The blasts of the shofar that will be heard from synagogues next week will announce that we have entered the month of Elul. This is a month that calls upon every Jew to stop, observe, and think.
At least once a year we must conduct an annual spiritual balance sheet, and ask ourselves whether our lives are indeed heading in the right direction.
Our natural tendency is to do today what we did yesterday.
""That's just the way I am," we often justify ourselves when we are asked to improve and mend our ways. We don't like to give in to a call that requires upheaval and change.
A call of love
As the years pass, this challenge becomes more and more difficult. The person feels solidified. He has long since ceased to be a young boy, who changes direction easily. He has his virtues and his weaknesses. It seems that he will remain like that until his last day.
Judaism comes and says: No, you too can and must change. You too are called to repent. Nothing is closed and sealed. Now you can and must turn a new page. Even if you were 'okay,' even if you fear God and serve God – you still have to move forward, correct, not stand still.
Within every Jew resides a soul with infinite powers. If we truly want to bring about change, nothing will stand in our way. Not habits, not age, not environment. Once we are determined to make a change in the course of our lives – we will succeed in doing so.
In the month of Elul, the Creator of the world addresses us with love and calls us to return, to improve, to correct. Those who have not put on tefillin until now – let them begin to fulfill the great mitzvah now. Those who have not been careful to pray in public and to set times for Torah – now is the time to make appropriate decisions. And those who stumble here and there with slander and disrespect for others – let them make their repentance and bring about the turning point that is required of them.
This is the month of Elul – a call for every Jew to change his ways for the better.
During the month of Elul, God shines His face upon us, reveals to us His thirteen attributes of mercy, and thus gives every Jew enormous powers to bring about a turnaround. Whoever takes advantage of the powers given now will be able to bring about a turnaround in the course of his life. Nothing is impossible. God extends a supporting hand to us.
You just have to want it.
Without labels
The same goes for others. There is a tendency to label people, to determine who is good and who is bad. This is a fundamentally wrong approach.
The sages said that one of the things hidden from a person's heart is what is done in the heart of his friend. The cynical and harsh Jew, who seemingly does not listen to your words at all, may turn out to be someone whose words pierce his kidneys and heart.
We just need to turn to each other out of love and affection, out of sincere and true desire, and help each other. Without arrogance, without threats and intimidation. To speak to others as a friend, as a friend. And hold on to words of truth, which come from the heart, which will also enter the heart, and we will all have a good and sweet year.
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