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August 30, 2002
Get into shape to greet New Year
Elul is the month in which to review your life, apologize for
your mistakes and prepare for Rosh Hashanah.
OZZIE NOGG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Actors always prepare for the opening night of a show, and Jews
(though you may not have considered this before) need to warm up
for the New Year. You just can't jump helter-skelter into repentance.
You have to first work out the kinks. Ease into it. And for this,
we have the month of Elul – a week of which remains.
Creating a limbering-up period for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
seems to be Elul's reason for being. Since Medieval times, it has
been the designated as the month to prepare for the Days of Awe,
which gives it status, calendar-wise. So, how did we start this
warm-up period?
It began with the blowing of the shofar on 1 Elul at the end of
morning services. To those who think the shofar is heard only on
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it may come as a surprise to learn
it's blown every morning during Elul, except on Shabbat and the
day before Rosh Hashanah.
Why? One tradition has it that 1 Elul is the day that Moses went
up Mount Sinai again – after the golden calf incident –
and so the shofar was sounded to warn the people against repeating
their idolatrous ways while he was gone. The kabbalists, with their
mystical imaginings, say that we blow the shofar during Elul to
confuse Satan as to the real date of Rosh Hashanah, thereby foiling
his dastardly plan to come before God on the "big day"
with false accusations against the Jews.
But the more likely reason is given by Maimonides, who wrote that
the call of the shofar says, "Wake up, you sleepers! Look to
your souls. Examine your deeds and forsake evil so God may have
mercy upon you." In other words, you've been warned, folks.
Judgment Day is coming. It's time to clean up your act.
In the shtetl, the Jews took this warning very seriously and prepared
for the New Year with trembling and dread. The fear of impending
judgment (and possible doom) was real.
Every morning during Elul – well before dawn – the shamash
marched through the streets pounding on doors and shutters, calling
people to Selichot. (Selichot is more than just the midnight
service held on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah. Selichot
are prayers of penitence – thousands of them, actually –
said at various times during the year. But back to the shtetl....)
After the shamash's alarm, the men rushed to the synagogue to chant
the special Selichot prayers of forgiveness. Some recited extra
Psalms and threw in a little Mishnah ... anything to tip the scales
in their favor. Even the lukewarm Jew suddenly became scrupulously
observant during Elul. Everyone was contrite, solicitous, apologetic
and forgiving, careful in business dealings and vigilant against
the tiniest sins. These were the days, it was said, when the very
fish in the streams shivered with foreboding.
Early in the month, people started wishing one another "shanah
tovah" – "a good year." By mid-Elul the
greeting grew to "l'shanah tovah tikateivu" –"may
you be inscribed for a good year." And finally, pulling out
all the stops, it became "l'shanah tovah u'metukah tikateivu"
– "may you be inscribed for a good and sweet year. (After
all, even the Talmud says he who prays for his neighbor will be
heard for himself.)
Prayers were heard in the cemetery, too. Visits to the graves of
parents and other dear ones were all-important during this pre-judgment
period, especially for the women who wept and wailed at the graves,
pleading with the dead to put in a good word for them and their
families with the powers-that-be in heaven. And some women did more.
Slowly, they walked around the sacred cemetery ground, all the while
unrolling a spool of thread, and "measured the field."
This thread they then took to the candle-maker who used it as wicks
for candles that the women later brought, with great solemnity,
to the synagogue.
As the month of Elul drew to a close, the preparations for the New
Year became, by all accounts, absolutely frenzied. Get those mezuzot
inspected and repaired! Fatten up momma's roosters and hens! Buy
poppa a new machzor (High Holiday prayer book) and fix his tefillin!
Settle that family feud! Go to the mikvah! Change the Torah mantles
to white! Give some kopeks to that messenger from Palestine! Do
everything possible to avert the severity of the decree!
Oh, enough already, you're probably saying by now. This is the Shuswaps,
not the shtetl, and spending a whole month reviewing my life and
preparing for Judgment Day smacks of overkill, don't you think?
Perhaps. Yet psychiatrists will tell you that it takes lots of time
to rid yourself of old baggage and that "passages" don't
happen overnight. So maybe even in this modern age, Elul can still
serve its ancient purpose as a slow transition from the old year
to the new.
Try it. Use Elul – or what's left of it – as a warm-up
session for the High Holidays. Start working out.
• Say "I'm sorry" and "pardon me" more
often. To family and friends, of course, but also to strangers.
Using those words can be your way of reciting Selichot prayers on
a daily basis.
• Give to your favorite charity. Have your kids donate their
old but usable clothes and toys to a shelter. Tzedakah is a time-honored
part of Elul.
• Settle outstanding debts. Owing someone a letter, a thank
you note or a phone call can weigh just as heavy as owing money,
so stop procrastinating.
During the remainder of Elul, examine your life and find the weak
spots ... then stretch. By the end of the month, you'll be in better
shape to greet the New Year. A New Year that will, hopefully, be
good and sweet for you and yours.
Ozzie Nogg is an independent member of the American Jewish
Press Association. Her feature columns exploring the history, observance
and customs of Jewish holidays and festivals run in weekly newspapers
around North America.
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