This month, leading to the High Holy Days, is the time for reflection and preparation. If we wish to be able to stand before our community, before ourselves, before God with a clean slate this Yom Kippur - with a truly free conscience and soul, ready to approach the next year of life with openness and alacrity - the work begins now.
How are you?
Usually, when we hear the words, "How are you?," we interpret a surface-level sense of the question and respond in kind. "I'm fine." "The kids are funny this week." "We're pretty busy, but we're hangin' in there." These are the answers that we usually muster to respond.
But today, I am going to expand upon the question: How is your soul? How are you doing in the deepest chambers of your heart? What is it that you desperately want but are unafraid to even try to achieve? What burning desires for change are you burying under a pile of routine, habit, and perceived comfort?
This is the time for each of us to ask these questions ofourselves. Yes, these are not easy, simple reflections, but that is the key to this time of year. It's time to do some work. I know most of us are already overworked and overstressed, but this is the time for us to do some
work on ourselves.
If you're like me, you are probably reading this on a mobile device, scanning it for the most part, to get a quick glimpse of what the email says before filing in the never-ending pile of "I'll get to its." So, I'm going to make it a bit easier to find a way to do this work.
1) Copy the following list of questions:
- What is one thing I regret from the last year? What can I do this week to begin addressing it?
- What is one thing I wish to keep from this past year?
- Who is one person from whom I need to ask forgiveness? (Now go to my calendar and put in a time to contact him/her)
- What is one thing I need to forgive in myself?
- When can I do another check-in next week?
2) Open your calendar for the week and find a time to paste this text into an appointment slot. Set an alarm reminder! (Even just leaving 15 minutes can do a world of good!)
3) Open up a document on your device, paste the text into it, and even try keeping a running record of your answers
4) Upon successfully navigating your first "appointment," go ahead and schedule the next one!
With a little practice at this, what may start as a surface-level, "How are you?," might just develop into revealing some of the answers to the deeper questions posed earlier in this Blast. Take the time this Elul to do the work, so that you can make this High Holy Day season the best one you've ever had. Looking forward to celebrating the New Year with you!
- Rabbi Ari N. Margolis
