Love In the Time of Elul

Elul is a month of preparation leading up to the Ten Days of Repentance. Our tradition is filled with teachings that are meant to inspire us to do the work of teshuvah. Rabbi Moshe ben Avraham of Przemysl offers a teaching that is particularly beautiful:

“Every person must prepare for thirty days leading up to Rosh Hashanah. Through repentance, prayer, and charity we ready ourselves for appearing in judgment before God. In order to do this fully, we must give our hearts entirely to the service of God. And those who interpret the Torah metaphorically teach that the initials of the words in the verse from the Song of Songs, ‘I am my beloved‘s and my beloved is mine,’ when read consecutively (Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li) spell out the name of this month of preparation—Elul. [That is, the first letter of each word in the verse spells out “Elul” in Hebrew.]

Here is the lesson: if we devote ourselves with full hearts to complete teshuvah, then God will turn to us, as it were, with a heart full of love and accept our repentance graciously.”

The work of repentance and the work of forgiveness are connected to our capacity to love.

The work of repentance and the work of forgiveness are connected to our capacity to love. We do the work in part to restore relationships with those we love, including God. Forgiveness requires love as well. We accept the person who has transgressed back into our lives and our hearts, in part, because of our love for that person and, more broadly, for our human family.

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” calls us to lovingly make amends to those we have hurt. It calls us as well to lovingly reconcile with those who, through their sincere teshuvah, prove themselves worthy of our forgiveness.

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is the Senior Rabbi of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, California.