The Month of Elul

One might say that a life spent in a consciousness of, perhaps, inadequacy would feel frustrating and demoralizing. But perhaps it depends on our perspective. If it’s not just about us and our accomplishments, then the knowledge that true mastery is impossible, given the complexity and vastness of the subject or pursuit, might be the most liberating knowledge there is...

She says that she is running on empty. She says that there is vast, useless space inside of her. She looks the same on the outside. But things are subtly falling apart. She is bored literally to tears even though her schedule is full. She can’t find meaning despite the rituals and beliefs that frame her days. She doesn’t want to do anything, but she does everything anyway. She can’t figure out where she went wrong when she was playing by all the rules...

A Rosh Hashanah greeting from Sara Esther Crispe, editor of TheJewishWoman.org.

Only when we turn around do we realize the truth, the inner essence, and then we are “face to face”—which does not only mean that we can finally look at each other, but more so, that we can look in each other . . .

The collective vessel of the people of Israel is an organism unto itself that has its own life path and journey from birth to maturity...

I am all too familiar with the fragility of birch trees. Our counselors taught us that if we peeled back the thin white paper-like bark of the birch, we would end its life. The power was in our hands...

My life is filled with blessings. Yet I can easily pass an entire day focusing entirely on what I am lacking. I can get caught up in small frustrations and spend hours agonizing over miniscule losses...

In Song of Songs, which explores the relationship between G-d and Israel through the metaphor of the love between a bride and her groom, we find expressions of both male-initiated and female-initiated love

The main work for this time is to formulate our goals, visions, and resolutions for the coming year. We are given hints by G-d regarding what we should pray for, both in a positive and negative sense, by awakening in us specific yearnings and fears...

When Rosh Hashanah approaches, our inner critic tends to get louder. "What did you actually do this year? Was it a productive year? Was it a complete waste?"

Anyway, all of this dieting has got me thinking. It’s Elul now, the month when we Jews reevaluate our lives so what does this little tale say about me. There’s a Jewish belief that events in the body can mirror events in the soul. Since I was way off about my corporeal self what did that say about my spiritual self?

We make the same mistakes over and over. Do we realize that by doing so, the person we are harming most is ourselves?