Shana Tova!

May this new year be sweet and filled with blessing.

From my family to yours....shana tova!

Apples & Honey

(oh goodness, where did Blog Elul go? Hmm....got a little sidetracked.)

Here's a new song to lighten up your Elul prep...

Shofar Callin' (from G-dcast)

Parshat Shofar Callin' from G-dcast.com

More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

Shabbat Shalom!

Other People Talking Elul

Amichai Lau-Lavie is doing a great job with his blog, talking "prepent" - a great riff on the idea of preparing ourselves for the repentance season.

Check it out at:
http://storahtelling.blogspot.com/
Sent via Blackberry
Visit me at http://imabima.blogspot.com

Make your Soul Bigger?

Marking The Years

We have a great back-to-school tradition in our family. My son's school has a lovely mural painted in the main hallway, and when I took him in for his kindergarten orientation, I snapped a photo in front of it. And then I did it again for first grade, and second grade, and just this week, for third grade.

It's quite remarkable to look at the photos.

And of course, this milestone-marker got me to thinking about Elul. (Is anything else really on the brain?)

How often do we "check up" on ourselves - how much have we "grown" in the last year? How much has changed about ourselves and what do we hope will change in the next year? I know parents who do all sorts of milestone-markers with their kids - they fill out questionnaires or conduct yearly video interviews. But what about as adults? How do we track our progress? How do we tell if we've missed the mark or hit the nail on the head?

And that's what Elul is for. We're almost halfway through. Are you checking in with yourself?

Running the Route

Today is the day before the first day of school.
The school buses are out running their routes, practicing for the big day.

The kids are getting haircuts, new shoes, and new backpacks.
They're sharpening pencils and labeling folders.

Some parents are suppressing their glee and others are holding back tears.
Maybe it's the first-first day. Maybe its one of the last-first days. Maybe they can't let go.

I've never had any trouble associating Rosh HaShanah with a new beginning because those sharp pencils and new erasers help me out.

I think it's no wonder that the two go hand in hand. A new eraser to help us fix the mistakes we've made over the last year. New pencils to write the story of our future. New teachers to guide us along the way. New bus routes to help us get there.

Are you ready?

Let the Shofar Sound

It's traditional, during the month of Elul, to blow the shofar daily.

The shofar reminds us - "wake up! get ready! don't delay!"

The shofar stirs in us a passion, it speaks to something deep and primal. There's nothing quite like the sound of the shofar.

Have you heard the shofar yet this Elul?

Here's another use for the shofar...just in case you need a laugh along with your dose of inspiration!

Make an Excuse....or Grow Instead

Repentance...the true work of repentance...

No excuses can replace that.

You can make excuses or you can start the real work of personal growth.

Which one will it be for you this year?

Sermons? What sermons?

The month of Elul is, for most rabbis, a month of writing. There are so many other aspects to the holidays BESIDES sermons, but we all seem to focus on our sermons - the words that we will say to our congregations that will hopefully move, inspire, enlighten, entertain, amuse, interest, and not annoy them.

No small task, right?

Yesterday's Jewel of Elul was by Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater. I don't know him, but he did a great job of capturing the way that I feel about sermon-writing:

Writing sermons brings a myriad of emotions for me: fear, excitement, nervousness, and anticipation.  Will I inspire, challenge, comfort, educate, or transform those listening?  Will I reach one person with my message? 

The blank screen that unfolds before each sermon is my darkness - formless and void.  And then I begin to create.  As I sit down to write, I am aware of this creation teaching, for it calls me to find the message needed for the moment. 

Oh yes, Josh. (Can I call you Josh? I feel a kinship, let me tell you.) This is it - the blank screen, the emotions, the desire to "get it right" - and yes...one person is enough for me too.

It's a long shot, but I think I'll get there.

When the Cake Falls

For me, part of any holiday preparation involves getting into the culinary spirit as well. Elul, of course, makes me think of honey cake, apples, and round challah.

So today I tested a new honey cake recipe. (Is it really fair to say it's new if I've never made honey cake before? Well, it's new to me.)

I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which is really from Marcy Goldman's great cookbook.

Except it didn't quite come out the way I hoped it would.
The middles of all the cakes fell in.

And then they stuck to the pan when I flipped them out.

So they were messed up on the bottom AND the top. 
But the upside? It tasted delicious.

Sometimes things don't go quite the way we've planned.
Life is unpredictable. Sometimes the middle falls in.

