Give it all you've got. Six days...work, create, produce. Then let go. Shabbat.
13 Elul - Shabbat Spa...Time to Relax Jewish tradition tells us that God created the world in six days and then took the seventh day, Shabbat, as a day of rest. This model is a brilliant one and is central in Judaism. Work hard, pour yourself into all your labors, all that you do. Then step back and enjoy for yourself a sanctuary of complete rest and respite. Time to be rather than do.
In the last week as we have prepared for Elul, we have been thinking and reflecting and repairing. For six days we worked earnestly on our souls. Now stop. Release the grip and let it go. Just like bodies need sleep to function, our minds and hearts and souls need a rest day in order to be agile in the week ahead. We even step back from the shofar. We don't need to be called to attention for anything. Be exactly as you are.
Pursuit of knowledge... Is yours life long or have you stalled? Don't stop. Feed your mind.
12 Elul—Have You Nourished Your Mind?
A helpful metaphor during Elul is that of “Missing the Mark.” It’s not so much that we have been bad people, sinners. Rather we should think of ourselves as archers. Because of the inevitable, inherent distractions of life, we simply don’t reach the bulls eye every time we aim. The goal over the course of our lives is to get closer to the bulls eye and to hit that target more and more. Our reflections now, regarding our conduct over the past year, help us adjust our aim in the year to come.
For the past couple of days we have considered our relationship to ourselves. How have we short changed ourselves physically? How have we neglected ourselves emotionally. Today we think about how we may have disregarded ourselves intellectually.
This part of ourselves is easy to ignore. As adults, we aren’t students anymore. That phase of our lives is over. Or, we may consider our jobs as the intellectual part of our lives. While it is true that we may get some of our intellectual needs met through work, many of us neglect learning and growing outside of work. Time is the inevitable culprit. Taking care of our minds and creative impulses seems like an indulgence in our otherwise full and busy lives. Having a satisfying intellectual life may not seem like our most pressing need, but we must realize that it will always get pushed to the back burner when we treat it as a minor “luxury.”
Many of us forget that learning is a life long process, not just something for children and students. Our minds are built for constant input and stimulation. Yet many of us in our thirties and beyond begin to let that part of us atrophy. Quite often, we also let our bodies begin to sag and fade a bit too. But because we can tangibly see that part of ourselves, our bodies often get more attention than the wilting of our minds. We can’t forget to tend to our “intellectual garden.” Often times we don’t know that we need intellectual stimulation. All we know is that we feel a certain kind of blah, or malaise. Perhaps that is the mind calling out to us, FEED ME. If only we could understand the signals.
Judaism has a longstanding tradition of study and life long learning. While it is true that many equate this with the study of Torah and sacred texts, there is also a fundamental value of study in general. We are encouraged to question and critically investigate the world around us. Reading, gaining knowledge, studying and learning new ideas and skills are seen as keys to our overall vitality. When we are learning we are growing! Our sages, in Pirkei Avot (the Sayings of our Fathers) assert:
The world stands on three things:
On Torah,
on service,
and on acts of kindness.
(Talmud - Avot 1:2)
Rabbi Shraga Simmons, in offering a more modern and accessible translation of this idea, understands Torah as the “Pursuit of Wisdom” and the world as people. So if this idea is true, that our lives are held up by three things, one of which is the pursuit of wisdom, how are you contributing (or not) to your own stability?
Today’s Elul Tool: Think about your intellectual life over the past year. Have you nourished it, or have you neglected it? Do you read regularly? Do you keep your mind open to knew thoughts and ideas by learning and listening to others? Or rather have you been stuck more in “survival mode?” Is there something you have been wanting to learn for a long time (a language, a skill, an instrument, more Torah). Did you put it off again this year? Why? What is the obstacle that prevents you from pursuing knowledge, from feeding your mind? Is the obstacle you?
Psalm 27
It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul.
Here is an online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.
For Families and Kids!
Junior Tool Box: You Learned So Much This Year!
• Elul and Rosh Hashanah are great times to talk about all the learning and growth that has occurred for your children over the past year. Have family discussions about the learning that has taken place for everyone in the family. Also discuss the importance of life long learning.
• Since children are rapidly absorbing everything around them, it is great to visually document their successes and milestones. Create a “Learning Time Line” to chart the incredible depth and breadth of learning in the past year. Since these are the years where major life skills are learned (i.e. riding a bike, tying shoes, learning how to play an instrument, doing a cart wheel, helping with chores, learning to read etc) your children will be surprised to document how much they learned.
• Make a “prediction chart" for the year ahead. Next year at this time I will know/know how to...
• Role model life long learning for your children whenever possible. It is wonderful for them to see you taking classes, reading, studying a foreign language, investigating the world around you.
