Congregation Dor Hadash
San Diego's progressive, down-to-earth
Reconstructionist community, welcoming all,
including LGBTQ+ and interfaith families
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Links to daily Elul Meditations at the bottom.

Open the Gates:  Meditations for the month of Elul

The Hebrew month of Elul which preceeds Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is meant as a time of introspection. Each day of the month, we are meant to spend some time in meditation and contemplation about the year coming to a close, and the teshuvah, the returning, renewing, and repenting that we each need to do in preparation for the coming year. 

Rather than wait until Rosh Hashanah, when the energy is so intense and the liturgy is so full, we take time each day for 30 days, looking at our actions, reviewing our lives, engaging in meaningful dialogue with our souls and beginning to apologize to those we have wronged, including ourselves.  Our tradition calls this process "cheshbon hanefesh," an accounting of the soul. According to the rabbinic midrash, the mitzvot, our Jewish system of living, are meant to "refine our souls," (Bereshit Rabbah 44:1), thereby helping us to understand ourselves better and find more opportunities to engage with God.

That is what I hope we will each do during the coming month, so that when we gather for the service of Selichot (Sept. 1) and then on Erev Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 9), we will have a better sense of ourselves, our shortcomings and mistakes, sought forgiveness where possible, and granted forgiveness as well. In addition, we might also better understand where we went right, how we succeeded and where we want to continue on progress made. Life can turn on a dime and we have this time to heal, make amends, and potentially transform our lives for the good.

I invite you to join me in this endeavor. Every day (mostly) you will receive an email with a meditation/ reading/practice for your contemplation. Since during the month of Elul we are called upon to study and recite Psalm 27 each day, I will be basing most of the meditations and teachings on that psalm.  In addition, I will be using a wonderful book, Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days, (JPS Publications, 1996) by Rabbis Kerry Olitzky and Rachel Sabath, which I would encourage you to buy and use. I use it every year and it is invaluable as a preparation tool! Embedded in the email before each Shabbat of the month will be a link to a song that also carries messages of change, transformation, and renewal.  

Please feel free to share these mediations with family and friends. Spend some time each day focused on the message, hopefully in a quiet space where you can concentrate and not be disturbed for a few moments. Click here for Psalm 27. 

May our process of cheshbon hanefesh bring the power of teshuvah to heal our souls and our world for the better.

L'shalom and hodesh tov—towards peace and a good month of preparations,

Rabbi Yael Ridberg

Elul 1
Elul 7
Elul 13
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Elul 25
Elul 2
Elul 8
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Elul 20
Elul 26
Elul 3
Elul 9
Elul 15
Elul 21
Elul 27
Elul 4
Elul 10
Elul 16
Elul 22
Elul 28
Elul 5
Elul 11
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Elul 6
Elul 12
Elul 18
Elul 24
Congregation Dor Hadash | Mailing address: PO Box 12768, La Jolla, CA 92039 | 858-268-3674