Days of Awe and Wonder

By the time this reaches you, we will be dangerously close to the Yamim Nora’im— the Days of Awe and Wonder (also known as the High Holydays). For many of us, these are the most intensely spiritual times of the year. There is no doubt that it is a busy time. In the month of Tishrei, we have Rosh HaShana, the Fast of Gedalia, Shabbat Shuva, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah. There is no busier month on our calendar.

Even though we know the Yamim Nora’im are coming, we are often unprepared for them. Every year, they sort of creep up on us. One minute we are happily counting the Omer and the next it’s Rosh HaShana. My teacher and friend, Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l, wrote a wonderful book, the title of which captures the essence of what I have been writing: This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation.” I don’t think that there is a better title for what many of us feel at this time of year.

But, according to Rabbi Lew, we don’t have to be unprepared. In fact, the only reason we are unprepared is because we haven’t been paying close enough attention. You see, the Yamim Nora’im don’t sneak or creep up on us. We don’t turn around one day to find them sitting on our doorsteps. We actually have a month to prepare. We have an entire month filled with sights and sounds, special Psalms and prayers. The entire purpose of this month, Elul, is to get us prepared for the Days of Awe and Wonder.

The rabbis teach us that the month of Elul is one of the most important months of the calendar year. It is the month of preparation. No other time of year—not Pesah or Shavuot has an entire month set aside for preparation. (To be fair, many of us spend more than a month preparing our homes for Pesah—but we often forget to do the internal cleaning, getting rid of pride and haughtiness, while we are preparing our physical homes.)

But the Yamim Nora’im are different. We have a built in preparation period, a spiritual warm-up, a month in advance. During Elul, we hear the shofar sounded every morning. We recite Psalm 27 at the morning and evening services. As Rosh HaShana draws ever closer, we begin the process of offering Selichot prayers, special penitential prayers for this time of year.

So, why is it then, that we are so often caught off guard when it comes to the Yamim Nora’im? Maybe it’s because there is no physical preparation. Unlike Pesah, the Yamim Nora’im don’t require us to turn our homes inside out. Maybe, unlike Shavuot, there is no countdown (or countup) by way of the Omer. Even though we have all of the additions to the services during the month of Elul, we still aren’t really prepared. Maybe it’s because, as with anything, we get used to hearing the shofar in Elul; we get used to reading Psalm 27.

How then do we get ready? How do we manage to prepare for these most important days and weeks? For me, I begin the month of Elul by starting a Cheshbon haNefesh, often translated as “an accounting of the soul.” I simply take a note pad and draw a line down the middle of the first couple of pages. On one side, I list the ways I have improved over the past year. For example, I may have decided to pray with more kavvanah (focus and intention). On the other side, I list places where I need work. Hopefully, the positives will outnumber the negatives.

Each day, I spend time with the list. Sometimes I simply review it, while at other times I may add something to one or both columns. One of the nice things about this list is that it makes me remain aware of why I am doing it. I am making the list so that I can be ready for the amazing and awe-full days that are ahead. (One thing a friend of mine does when he is compiling his Cheshbon haNefesh is that on the first day of Elul he writes a list counting backward from 29 — the number of days in Elul — and each day he crosses out one of the numbers. This way, he can write his list and know exactly where he is in his countdown.)

No matter what you do — whether you have your own rituals, whether you make a Cheshbon haNefesh — every little bit helps when it comes to preparing for the Yamim Nora’im. A few minutes every day can have an amazing impact on how you experience these days and weeks.

May your Yamim Nora’im and the rest of the year be filled with much laughter and love and many blessings. Shana Tovah!

Rabbinically Speaking is published as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Tampa Rabbinical Association which assigns the column on a rotating basis.