Shalom and welcome to the month of Elul. During September we traditionally spend time preparing for the upcoming High Holy Days. Introspection, self-evaluation, and prayer help guide us through the month when we spend time reflecting on our lives and our choices. We examine our challenges, joys, and decisions as we move forward with forgiveness and renewal.
This year we are bringing back our popular blog called “Echoes of Elul.” We offer you a selection of personal reflections, memories, poems, and stories contributed by our congregational family. A daily posting will be arriving via your inbox to read and contemplate. Shared stories can bring inspiration and insight helping to open our hearts and minds as we engage in our own spiritual journey during Elul.
Rabbi Sara Y. Sapadin writes: “Elul is a time set aside for reflection … an exercise in spiritual accounting… where we focus on the process of rigorous self-examination and investigation… Elul gives us a much needed head start to the sometimes rocky path toward renewal and reconciliation. T’shuvah takes time, and we are blessed to be given more of it.”
Please join us as the Days of Awe open and provide us an opportunity for growth and discovery.
A heartfelt thanks to all who have contributed stories, poems, and reflections.
Space is still available if anyone else would like to share an Echo in our blog.
Contact: Risè Kirbo
L’shanah tovah
by Risè Kirbo The circle is an ancient symbol. It’s as vast as the planets in our solar system and as microscopic as an atom. It is an infinite image ...
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Anonymous Elul. Here again. During any given year, I have (1) ignored it altogether, (2) generated many good intentions and done nothing, and (3) started and stopped some kind of ...
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…and then he said, “When can this conversation be about me?” Pause, silence. The non-afflicted person proceeded with, “…and?” Longer pause. “I have cancer…stage 1.” Where does a twist in ...
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by Anita Rothman Giving birth to our son, Jarrett, changed my life. I was in the pushing phase of labor when I became nauseated. My wonderful husband, Gary, turned to ...
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by Noe A Granados Five months ago, I came to Temple Beth Sholom to embark on an incredible journey so that I may be given the honor and privilege of ...
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by Michelle Singleton ,אתם ניצבים היום כולכם לפני ה’ אלקיכם You are standing this day, all of you, before the Lord your God Reflection, what is reflection? Is it my ...
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by Cindy Grossberg I remember my dad once saying to me, "If I had known how wonderful grandchildren were, I would have had them first!" That was thirty years ago ...
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By Donna Fliegler At the beginning of the last century, my grandmother, Yetta Post, left her parents and sister in the village of Suvalk Gubernia, Poland (which was then part ...
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By Barry Leshowitz In a pair of Shabbat messages, a dear family friend, Mat Kozinets and I, share our feelings about the passing of my wife, Phyllis. Aug 23, 2019 ...
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by Donna Wolfe Reflecting on the year 5779 I see much that has happened or changed in my life, for example: Suffering both the losses of very dear ones and ...
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by Mitchell Cohen I know there is a G-d because the sun rises & sets every day I know there is a G-d when I see children & their parents ...
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By Flossie Friedman Hiking and being in nature has always been a source of strength and peace for me, as it is for many others. Peter’s Canyon and Irvine Regional ...
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By Scott J. Friedman The title of this article in no way indicates I am suffering from a lack of happiness or an abundance of sadness. Even though cancer and ...
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By Cheryl Escoe When I was asked to manage the Mitzvah Meals program four years ago, I knew little about what I was in for. I knew we prepared food ...
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By Monica Engel Book Clubs are amazing and I’m fortunate to be a member of two; one for 5 years during which I have read approximately 55 books. Some were ...
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by Aleta Bryant It is almost impossible to watch television, or view other forms of media without being inundated with advertisements for 23andMe or ancestry.com , where we learn the ...
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This short story is based on a strange and evocative dream I had. Looking back, he took a double take. He looked again. Where in the world had that come ...
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Last week Arnie and I attended Shabbat services at another synagogue to hear our grandson read Torah. The congregation acknowledged the beginning of the month of Elul. The rabbi was ...
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It is both my pleasure and great honor to introduce my son, Brett, the Honor Roll student and poet. Five years ago, he was diagnosed as being High Functioning on ...
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Every year I’d look forward to it. Every year they’d wait for it. And every year, they still didn’t expect it when it came. It was just one note.....one note ...
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Elul, the month of reflection and preparation. At this time significant words pass through my thoughts. Words like repentance, reflection, introspection, spiritual stature come into my time of prayer, chanting, ...
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I have often wondered how do we feel G’d’s presence in today’s modern urban society? When I am in the store looking for a particular item and there is exactly ...
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In June/July of this year, I fulfilled a life-long dream to travel to Eastern Europe, specifically to Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, the cradle of Jewish civilization and culture for centuries ...
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Those who know me understand the title of this piece. Skeptical is my middle name. So where does this doubting instinct come from and why do I always look for ...
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Many years ago, I attended the Catholic wedding of one of my students. During the ceremony, the priest intoned, “… and let us say a special blessing for the outcasts, ...
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Elul already—How did it get so near? Elul already—What became of the year? What happened during Eluls Past as Eluls passed? Why are seconds so slow but years so fast? ...
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When we observe Tisha B’av, the 9th of Av, we remember the destruction of the Temples. For three weeks prior, we prepared ourselves to be in this state of mourning ...
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See the entire list of Echoes of Elul postings Shalom and welcome to the month of Elul. During September we traditionally spend time preparing for the upcoming High Holy Days ...
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