The High Holy Days are a special time that give us the opportunity for personal reflection and spiritual growth. With this weekly email series, Roadmap to 5782, we bring you video teachings from your clergy, as well as resources to help you explore the themes of the High Holy Days. Look for an email from your clergy every Friday, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul through Simchat Torah. May this be a season of growth, renewal, and reflection for you. Shana Tovah!
Rosh Chodesh Elul Preparing for the High Holy Days: Looking Back
Watch Rabbi Strauss' video message for the start of the month of Elul: “Our tradition is very clear. We can’t prepare for these holy days without knowing where we come from; what we’ve done; our previous mistakes; the previous times during the year or years past where we could have done better. In Judaism, what we’ve done in the past must be known in order to prepare for a better future ahead.”
Reflect
This year we have partnered with Pirka Jewish Learning to share with you an Elul Meditation Series. There are 26 quotes, one for each day but Shabbat, They are from a variety of authors, both ancient and modern, meant to guide us through the month of Elul by giving us food for thought and inspiration. We will share many of the quotes in our Road to 5782 email series, but here is the complete collection of daily meditations. Let us know which ones are most impactful for you!
Explore
Each week we will also offer resources and tools to help you explore the themes of this holy time and guide you in your personal journey through the High Holy Days
A shorter read: From Aish.com –Elul: How Do We Realistically Change the World. “The most important piece of advice I can give anyone as I think about ways to change the world with the beginning of Elul are two words: think small.” As in “small acts of kindness.” What small things can you incorporate in your life this new year that will make you a better family member, better friend, better citizen, or better Jew? Some suggestions from this author:
Give a genuine compliment to somebody at least once a day.
Check in with someone who’s sick.
Ask if you can help someone who may be having a difficult time in life right now.
Ask a senior citizen about their life story and truly listen.
Donate to a homeless person, perhaps give them some food.
Leave a kind server a generous tip.
Give your parents or grandparents a call just because.
Volunteer at a community event.
Read the article for more suggestions for ways to change ourselves, thereby changing our world for the better.
A longer read: Every day starting with the beginning of the month of Elul and through Sukkot, we read Psalm 27. Rabbi Debra Robbins’ book, Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27: A Spiritual Practice for the Jewish New Year, guides us through a journey of reflection and insight and provides an invaluable framework to reflect on our relationships, choices, beliefs, and practices, while considering where to make repairs, adjustments, and atonement.
We will blow the shofar for the first time on the 1st of Elul, Monday, August 9th, in the morning at our J.B. Greenfield Chapel service. You can join us in person or virtually on our website at 8:00am Sundays and 7:00am Mondays through Fridays throughout the month. Please note that this Monday, August 9th, is Rosh Chodesh so the service will begin at 6:45am.
Next Week Preparing for High Holy Days: Looking Ahead