We work hard during this month to get it all right...we work hard to right our wrongs and fix our mistakes.

Sometimes it's not pretty.

But at the end...when we worked hard and spent the time in teshuvah and personal growth....
it tastes delicious.

So that's what I'm aiming for this month.
How about you? Share your Elul hopes here...

It's a Big Carwash Out There

This is my favorite analogy for thinking about the High Holy Days. As I prepare for all that is coming up (gulp) soon, I usually re-read all my favorite materials. This one came up today.

My kids love to go to the carwash. When I shift the car into neutral, they squeal with delight. They think it's so cool to sit in the car while the water sprays on all sides, the sponges swish, and then there's the big dryer and the car is all shiny, squeaky clean!

And what the kids don't realize, but I certainly do, is that while the outside of the car is shiny and clean, the inside is NOT. There are smudges on the windows, there are goldfish cracker crumbs everywhere, and there are toys and books strewn all around. The only way to REALLY get the car clean is with the super car wash, the one where you get out and let the guys inside. They bring the vacuum and really clear it all out.

The holidays are the same. It's possible to go to services, shift into neutral, and let the conveyor belt move you along. You get hit on all sides - music, rabbi, sermon, shofar, Torah....before you know it, it's over and you walk out feeling shiny and new.

But does sitting in synagogue really do it? Just those few short hours? Probably not. The only way to make personal change is to get inside and vacuum out all the goldfish cracker crumbs. It starts now, it starts with Elul and with these weeks of preparation. It starts with allowing yourself to be opened up to the possibilities of growth and change and not just coasting along, hoping it will just happen for you.

Are you ready?

A Healthy Elul

So I got a sneak peek of Chana's post for a Healthy New Year (go and subscribe to her blog so you'll get to see it when it comes out!) and it got me to thinking about how the holidays seem to be all about internal checkups. What kind of person have I been, what kinds of actions have I taken against and for others this year?

But her post made me think about the physical as well. Have I taken care of my body this year? Have I eaten healthy foods, have I made good choices about the various products and foods that I put into and onto my body in the previous year? And with that...what can I do to do better in the New Year? How can I take better care of my physical self, which will in turn help me to take better care of my mental, emotional, and spiritual self?

So here are some of my suggestions for a healthier Elul, which might lead to a healthier year:

1. Get a physical. When was the last time you saw your doctor for a well-visit? Most of us are incredibly careful about taking our children in for their annual physical, usually egged on by the forms that we have to fill out for camps, sports and school. But once we outgrow the need for those forms, we sometimes skip out on the annual physical as well. Get checked out. Elul is a good time to schedule that checkup!

2. Get a new toothbrush. I always replace my toothbrush at Pesach, but obviously it needs to be replaced more often. When was the last time you did that? Worn-out toothbrushes can harbor bacteria, which you certainly don't need.

3. Run your cosmetics and other products through the Cosmetic Safety Database. While we certainly can't eliminate all toxins from our bodies and our world, we can certainly learn something and be knowledgeable about the products we are using. Maybe this is the time to change just one product to a "healthier" version - or maybe you don't need that artificial fragrance at all! It can't hurt to examine this aspect of your life.

4. Check the expiration dates of cosmetics, medicines, foods, etc. Do you really want all that old stuff cluttering up your medicine cabinet, your pantry, your life? Just as we declutter our heads before Rosh HaShanah, let's declutter our shelves too.

5. Wash your hands. Are you a regular hand-washer? Now is the time to add this simple step into your routine. Conveniently, the holidays fall right before the flu and cold season begins so it's plenty of time to get your habits in place to wash your hands.

6. Consider eating less meat. Take one day a week to be a "meatless" day or even two days! You know it's healthier, it's also better for the environment, and it's a simple thing to do. I'm sure this isn't the first place that you've read this suggestion - so give it a try, just until the holidays. You never know, you might like it!

7. Try a new exercise. Take a yoga class or try pilates. Spin or do a new aerobics class. Take your walk along a different route. Get your body moving and grooving - you might find that it helps with the spiritual side of Elul as well!

8. Hug your family. Physical contact with others is important for personal well-being. Don't let yourself get caught up in the separation of modern life, but instead remember to hold hands, give hugs, rub backs.

9. Drink a cup of tea. Studies show that green tea is good for you, but I also think that there's something soothing about holding a nice hot cup of carefully made tea. It's also a good way to remind you to slow down and look around...don't let each day go by so fast.

