As Shabbat ends tomorrow night, the month of Elul begins.  On that night, on Rosh Hodesh Elul, tradition tells us that Moses ascended Sinai one last time to prepare a second set of tablets to replace those broken after the Israelites themselves broke with God, worshipping a golden calf.  Moses descended at the end of Yom Kippur, we are told, when Israel’s repentance was complete.

It is the sixth month of the year.  Elul, the rabbis point out, is spelled ALEPH-LAMED-VAV-LAMED.  These letters, they say, are an acronym of one of the most well-known phrases of Tanakh: Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, (I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine), a verse said to be spoken from the people Israel to God, Godself.

Elul, we are told, is a time when The Holy One leaves heavenly realms in order to wander on earth, walking in fields and meadows, waiting for us to approach, to confide, to speak our heart’s needs.  To be God’s beloved, we must trust in God’s love.

It might be time for a daily notation in a bedside journal.  It might be a time for a quiet, nourishing conversation with a family member.  It might be a time to practice letting go of grief and anger.

Elul is a time for loving awareness: Who is it that we long to be?  How, in the past year, did we come closer to realizing a dream of goodness and kindness?  How do we want to do better in the coming year?

May Elul reveal the answers you seek.

Rabbi Barbara