Elul Day 26 - כ"ו באלול

Dear Elul Writers,

Considering the significant rainfall that many of us experienced in the last days, I was reminded of a poem by Yehuda Amichai.

The waters cannot return in repentance
To where would they return?
To the faucet, the sources, the ground, the roots,
the cloud, the sea, into my mouth?
The waters cannot return in repentance,
every place is their days of old, their waters of old,
every place a beginning and end, and beginning.

What a powerful lesson for us, as we near the end of this month, that like water we are never far from our source, never far from our days of old. And, as we return to the call of tekiah, it feels essential to remember that every place is a beginning and an end and a beginning.

So, today we complete our cycle through the blasts of the shofar. At the beginning of each new week we've reflected on the teaching of R' Isaiah Horowitz, who taught that the pattern of the shofar’s sounds is like the journey of teshuvah, beginning and ending with wholeness, with fragmentation in the middle.

Tekiah-Shvarim-Truah-Tekiah 

DAY 26 PROMPT

The final tekiah symbolizes our potential for re-formation and renewal. On this 26th day of Elul, I invite you today to imagine the version of yourself that you hope to realize in the year to come. Imagine the world that you hope to build. Let this final blast be a tekiah gedolah; try to write as much as you can without coming up for air. What words, what feelings, what accomplishments will let you know in this coming year that you are living your aspirations? How will you keep in mind that each moment is a beginning and an end, and a beginning?

Shavua tov,

Jordan