Today is the first day of the month of Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. We have exactly four weeks to go, and we’re asked to take this time to spiritually prepare for the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe. If we are going to take the themes of the holiday seriously, the notion that we can change and be better, we can’t expect for that work to happen just on the three days of the holidays. The month of Elul is one when we’re expected to ask ourselves hard questions so that we can arrive at the holidays with a clarified sense of who we want to be in the year to come.
I want to share with you a famous Hassidic story. Rav Zusha was lying on his deathbed surrounded by his disciples. He was crying and no one could comfort him. One student asked him, "Why do you cry? You were almost as wise as Moses and as kind as Abraham." Rav Zusha answered, "When I pass from this world and appear before the Gates of Heaven, “I am not afraid of being asked, 'Zusha, why weren't you as wise as Moses or as kind as Abraham,' rather, after all, God already has a Moses. I am afraid, however, of being asked, ‘Zusha, why weren’t you Zusha?’ Why didn't I fulfill my potential, why didn't I follow the path that could have been mine."
We are tasked with growing into the best version of ourselves during this season. We aren’t meant to be anyone but ourselves. The challenge, of course, is unearthing who it is we’re meant to be. When we approach the Gates, will I be able to say that I was authentically me?
Throughout the next month as we approach the High Holidays, I’ll be dedicating my Toward Shabbat emails to these types of prompts, and I invite your reflections and responses. For this week, our question is the most simple and most profound one: Who am I? If we are like Rav Zusha, if we are grappling with how to answer this question, if we are trying to unearth our potential, we are doing the work.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
We will NOT be having services at shul this Shabbat. I hope you will join tonight at 6:15 for a bit of schmoozing followed by Hachanah l’Shabbat (Preparing for Shabbat) at 6:30. Click that link to connect on Zoom, and you can access the words for tonight's songs here!
Please click here for the Youtube playlist with davening and teaching I’ve prepared for this Shabbat (it will be uploaded before Shabbat).
Please check out our website for some Shabbat-related learning resources.