• Go to the library! Let your kids check out as many books as the library will allow!
Elul is our month to wake up. It is a month to detect unwanted routines that have begun to solidify in the past year, or even over our lives. Before we charge into another annual cycle at Rosh Hashanah, Elul gives us prefatory time to pause and reflect. What kind of person have I been? How have I missed the mark? Are there any habits or behaviors I would like to leave behind this year? Where can I improve?
Some of our deepest habitual grooves are the ways in which we treat ourselves. Yesterday we focused on the treatment of our bodies. Today we examine how we treat ourselves as a person, emotionally and mentally.
There is a compelling Hasidic idea that we should walk around with two notes, one in each pocket. One should read, “For YOU the entire universe was created.” The other should read, “You are like the dust of the Earth.” A healthy sense of who we are should balance between those two extremes. Quite often though we are hanging out at one of these two poles. Much of our emotional and mental disturbance stems from either harassing ourselves for not being good enough, or over inflating ourselves with an exaggerated importance of who we are.
Internal distress is often created through comparing and competing with others. Humans seem to be built with an inborn desire for more, for other than what we actually have, who we actually are. This is such a pervasive problem, that one of the 10 commandments addresses it: “Thou shalt not covet.” But covet we do. The wanting of other people’s stuff. The wanting of other people’s seeming sense of ease. The wanting of other people’s position or prestige. The wanting of other people’s appearance. How often are we in a state of complete acceptance and appreciation of what we HAVE, or who we ARE, regardless of those around us? Truthfully...not often. This place of dissatisfaction creates an internal climate where we don’t treat ourselves very well.
Our sages know that suffering is often rooted in a general discontent with the quality of our lives. In Pirkei Avot, the famous compilation of wise and ethical sayings from “our fathers” we are presented with the following:
Who is rich? Those who are content with their lot.
(Talmud - Avot 4:1)
Easier said than done, for sure. There are all sorts of human details that create a sense of entitlement for being frustrated and miserable. When we are in this negative space, we don’t treat ourselves well. We begin to swing either toward a sense of “I don’t deserve to be happy, I am but a speck of dust” OR “I am entitled, the world owes me everything, the Universe was created for ME!” Contentment with our Lot is somewhere near the middle. Contenment with our Lot is a state of mind where we are at peace with what is. Seems unattainable most of the time, doesn't it?
It is customary for observant Jews to recite at least 100 blessings a day; that's roughly one every 10 minutes. This may seem impossible, strange, even ritualistic to those of us unfamiliar with the practice. However, there is an underlying wisdom built into this discipline. It’s similar to what is referred these days as practicing an “Attitude of Gratitude.” Perhaps our sages knew, thousands of years ago, that the secret to inner peace, is outer gratitude. The Jewish way to show this gratitude is through blessings. Even though our lives are full of challenges and difficulties and obstacles, there must be at least 100 things, each day, for which we are thankful. We just need to tap into the good, the positive, the amazing that surrounds us. Expressing gratitude creates an internal atmosphere of peace. Shalom.
Today’s Elul Tool: Think about how you treated yourself emotionally and mentally in the past year. Has your inner Shalom (peace) been out of balance? What is your role in creating this disturbance? How have you stirred up unnecessary misery and suffering for yourself by being “covetous” or “discontent with your lot?” While many circumstances are beyond your control, how have you created undue internal suffering? Try to see your behaviors in this area as a neutral observer. Try to fact collect rather than add a layer of self-judgement.
It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul.
Here is an online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.
For Families and Kids!
Junior Tool Box: Bringing Shalom to your Heart and Mind • Today’s theme is pretty abstract, but if you can, talk with your children about the idea of how we treat ourselves. Are we kind and loving to ourselves, or are we mean and hurtful to ourselves? A good gauge for this is how peaceful we feel inside.
• Create a “Blessing Jar.” When your child is in a negative emotional space (i.e. whining, complaining, jealous or competing with a sibling etc.) have them think of at least one thing they are thankful for in their lives, write it down, and put it in the jar. After taking the time to do this, you’ll probably notice a change in their mood. Point this out to them. Take the time occasionally to read everything from the blessing jar to remember how essentially good and wonderful our lives are.
• For the rest of the month of Elul (or longer!) say thank you once a day for just one thing in your outer world (home, school, family, nature, friends etc). This is prophylactic “medicine” for maintaining the health of our inner world.
• Attempt to replicate some type of balancing structure like the one below. You can use rocks, other items from nature, or even different kinds of toys. If it seems appropriate for your child, share the Hasidic notion of the two notes (from above). Discuss how to balance these parts of ourselves just like the rocks.
