The psalm 27, recited daily from the beginning of Elul [Thursday night August 20, until the end of Sukkot, begins with the verse, "YHVH is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?". There is a lot to be afraid of right now, and our fears are real. Our tradition teaches us that the phrase "YHVH is my light" refers to Rosh HaShannah, and "[YHVH] is my salvation" refers to Yom Kippur. It is one of the reasons we recite this psalm every day during Elul and beyond. We are preparing ourselves for the personal inner work of reflection, introspection and growth. We need light to truly see ourselves and discover where we have failed to live up to our own values, where we have stumbled, and what we need to do to bring our lives back into balance.
The 'salvation' that we seek on Yom Kippur is, according to Mordecai Kaplan, "self-fulfillment or self-realization". On Yom Kippur we dive deep into ourselves to discover what we need to do to become the best self we can be.
Our sages like to play with words and they have made up an acronym from the letters that make up "Elul" the name of the Hebrew month. Aleph, lamed, vav, lamed makes an acronym for a verse from the Song of Songs: I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" [ani l'dodi v'dodi li]. It is meant to bring to mind our loving relationship with God - - we are beloveds.
If we are acknowledging our mistakes and poor behavior to someone we are in a loving relationship with, it does make it easier. It is certainly easier when we think of our beloved than we when we think of a Judge.
Another tradition during Elul is that those who have a shofar sound it every morning. We are taught that the shofar blasts are meant to wake us up, to get our attention to what needs to be changed. This is not just a season when we think about our own personal values and behavior and where we may have erred. It is also a time when we think about the Jewish community and our whole society. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. composed five lectures that were broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. These lectures were also published in print. MLK, Jr. sounded what he called the "Trumpet of Conscience" with a voice that has rolled forth for more than 50 years. The shofar may be made out of a rams' horn, while the trumpet is made from brass, they serve the same function - - getting our attention.
These are the words of MLK, Jr.:
"When culture is degraded and vulgarity enthroned, when the social system does not build security but induces peril, inexorably the individual is impelled to pull away from a soulless society. This process produces alienation - - perhaps the most pervasive and insidious development in contemporary society." [Trumpet of Conscience, lecture: Youth and Social Action, 44].