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Today is the nineteenth day of Elul. With my various messages to you on the theme of readiness, this reading brought me up short… in a good way!

            And God says: Can you feel the turning? The sun is lower and the trees

            are beginning to burn; it is time, again. The time is coming. You will not be

            ready. Even if you have planned each menu for your vegan, gluten free Rosh

            Hashanah meals. Even if you are expected to lead your community in prayer.

            Even if you remembered to buy local, organic honey, there is no readiness

            for the work to come. Only a willingness to show up and dive in.[1]

These words are not about the futility of preparation. Rather, they speak to the inevitability that even with all the practical and spiritual work we do to get ready for the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), we may never feel as ready as we thought we would.  That doesn’t mean our engagement with this time has fallen short, or that we have. Instead we might allow this reflection to help us find humility as we move ever closer to beginning again. It is such an exciting and daunting proposition. Saving some space for the unknown, for connections we cannot prepare for in advance may even enrich the journey, as well as our points of arrival.

Take this last full week of Elul to recognize and appreciate the work you’ve done up until now. You’ll undoubtedly discover some imperfections, but your efforts are no less worthy of honor for that. Whether through helping a person in need, performing even a small act of lovingkindness, or creating something beautiful, every good act really does add up.

Join us tonight at 7:00pm for our first “Retro Shabbat” of the year, flavored as always with melodies that stretch back into many of our early memories. And we hope to see you again tomorrow night for Selichot (information included here in Shabbat-to-Shabbat) at our host synagogue, Temple Emanu-El in Orange.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rebecca Gutterman