Elul Thoughts, Elul 15 (Short read)

Below is teaching of Chaplain (Rabbi to be) Adam Ruditsky in conjunction with the book Preparing for the High Holidays

רפואה מן התורה

Listen Lord when I cry aloud, Have mercy on me, answer me (Ps. 27:7)

Was the Psalmist making a declarative statement about Adonai or is he/her making a statement about hope?  In fact, is there a way to know, I mean not for us, but did the psalmist know the difference?  In the Kabbalistic tradition it says that creation is made up of two spheres, the spiritual and the physical realms.  The spiritual realm is called the “99% realm” and the physical realm is called the 1% realm.” Humanity, although primarily spiritual, spends almost all its time on the 1% by being caught up in the feelings and emotions of fear, doubt, disappointment and anger. Likewise, the pursuit of truth and self-growth becomes intellectual and bodily, even to the point of denying the inter voice of the human spirit.  Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel says that creation spoke to the inner mystery of the human quest, he called it radical amazement, thus the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1).  The Psalmist made a statement about God and self, and perhaps the line from Psalm 27 above was about the conclusion of a journey, a journey to know God birthed from the yearning of the soul.  That is what Elul is for - searching out your sense of other, your sense of God.

Prayer is part of an ongoing dialogue with God