Renewing Ourselves & Our Visions
Five suggestions to focus your spiritual preparations for the High
Holidays.
By Tamara Cohen
The following piece describes five traditions associated with the High Holiday season and
offers suggestions for focusing on them in our lives. Reprinted with permission
from Journey, a journal of Jewish feminism published by Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project.
The Jewish month of Elul is traditionally a time for
personal reflection and spiritual preparation for the New Year. It offers a structured
opportunity to examine what is holding us back from being who we really want to
be. If we use the period of Elul to take concrete steps towards becoming
advocates for change, together we can make a difference!
Relationship With God
Tradition: The word Elul can be understood as an
acronym for the Hebrew verse Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li--"I am for my
beloved and my beloved is for me."
Suggestion: Think about your relationship with
whatever you conceive of as the Divine Presence. Try to imagine a more intimate
relationship, as if God were your beloved. You might want to write a letter
addressed to this Beloved in which you speak as you would to a close friend.
You may want to honor yourself as "created in God's image" by
treating yourself as you would treat a beloved.
Human Relationships
Tradition: The teshuvah [repentance] process
operates on two levels, one involving human relationships and the other
involving our relationship with God. According to tradition, one resolves human
relationships during Elul by asking forgiveness for wrong doings. If one
earnestly asks three times, the obligation is fulfilled.
Suggestion: As part of your teshuvah process try to
sort out difficult relationships (with people, organizations) that drain you of
your creative energy. Think about what kind of closure you need in order to
move forward into the next year.
Shofar
Tradition: The shofar (ram's horn) is blown at
the conclusion of every weekday morning prayer service during Elul.
Suggestion: Use this month to listen for the shofar's
rousing call. Carve out some time to think through the kinds of changes you
want to make in the coming year. What's holding you back?
Psalm 27
Tradition: Psalm 27--which begins with the words
"God is my light and my helper, whom shall I fear?"--is recited every
day from Rosh Hodesh Elul (the beginning of the month) through the middle of
Sukkot (the Festival of Booths).
Suggestion: Honor the fact that change can involve
fear. Think about keeping an Elul journal to help revive your internal dialogue.
You may want to use some or all of Psalm 27 as a departure point for meditation
and/or writing. Books like The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron may also be
useful tools.
Kol Nidre
Tradition: Kol Nidre (the first prayer recited on the
eve of Yom Kippur) serves to annul all existing vows and prepare us to begin
the New Year with a clean slate. The Al chet prayer enumerates the
specific ways we have missed the mark.
Suggestion: Take some time to re-evaluate your
participation in the community. Try to be more conscious of how you spend your
time and money. Do your calendar and checkbook reflect your values and
priorities?
