At the end of Shabbat, at midnight, Ashkenazi communities will join in the custom of reciting the Selichot (after the Sephardic communities had already begun doing so since the beginning of the month of Elul). In the silence of the night, we will stand before the Creator of the world and say with a troubled and emotional heart: "To you, O Lord, belong righteousness, and to us is shame... We have searched our ways and searched them out... Not with kindness or deeds have we come before you, poor and needy have we knocked on your doors.".
If the entire month of Elul is a month of repentance and self-examination, then the days of atonement are the final stage in the mental preparation for the new year. The atmosphere becomes more serious. The hustle and bustle of everyday life is pushed aside in favor of the truly important things.
''For what?''
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Everyday worries distort the correct order of importance. Many of us have experienced the disproportion between the things that occupy us in our daily lives and what is truly important. If, God forbid, a health problem arises in the family, suddenly all the things that seemed vital and exciting become frivolous and worthless, because what value is all of this in comparison to health?.
But health is not the end all. Good health is like a healthy car, but you still need to know where to go. Those who do not know their destination can find themselves driving aimlessly through city streets, and even lose their way altogether.
These days are the time to think about the goals and objectives of our lives. What do we want to achieve? What is truly important to us? What would we like to take with us after our years in this world?
When you start thinking in this direction, you suddenly feel the importance of the family. It is the true anchor of life. A healthy and stable family, children and grandchildren who follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. Today's world is full of suffering and unhappiness because family values do not receive the attention they deserve. The hustle and bustle of life causes many to neglect their family and children, and we all pay the price.
And we haven't even talked about the essence of life itself. There are people who lack nothing, who have a loving family and wonderful children, and yet they wake up in the morning and ask: "What for?!" The seventy or eighty years of a person's life fly by, and there comes a moment when he asks himself the real questions about the purpose of life.
A hand extended towards us
This is the point to which we connect on the days of atonement and the High Holy Days. We disconnect from the worries of everyday life and examine our lives in the light of true values, in the light of the Creator of the world and its leader. Life in this world has a purpose and a goal. Our soul descended below to fulfill a role and a destiny, which is the essence of our being. Are we on the right track?
True self-examination can lead to the conclusion that we have invested our energies in vain and pessimistic things. Hence arises the same feeling of 'shame on our faces.' But God forbid that we sink into despondency and despair. Before us is the path to true repentance - "we will search our ways and investigate them and return to you." And there is no doubt that our Father in heaven will accept our prayers with mercy.