• Make a "Shalom Meter." Draw a large dial, from zero to ten. Cut out the Shalom at the bottom of the page and have your child tape it to one of the numbers on the dial to indicate their inner Shalom. Zero is “no shalom”, no sense of inner peace. Ten is complete peace and contentment. Ask your child what they can do to adjust their internal "Shalometer." This teaches taking personal responsibility for our internal emotional state.
I often forget to thank you, oh body of mine. Your work never stops.
10 Elul—Coming Back Home, to YOU
Chesbon Hanefesh. Searching our souls. Taking an
honest look, a thorough accounting of our conduct in the past year. This is a major component of preparing for the Days of Awe. We have examined many areas of our outer life in the past ten days. Now is the time to examine our relationship to ourselves. Just as the outside world has many levels through which to navigate, so too does the inside world. Diving into our inner universe, and tackling it whole, would be too much for one day, so we will investigate one layer at a time.
Today’s focus is the personal home: Our Body. This outside structure is often referred to as merely a shell, a container for our neshemah (soul). The image of a “container” for our life force definitely creates a desire to take care of it! But our bodies are also complex, intricate machines. It’s actually inconceivable that all the body’s systems (skeletal, muscular, vascular, respiratory, neural, organ, sensory) work in unison all day long, even when we are asleep. Though we are very aware when something isn’t working (either from major health problems, or even minor ones like a sore throat), this impressively designed instrument keeps ticking and moving and performing with little thought on our part.
There is a blessing in Judaism that expresses both awe and gratitude for the gift of our bodies. This prayer acknowledges that our bodies, as intricate as they are and the precision with which they must function, ACTUALLY WORK!
Blessed are you, THE ARCHITECT, our God, the sovereign of all worlds, who shaped the human
being with wisdom, making for us all the openings and vessels of the body. It is revealed and known
before your Throne of Glory that if one of these passage-ways be open when it should be closed, or blocked up when it should be free, one could not stay alive or stand before you. Blessed are you, MIRACULOUS, the wondrous healer of all flesh.
Today’s Elul Tool: Think about this Jewish blessing for the body. How often do you feel the complete amazement this prayer expresses? If you’re like most folks, not even one minute of the day! Your body is working for you constantly. But how much time do you devote to taking care of it? To giving thanks for it? Consider these questions:
• How have you taken care of your body, this sacred vessel, over the course of the last year?
• Did you keep it fit and flexible with exercise?
• Did you nourish it with healthy, wholesome foods?
• Did you get enough rest?
• Of equal importance, did you experience enough physical pleasure (dessert, intimacy, baths, massage)
• Did you take pride in and have fun with your appearance (dressing up, changing your hair-style, manicure, pedicures etc.)
• How has being in quarantine impacted your relationship with your body. Have you exercised less? Has your diet changed. Are there ways to bring more balance, even when we have been forced to stay inside?
• Were you aware of your body as a gift. Did you say thank you?
Avoid judging yourself right now!! Instead be curious. See if you can neutrally investigate your relationship to your body this past year.
Psalm 27
It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul.
Here is an online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.
For Families and Kids!
Junior Tool Box:
BODY TIME
• As a family, discuss how you have taken care of AND neglected your body. This is a good time to talk about sleep and the importance of rest as well as healthy, balanced eating habits.
• If you have a large roll of paper, do a full body tracing. If not you can draw the outline of a body on a regular piece of paper. Label all the parts of the body. Discuss the wonderful things bodies can do with all of these parts.
• Discuss the different senses and the gift each of them give to us, everyday.
• Discuss the different systems and organs of the body. Share your wonder and amazement about what these systems and organs allow us to do.
• Make a drawing, collage, or other depiction of wholesome and nutritious foods. Discuss: Which did you eat a lot of this year? Which did you not eat? Did your body need those to be healthy.
• Do the same activity as above but change the topic to exercise.
• For the rest of the month of Elul (or longer!) say thank you once a day for just one incredible thing about your body.
Our soul searching carries on! Today we continue to pull our lens back one more notch as we consider the “Environment.” The natural world is our source, that which truly sustains us. Nature is something we relate to everyday, all day, whether we are aware of it or not. We eat. We drink. We breath. We use resources (paper, petroleum, electricity, water for things other than drinking, etc). We are essentially in a constant state of consumption. That in and of itself is not problematic. The question before all of us is whether our consumption is conscious, intentional, reasonable, responsible. Do we even appreciate all that is given to us in this regard? Don’t feel guilty. All of us take these daily gifts for granted.
However, we are seeing the limits of our exploitive relationship with the earth. She is beginning to push back with extreme weather and potentially irreversible ecological changes. Are we willing to change anything about our behavior to help bring things back into balance? What keeps us from embracing lifestyle changes that are less damaging to the environment?
