Oh My God- It’s Now?
Preparing for the High Holidays

By Rabbi Judith HaLevy

Now? Rosh Hashanah? But summer has only just arrived in Malibu! The seasonal calendar is late, the Jewish calendar is early, and I am stuck in the middle. No matter-the pages of the calendar will turn, and in a few short weeks, our High Holiday season will begin. Will we be ready?

During the month of Elul, which precedes the New Year, it is customary to hear the shofar blown each day. Wake up! Wake up! The shofar calls. It is time to wake up, review our lives, and begin the process of tshuvah. Tshuvah demands that we examine our lives, ask forgiveness of those we may have harmed, and find forgiveness for those who may have harmed us.

Tshuvah demands that we strip away our defenses, and come to the core of our own inner truth. The real work of the High Holidays is not done in the synagogue, but in the soul searching that begins during these weeks of Elul. Now is the time to begin a “chesbon hanefesh”, an accounting of our souls, and a personal audit of our lives. Only then can the High Holidays become a meaningful experience. Now is the time to begin.

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