Elul Meditation

I am husband and father,

Brother, son, colleague, and friend.

I am a congregational rabbi,

And a Jew in the pews.

I am a cancer survivor,

And support those with cancer,

And heart disease,

And dementia,

And mental illness,

And people in bad marriages,

And with troubled kids,

And unsatisfying jobs,

And too little money,

And frustrated lives.

I am one human being,

And life moves through me,

And through you,

Except when it doesn’t.

Life is wondrous,

Most of the time,

But sometimes it hurts like hell!

There is a second me too,

And a second you –

The always-present Neshamah

That hovers and waits

To become one with Nefesh,

The earthly-animal-life-force

That keeps us alive.

The Neshamah connects us to Divinity,

And infuses us with Essence,

And inspires us

To think and know

That we come closest to God

When we know that we are no-thing

And part of the All.

When we are most receptive to Neshamah

Our lives work.

In Elul each morning I awake wondering –

What is my greatest challenge?

What troubles me about me?

What gives me heartache and grief?

What ruins enslave me?

Am I patient and kind enough,

Generous and respectful enough,

Understanding and wise enough,

Appreciative and grateful enough?

The Yamim Noraim are coming!

There is little time.