Jewish Life Digital Edition September 2015 | Page 65

TEXT: COMPILED BY LIZ SAMUELS

WISDOM
On this day of the year (1 Elul),
we begin sounding the shofar
each morning, to arouse us to
the forthcoming Rosh Hashanah,
Yom Kippur, and Sukkos.
The shofar is a call to teshuva
(repentance). The month of
Elul is particularly propitious
for renewal and rededication.
We must take a moral inventory,
for the days of accountability are
approaching. Life is not a free-forall. There are statutes by which we must live,
and the G-d of Jacob sits in judgment.
Teshuva is hard work. Self-examination is not
comfortable, and changing those habits which we
discover to be objectionable requires persistence
and diligence.
“Sound the shofar… which leads to our festival.” The
days of awe are followed by Sukkos, the festival of
joy. All the effort expended in self-examination and
in ridding ourselves of our character defects will
ultimately be rewarded by the attainment of true joy.
Rabbi Abraham J Twerski

You know the secrets of the universe, and the
hiddenmost mysteries of all the living. You probe
all innermost chambers and test thoughts and
emotions. Nothing is hidden from You and nothing is
concealed from Your eyes. And so may it be Your will,
Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that
You forgive us all our errors, and you pardon us all
our iniquities, and You atone for us all our wilful sins.
From the Amidah – Yom Kippur
What is the significance of our actions? What
weight do they carry? How far-reaching are their
ramifications? We tend to regard our actions as simply
a matter of behaviour. And so when our actions
involve cheit (sin), we think that all that is demanded
of us is to rectify our bad behaviour. But in fact our
actions are far more significant than this; they are our
very life. Thus, sinning is profoundly dangerous to our
very essence. Rabbi Reuven Leuchter
It is a positive commandment of the Torah that man
arouses his spirit to repent on Yom Kippur, as it says…
from all your sins shall you be purified.
Shaarei Teshuvah 2:14 JL