Four years ago, in another Presidential election year, I wrote a diary about the month of Elul. This week-end is Rosh Hodesh (the celebration of the New Moon) for Elul, the month before the High Holidays, and I resurrect that diary, which is as relevant now as it was then.
This is the Hebrew month of Elul, the month before the High Holidays when Jews prepare themselves for the new year with introspection and a kind of spiritual house-cleaning. Yet action is never far away in our beliefs. For example, on Yom Kippur we ask God for forgiveness; to prepare ourselves for this most holy of days in the Jewish calendar, however, we must ask the people in our lives for forgiveness, and make amends for harm we may have caused them. God doesn't get us off the hook. We have to face not only ourselves, but the people we have wronged before we can hope to make atonement.
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So why am I writing about this here?
For me personally, this year's inward journey demands action not just in my personal life, but also in my political life. On Yom Kippur we read from the Book of Isaiah:
Is such the fast I desire,
A day for men to starve their bodies?
...
No, this is the fast I desire:
To unlock the fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.
It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not ignore your own kin.
This is why every year synagogues mark Yom Kippur with Project Isaiah, a food drive for local food pantries.
An election year is also a time for reflection; we look at our values and at what each candidate stands for, and seek some alignment between the two. In no election I can remember has the contrast of values been so stark. I think this is the reason Barack Obama has stirred so many to action; the soul of our nation is at stake.
But besides the individual reflection, this year I feel a strong need for a collective introspection. As a nation, who have we hurt, to whom must we make amends? We must feel a collective responsibility for both suffering we have caused, and suffering we have not assuaged. How do we ask forgiveness from the people of Iraq, the people of Darfur? This election we have a chance, with our actions, to begin the process of atonement for acts committed in our name.
My small congregation has recently hired a full-time cantor. One of the new things he is bringing is a musical service once a month on Saturday evening. For various reasons I had not yet met him when he called and asked me to join an instrumental group for the service. We are playing new melodies for several prayers of the evening service. We are a motley crew - I'm playing violin with a beginning student, there are also guitar, alto sax, flute and keyboard, and this may expand and change as we continue. Last night we had our "dress" rehearsal, where we worked out introductions and instrumentations for Saturday night. It's a lot of fun, and I think the main feeling in the service will be joy.
I think joy is an appropriate feeling with which to enter Elul. We are serious, but glad for the chance to make changes and start over. Joy and hard work can go together.
Shabbat Shalom!