WITH the sound of the shofar and the murmur of Psalm 27, the cadence of the month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, has begun.
I think that, spiritually speaking, no matter what kind of year has passed, when Elul arrives, there truly does seem to be a shift in counciousness and awareness. What we think and what we do feels more sensitive and magnified. This shift is awakened in us as dormant memories, or moments and actions assumed to have been long discarded and forgotten, suddenly rise to the surface.
We all have desires and ideals we strive for. We can each picture in our minds eye the best version of ourselves. Maybe this past year we met many of these goals and grew as people. Maybe we were there more attentively for our family and friends. Maybe we helped mend a loved ones heart or meet a new spiritual challenge, or cheered on their success. Or maybe we fell short of how we would have liked to respond in a particular situation.
Elul comes along as an opportunity. It is a period of preparation. No matter what took place in our lives this past year, we can arrive at the High Holidays without a sense of belatedeness, stalked by that most haunted of thoughts: Its too late. In Elul, we can shatter illusions we may have of ourselves and confront who we are and want to keep on becoming. And change.
IN a word, that is what Elul inaugurates: a season, an opportunity for change. Of course, we can always unlock the passage of change and walk through that threshold. But comes Elul and the door is already wide open, issuing an invitation to cross over and walk through.
The initial shift is almost effortless. Becoming more present, more attentive, less angry, more aware, and turning more and more inward, stilling those sometime wild waters of background noise and stress.
The motivation is accessible.
Like a physical detox, Elul begins a 40-day spiritual detox. Residual regrets or shortcomings from the past year can now rise to the surface, be faced; and, with inner intention and work, dealt with and transformed.
To be sure, the journey is not an easy one. The honesty it demands can be heavy as we take one weary but strong step at a time toward Rosh Hashanah. At the same time, the re-anchoring and reorienting of our spiritual selves is satisfying in a quiet sort of way. Despite the accounting and the burden of sorts, Elul actually brings a sense of acceptance and peace.
The hint of autumn just around the corner, when the brilliant reds yellows and orange leaves turn to more muted shades of color, only to die and fall off the trees, is natures way of being in sync with the of the ultimate truth we all face come the High Holidays. That truth, of course, is that life is short.
Elul prods us to pause, to set a slower tempo, be more serious, more open, To be better. Make repairs. And be more real.
When the sound of the daily Elul shofar pierces the crisp autumn air, or our hardened hearts, with each blast a layer can be peeled away or softened, so we may experience the sweetness of Hashem in His sanctuary.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
