Quick thoughts on Elul

For a rabbi, this is possibly the most stressful time of year.  When I explain to Christians, I say, imagine that Easter and Christmas were a week apart.  I'm not sure if that helps them understand or not, but it is a busy time.  While trying to make sure that everyone else has a spiritual experience on Yom Tov, we spend hours and hours trying to get ready.  Hopefully, we also prepare our own bodies and souls, eating healthfully, exercising and praying and studying regularly.

This is an AWE-some time of year.  It is an exciting time of year.  It is wonderful.  It is a time of reflection, consideration and pausing to think about the consequences of our choices and actions.  Every part of Rosh Hashanah, of Yom Kippur, of the preparatory time of Elul is screaming STOP! THINK! LOOK! OBSERVE!  RECONSIDER!  What is the Shofar but I giant spiritual stop sign?

And yet, for rabbis, this time can be the opposite.  When we are rushing to get everything done to help everyone else pause, we can drink too much coffee and forget to stop and smell anything.  As I go to get the dog from the groomers, make dinner and get back to my sermons, I'm forcing myself to take one deep breath.  Before we know it, it will be Sukkot and time to rejoice or Simchat Torah, time to dance and sing with our Holy Torah.  But first, it is Shabbat.

Thank Gd for the commandment to rest.  I look forward to catching up on todays' Daf Yomi tomorrow.  No tweets today (probably), but Sunday or Monday look for more @tweetedtalmud to see some of the powerful, interesting, strange, awe-inspiring, ideas I find in my daily Talmud study.
http://twitter.com/TweetedTalmud

Yesterday I noted:
36b: rava says dried peppers (not normal way of eating them) don't need blessing and can eat on YK. I don't think would help fast#dafyomi
Not all agree with Rava, but I think that eating dried peppers on Yom Kippur would only make the fast more difficult, not easier!!