Dear TBZ community:
The month of Elul has begun. With it comes the daily sounding of the shofar and the recitation of Psalm 27 both calling to us to ready ourselves for the New Year. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur do not happen without Elul. Elul is our time to prepare, and Elul is, in its way, as important as the Holidays.
Teachers and educators know that preparation time for the classroom is essential and can be even more time consuming and require even greater intention and effort than the actual teaching itself. “Prep time” is essential for a successful class and experience. “Prep time” is also essential for the student. Arriving at a lecture without having read the materials ahead of time might mean missing the core of the experience and discussion. Elul is like that. Arriving to Rosh Hashanah without any intentional preparation is doable, but definitely not recommended.
As Rabbi Alan Lew Z.L wonderfully describes this practices of Elul in his book “This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared”
Suddenly you are awakened by a strange noise, a noise that fills the full field of your consciousness and then splits into several jagged strands, shattering that field, shaking you awake. The ram’s horn, the shofar, the same instrument that will sound one hundred times on Rosh Hashanah, the same sound that filled the world when the Torah was spoken into being on Mount Sinai, is being blown to call you to wakefulness. You awake to confusion. Where are you? Who are you?
Then you remember. In exactly one month, one revolution of the moon, you will stand before God. What will God see on that day? What will you see? This encounter can carry you significantly closer to the truth of your life. Standing in the light of God, you can see a great deal more than you ordinarily might, but only to the degree that you are already awake, only in proportion to the time and energy you have devoted to preparing for this encounter (pages 64-65).
Yes, the clergy are preparing yet again for unusual High Holy Days, but Elul is an invitation to each and everyone of us to prepare. It is your invitation to prepare. I encourage you to use this time, to take time every day for some kind of ritual, perhaps it is reading Psalm 27, or sounding the Shofar, or reading Rabbi’s Lew book, or singing, or meditating, or journaling. Don’t let this month pass without intention.
As I mentioned in last week’s Shabbat Nariya, Noah Weinberg, TBZ’s Musical Prayer Leader, and I are spending time singing together and choosing some new songs to introduce to our community for these High Holy Days. We offer these songs as your weekly inspiration for your Elul preparation as well, as we plan to sing these songs at our services.
Today, we offer the words from Psalm 118, verses 5-6.
מִֽן־הַ֭מֵּצַר קָרָ֣אתִי יָּ֑הּ עָנָ֖נִי בַמֶּרְחָ֣ב יָֽהּ
יְהֹוָ֣ה לִ֭י לֹ֣א אִירָ֑א מַה־יַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה לִ֣י אָדָֽם
In my distress I cried to Yah, Who answers me by setting me free.
The Lord is with me, I shall not fear; What can mortals do to me?
The word metzar (distress) comes from the word tzar (narrow), the same root for the word Mitzrayim (Egypt). We called God from our narrow place, from the place of slavery, and God responds to us from a place of marchav, a place of spacioness, a place of opennes. This past year (and more) has been a time of metzar -- we have walked on narrow places, narrow bridges, narrow moments. We were starting to see the openness ahead and we still can, although it is not yet fully in sight. This psalm can accompany us through the Holidays. It is an invitation to ask, and ponder these questions: “How does God manifest in our lives through openness, through new possibilities and how do we encounter the new realities ahead of us? What have we learned from the places of narrowness that we have been through in this pandemic and how can that help us shape our journey ahead?”
In the next verse, the psalmist reminds us that God is with us. That the practice of trying to achieve closeness to the Divine can help us overcome fear and perhaps trust humanity a bit more.
We offer this song with a new tune for our community by Deborah Sacks Mintz, from her album The Narrow and the Expanse with Deborah Sacks Mintz and the Hadar Ensemble (Rising Song Records). You can hear the original HERE.
Below Noah and I sing it together and invite you to join us.
I invite you to listen, to sing, to chant these words and as you do to reflect on your journey and ask these questions:
“What has been the experience of your narrow places? Can you put your faith in the possibility of something open and hopeful in the future? How can you encounter the new possibilities of spaciousness ahead of you? What kind of practices in your life can support your faith and trust in God to embrace you in times of fear?”
May this Elul journey be one of meaning and purpose, so we can arrive ready for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
Don’t forget to sign up to join us for The High Holy Days, in person or online. All information you need can be found HERE.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing of spirit
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom
