Friday, August 30, 2019

Elul Thoughts - Elul 1 (less than 1 minute read)

Below is in conjunction with the book Preparing yourself for the High Holidays.

רפואה מן התורה 

Elul 1

The Lord is my light and my life, who shall I fear? … (Ps. 27:1)

When light shines in dark places the darkness is revealed.  The Holidays are a time for Chesbone Hanefesh,  a time to take personal inventory of ourselves.   We read in Perkei Avot, “Know where you come from, where you are going, and who you make account to” (Avot 3:1).   Easy to do, right?  This is why we begin self-observation and aspire for self-assessment at the advent of the Hebrew month of Elul, a full month before Rosh Hashanah.  As people we are complicated, made up of mind, spirit, emotions and body, each has a hand in what we do, let alone how we do it. This season is asking us to look at the darkness of our nature and evaluate if the light that guides us illuminates our being.  But also, if it does, do we seek to make the adjustments needed to obtain our best and highest self?  This is the good news; we get to do it again!  The bad news is when we allow fear of personal betterment to get in our way it can suffocate the Torah’s light of newness that guides us along the way.

The Path of T’shuva is illuminated by the divine light


Elul Thoughts, Elul 1 (less than 1 min read)
Elul Thoughts, Elul 1 (less than 1 min read)
Elul Thoughts, Elul 1 (less than 1 min read)

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