Welcome to this online Elul spirituality retreat, written by Rabbi Marcia Plumb and sponsored by Congregation Mishkan Tefila. Every day during the month of Elul, you will receive a ‘Word to Live By’. The words will be in alphabetical order, similar to the Ashamnu prayer during the Yamim Noraim. The Ashamnu lists our sins from the past, but our Elul words contain hope for the future.
You can use the word, and the teaching that comes with it, to set an intention for your day, to help you live your day based on the word. You may want to share it with a friend, who has need of just that word. You may be busy, and simply notice the word in the subject heading, then, skip to the next email….and that is fine too. Noticing can be enough.
At the end of the month, at Rosh Hashanah, I hope, because of our Words, our hearts will be softer, our minds more open to new ways of thinking, and our actions more compassionate.
With prayers for healing and renewal, Rabbi Marcia Plumb, Congregation Mishkan Tefila, Brookline MA.
Impatience/Savlanut
When I am behind a slow car and I am in a hurry, I can get frustrated and annoyed. I try to change lanes but then I find myself behind a longer lane of traffic. I get even more stressed. I move back to the previous lane, and I am behind the slow car again. I am stuck. I am annoyed by the slow car that seems to plague me.
However, the problem is not the car or the traffic. The problem is my impatience. Savlanut is the middah/trait of patience. It relates to the Hebrew word for burden—sevel. It might seem that the traffic jam is my sevel, my burden. But the underlying truth is that my arrogance and desire is the sevel. I want to be, and in some way believe I should be, in control of my environment. I want the traffic to disappear, and the slow car to turn down a side street, away from me. But it doesn’t. My sevel is that I can’t make life go the way I want it to. I can’t make people behave the way I wish. I, and we all, have to bear the burden that others are separate and different from us and they will do things differently. Once I let go of the expectation that others should do what I want, my impatience disappears too.
Spiritual Practice Today, notice when our impatience comes from our desire to control. Let go of the desire. Set down the burden of expectation and notice what happens to our Savlanut.
Elul @ Mishkan Tefila
ELUL Offerings: To Prepare Our Souls for High Holy Days
Silent Supper, September 17: An opportunity for reflection, refreshments,and renewal led by Rabbi Plumb. Registerhere . · Teshuvah Workshops hosted by CMT, led by Rabbi David Jaffe, incorporating Mussar and Spirituality. Mishkan Tefila members should click here to register.
Mussar @ Mishkan Tefila
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
