to look at our own actions towards our self, our world, our neighbor, and G-d. We have the opportunity to see what worked last year and what didn't. Once we take that time to reflect, it is time to take action. I know you are asking yourself, "But Talia, what action can we take?" Oh my goodness, well I would be happy to share! I am happy to share but I will give you a warning... none of these are as easy as you think/wish they were...
- Forgive yourself. You have to. Let it go. Make mistakes, learn from them, move forward.
- Forgive your neighbor. Yes. Do it. In traditional Jewish liturgy says that G-d requires you to forgive every Jew. I say you must forgive every person. Why? Because holding onto the hate does not punish the other person... it only hurts you. It will eat you alive.
- Forgive G-d. We all have had those moments. Time when we just are so angry at G-d that we can't believe in the concept anymore... or that we shake our fist at the sky and say "it's all your fault." There are times when I am so angry at G-d because he took my brothers away. It wasn't fair, it was too early, it was so mean and rude and just plain unfair. I want to get on the floor and throw a temper tantrum but when I am done... where am I? In the same place I was before with the same pain from before. We have to let it go. Again, it only will hurt you.
So that is what Elul is about. It isn't about (in my best British accent) repentance and other huge and old fashioned words... That's bimah talk. Elul is about forgiveness of self and others. It's about looking at your past year learning from the successes, failures, mediocrity (because we all have all three) then wiping the slate clean and starting fresh. Leaving the past year behind you.Below I have included a teaching from The Rebbe on repair. We talk a lot about repair year round but especially this time of year. Repairing the world, repairing our self, "repairing others" (though that is a bit misguided)... but what truly is repair? G-d has faith in us to repair the world that (S)He created. G-d has faith in us to repair ourselves that (S)He has created. Repair is not creation, repair is the vision to see the whole amidst the shattered pieces... truly I cannot do the concept better justice than the brilliant Rebbe...
On Repairbased on the letters of R' Menachem Mendel SchneersonTo create is to reveal the parts from the whole.To repair takes a greater wisdom. It is to discover the whole from the shattered parts.He creates a world, knowing it will be broken, so He may empower us with the wisdom to repair it.