Elul – A Month of Reflection: A Note from Rabbi Barbara

elulToday marks the first day of the month of Elul, the month of reflection.  The shofar is sounded every morning. And so, we begin waking up to ourselves and our souls again.
(I hope you hear our shofar, but if you can’t hear the one being blown in Concord, try here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQrBURDtQE )

Over the next four weeks, we can begin this process by considering each of the following sets of relationships in turn:

Relationships with family
Relationships with friends
Relationships with workplace colleagues and members of our various communities
Relationships with the earth and the Divine

And of each we might ask the following questions:

  1. How have I added to peace in my home, in my workplace, in my community, on the earth, to my own spiritual connections?
  2. How, in the last year, have I supported and nourished the well-being of beloved family members, friends, colleagues, the earth, and the Holy One of Blessing?
  3. How have I experienced grace of understanding in my home, in my workplace, in my community, on the earth, with the Divine?
  4. In what ways have I increased love in my home, in my workplace, in my community, on the earth, in and with my own spiritual connections?And then we might say, each morning:

    May I be blessed with peace.
    May I be blessed with well-being.
    May I be blessed with grace.
    May I be blessed with love.

    We might wish these things for beloved family members, friends, colleagues, the earth, and even the Holy One of Blessing:

    May you be blessed with peace.
    May you be blessed with well-being.
    May you be blessed with grace.
    May you be blessed with love.

    We might close our practice with this prayer to the Holy One on behalf of beloved family, friends, colleagues, and the earth itself.

    May all beings be blessed with peace.
    May all beings be blessed with well-being.
    May all beings be blessed with grace.
    May all beings be blessed with love.

    May your Elul be filled with nourishment of body, soul, and spirit.

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