Elul 5
When evil-doers come upon me to devour me, even my adversaries and foes stumble and fall. (Psalm 27:2)
When we attempt to make teshuvah, we become vulnerable and expose ourselves. What if the other person, or community, or nation, doesn't respond to our overtures? How do we tap into the essential element of the process, which is love?
A friend saw Bruce Springsteen last week, and he sang his songs of love, sorrow, dreams, and loss.The crowd was amazing as usual. The love the crowd had for him and his music was palpable.
My friend reflected that if each of us felt loved like that, we'd bare our souls. We might more likely open up about our mistakes, what we are thinking, where we are headed, and what we need to fix.
We may not get crowds like Bruce, but the love that surrounds each of us is real. It's there. So fall into Elul, she said, the crowd will cheer for you.
The Ba'al Shem Tov said: "The determination to rise from every fall is what enables people to become righteous. Each of us—no matter how far we may have fallen—has an innate ability to become righteous by refusing to give up."
It takes courage to change the things about ourselves that we can. By working on ourselves, we might find a new way of viewing the other people in our lives. We might not be able to change someone else, but we can change ourselves.
To do: Focus on pattern of behavior you were aware of this past year. If you find that you are berating yourself, try to redirect your thoughts toward ways you might shift the pattern. Don't despair of your actions, try and lift yourself up towards another way. Teshuvah, ultimately, is about redirection and rebirth—about loving yourself.
When we attempt to make teshuvah, we become vulnerable and expose ourselves. What if the other person, or community, or nation, doesn't respond to our overtures? How do we tap into the essential element of the process, which is love?
A friend saw Bruce Springsteen last week, and he sang his songs of love, sorrow, dreams, and loss.The crowd was amazing as usual. The love the crowd had for him and his music was palpable.
My friend reflected that if each of us felt loved like that, we'd bare our souls. We might more likely open up about our mistakes, what we are thinking, where we are headed, and what we need to fix.
We may not get crowds like Bruce, but the love that surrounds each of us is real. It's there. So fall into Elul, she said, the crowd will cheer for you.
The Ba'al Shem Tov said: "The determination to rise from every fall is what enables people to become righteous. Each of us—no matter how far we may have fallen—has an innate ability to become righteous by refusing to give up."
It takes courage to change the things about ourselves that we can. By working on ourselves, we might find a new way of viewing the other people in our lives. We might not be able to change someone else, but we can change ourselves.
To do: Focus on pattern of behavior you were aware of this past year. If you find that you are berating yourself, try to redirect your thoughts toward ways you might shift the pattern. Don't despair of your actions, try and lift yourself up towards another way. Teshuvah, ultimately, is about redirection and rebirth—about loving yourself.