10. Eat a cookie and enjoy it. Being healthy isn't always about feeling guilty when you "eat the wrong thing." So once in a while, have a cookie or a piece of candy, don't forget to treat and indulge yourself occasionally. And remember that a treat is best when it doesn't happen all the time!

What are some of your tips and ideas for a healthy new year?

Smell the Elul-Scent

“In the shtetl of Lubavitch, on the Shabbat preceding the month of Elul, though summer still lingered and the day was bright and sunny, there was a change in the air; one already smelled the Elul-scent, a teshuvah-wind was blowing.” (Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak)

Do you feel the “Elul-scent” in the air? In this month we have the ability to re-connect with ourselves; each day we have the chance to work on breaking down the walls that stand between us and the holy days that lie before us…each day we work on rebuilding our relationships – with ourselves, with each other, and with God.

Would you like to change something in your life? The month of Elul provides us with the impetus to do it. Special energy radiates through this month, a month known as the “month of accounting,” an accounting at the end of the spiritual fiscal year. What do you want to change? Perhaps it is a relationship that you want to make better. Perhaps it is a psychological pattern that you get stuck in. Perhaps it is a job, a habit…you name it.

Now is the time. Elul is the time.

May I...

The words of  Rabbi Rami Shapiro:


May I cultivate the strength to look honestly at my actions.

May I cultivate the honesty to admit when I have been wrong.

May I cultivate the understanding to know how best to make amends.

May I cultivate the courage to ask for forgiveness.

May I cultivate the compassion to grant forgiveness when asked.

May I cultivate the humility to surrender myself to God.

May I cultivate the wisdom to know I do this not for myself alone but for all the world.

May the coming year be one of sweet delight to all.


The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, I'll be blogging (except on Shabbat) a thought for each day to help with your month of preparation...

Make the Most of Elul

There are many traditions associated with this time of the Jewish calendar that are used to heighten the importance and seriousness of these days of the month of Elul. Here are some to try this month:

Recite Psalms every day to open your heart.
Make cheshbon ha-nefesh, a daily moral inventory, before going to sleep.
Practice shmirat halashon, conscious speech, and avoid gossip.
Give tzedakah daily.
Send Rosh HaShanah cards and tell people how important they are to you.
Take a walk each day to connect to the world around you.
Do something that makes you happy.
Learn something new during this period of time.
Make time each Shabbat for rest and relaxation.
Do something nice for your body to honor it and dedicate its actions to the good.
Buy something new to wear on Rosh HaShanah.

Do you do any of these? Or do you engage in other customs to get ready? For many people, I know that their list also includes preparing meals and all that. How do you prepare spiritually amidst the mundane details of table setting and menu planning?

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, I'll be blogging (except on Shabbat) a thought for each day to help with your month of preparation...

A Poem to Begin Elul

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, I'll be blogging (except on Shabbat) a thought for each day to help with your month of preparation...

as the new moon Elul approaches
the days begin to grow shorter
as the new moon Elul approaches
our minds begin to wander
toward the healing breaths
of the days of awe.

each day dawns
beckoning me to
examine
elaborate
consider
remark
pay attention
get ready!

my heart moves toward
the days of awe.
am i ready?
have i asked the questions?
forgive me
pardon me
raise me up
renew me
refresh me
bring my soul back home
so that i may fill myself up

plant the seeds of the new year
and watch them grow
small shoots of green that begin to poke up
during this month
they blossom and flower
into the days of awe
and i flower with them
reaching my petals, like a flower,
up to the Holy One.

Return for Elul...

The month of Elul is beckoning...it's coming. (Starts next week, by the way.)

I've decided to "Blog the Elul" as it were....a moment to revitalize this "rabbinic blog" perhaps? Who knows.

But come back daily for a dose of pre-holiday thoughts. Some will be long. Some will not. Some will change your thinking about teshuvah and preparation. Some may be like a visit with an old friend, comfortable and memory-provoking.

If you're not already subscribed to this blog, feel free to do so by clicking HERE. If you'd prefer to receive this blog via email, click HERE to set that up. (Simple and spam-free!)

While you're setting yourself up for a month of inspiration, why not also go ahead and subscribe to the Jewels of Elul, a really lovely daily email for the whole month.

