Dear Elul Writers,

Last year, during the month of Elul, my oldest child celebrated his bar mitzvah. I did not reflect on it during my prompts last year. What I realized during that simcha was that some joy, like some loss, can be too fresh and too raw to process in the moment. The heart-opening happiness can overwhelm us; can defy articulation. Yet, a year out, barely a day goes by that I am not thankful for that long Shabbos in September, for being with friends and family, for celebrating so fully. That joy has been an anchor this year; that moment in our family’s life has buoyed me. That Shabbat feels so fresh and, at the same time, impossibly far away.

Each year, on motzei Shabbat, as Shabbat goes out and the week begins, we reflect on the cycle of the shofar’s blasts. Following a teaching by the great 17th Century sage, R’ Isaiah Horowitz, we consider how the calls of the shofar align with the journey of teshuvah. From a place of wholeness, we begin with the full cry of tekiah. That fullness cannot last, though; as we begin to interrogate our lives and our decisions, we recognize the cracks, the tension points and divisions within us. This initial breaking apart is represented in tripartite call of shvarim. As the path of teshuvah continues, we journey even deeper into ourselves. It is this part of the process that reveals the places of utter brokenness within us. The shattered shards and the rough edges are called to mind when we hear the broken call of t’ruah — an alarm, a startled scream. Yet our journey of repentance and repair does not end there; it must return to a sense of fullness. The goal of teshuvah is not about breaking ourselves down, rather, it is about building ourselves up. So, we conclude with the full-lunged blast of tekiah — a full-throated call to return to the best version of ourselves.

Tekiah-Shvarim-Truah-Tekiah 

DAY 5 PROMPT

On this fifth day of Elul, as the first Shabbos of Elul departs, I invite you to call to mind a moment of fullness from the past year. In the coming weeks, we will deconstruct and dismantle, but we are not there yet. I invite you to reflect on an experience of being your best self. Maybe it was in the midst of a lifecycle moment, maybe it was a professional success, maybe it was being there for someone who needed you; undoubtedly, there was a time in the past year where you caught a glimpse of your essential self, in all its fullness and beauty. 

Shavua tov,

Jordan