By Rabbi Deborah K. Bravo

Throughout the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah, I will be sharing daily reflections to help each of us prepare for the upcoming High Holy Day Season.  I hope these thoughts inspire each of us to make time, find the energy and initiate some passion as we reflect and examine this past year, in preparation for the year to come.

Tonight begins the 27th day of Elul, only three days until Erev Rosh Hashanah. So it is time for us to allow the many themes of this month to lead us on a path of teshuvah, of repentance, and through repentance, perhaps we will find a sense of renewal and revival. 

I remember, a few years ago, that I had been out of touch with two dear friends.  During the month of Elul, perhaps because it was the month of Elul, I reached out to each one of them.  Though my emails were not filled with the classic terminology around teshuvah, that of asking forgiveness and repent, I did apologize for the lack of connection and communication that had occurred for many months. 

One friend saw this as an opportunity to rekindle our friendship, and it started a regular flow of emails and phone calls, as if no time had passed.  Now, even though we may not speak for months, we do not ever hesitate any more to be in touch with one another, because we acknowledged verbally the awkward pain of no communication for too long.

The other of these friends returned my email with a heart felt email of pain and challenge that she had been experiencing in life.  She was sorry as well, in her own way, that we had not been in touch.  I will forever treasure that correspondence for it was our last meaningful one.  Just a few months later, she died very quickly and far too young, and I knew that God’s light had encouraged me to reach out during that particular month of Elul, to mend a bridge that needed repair.

Sometimes all we need to do to make teshuvah is to simply reach out; to show we care.  Other times, we need to work a bit harder to ask forgiveness, and to repent.  We are taught that there are two kinds of repentance: repentance between human beings, and repentance between ourselves and our God. 

As the New Year is almost upon us, let us begin to truly make teshuvah.  The first time you either ask for or receive teshuvah, it may feel awkward or strange.  But there is something so powerful about the process of teshuvah, both for one who is seeking the teshuvah, and the one who might be receiving it as well.

As we hear the hundred blasts of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, let our souls be awakened, and let it be a call for us to truly begin, if we have not already done so, the real process of teshuvah.

Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Debbie Bravo

Now let the sound of the shofar be heard!

By Rabbi Deborah K. Bravo

Throughout the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah, I will be sharing daily reflections to help each of us prepare for the upcoming High Holy Day Season.  I hope these thoughts inspire each of us to make time, find the energy and initiate some passion as we reflect and examine this past year, in preparation for the year to come.

I am not certain as to why we struggle so much with prayer.  In Jewish tradition, prayer is meant to be a concrete way for us to communicate with our God.  We all know that our relationship with God began through sacrifice, offering various animal sacrifices at the Temple mount, as a way to thank and praise God.  Certain sacrifices were offered at special times of the year, and there were daily sacrifices offered, as detailed in the Book of Leviticus.

When the Temple was destroyed, the Rabbis created prayer as an alternate way to converse, thank and praise God.  Though we often find it easier or more comfortable to pray to God in the sanctuary of our synagogue, we can actually pray in any place, outside, in God’s creations, or in the sanctuary, before the Holy Ark.  Though our tradition dictates three specific times daily to pray, we can offer prayers to God at any time of the day.  Our rabbis gave us structure around prayer, and provided us with formulas to enhance our prayer, but prayer can be any words, formulated in any way, said in any language. 

My experience teaches me that children are often most open to prayer.  Their immature and underdeveloped minds allow them to think beyond the real and the tangible.  Prayer does not come easily for most of us.  Sometimes, it is helpful to be in a quiet, beautiful setting, one where perhaps God’s mystery and majesty is better understood.  Sometimes, it is helpful to be among others who are praying, so we may be guided by the rhythms of their prayer.  Sometimes the prayerbook is helpful, giving us tools and language.  Sometimes the prayerbook is prohibitive, preventing us from finding the words within our hearts.

All of our tots and religious school students can tell you that my favorite time of the service is the silent prayer.  It allows me to pray in the moment, about that which I find most important on any given day, at any given time.  However, I often begin that silent prayer with a fixed prayer, Baruch Ata Adonai..., or Praised are You, O God....  These structures simply start the sentences, to which I need to fill in the blanks. 

One of my favorite readings about prayer can be found 
just before the Amidah in our Mishkan T’filah Prayerbook. 

            In an envelope marked:
                        Personal
            God addressed me a letter.
            In an envelope marked:
                        Personal
            I have given my answer.

Prayer exists only as a give and take between ourselves and our God.  It is personal; it is sacred; it is relational.  May we allow ourselves to pray, for only then, might our prayers be heard... and perhaps answered.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Debbie Bravo

Now let the sound of the shofar be heard;
And let our souls be awakened!