Video: Preparing Our Hearts to Return - Soul Renewal for the New Year
Dear Friends of the Moon,
Soon we will look to the sky and see an eyelash of a moon. The crescent that's coming belongs to the Hebrew month of Elul, beginning sundown Friday, August 10. An acrostic play of the famous phrase, often declared under a wedding canopy, ani l'dodi v'dodi li -
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:3).
Elul is the month of soul preparation in advance of the Jewish New Year, which starts with Rosh Hashana on September 10th. Rosh means head and Shana in Hebrew means cycle or repetition. One of the greatest of cycles is the flow, the river of learning and inspiration.
This Elul is dedicated to teachers and students. One cannot exist or expand without the other. Which are you? When are you?
May this Elul be one of preparing our hearts, opening them to learn and offering them to teach. Recognizing ourselves as students of teachers and teachers of students. May the cycle of this Elul moon be one of turning and returning - to study, to insight, to vision.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon