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 .
Names - What is Yours?
And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A person’s sentence is torn up on account of four types of actions. These are: Giving charity, crying out in prayer, a change of one’s name, and a change of one’s deeds for the better. (Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16b)
Why does changing one’s name have as much power as giving tzedakah, prayer and behaving better once in a while? If you have ever changed your name, you know how hard it is to do. It takes determination, effort, persistence, and sometimes imagination. It is usually permanent and changes how one is viewed in the world and how we view ourselves.
Prayer and giving tzedakah, on the other hand, are important, but can be temporary and fleeting. They can be superficial, without changing one’s soul. In Jewish thought, however, changing one’s name is transformational and brings redemption. Changing our name means we are capable of changing something deep within ourselves, and beginning anew.
What name would you give yourself to mark a new beginning for yourself?
