Friends,

Our liturgy says, “A great Shofar is sounded and a still small voice is heard.” On Rosh Hashanah we will have the privilege of hearing that great Shofar together, as a call to re-alignment, a call to remember what is true. And, we will get a chance to listen together for the “still small voice” that only speaks in the depths of our silence.

During this last week of Elul, we can all be preparing for the work of Renewal on Rosh Hashanah. When the prophet Nehemia described Rosh Hashanah, he said this is the time to “eat rich food, drink sweet wine, and share with those that have none.” I take his words beyond the literal to understand that this time can fulfill a deep hunger and thirst for meaning, hope, justice, love, and connection. To show up for that kind of celebration requires a certain vulnerability and honesty about the deepest yearnings of our hearts and souls.

During this last week, I invite you to do an accounting of your soul. It’s called Cheshbon HaNefesh. Ask the question, How am I fulfilling my soul’s purpose? What are the practices that will help me to stay on my path, and not be too distracted? And when I do get distracted or lost, how can I return? How can I use this extraordinary time to do a re-set, remembering what is essential?

The prayers that we will share are the rich food, the complex flavors of our inheritance. The melodies, harmonies and rhythms of those prayers are the sweet wine that can nurture us along our path of transformation. As we will share this feast with each other, we will nurture the generosity in us that will allow us to share our innate goodness with the world.

In these last days before Rosh Hashana, Take some time for silence.

The silence is where God can speak to us in the depths of our hearts. Thomas Merton said, “In Silence the Divine ceases to be an object and becomes an experience. When I am liberated by silence, when I am no longer involved in the measurement of life, but in the living of it, I can discover a form of prayer in which there is effectively no distraction. My whole life becomes a prayer. My whole silence is full of prayer. The world of silence in which I am immersed contributes to my prayer. “

I send you blessings on the final days of your Elul practice.

Love, Shefa