Did You See the movie “Lord of the Rings”? In it, Bilbo Baggins passes the ring on to his nephew, Frodo, who discovers that the ring makes the wearer powerful and evil. Now Frodo must return it to the evil place where it was created and throw it into the only fire that will destroy it.
The Month of Elul is like that. It is time to return things that don’t belong to you; things that maybe make you feel powerful, but also make you do bad things. For instance, do you feel powerful when you tell your parents that your brother put a hole in the wall while skateboarding in the house when it was really you? Not only do you avoid punishment, but your brother gets in trouble. That is a good thing to throw into the fire. Think of other “rings” you might need to take off and throw away.
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