Elul 1 - Welcome

Steve Jobs famously once wrote: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Our Jewish tradition encourages us to do the same each day, and particularly gives us the gift each year of a month during which we are invited to gaze into the mirror of our lives each day and begin to make change. This month is the Hebrew month of Elul, and it begins today.

Once again this year, we offer you, through our “Blog for Elul,” the chance to reflect during Elul with words of inspiration, meditation, thoughtful insights and other reflections from the mirror held up by our rabbis and cantor, Temple staff and members of the congregation. It is our hope that these reflections will inspire each person who reads them to spend some time each day in personal thought and introspection. Even more, we hope that those who read these daily blog posts will be inspired to share your thoughts with our community as well.

We invite you to read, reflect, respond and participate in a congregational dialogue during Elul, about what this month of preparation for the High Holidays means to you, about your faith, your doubt, your struggles, and your journey.

So, to begin, I want to ask all of us to consider:

What would we like to change?  What stands in the way of this change? 

Think about it. Share your thoughts. Welcome to the month of Elul.

Rabbi Jim Bennett

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