SHABBOS MEVORCHIM
This week is shabbos mevorchim elul!
Join us as we usher in this auspicious month of reflection and introspection. The entire month is our "golden" opportunity to prepare for the great yom hadin, the Day of Judgement.
Towards this end, we welcome our terrific guest Cantor this shabbos,
Sam Bodenheimer. Sit back and be inspired as Sam leads the congregation in song and prayer, in honor of mevorchim chodesh elul. See flyer below for more details.
In the "olden days," our grandparents had a saying, "
When the chazan mentioned the word elul on shabbos mevorchim, even the fish in the sea would tremble!"
One idea perhaps to explain why fish are summoned in this old adage.
We know that fish are a symbol of clandestine hiddenness and emblematic of imperviousness to an "evil eye." But the all seeing G-d and Judge of all living things observes even fish that are hitherto hidden and thus, even the fish in the sea tremble in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgement!
In elul we also instinctively yearn to draw close to the Almighty. The word elul is used as an acronym, "
ani l'dodi v'dodi li," I am for my beloved and my beloved is to me.
Here is beautiful prose describing this powerful imagery which I found on chabad.org.
The Glimmer Yearns -
Below, this glimmer of a soul craves to return to her primal essence above. She yearns with an obsession beyond reason-for she knows full well that there she will once again be nameless. Yet as metal filings are drawn to a mighty magnet, as a flame climbs upward, yearning for its own extinction, so she yearns to return.
Trapped within the fetters of time and space, held captive within body and persona, her yearning swells to its bursting point, her thirst intensifies; it cannot be quenched. Its power is fierce; it sparks and flames.
Such is the divine plan. Now you must harness that power.
With it, you can transform an entire world.