URJ Biennial

I'm in the Toronto airport waiting for the flight that will carry me home to Chicago. I've been, for the last two days, a participant in the Union for Reform Judaism's Biennial convention. http://biennial.urj.org

Every other year, Reform Jews get together to celebrate Jewish life, to learn from each other and share music, worship, and companionship. It's a really wonderrful experience, with some of the finest musicians, teachers, speakers and programs.

Some of the highlights of my biennial experience:
- seeing my friends. For me, there's an element of reunion about the biennial. Nothing quite matches the hug you get from a friend you haven't seen in a year or two, and the delight at being surprised by someone you didn't know was coming!

- making new friends and connections. I exchanged a lot of business cards, shook a lot of hands. It was like Facebook in real life :) and I loved meeting friends of friends.

- putting faces to names, blogs, twitter handles. There are many people, particularly rabbis, cantors and teachers, among others, that I only know from their blogs or twitter feeds. How wonderful to meet and be together in real life - how delightful to make a "real" friend out of an online friend.

- the one large session I was there for was really great. Honorees were Dr. Avivah Zornberg, who taught marvelous Torah, and Harold Grinspoon, who has given so much to our camping movement. Dr Eboo Patel spoke and truly held the room, fascinates by his explanation of "theology of the bridge" - the idea that every religious tradition, at its heart, has respect for the humanity that God created. The evening ended with a performance by Josh Nelson and Craig Taubman....always wonderful and uplifting.

- my own session - I led, along with four others, a session on social media. Not a how-to session, but more a "why" and "what". I shared some of my own experiences with Twitter, Facebook, and this blog, and really felt that my words had relevance and resonance for the participants. It was fun, too! We had a large screen with a live twitterfeed following the hashtag #urjbiennial - fun to see live tweets coming from within the room.

And now I head home, the Biennial continues on with Shabbat and all the festive ways in which it's celebrated with 2000 of your closest friends. For me, a quieter Shabbat back in Chicago.

I feel that my cup has been filled up with the human connections, the hugs, the smiles of recognition and the new relationships formed.
##

Prayer in a Twitter World

Prayer in a Twitter World
Rabbi Phyllis Sommer
Yom Kippur Morning 5770

Do you know how long it takes for the giant Chinese bamboo to grow to over 90 feet tall? First, it is planted as a tiny seed. Then the seed is watered and fertilized for a whole year, and nothing appears above the ground. Then the seed must be watered and fertilized for a second year. And a third, and a fourth. Still, nothing happens. Finally, in the fifth year of its care, the bamboo shoots up to the sky – growing 90 feet in just six weeks. The question is – how long does it take for the Chinese bamboo to grow 90 feet? Is it six weeks? Or is it five years…
If the farmer leaves the plant untended, unwatered, for any time during the previous four years, the plant would have died. Can you imagine working on a plant and seeing no growth for four full years?

Another story:

We planted tomatoes this year in our back yard. The day after they were planted, Sam, my three year old, wanted to go outside and get a tomato to eat. I took him out and showed him the baby plants, and explained that it would take a long time for them to grow. Later that day, he asked to go get a tomato NOW because hadn’t it been a long time already?

We are in a society that expects instant gratification. Fast food, fast cars, fast internet connections. If the page doesn’t refresh when I want it to, if the email doesn’t go through right away, if the person in front of me doesn’t hit the gas the minute the light turns green…Every activity has to have a purpose and a goal. A few spare minutes in the carpool line? Send an email! A ride in the car? Listen to an audiobook or a radio program. A chance to have a quiet lunch alone? Read the newspaper! We multi-task our multi-tasking.

I adore the internet. Many of you know that I love to blog, to use Facebook, even to Twitter. I am a product and a child of the Internet age. I love that the world moves fast, I love that I can see what’s going on all around with the click of my mouse or the touch of a button on my blackberry.

One of the reasons people like using the internet is because it “Gets things done” quickly, easily, and without a lot of fuss. Need to know the answer? Google it, of course. Need an answer right away? Send a text message. It helps us get stuff done. But I know that it has its downside. After all, if everything is a “trending topic” – if everything is important enough to share with the 700 or so people I consider “friends” on Facebook, if the news is coming at us constantly, all the time…how do we figure out what’s really important?
I want things to happen quickly, I don’t like to wait for people to check their email. How many of you have followed up an email with a phone call just a few moments later? I don’t like to “sit around and wait.”

And then there’s prayer. The ultimate “sit around and wait activity.” Nothing seems to happen right away, nothing gets done while I’m doing it, I can’t multi-task it.

Prayer is generally thought of as a “non-expedient activity.” What do I mean by this? Praying as long and as intensely as one likes or is able to has absolutely no immediate visible response. Well, as far as you can see or feel at that moment. God may or may not respond affirmatively to the prayer – and either way, a response is not instantaneous. And even over time, it’s not always totally clear if there’s a direct correlation between the prayer I’ve said and the response from God. And to top it all off, the hours we’re spending here today for example – nothing has moved from the in-box to the out-box. No physical goods have exchanged hands. No stocks or bonds went up or down because of what we are doing here.

Let’s face it: our world tends to measure all activities based on productivity. Professional productivity, financial productivity, even personal satisfaction is measured on the same standard! We measure life by what we have accomplished with the time we have spent. We measure each moment of our lives by “what we got done” or “what we didn’t get done.” Even on vacation! How many of us fill our vacation and down-time hours with activities that “get stuff done” – different certainly than the “work” stuff we’re getting done, but equally active and goal-oriented. Even the simple act of driving home from work is often filled with music, talk radio, or phone conversations.

For most of us, this constant need to surround ourselves with stimulation and input means that we do not allow ourselves the time or the quiet to open up ourselves to a connection to prayer and to God.
Prayer does not work when measured by its productivity. In fact, it’s just the opposite – prayer is a total suspension of the other activities and a chance to remove one’s need and one’s desire to be productive at all! Instead, it requires handing over the reins of our lives to Someone Else – opening ourselves up to the potential change that can bring.

Many societies and cultures pray early in the morning. When we first wake up, we thank God for having gotten us through whatever dangers may exist in the nighttime, in the dark, while we sleep. Jewish tradition upholds this as well, with the morning prayers.

Many cultures also have nighttime prayers, asking for protection in advance from the same dangers we were grateful to have escaped in the morning. Judaism also has evening prayers, a set liturgy.

But Judaism has something different from other cultures – we were the first to invent the idea of midday prayer. The prayer service known as Mincha falls in the middle of the day and has a unique requirement – in order to truly pray, one must put down one’s work, right when the going is good. In order to pray the midday service, you have to stop what you’re doing, and in some way acknowledge a relationship to God. Perhaps even say – hey, this connection to God is more important than the productive and speedy work that I’m doing right now. In fact, it is this connection that makes everything else possible. Even if midday prayer isn’t a part of your regular routine, the very idea of taking a pause during the middle of the day can be.

When I first moved to Israel, I was shocked – shocked – by how rude all the store clerks seemed to be. Inevitably, I would walk into a bookstore or clothing store in the middle of the day and the young woman behind the counter wouldn’t greet me or even speak to me. Instead, she would be on the phone, talking in loud Hebrew phrases. When I’d come to check out, she might say “rega, Ima” – hold on, Mom – and take care of me. For a while I was really annoyed by this. Until someone explained it to me in a different way. Israelis see their family as paramount. You never know what each day will bring. Something as unimportant as a browsing customer couldn’t possibly demand putting aside a family member! It changed my outlook and reminds me of the idea of prayer. Just as I answer the phone for my family above all – so do I have to take a few moments each day to stop the work that I’m doing and answer the spiritual phone to connect me with God.

I know that prayer can be a difficult subject for Jews. In fact, I know that most of us cringe when someone says “I’ll pray for you,” or “you’re in my prayers.” It’s not our way of doing things, it’s not our way, necessarily, of thinking. And it’s not a new problem in the Jewish world, let me tell you. You may be even saying to yourself, “Um, yeah, rabbi?…prayer is not my thing.”

But I’m saying – prayer is our thing. It’s a Jewish thing.

You might have heard the old joke about Jews and prayer. Mr. Shapiro sees his two friends, Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Cohen, coming out of the synagogue one morning. Mr. Shapiro turns to Mr. Cohen and says, “What were you doing in there?” and Mr. Cohen says, “I go there to talk to God.” Then Shapiro turns to Mr. Goldberg and says, “and you? I know you don’t believe in God!” and Mr. Goldberg says, “You’re right. Cohen goes to temple to talk to God. I go to temple to talk to Cohen!”

