Elul gets our souls ‘warmed up’ to start fresh for the New Year.
For Elul this year, I am pleased to share with you words from some of my favorite teachers from whom I have learned a great deal over the years. Some may be familiar and some may be new to you. I will bring you selections from the Sfat Emet, Henry David Thoreau, Rabbi Jonathan Slater and more plus my commentary on them. I welcome your thoughts.
Please share brief teachings from your favourites. If you have a special text, verse, poem, or prose that has influenced you during your life, please send it to me at rabbiplumb@mishkantefila.org .
The Morning: A New Day Ahead & A New Life Ahead
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. Henry David Thoreau
A new dawn can only begin if we expect it. If we assume darkness is ahead, we remain asleep, in our nightmare, and the dawn can never come.
