Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Read about the Rabbi
Sept. 2006
Tidal waves

I was fortunate enough to spend a week at Point Judith this summer with my family. We rented a small house a few blocks from the water which afforded us opportunity to walk to a rocky section of the beach and out onto one of the many rock jetties numerous times.

For those of you familiar with the seashore, you know that the tide comes in and out on nearly a 12 hour cycle. Where we walked on a narrow rock beach in the morning with just a few feet of sandy shore, we could run on wide stretches of seaweed-covered sand in the afternoon. The rock jetty was less or more inviting to climb each time we went.

It occurred to me that our evening prayer Ma’ariv Aravim, with its reference to the rolling heavens and the changing sky (“…rolls darkness into light and light into dark…”) could just as easily be about the tidal changes at the sea as it is about the rotation of the earth. (Since the tides are connected to the orbit of the moon, it really is related). The never-ending cycle of tides, days, months and years became so palpable for me, especially given that it happened to be Rosh Hodesh Elul – the beginning of the month of Elul - at that very moment.

The neat thing about watching the tidal changes at the beach over a few days is that you slowly realize that every incoming tide leaves the beach a little different, a little changed from the time before. The same jetty, same basic outline of the cove, same distant scenery – but the shape of the rocks, the formation of the sand against the rocks, the colors of the sea weed, the various shells, seaweed and debris left by each wave have all changed dramatically since the last tide. The tide cycle may be constant but the beach is never the same twice.

And so it is with us as we face the cycle of the year and our lives. Elul – the month of preparation for the High Holy Days, is upon us. Each year, we meet this time with some constants – we have the same names (usually); same basic appearance (usually); probably the same general lifestyle and habits. But we are certainly not the same as we were last year. We arrive at each Elul a little bit different, a little changed, with some more debris clinging to us. This is the time to notice – to notice the tidal swings in our lives and make the choices that will prepare us for the next year. May we all reach the New Year with joyful hearts and peaceful minds.

B’Shalom
Rabbi Elyse

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