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.
At the end of Elul... we come back to the beginning...to Apology/Slicha/Forgiveness
A Poem by Yehuda Amichai
From the place where we are right Flowers will never grow In the spring. The place where we are right Is hard and trampled Like a yard. But doubts and loves Dig up the world Like a mole, a plow. And a whisper will be heard in the place Where the ruined House once stood.
Recently I hurt a friend’s feelings by something I had done. Another friend I consulted about it said that technically I hadn’t done anything wrong. But I knew I had caused hurt. It doesn’t matter whether I had been right or wrong. The look of pain on my friends face was enough to tell me that right or wrong had nothing to do with this relationship, with this mistake. When I saw her face, it felt like Yom Kippur had arrived at that very moment. My apology was my prayer.
Spiritual Practice Today, ask someone for forgiveness. Offer our apology as our prayer. Today, open the mahzor of our lives and let our apologies flow to heaven.
Mussar @ Mishkan Tefila
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
