My wise friend Phyllis (ImaBima) is blogging for Elul and I am trying to join in. The theme for Elul 1 is prepare, and that seems a good way to move into this time of year, even though part of me thinks that August is actually better suited to evading preparation.
I love fall, the beginning of the Jewish year and the beginning of the school year, with the crisper air snapping me into a sense of greater alertness and possibility. But first there is August—when I feel almost entitled to lounge away the final moments of summer without the pesky need to think about what lies ahead.
When I reframe August into the Jewish calendar, and consider Elul instead, somehow I feel better about the pull to plan. From experience I know I will be rumpled by the collision of the High Holy Days and the secular back-to-work-back-to-school-back-to-business mentality that arises with the sun on the Tuesday morning after Labor Day.
On the one hand, I want to be able to undertake the reflection that the High Holy Days offer and demand. On the other, this time comes exactly when the rest of the world wants more of my attention for other things. The traffic, both on the road and through my email inbox, will increase dramatically. My now college-age students will need to be settled, classes will begin, orientations will take place, bookgroups will start up, committees that haven’t communicated since May will suddenly be scheduling six months’ worth of meetings all at once, projects will demand attention and next steps.
And of course, there will be brisket to cook and round challah to acquire.
So in these still low-key weeks, when Elul and August overlap and there are still a few lazier days and longer twilights left to more peaceful pursuits, the time seems right to review my outlook as well as my Outlook. That way, when the time comes and I feel pressured to ‘hurry up and reflect’ I’ll already know who and what I want to think about, and what I want to do.
And--just maybe--bake the challah this year.
