ELUL MESSAGE FROM MAGGIDAH BATYA PODOS
Date: Elul 8, 5785 | September 1, 2025
From: Maggidah Batya Podos
A disciple of the Baal Shem Tov wanted, more than anything, to see the Prophet Elijah. He dreams of meeting the Prophet, imagines what he will say to him. When he brings his deepest desire to the Baal Shem Tov, his teacher tells him to bring boxes of clothes and food to a run-down cottage on the edge of town just before Rosh Hashanah. Then, he will see the Prophet Elijah.
As instructed, the young man gathers clothes that would fit a whole family, and fills a box with food. He goes to the cottage and waits nervously before he knocks. He hears children crying. They are hungry. Who will feed them? Don’t worry, their mother tells them, Elijah will provide.
When the mother opens the door to him, she is so grateful for the gifts. The student stays with the family for two days, helping wherever he can. But he is disappointed at not seeing Elijah. Where was the Prophet? The Baal Shem Tov had promised he would appear.
His teacher tells him to return to the same house before Yom Kippur. Again, the young man gathers food for the family. Again, he waits outside before knocking. This time when he hears the children cry, he hears their mother remind them not to worry. After all, didn’t the Prophet Elijah come to answer their prayers before and didn’t he stay two whole days with them?
These are difficult times. Many of us yearn for the Prophet Elijah, or the or the Hand of G*d, or the Mother Ship to show up, to intervene and help us out. But, unlike Torah times, there is no pillar of fire or pillar of cloud to guide us through this wilderness. Like the story, sometimes we’re the ones who need to show up, to intervene, to help. We’re the diference.
A Yiddish proverb reminds us that we never know if the person sitting next to us on the train is the meshiach. So, we must act as though they are. May we be blessed to recognize the Divine Spark in each one of us through the month of Elul and beyond.
(story adapted from Yitzhak Buxbaum: Chabad.org Stories)
ELUL MESSAGE FROM REB JOSIE
Date: Elul 2, 5785 | August 26, 2025
Dear community,
This weekend, we welcomed the new moon of Elul, an auspicious time in our tradition, where we are charged to begin the work of chesbon hanefesh - accounting of the soul - the spiritual work that will prepare us for, and carry us through the high holiday season.
Tradition teaches that the name of the month Elul is an acronym for Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li - I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. In the context of Elul, this biblical verse invites us to cultivate a sense of belonging and ownership in our individual relationship with the Divine. We learn that these weeks preceding the New Year offer us a unique opportunity to seek intimacy with God.
In the month of Elul, there is a custom to hear the Shofar blown each day. The blasts of the Shofar are meant to rouse us from our slumber and call us to action in the work of cheshbon hanefesh. . The Shofar blasts are sounded in a distinct pattern - moving from Tekiah, a whole note, to shevarim, three seperate distinct blasts, to Teruah, an entirely shattered blast, before returning to Tekiah and beginning the cycle again. Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, a prominent 17th century mystic, teaches that this cycle is to remind us of the impermanence of both broken or whole states. The pattern of the shofar blasts is as if to say, “I started whole, I became broken, even splintered into fragments, but I will become whole again! I will become whole again!”
In times like these, when the brokenness of the world can feel insurmountable, I am grateful that we are given a full month to complete the work of waking up. Much like those mornings where I find myself hitting snooze two or three times, Elul offers us gentle on ramp to building the spiritual intimacy it asks of us. Over the next month, leaders and members of the Nahalat Shalom community will be offering teachings to guide us through the internal holy work of accounting what has been broken, and what is in need of repair.
Wishing you a chodesh tov - a good month. This Elul, may the cry of the shofar remind us to begin the work of gathering the pieces in need of mending, and shattering through that what is no longer serving us.
B’shalom,
Josie