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22 Elul, 5782 | September 18, 2022
Rabbi Simone Shickler

When I think of what is personally healing - I think of meditation and chant. I am especially inspired by the work and compositions of Rabbi Shefa Gold. She has many chants, including one she wrote called “Preparation for Healing”, which draws inspiration from Psalm 27, the psalm of Elul. She writes:

Atah Ozi
Atah Chayai
Atah Ori
Atah L’fanai

Which translates to
You are my Strength
You are my Life
You are my Light
Ever before me.*

The repetition of these words speak to the power of our ancient texts to bring inspiration to our modern lives. I find that Gold’s chant inspires me to find my own words that bring me a different kind of comfort when I am struggling.

My breath
My soul
My being
Is a gift
From the Holy One
That brings me comfort
All of my days.

Healing comes in many forms, including peace of mind and body. Self care is important in our modern lives, just as it was to our ancestors. They shared their source of comfort, a deep belief in God’s role in our lives, through their oral and written stories, songs and poems. Today’s artists, of all stripes, bring new light, new inspiration to our lives inspired by both the ancient texts as well as modern life. 

May you find healing, for your mind, body and soul this Elul.

*https://www.rabbishefagold.com/prep-for-healing/ 

23 Elul, 5782 | September 19, 2022
Rabbi Laurence P Malinger

Fixing Ourselves
The Chasidic rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson said, “If you see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that God has left for you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and what is ugly in the world, then it is you yourself that needs repair.”
 
Imagine each of us has our own Book of Life; it is filled with all our words and actions. This season is the time to pause and look back at our own Book of Life. It is up to us to fill it with the good, rather than the bad. Ask yourself questions to encourage self-reflection and hope. 
Perhaps your words or deeds made a difference in someone’s life. Who did you touch in a loving or a meaningful way? What have you done that fills your heart with joy and blessings?
 
What habit would you like to break? What do you want to work on during the next year? Begin practicing habits that will make you proud next Elul. 
 
Who do you need to connect with - a partner, spouse, parent, child, or friend? Reach out and seek forgiveness to anyone you have hurt. It is never too late to apologize.
 
What are the simple pleasures that make you smile? What revitalizes you? Have you noticed daily blessings? Perhaps there have been larger, more monumental, ones?
 
Let’s work together to rewrite our Book of Life.
 

24 Elul, 5782 | September 20, 2022
Rabbi David Spinrad

I do not know what went through Isaac’s mind as he lay bound to the altar on Mt. Moriah in the heat of day. I will never know what he was thinking as his father Abraham stood over him, prepared to slaughter Isaac with a butcher’s knife. I only know that, after seeing his reflection in the glinting metal of the blade, Isaac was forever changed after a confrontation with his mortality. 

While Isaac’s father and his son, Jacob, were men of action, the Torah teaches that Isaac meditated. He was contemplative. Our texts also tell us that Isaac loved Rebekah. He prayed on her behalf and felt her pain. Isaac laughed and played with Rebekah. In a confrontation with the Philistines, the Torah teaches Isaac stood down and chose peace over aggression.

While Isaac had to come face-to-face with his mortality in order to make these life choices, we do not have to face death in order to learn these lessons. Right now, today, we each have the capacity to become more mindful. We can love those in our lives more deeply. We can be more empathetic. We can choose laughter and play. And, most of all, we can choose peace.

25 Elul, 5782 | September 21, 2022
Jenna Sagan

The Healing Power of Change
When rearing children, we tend to focus on the firsts: steps, full nights, words, school and so on. We look forward to them as our little ones grow and develop, and we reminisce upon them as the years go by. Milestones and memories, these markers of transition give shape to the lifetimes of our families. 

One of the most remarkable aspects of parenthood hasn’t been each individual milestone, but rather the opportunity to observe, and thus reflect upon the universal reality of impermanence. That my daughter suddenly went up in size or read her first word were merely aspects of the larger phenomena of change, transition, and ultimately, growth. 

This realization encouraged awareness and acceptance of the present that no mindfulness clinic could ever create. While we may bemoan the ever-changing state of ourselves as we age, to view it within a new life instead opens us up to its miraculous, healing nature.

During the month of Elul, I prepare for the holidays with the curation of a playlist to guide my journey. There have been so many moments of change in the past three years; moments in which we can pause, reflect, and embrace the impermanent in service of the potential beauty of what might come next. It is in these changes that I find the profound healing nature of God within this vast universe. 

