Elul Tools ~ 2 Elul 5781

  Elul Tools         2021/5781

Building a Strong Foundation

for the Days of Awe

Today's Elul Chai-Ku:

Ram's horn, blast your song!

Wake us! Wailing notes, pierce our haze.
Shofar, call us home.

Listen to the shofar blast here (click the arrow)!  

2 Elul—The Shofar-You’re Being Called

It is customary during the month of Elul to hear the shofar everyday (with the exception of Shabbat), reminding us to continue our process of waking up. We wake up to a new year, to a clean slate, to new beginnings, to letting go of that which needs to be discarded.



Elul is a liminal month, a month of transition. We return from our excursions of the past year and consider the journey ahead in the New Year. Elul is a time of unpacking, regrouping, and then saddling up for the year ahead. 

This soul prep is hard work. It's much easier to laze and wander away from the discipline the Days of Awe require. But the renewal and growth offered from the high holy days are well worth the effort. Most of us will jump in unless we are cajoled a bit. We need a tangible call to action, or maybe even a startle to consciousness. The shofar, our ancient alarm clock, gives us this jolt.

The piercing sound of the shofar commands our attention, cutting through the haze of our complacency. The notes of the call are filled with intense longing and melancholy.

The four notes that are sounded during the Days of Awe actually tell the story of teshuva, of return. They remind us that part of the human condition is to go through constant cycles of wholeness and brokenness, integration and disintegration. No matter what has happened during the past year, the shofar reminds us, in the very sound and quality of the notes, that we can always return to wholeness,
to shalom.

TEKIYAH: One long blast. An integrated, full, whole sound. This sound calls to us first. We all start from a place of completeness, oneness.

SHEVARIM (literally translated as brokenness): Three medium blasts. At some point the integrated wholeness is broken. This is life. Clarity, bliss, focus is met with distraction. Peace and unity is inevitably broken.

TERUAH: Nine, staccato blasts. Then, there are times of extreme disturbance. Very little certainty or serenity. A major, trying life event. Even times of extreme joy and adventure have that staccato feel. This is the intense stimulation of living. Our attention is pulled this way and that. Our moments of integration are fewer. We need to feel the neutral security of tekiyah again.

TEKIYAH GEDOLAH: One very, very long shofar blast. Return, teshuvah. We have come full circle. Another cycle of starting fresh. We leave Yom Kippur services with this reminder that what was broken has now been repaired. We are sent out on this positive affirmation through the triumphant sound of the shofar. Our Shevarims and Teruahs will inevitably greet us, but for now, we are whole. We have returned to our source.

or two.

Today’s Elul Tool: Listen to the four sounds of the shofar (in the audio file above). Hear the distinction between the long integrated blasts and the broken ones. Notice whatever reaction you have. Can you commit to listening to this shofar sound everyday of Elul. It doesn’t matter what time of day. If you forget, pick it up the next day. Don’t stop just because you skip a day. 

It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul. 

Here's an online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.

Elul Tools ~ 1 Elul 5781

  

Elul Tools 
Building a Strong Foundation for
the Days of Awe

Listen to the shofar blast here (click the arrow)!

     

Today's Elul Chai-Ku:

Return to your source.

Like rain drops flowing back to sea.

Teshuvah. Come home.

1 Elul: Teshuvah...Your Return

You’ve been away for awhile, engaged in the messy business of life. It’s a beautiful mess, of course, since human-ness naturally brings all sorts of grit and chaos. Nothing stays tidy and perfect for long. It’s like cleaning up the kitchen after a meal. Yes we enjoyed the eating and the indulging. But then there is always that pesky mess at the end! We could decide never to cook again, never spoil the clean kitchen. In this way we would avoid the mess, but lose the nourishment, the pleasure we get from cooking and eating. So we go at it again. Day after day we make fantastic, sloppy messes in the kitchen, and in our lives.

This works for awhile. We immerse ourselves in life. Whatever messes crop up along the way, we tidy them as best we can. But something begins to happen with the passage of time. There’s a build up of spiritual grime quite similar to the sticky goop on the shelf of the refrigerator or the greasy smudges on cupboard doors. This soiling of our souls often escapes our attention. Or perhaps we sense something is amiss, but just don’t have the time, energy, or know how to tackle it.

The Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) give us an annual opportunity for a deep spiritual cleanse, something like a Jewish spring cleaning. It is true that we did an intense cleaning and reorganization last year at this time. But even for the most fastidious among us, within weeks and days of immersing ourselves in relationships and work, events and schedules, hobbies and chores, our “internal” rooms develop that same grimy coating. It’s not a quick, easy clean up. Now we need the deep scouring of nooks and crannies. For a thorough job, we need to gear up and prepare.



Before Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of the month of Tishrei, we have the month of Elul to prepare. A little bit of preparation every day of Elul gives us the clarity and stamina we need to make the most out of this holiday season. To get the desired results, a refreshed and tidied spiritual home, we should prepare like a runner would for a race: consistent training! Doing as little as 10 minutes of “spiritual training” each day, the Days of Awe become meaningful and real.

This year in particular has tested us in unimaginable ways. The Covid Pandemic is still with us. The glaring need for economic, racial, and environmental justice is no longer deniable. The planet is on fire. The world is in pain. Everyone has been affected by these multiple pandemics that affect us on several levels. Everyone. 

Inevitably, our collective stress has taken a toll on our souls, on our relationships. We have likely harmed others with rising irritability, harsh words, bitter moods, sunken spirits. Now is the time to heal the wounds of this past year. 

So welcome back from your beautiful and challenging journeys of the past year.  You have returned with a sizable log of experiences. Are you ready to decompress, to integrate your mistakes and your growth? Your gains and your losses? Your joys and your sufferings? For the first day of Elul, we begin with simply contemplating this idea of coming back, return, Teshuvah.

Today’s Elul Tool: Think of a metaphor/symbol/action for the process of return that truly speaks to you such as: a train returning to the station or a train that has been derailed and is now back on track; the eventual return of a rain drop back to the ocean; the calm you feel when you return your attention to your breath; returning a messy room to it’s original order. For today, spend some time thinking about an image of return that will help anchor you in the month ahead.

It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul. I've provided this online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.