It’s not just about the prayers we say. Sometimes it’s about being there in the first place. Wait, though, do we have to be there at all? Can’t we just “phone it in” or email our prayers, though? Wouldn’t that be simpler? So thinks Alon Nir of Tel Aviv, founder of Tweet Your Prayers, the Kotel on Twitter, a micro-blogging service that allows users to write short bursts of 140 characters or less. He’ll take your most important prayers, 140 characters or less, and put them into the Western Wall for you. Their website’s mission statement explains: “Tweeting only takes a few seconds; it’s substantially easier, quicker and cheaper than hoping on a plane to Israel.”

Maybe it is all those things: easier, quicker, and cheaper. But is that what prayer is really about?
Look, let’s face it, prayer is a long term investment. It’s much more like the Chinese bamboo – years and years of watering without a lot to show for it. And it’s not particularly easy to follow along all the time, is it? After all, we are all relatively accomplished in our lives, we all have skills and abilities, degrees and awards. But prayer doesn’t work quite like that, does it. There aren’t any awards, there aren’t any balance sheets at the end of the day. It’s not even a timed activity!

Prayer is hard work. It’s not at all like texting or emailing. It requires way more interaction between the sender and the receiver. It requires patience, practice and even humility. Doing it “well” means that we have to get used to it – and to sometimes feeling a little awkward, a little uncomfortable or strange at times. It means struggling, sometimes without immediate reward, and sometimes it means finding rewards right away at the beginning. It means that sometimes you’ll feel like you’re growing and sometimes you won’t. Sometimes you’ll feel all of this over the course of one single service! And sometimes it will take years.

Prayer isn’t about “getting it done.” It’s more like undertaking any other rigorous pursuit – learning to play the violin or practicing yoga or perfecting a golf swing. In fact, it’s even more difficult than any of those things. Would you attempt to run a marathon or complete a triathlon without any training? Would you expect to play a concerto after only 2 violin lessons?

I think we have a slightly imbalanced expectation of ourselves when it comes to prayer. The words are all in the book, for goodness sake! How hard can it be? It’s deceptively difficult. It takes practice and training, it takes a regular interaction with the words, with ourselves, and with God, to make it feel worthwhile.
On Rosh HaShanah we gave a sermon that was very much in the here-and-now, in the idea that we could walk out of the sanctuary with a plan, a goal, a direct result of our being in synagogue.

Yom Kippur isn’t quite the same. Today I ask you to consider that there may or may not be any great big change from your experience here today. You may leave the sanctuary feeling the very same as you came into it. But I invite you, I ask you, I might even beg you, to consider that this isn’t the be-all end-all, and it doesn’t need to be the end of your interaction, your connection to prayer and to God. We live in a quick-fix world, and Yom Kippur seems like it would fit in great with that. One day, absolve the sins, wash ourselves clean with a little fasting, and we’re done. It’s tailor made for how we live our lives.

But it’s not, is it.

There is a reading in our prayerbook, attributed to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prayer may not bring water to parched fields, nor mend a broken bridge, nor rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.

Prayer invites God to be present in our spirits and in our lives. Prayer may not change the world, but it does change me and gives me the power and the possibility to change the world. Prayer cannot mend a broken bridge, but it can mend my troubled and wounded spirit.

Prayer isn’t about a one-time deal. Prayer isn’t about fixing the world with one fell swoop, or fixing ourselves and our needs in a quick-and-dirty solution.

But prayer is about finding the time to turn off the cell phone, the blackberry, the email, Facebook and Twitter. Prayer can be mysterious, elusive and also strangely rewarding. The words are there for us in the book or written in our hearts, in the moments of silence between the set liturgy. The music and poetry are a part of our service, the up and the down, the movement and the gestures. We are entirely, for this moment, outside of the rush of the world around us.

As this Yom Kippur draws us near, draws us close, may we find the possibility to continue our work, to continue the practice and the process that is prayer. May we accept that our results may not be chartable or graphable, that our answers may not come today, or tomorrow, or the next…and may we find peace and wholeness in the pursuit, in the time spent, in the wrestling and in the weeping, in the joy and in the delight, in the words and in the non-words…in the prayer that is a part of the very fabric of our lives.

And may it truly be a blessing for each of us.
Keyn yehi ratzon, may this be God’s will.

With gratitude to the inspiration of aish.com, Rabbi Adam Allenberg,
Rabbi Barry Freundel, Rabbi David Thomas, Craig C. Roshaven, and Teresa Bell Kindred.