Here is a link to it: tinyurl.com/ElulPlaylist5782

May this be a year of continued growth and healing, built on a foundation of tiny, daily miracles that guide us toward a bright future. 

26 Elul, 5782 | September 22, 2022
Rabbi Alan Litwak

Sometimes Healing is Found in Acceptance and then Letting Go:

Healing is not curing. Healing is about accepting and finding the wholeness in your situation. My favorite passage in the Talmud comes from Ketubot 104a. It tells the story of the great Rabbi Judah HaNasi who was suffering terribly from an intestinal disease. On one hand, the angels were praying that Rabbi Judah would join them in heaven. On the other hand, Rabbi Judah’s students were surrounding him and their prayers were keeping him alive on earth. When Rabbi Judah’s maidservant saw her master’s pain, she climbed to the roof with a jug in her hand. She threw it to the ground. When the jug smashed, the sound startled the sages and they stopped praying.

At that moment, Rabbi Judah died. 

In Jewish tradition, the unnamed handmaid is seen as a righteous woman. Unlike the sages and students of Rabbi Judah who could not accept their master’s situation, the handmaid recognized the need to let him go. In doing so, she did not cure his illness. Rather, she gave him the ability to die with dignity. Equally important, she helped move the students and sages to a place of acceptance.
 

27 Elul, 5782 | September 23, 2022
Rabbi Michael Weinstein

We are living the next chapter of a famous story of the Baal Shem Tov. He prays in the forest, lights a fire, says special words, and the crisis is averted. Each subsequent disaster is averted by a little less, but it is enough. 

We, again, faced incredible danger for the last two years. The rabbis and leadership didn’t know what to do; they figured it out the best they could. The forest had long ago been turned into a shopping mall. Those prayers had long been forgotten; no fire, for fear of wildfires. Your congregation brought together the community.

It was enough.

Each person participated remotely through their devices. We taught Torah; offered prayers of
hope and healing. We participated with open hearts; with fervent hopes for a better future,
prayers extend to the heavens. It was not perfect; it was enough.

Our Elul observance this year is enough. Our observance of tradition will be enough as we adapt and heal. We open our hearts to gather, as we speak the yearnings of our souls. Some things, you may not like, some things may make you uncomfortable. This is what the Holy Days are about: moving our souls from a place of complacency to that of renewal and new life.

28 Elul, 5782 | September 24, 2022
Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin
 

Achat Sha’alti: One Thing I Ask

One thing I ask of Adonai, only that do I seek:
to live in the house of Adonai all the days of my life,
to seek the beauty of Adonai, and to visit God’s sanctuary.
-Psalm 27

Each year, we recite Achat Sha’alti, Psalm 27, from Elul through Sukkot. With these words, we consider what it is that we seek for ourselves and for others in the coming year. If we could ask one thing of Adonai, what would it be? Deep down, what is it that we yearn for? And how do we partner with God to create that reality for ourselves? 

These questions are deeply personal and require honest self-reflection. Who am I? Am I the person that I want to be? Do my actions reflect my values? If not, why? What do I need to change in my life to become the person I want to be?

Achat sha’alti – one thing I ask of Adonai, only that do I seek. As we approach the High Holy Day season, what is it that we seek? 

29 Elul, 5782 | September 25, 2022
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker

When I was being held hostage on January 15th, I didn’t know about all of the vigils and all of love and all of the fear. I didn’t know until after we escaped that y’all were with us. So many of you were with us that day in Colleyville - waiting, hoping, praying, and ultimately rejoicing that we made it out alive.

Our rabbis teach: Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Bah Zeh, that all Jews are responsible for one another. The outpouring of emotion that you shared during our ordeal and in the aftermath embodied this principle. It overwhelmed us in the best of ways. I was eternally grateful for all the support and thought a lot about how it would feel to go through something like that and be met with silence. What if our world was shattered and no one cared?

The idea that we are all responsible for each other means that no one should ever have to feel that way. Being responsible for each other means that when we’re a part of a Jewish community that we never have to question whether we belong. Within our fractured communities, we often fall short of this ideal.

Elul is a time for personal and communal reflection. It's a time for change. We seek healing in our lives and healing for our communities. Start with being responsible for each other. Live this value. We need you!