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Rabbi Amalia writes about Elul, the delayed promises of summer, and what the call of the shofar demands of us.
Where has the summer gone?
A moment ago, it was the beginning of summer and I was considering when I would take my family to the beach. A moment ago, it was the beginning of summer and I was planning for a garden. A moment ago, it was the beginning of summer and I was excited to sign a lease for a new place.
But today, as I write this, we still haven’t been to the beach. I never quite grew a garden (lots of herbs, but no tomatoes). And, boxes are everywhere – EVERYWHERE – because we still haven’t moved into our new apartment.
I had a lot of grand ideas, but nothing happened.
Some of this was in my control; I could have sat down with my partner and figured out when to rent a car and what beach to go to and when.
Some of this was outside of my control; I can’t snap my fingers and make a rented home pass municipal inspection (much as I wish I could).
I can rue the time that has passed, but the truth remains: summer is over and Elul is, somehow, here once again. And if you aren’t thinking about Elul, the month has a unique way of broadcasting its arrival. It’s not just late-summer malaise in the air – you may have heard people blowing shofar in the morning, a practice that some Jews maintain from the beginning of Elul all the way through its end on Rosh Hashanah.
“Tekiyah,” calls the shofar, “wake up!”
Have you heard the sound of a shofar? It’s like the cry of a child. It’s like a mother wailing.
It’s like the scream you’ve held inside for so long, desperate to keep it bottled up until it finally rips out.… It’s a primordial sound that shocks the system every time.
Tekiyah! Wake up, and notice that time is passing!
Tekiyah! Wake up, and get ready to take stock of who you’ve been and who you want to be!
Tekiyah! Wake up, and create the change you want to see in your life!
Where has the summer gone? The call of the shofar demands that we move on from that question and ask a new one instead: Where have I been, and where am I going? The shofar asks the venerable Mary Oliver’s ultimate question: What are you doing with your one wild and precious life?
What actions are we able to take, that are within our control, to live the lives we say we want to live?
Along with blowing shofar every morning in Elul, there is a practice of saying Psalm 27 every morning from Rosh Chodesh Elul (the evening that Elul starts) until Simchat Torah. Each time I recite Psalm 27, there are two lines in particular that stand out to me:
שְׁמַע ה’ קוֹלִי אֶקְרָא וְחָנֵּֽנִי וַעֲנֵֽנִי: לְךָ אָמַר לִבִּי בַּקְּ֒שׁוּ פָנָי אֶת פָּנֶֽיךָ ה’ אֲבַקֵּשׁ
God, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me. Of You, my heart has said, Seek My Presence; Your Presence, Divine One, I will seek.
Paired together, Psalm 27 and the shofar’s call remind us that we aren’t seeking and calling out alone. Our hearts speak! We want to be in relationship with something bigger than ourselves.
If calling out to God doesn’t fall in line with your theology or beliefs, what happens when you substitute the word “self”, or “loved ones”?
We can’t do teshuva (the process of change and repairing broken relationships) alone. And, as we learn from Psalm 27, we deeply desire to be in relationship with an “other” – be that the Divine, our beloved friends and family, or community.
In order to be in that relationship, we have to call out and reach out to each other, to the ones who support and love us. As Psalm 27 writes,
‘קַוֵּה אֶל ה’ חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל ה
Hope to the Divine, be strong and God will give you courage; and hope to the Divine.
In other words: Hope to each other. Be strong and give one another courage.
Summer is almost over and we’re in mid-Elul. The shofar is sounding every day, and we turn inward, shaking off the dust and detritus as we begin unpacking our past year. But we don’t need to start unpacking the year all by ourselves. We shouldn’t remain solely looking within.
We reach out to friends and loved ones, trusted mentors, and yes, maybe even God.
We answer the shofar’s cry, and step forward into a new year, determined to live our wild and precious lives, hoping to be better in the year to come.
Maybe in 5787, I’ll finally make it to the beach.
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