Shalom L’kulam/Greetings to everyone:
Thank you to each and every member at Congregation B’nai Emunah for a very warm, California welcome! Hayley, Kinneret and I especially appreciate all that you have done in helping us to make the transition to our new congregational home and extended family here in the Sunset!
It’s hard to believe, but “The Holidays” are just around the corner. Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new month of Elul, began on September 1, and Rosh Hashanah is roughly four weeks later, on the 29th of Elul (29th of September).
We often refer to the season that includes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as “the Holidays,” “the High Holidays,” and “the New Year.” Many of you may already know that in Hebrew they are called the Yamim Noraim, and have a nuance which we don’t hear in the other phrases. This is literally translated as “Days of Awe.” But what does this phrase mean? Is it a foreshadowing of the fact that we may feel awful if we don’t enjoy spending hours in synagogue? Or, are these days meant to amplify our awful feelings of guilt? After all, while it’s true that we do celebrate the New Year, we quickly follow it with a heavy period of reflection and fasting, where we focus on forgiveness.
I’d like to suggest another meaning for “Days of Awe.” These holidays and the days preceding them (known in Hebrew as the month of Elul), can be a time to cultivate an awareness of awe in our own lives. In preparation for Rosh Hashanah, I’d like to invite you to reflect, to make a list, or to simply talk to the important people in your life about two questions:
What am I in awe of in my life?
Who or what in my life deserves more awe from me?
In confronting these questions, I believe that we can get closer and closer to what is holy in our lives. The coming month, the month of Elul, which is spelled in Hebrew, “Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed,” is an acronym noted in Jewish tradition for the phrase, “Ani L’Dodi V’dodi Li – I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”
Right now, today, and the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, are gifts for us. These are gifts of time -- real time to reach out in our own ways to our Beloved(s). I invite you to think of these upcoming days as sticky notes in the busy calendars of our lives that remind us to scan the year, and to look for the appropriate opportunities to say the important words, “I’m sorry,” and “thank you.”
Shana tova u’mtuka/A good and sweet New Year,
Rabbi Mark
