Below is teaching of Chaplain (Rabbi to be) Adam Ruditsky in conjunction with the book Preparing for the High Holidays
.
רפואה מן התורה
Look to the Lord, be strong and of
good courage, look to the Lord (Ps. 27:14)
Today is the
last day of Elul, at sundown it will be Tishri 1 when we go to Synagogue and
bring in the new year together. “Look
to Adonai, be strong and of good courage,” what does that mean? For the last month, each and everyday at the
blowing of the Shofar, we are asked to evaluate self, assess our behaviors,
question our short comings, weed out our wrongs, be honest about our sins … you get
the picture. It is possible to become
down on yourself and wonder if it is all
worth it, not everyone will act that way, but some might. It takes courage to engage the season of Elul
and the Holidays that are coming. Too often it seems like Jews go to synagogue
during this time out of a sense of obligation for a variety of motivations, and while that is a good thing, there is also a reason for the season you can say.
Going back to Egypt our people have always been on the outside looking
in, in fact each section of our Bible (Torah, Prophets and Writings) ends just
that way, Israel outside of the land looking in. For the last month we have
been on the outside of the days of forgiveness looking in and now that time has
come and we can enter them. When the Book of
life is open we stop, reflect, repent, and seek the higher ways of God as we enter a new
year. I am not sure
if the of Book of Life being opened only from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kipper is
enough motivation for people, but does it matter? We know we are not perfect and we know we
fall short, so we have been given this time by our tradition to cleanse and
correct the traits we wish to fix and/or better ourselves. Consider the words of the Prophet Isaiah;
Seek the LORD while He
may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
At the end of the Year, we find a new beginning
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