Taking the time to...

We Jews really like to joke that the holidays are either early or late; they never seem to fall on time!  Well, this year they are REALLY late!  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur both fall during the month of October, towards the later end of the High Holy Day window.  One of the benefits of the Holidays late arrival is that we have more time to prepare for them.  Over the last couple of years, we’ve been buying our round challahs, making matzah ball soup, dressing in our finest, and running off to Temple towards the beginning of September.  We barely had time to adjust from the end of the summer or the start of the school year before the holidays were upon us.

Jewish tradition teaches that we need the days and weeks prior to the holiest days of the year to prepare for their arrival.  Elul, the last month of the Jewish calendar, is considered to be one of the holiest times of the year.  These four weeks officially begin the High Holy Day season.  In most years, Elul falls smack dab in the middle of August.  We rush to buy school supplies, take those last vacations of the summer, and prepare for the year ahead, that Elul often goes unnoticed.  But not this year!

Elul officially begins on Sunday, September 4^th, at the tail end of the Labor Day weekend.  The late start provides us with the time to do things a little bit differently this year.  The rabbis remind us that change is difficult.  We know in our heart of hearts that we can’t change our behavior solely during the few hours we spend at Temple.  We recognize that there are so many forces around us, including our own inertia, that makes change challenging.  That’s why we have Elul.  From the start of Elul till the end of Yom Kippur, are forty days, filled with boundless opportunities to impact not only our lives, but those around us.

We know what steps we must do to change our lives for the better.  Taking time to reflect; jotting down our thoughts in a journal (or on our iPhone); taking some private moments to pray; giving tzedakah; and preparing for our time at Temple.  The rabbis teach that our most important responsibility during the High Holy Days is called Cheshbon HaNefesh, the accounting of our souls.  May we take the gift of these late days of Elul to prepare for the holidays’ arrival.  May we find a few prayerful moments to reflect, journal, and account for our mistakes.  May our individual introspection lead us to improve, not only our lives, but the lives of all those that surround us.  May it be a meaningful Elul for us all!