This coming Tuesday, September 3, marks Rosh Hodesh Elul, the final month before Rosh Hashanah. The month of Elul is traditionally a time for serious introspection when we begin to prepare for the High Holy Days by reflecting on our actions during the past year and make choices about behaviors we wish to change or leave behind and behaviors we wish to reinforce and carry with us into the New Year.
In this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, Moses says to the Israelites, “You shall not act at all as we now act here, each of us as we please, because you have not yet come to the allotted haven that your God יהוה is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 12:8-9) The Israelites stand at a crossroads, poised on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, about to enter the Land of Israel. Behind them lies slavery, the Exodus, and wandering in the desert. Before them lies the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, and the opportunity to create a society based on God’s Torah, a more just and moral social order. Part of that responsibility is to subsume the individual desire to do whatever one pleases, to obey God’s moral code to build a just society, where one cannot do whatever one pleases but must take the needs of others into account. This is one of the fundamental tensions of Judaism, balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of the community. It is in the balance of the two that true happiness and fulfillment is found.
At the beginning of the month of Elul, with four weeks until Rosh Hashanah, we stand at our own personal crossroads. Will we continue to do whatever we please, or will we heed Moses’ call to follow God’s Torah and balance our own willfulness with a commitment to others to create better families, communities and society as a whole?
Re’eh, Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17; Parashat HaShavua for Shabbat, August 31, 2024
August 30, 2024 by tbhrich • Drashot
This coming Tuesday, September 3, marks Rosh Hodesh Elul, the final month before Rosh Hashanah. The month of Elul is traditionally a time for serious introspection when we begin to prepare for the High Holy Days by reflecting on our actions during the past year and make choices about behaviors we wish to change or leave behind and behaviors we wish to reinforce and carry with us into the New Year.
In this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, Moses says to the Israelites, “You shall not act at all as we now act here, each of us as we please, because you have not yet come to the allotted haven that your God יהוה is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 12:8-9) The Israelites stand at a crossroads, poised on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, about to enter the Land of Israel. Behind them lies slavery, the Exodus, and wandering in the desert. Before them lies the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, and the opportunity to create a society based on God’s Torah, a more just and moral social order. Part of that responsibility is to subsume the individual desire to do whatever one pleases, to obey God’s moral code to build a just society, where one cannot do whatever one pleases but must take the needs of others into account. This is one of the fundamental tensions of Judaism, balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of the community. It is in the balance of the two that true happiness and fulfillment is found.
At the beginning of the month of Elul, with four weeks until Rosh Hashanah, we stand at our own personal crossroads. Will we continue to do whatever we please, or will we heed Moses’ call to follow God’s Torah and balance our own willfulness with a commitment to others to create better families, communities and society as a whole?