SEPTEMBER 2016 BLUFFTON SUN RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL
Shalom and greetings:
In our tour through the Jewish calendar this year, we arrive at September 4, the first day of the month of Elul. This is the 3rd of four Jewish New Years, the tithing of domesticated animals. (Talmud Rosh Hashanah 2a). This parallels the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees, which we discussed in January. The New Year for Animals is a challenge to rediscover our responsibilities to animals that depend on us for their welfare. Are we treating them correctly with the mitzvah of tza'ar ba'alei chayim [not causing suffering to living creatures]? Have we understood the depth of chesed [loving-kindness], concerning the welfare of animals in Judaism? This is the day to reflect upon and repair our relationships with animals, and recognize our responsibilities.
Reappraising our interdependent relationship with all life is the first step which ensures our own survival, as individuals and as a people, sharing this planet with all of God's living creatures and eco-system.
The rest of the month of Elul is devoted daily to our preparing for Yom Kippur. If we have not made amends {teshuvah}, vidui (confession), gotten rid of resentments, made peace with all, and a chesbon ha nefesh (moral inventory), throughout the year, then Elul is the 'catch up' period. The shofar ram's horn is sounded each day reminding us to "awaken'' spiritually.
"Elul" means "search" in Aramaic. Elul is a time to search one's heart and draw close to God and our fellows. Judah Loew of Prague [c.1600] said, "All the month of Elul, before eating and sleeping, a person should look into his soul and search his deeds, that he may make confession." We even begin to wish each other Rosh Hashanah greetings even though this Holy Day is a month away.
Just as the farmers counted and inspected their flocks on Elul 1, the rabbis taught that God counts and inspects us as His flock. ''Master of the Universe, I hereby forgive anyone who angered or antagonized me or who sinned against me - whether against my body, my property, my honor or against anything of mine; May no man be punished because of me and may I sin no more.''[Daily Bed Time Shema Prayer].
Rabbi Arthur Segal is an international lecturer, author, and teacher. Visit him at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org . Email at RabbiASegal@aol.com .
RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.com/books www.FaceBook.com/Arthur.L.Segal www.FaceBook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal www.RabbiArthurSegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC; Savannah, GA
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC; Savannah, GA