Judaism has much to teach us about the proper love and care of our larger home, Earth. Our tradition has deep spiritual roots in ecology and stewardship. Recently these roots, have been fortified in a movement coined by Rabbi Zalmon Schacter-Shalomi as EcoKashrut. With this type of awareness we consider our planet as both the source of life, and our home. As such we need to properly tend this relationship as we would any other.
While only scratching the surface, consider a few aspects of Judaism which reflect its origins as an Earth Based Religion:
The Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle which makes temporality (time) inextricably linked to nature and seasons. The beginning of each month (Rosh Chodesh) begins on a new moon. Similarly the full moon will always be in the middle of the month. Simply by looking up into the night sky, you know how to place yourself in Jewish time!
The holiday of Tu B’Shevat is an annual time to consider TREES!! We plant trees, celebrate trees, collect money to plant trees in Israel, and even have a special Seder meal where we acknowledge, and eat many different fruits all with different properties. Many other Jewish holidays incorporate elements of nature. Consider the following: building and “dwelling” in a sukkah outside during Sukkot, casting bread crumbs into a running body of water at Rosh Hashanah, celebrating the new month and new moon at Rosh Chodesh.
The Torah has many overt references which speak to stewardship and protection of the environment including such concepts as Bal Tashchit (forbidding unnecessary waste and destruction), Tza’ar Ba’akeu Chayyim (banning cruelty to animals), Tikkun Olam (literally repairing the world), and honoring the sabbatical laws which gives the land a respite after seven years of farming. In Jewish tradition water is often refered to as Mayyim Chayyim, or sacred, life giving waters. Additionally, the Hebrew word for
life, Chai, is a central and powerful symbol in Judaism. The list could continue for pages, but you get the idea. Not only is it ethically correct and even trendy to be ecologically minded these days, but these ideas are central in Jewish thought. Take pride knowing that your ancient tradition, your heritage, acknowledged many of these forward thinking principles millennia ago!
Rabbi Fred Dobb, in an article entitled Living an Environmentally Conscious Jewish Life, asks us a pointed question. He says, “God made us A PART of Creation, with DNA 99% identical to that of our orangutan cousins, while also making us APART from Creation. Small differences, like opposable thumbs and enlarged cerebella, mean we will rule -- but how? “
Today's Elul Tool: Think about your relationship to the natural world. Were you reasonable and responsible in your consumption of resources this past year? Even if your “footprint” was small and gentle, did you give back to the universe by way of gratitude, being thankful for all the natural world provides? Just like the 10 commandments ask us to honor our parents, have you showed enough reverence and honor to Mother Nature? Remember, this is not a time to blame yourself for missing the mark, but rather a time for a realistic assessment of your role in this intricate web. Today's Elul Nature Bonus: Check out Wellsprings of Wisdom, a beautiful website and "virtual retreat center." Using ancient Jewish symbols from the natural world as gateways for exploration, Wellsprings of Wisdom reminds us how inextricably linked our tradition is with nature and her rhythms.
Psalm 27
It is customary to read Psalm 27 twice daily during Elul.
Here is an online version of Psalm 27 for easy access.
For Families and Kids!
Junior Tool Box: Some Earthy Activities
• As a family, discuss ways to make a smaller ecological footprint in the new year.
• Make a cut out of a very large footprint. When your family performs “eco-friendly” acts, glue smaller and smaller footprints, one an another. The visual accomplishment will inspire your children to continue!
• Figure out where we are in the moon cycle today. Follow this through to the end of the month of Elul. The new moon starts on Rosh Hashanah! Go outside and see the nightly changes!
• Make a nature collage. You can laminate and use as a placemate to remind your children of the natural world around them.
• Go on a walk and collect natural objects to make a 3-D sculpture OR collect natural treasures and keep in a special box (decorated shoe boxes work well).
• Go on a “listening walk.” The game is not to talk at all but to push an imaginary “record” button near your ears to capture all the sounds you hear. Come home and press and imaginary “play” button to replay your walk through sounds. Which sounds are natural and which sounds are “human-made?”
• Go on an eco-picnic. See if you can do this without taking any plastic or paper throw-away products with you. It’s more work, but discuss how this conserves resources with your children.
• Model gratitude for the earth, the environment, and all that it offers us. Remind your children that we are sustained by water, air, food. These things are given to us every day as gifts. Show your children how to say thank you!
Jewish tradition tells us that God created the world in six days and then took the seventh day, Shabbat, as a day of rest. This model is a brilliant one and is central in Judaism. Work hard, pour yourself into all your labors, all that you do. Then step back and enjoy for yourself a sanctuary of complete rest and respite. Time to be rather than do. 
