Elul, 5772
The poet Robert Browning asks:
Where is the thread now? Off again? The old trick! Only I discern infinite passion and pain of finite hearts that yearn.”
The month of Elul comes to signal it is time to turn inward to our souls, to our deepest thoughts and yearnings. We are a people of memory, and part of remembering requires placing ourselves back in time, but first we have to really see ourselves. We need to remember who we have been in the last year. We need to look back so we understand where we are headed.
Some of the questions which assist us are these:
Have we loved well?
Have we worked hard on our relationships with family members, with friends?
Have we reached out to help others?
Are we any wiser than we were this time last year?
Are we motivated by our hopes and dreams?
Do we have a vision for our lives?
Have we been kind?
Are we involved in active parenting and grandparenting?
Have we made an effort to fully involve ourselves in our community?
Are we capable of generosity of spirit? Can we both give generously and receive graciously?
The give and take in life is complicated; it’s not so easy.
Have we forgiven others?
Have we forgiven ourselves?
Forgiveness is a way of being in the world. It is an act of faith and trust.
Can we listen to what is in our deep heart’s core and move ourselves in that direction, if it’s wise to do so?
Are we making every effort to maximize who we are and who we are yet to be?
And, then, we need to consider our call as human beings; what do we do with the complexities of who we are?
William James once said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
What is your contribution to our community, to the world?
Yearnings are essential because they generate motivation and desire; yearnings generate life. The prophet, Amos, channels God’s words: “Seek Me and live.” It’s all in the seeking, in the questing to live ever more deeply.
The wisdom of our tradition summons us to search for spiritual and personal fulfillment--JUST GO FOR IT! Exceed your boundaries, transcend yourself. Stretch who you are. Stretch toward others.
Time is the most precious commodity we have; it is the building blocks of our being. Try hard not to live your lives in retrospect, so that when you come to the end of your days, you suddenly realize, you have not truly lived. Live your lives with deep intentionality. Try to experience your aliveness. Being numb is not a good option.
Jewish law enjoins us to write a Sefer Torah, to write a Torah scroll. Our lives are the parchment upon which those words are written, and the words are our deeds. We are the authors of our lives; we are the artists painting our stories on our personal canvases and we determine the quality, the style and the content. The Torah holds us to elevated, spiritual standards; this is the kind of Torah we ought to be writing with the lives we are leading, and each and everyday, we add a page. To all of us this is given.
What would you like your story to be in the coming days?
What has your story been during the last year?
“Where is the thread now,” asks the poet?
The threads of our lives call out to us. May we be ever present to hear their call.
Keyn Yehi Ratzon. So may it be God’s will. Amen.
Shana Tova U’Metuka!
My warmest wishes to you and your families for a Healthy, Joyous and Sweet New Year,
Rabbi Debra Nesselson
Where is the thread now? Off again? The old trick! Only I discern infinite passion and pain of finite hearts that yearn.”
The month of Elul comes to signal it is time to turn inward to our souls, to our deepest thoughts and yearnings. We are a people of memory, and part of remembering requires placing ourselves back in time, but first we have to really see ourselves. We need to remember who we have been in the last year. We need to look back so we understand where we are headed.
Some of the questions which assist us are these:
Have we loved well?
Have we worked hard on our relationships with family members, with friends?
Have we reached out to help others?
Are we any wiser than we were this time last year?
Are we motivated by our hopes and dreams?
Do we have a vision for our lives?
Have we been kind?
Are we involved in active parenting and grandparenting?
Have we made an effort to fully involve ourselves in our community?
Are we capable of generosity of spirit? Can we both give generously and receive graciously?
The give and take in life is complicated; it’s not so easy.
Have we forgiven others?
Have we forgiven ourselves?
Forgiveness is a way of being in the world. It is an act of faith and trust.
Can we listen to what is in our deep heart’s core and move ourselves in that direction, if it’s wise to do so?
Are we making every effort to maximize who we are and who we are yet to be?
And, then, we need to consider our call as human beings; what do we do with the complexities of who we are?
William James once said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
What is your contribution to our community, to the world?
Yearnings are essential because they generate motivation and desire; yearnings generate life. The prophet, Amos, channels God’s words: “Seek Me and live.” It’s all in the seeking, in the questing to live ever more deeply.
The wisdom of our tradition summons us to search for spiritual and personal fulfillment--JUST GO FOR IT! Exceed your boundaries, transcend yourself. Stretch who you are. Stretch toward others.
Time is the most precious commodity we have; it is the building blocks of our being. Try hard not to live your lives in retrospect, so that when you come to the end of your days, you suddenly realize, you have not truly lived. Live your lives with deep intentionality. Try to experience your aliveness. Being numb is not a good option.
Jewish law enjoins us to write a Sefer Torah, to write a Torah scroll. Our lives are the parchment upon which those words are written, and the words are our deeds. We are the authors of our lives; we are the artists painting our stories on our personal canvases and we determine the quality, the style and the content. The Torah holds us to elevated, spiritual standards; this is the kind of Torah we ought to be writing with the lives we are leading, and each and everyday, we add a page. To all of us this is given.
What would you like your story to be in the coming days?
What has your story been during the last year?
“Where is the thread now,” asks the poet?
The threads of our lives call out to us. May we be ever present to hear their call.
Keyn Yehi Ratzon. So may it be God’s will. Amen.
Shana Tova U’Metuka!
My warmest wishes to you and your families for a Healthy, Joyous and Sweet New Year,
Rabbi Debra Nesselson
