There is beautiful wisdom in the way Judaism prepares us for sacred moments. Rarely are we expected simply to arrive. Our tradition offers us time and space to slow down, become present and ready our hearts for what is to come. Before Rosh HaShanah asks us to consider who we are and who we hope to become, before Yom Kippur calls us toward forgiveness, we are blessed with the Hebrew month of Elul, a time devoted to spiritual preparation.
Our tradition teaches, after the Israelites built the Golden Calf and Moses shattered the first tablets, it was on the first day of Elul that Moses ascended Mount Sinai once again. He remained there for forty days in the Presence of God, seeking forgiveness, reconciliation, and the possibility of beginning again. He descended the mountain carrying a second set of tablets, a powerful reminder that what has been broken can be repaired and made whole again.
The rabbis came to understand these forty days as a sacred time to turn inward, to listen more closely to the still, small voice within, and to become more attune to God’s Presence in our lives. The Maharal of Prague taught, “All the month of Elul, before eating and sleeping, a person should look into their soul and search their deeds.” This practice is known as cheshbon hanefesh, an accounting of the soul. We ask ourselves: What am I grateful for? What still needs healing? What am I ready to release? What do I hope to carry forward?
Life moves quickly. Elul creates space within all of that living to listen more closely. Traditionally, the shofar is sounded each morning during this time, a sacred call to rouse the soul. Its blast reminds us: pay attention, turn inward and ground yourself in the moment.
At Temple Beth El, we will spend this month preparing together through ritual, prayer, learning, and music. Beginning Tuesday, August 18th, Sacred Space Sacred Preparation returns. On Tuesdays from 1:00–2:00 pm and Thursdays from 6:00–7:00 pm, our sacred spaces will be open for quiet reflection and prayer. Step away from the noise and demands of life, stand before the open ark, breathe, listen, and feel the stillness. Come on your own, with family, or with friends, and engage in a meaningful ritual to help prepare your heart for the New Year.
Our Shabbat messages will offer reflections and practices to root us and guide us toward the Days of Awe with kavanah/intention. Each week, you will also receive beautiful musical offerings from our cantorial team, inviting you to experience this journey not only through words, but through melody and song. Take a few quiet moments with this week’s message, listen to the music and notice what is stirring within you. Set a soulful intention for the week ahead, something you want to notice, practice, release, repair, or embrace.
From now through the High Holy Days at both our Schaefer Family Campus and Beck Family Campus, we have created a community mezuzah where every generation of our Temple Beth El family can write messages of hope, strength, joy, and healing and place them inside the mezuzah. After the holidays, your words will become prayers, blessings, ritual elements and words of encouragement to be shared with our Temple Beth El family as they experience life’s sacred threshold moments. Each of us has words we can offer that lets another person know they are seen, cared for, and loved.
The video in this message will walk you through the experience. Part of preparing our own souls for a new year is remembering that we can help strengthen someone else’s.
The poet and liturgist Alden Solovy invites us to imagine the impact our blessings can have when shared with one another:
Let us dream
Wildly unimaginable blessings…
Blessings to unexpected,
Blessings to beyond our hopes for this world,
Blessings so unbelievable in this era,
That their very existence
Uplifts our vision of Creation,
Our relationships to each other,
And our yearning for life itself…
My prayer is that when we stand together at the threshold of 5787, we will not simply have reached a New Year, we will have prepared ourselves to enter it with soul.
Chodesh Elul Tov and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Laila Haas
