There is a palpable change in the air.
We have all felt it every year around this time and there is no denying that something is different.
Ever since מוצאי שבת, Saturday night, the Jewish people as a nation entered a different dimension of our religious yearly experiences. ראש חודש אלול, the ushering in of the new month of Elul, signifies a demarcation between the year that was and the year that is upcoming.
From the very first מעריב, evening prayers, our תפילות, prayers, change along with our focus and intentionality. We begin to blow the שופר, the ram’s horn, each morning and Sephardim begin the recitation of סליחות, the additional prayers to focus our attention on religious reflection and introspection (Ashkenazim will begin in a few weeks). Whenever there is such a drastic altering of our daily prayers it begs us to stop, pause, and reflect on why and what these changes are meant to communicate to us.
We do not have to go far as the main addition to our daily prayers from ראש חודש אלול to שמיני עצרת, Shemini Azeret, one of the last days of סוכות, Sukkot, provides us with a clear understanding and guidance to our question. לדוד, L’Dovid, is the 27th chapter of תהלים, Psalms, which is said after the morning and evening prayers for the next 6 weeks. In these words, we are given a deep and transformative message:
לְךָ֤ ׀ אָמַ֣ר לִ֭בִּי בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ פָנָ֑י אֶת־פָּנֶ֖יךָ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֲבַקֵּֽשׁ׃ אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֬ר פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀ מִמֶּנִּי֮ אַ֥ל תַּט־בְּאַ֗ף עַ֫בְדֶּ֥ךָ עֶזְרָתִ֥י הָיִ֑יתָ אַֽל־תִּטְּשֵׁ֥נִי וְאַל־תַּ֝עַזְבֵ֗נִי אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׁעִֽי׃
“In my heart I say, ‘Desire my face, Hashem, as I desire Your face.’ Do not turn Your face from upon me, do not push aside Your servant in anger. You are my source of help, do not forsake or leave me, Hashem, my savior.”
The Jewish people are begging and pleading with Hashem that he should not forsake and forget His people. Just as we show our desire for “Hashem’s face,” we yearn for Hashem to desire ours just the same. Why should our intentions impact Hashem’s thinking or actions? How does our intentionality warrant Hashem to think twice about forgetting about us and the relationship we have forged since the time of Avraham and Sarah?
דוד המלך, Dovid the King, the author of תהלים, outlined in each of these chapters the guidance and teachings he experienced as he was being pursued by his father-in-law, שאול, Saul, who was hoping to prevent the end of his reign and the beginning of דוד’s. דוד looked deep inside to muster the אמונה ובטחון, faith and belief, in Hashem and the mission that He forged for דוד and his descendants. He placed that same guidance in every word that he wrote.
דוד’s message was very clear. You can say that you want to run a marathon, learn a new skill or build a stronger connection with Hashem. You will never reach that goal without the mix of intention and execution. Saying it doesn’t bring it into existence. Taking action, daily and consistently, will begin to turn the tides of change and write a new reality for each of us.
In this week’s פרשה, we are told of the מצוה that in the prelude to wartime, there are a number of conditions that allow a soldier to recuse themselves of service. One of the conditions is if you build a home and have not yet been מחנך you are allowed to return to your family. חנוכת הבית is the celebration of the completion of the construction of a home and structures. Rashi explains that the root of the word חינוך connotes beginning which is the same word for education and teaching.
דוד was asking Hashem not to forsake him, to protect him from certain death by the hands of his father-in-law, because he had stayed dedicated to the path that Hashem had laid out for him. We read this paragraph and hear the sounds of the שופר as a means to wake us up from the slumber that has been this year. We have just one more shot, the month of אלול, before Hashem makes His final judgments for what will be our year to come.
We have but one question to ask ourselves. If we want it bad enough, what are we willing to do to see it through?
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jordan Silvestri
Head of School
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