Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Read about the Rabbi
September 2005

It's almost September, which means that it will soon be the beginning of the Jewish year and our holiest of days. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur arrive "late" this year, starting on October 4 - an oddity of the discrepancy between the secular solar-based calendar and the Jewish lunar calendar.

The "late" arrival of these holiest of Jewish days only means we have more time to prepare for them. Instead of arriving with the beginning of the school year and the end of summer, as they so often do, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur stand on their own this year, marking time in a way that is completely divorced from the secular calendar and will be meaningful only to members of the Jewish community.
Although Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur collectively are only three days of the year, the High Holy Day season really starts an entire month before Rosh Hashanah with the arrival of the month of Elul and continues through Yom Kippur. (Some say the season goes even further, through the holidays of Sukkoth and Simchat Torah as well.)

The preparation time leading up to the Yammim Nora'im (Days of Awe) provide us with ample opportunity to get ourselves ready for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We begin our introspection in the month of Elul. This is the time to really take stock - to see where we are in relation to those we love and with whom we work; to reconnect with our ultimate values, hopes and dreams; and, hopefully, to begin to make the course corrections we want to make for the year ahead. This is the time we are urged do what is called Heshbon HaNefesh (Taking stock of the soul). We look inward to see where we can improve; what errors we have made that can be fixed and what is missing from the lives we hope to lead.

Elul, understood by the rabbi's of the Talmud to be an acronym for Ani L'dodi Vdodi Li (I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine) is the season when God's attribute of mercy and love is at its most accessible. As we work our way toward Rosh Hashanah - also called Yom HaDin (day of Judgment) - we feel ourselves loved and accepted by God no matter what - for all our failures and shortcomings. We are called to wake up to our faults by the sound of the shofar - traditionally blown each morning of Elul, but called by a loving God and with the full knowledge that, like a patient parent, God wants nothing more than for us to be gently and lovingly pushed in the right direction.

As Elul draws to an end, we will enter the more intense period of repentance known as slichot. In fact, the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah is traditionally marked with a special "slichot service" in which we recite special prayers of repentance to help us focus even deeper on the work of the season. At Agudas Achim, we will observe that night with a special Havdalah service and learning session in preparation for the Holy Days.

The slichot prayers are some of the very same prayers of confession and repentance we recite on Yom Kippur. They are both foreshadow of what is to come and a reminder yet that Yom Kippur - the primary day of renewal, rededication and return to God and God's service is only part of the story. These prayers are reminders for us to do the equally important work of reconnecting and renewing our relationships with the important people in our lives. As we are told: Yom Kippur provides forgiveness for the errors we make in our relationship with God - but only provides forgiveness in our relationship to our fellow human beings once we have already attempted to repair those relationships directly.

So yes - the holy days come a little later on the secular calendar this year - but there is a lot of work to be done between now and then - it's a good thing we have the entire month of Elul to get ready - it's time to get to work.

Hodesh Tove (A month of blessing) and may you be granted peace, health and blessing in the year to come!

B’Shalom
Rabbi Elyse

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