On the last Monday of August, I awoke when it was still dark, fumbling to silence the beeping and buzzing of the alarm going off beside my bed. It was Rosh Chodesh Elul, the final month of the Jewish calendar, and I was rising early because we were holding a special morning minyan at Congregation Ahavas Achim to honor the occasion.
This is not a regular practice at CAA, but a congregant made the request and helped organize the minyan. She expressed her desire to partake in a communal experience to mark the beginning of the month of Elul, highlighted by hearing the blowing of the shofar, a common practice in Ashkenazic communities for the duration of Elul.
Jewish tradition does a great job of helping us prepare for the High Holidays. The daily blowing of the shofar, the regular recitation of Psalm 27, a communal focus on Teshuvah, recitation of selichot before the High Holidays begin – all of these practices and more help us prepare for the spiritual intensity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Allowing ourselves a full month of preparation facilitates a gradual and expansive opportunity to dive into the self-reflection necessary for teshuvah and to prepare for an awe-filled experience on the High Holidays.
About an hour after the minyan ended, long after I had transitioned into my regular routine, my forearm still bore the marks of my tefillin straps. I could see and feel the indentations in my skin, which helped me hold onto the experience and incorporate it into my day. I hummed through some of the familiar tunes of the Hallel and contemplated the echoes of the shofar reverberating in my head. My revery also led me to a realization that despite how intentional we are about preparing for the High Holidays, we have precious little custom, tradition or infrastructure to help us carry the experience meaningfully into the New Year!
When we mark the end of Sukkot and celebrate Simchat Torah, we immediately prepare to enter the month of Mar-Cheshvan. That name means “bitter Cheshvan,” which is often attributed to its complete lack of Jewish holidays and celebrations. Additionally, with so much time and energy spent on the fall holidays, when they are over, we are often left scrambling to play catchup in other areas of our lives: scheduling meetings we pushed off, making up for missed days of work or school, and making the most of glories of autumn in New England. If Elul provides a gentle, gradual onramp to spiritual growth, the end of Simchat Torah slams on the brakes, sending us from 60 to zero.
Maimonides famously described the sound of the shofar as a wake-up call: “Wake up, sleepers, from your sleep! And slumberers, arise from your slumber! Search your ways and return in teshuvah and remember your Creator … examine your souls and improve your ways and your motivations!” (Maimonides Mishneh Torah, Laws of Teshuvah 3:4). And while the shofar is certainly effective in spurring us to action, there is a different call to alertness, suggested by the Sefat Emet, that might help us maintain Maimonides’ sense of urgency throughout the rest of the year.
The Sefat Emet, Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, was a 19th century Polish Hasidic master and scion of the Ger Hasidic dynasty. In a commentary on the Torah’s commandment to gather on the pilgrimage festivals he offers a play on words. The Torah says these pilgrimages will take place three times, pe’amim, a year. Rabbi Alter says we should actually think of these as pa’amonim – “bells” – that serve to awaken our spirit throughout the year.
The shofar shakes us awake and calls us to attention during the season of teshuvah. It’s a vital and special call. Yet the rest of the year, we must remain alert and ready to heed the gentler, persistent call of the vibrant chorus of Jewish life – the “bells” of the holiday celebrations; Shabbat observance that adds richness to our lives; meaningful prayer; community engagement; and anything and everything else that nourishes our Jewish souls.
Rabbi Alex Matthews leads Congregation Ahavas Achim in Newburyport.
