Rabbi Kramer
Finding Our Divine Spark
We are about to embark on the sacred pilgrimage through the holiest time in the Jewish Year. As the sun sets on August ninth, the Hebrew month of Elul will begin. The month of אלול is actually an acronym in Hebrew for the phrase,
אני לדודי ודודי לי “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,” meaning “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.”
אני לדודי ודודי לי “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,” meaning “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.”
Who is “my beloved?” Usually, we think of a “beloved” in romantic terms. This quote from Song of Songs is often used on Ketubot (Jewish wedding licenses) as an unconditional, unbreakable bond between the people getting married. The quote is also a metaphor for the love between God and the Jewish people. Tradition suggests during the month of Elul, the month of introspection, it is God’s unconditional love for each of us that comes into focus. It is the symbiotic fusion of the Divine, and the Divine Spark within each of us, to draw the two together in union.
During this month we work up the courage to look deep within ourselves. We pull out our internal mirror, dust it off and hold it up to the light. This introspection is hard work, it takes time and vulnerability. Often, as we gaze in the mirror we are not a hundred percent pleased with our reflection. Sometimes, we squint and contemplate the slight tweaks we need to make in the year to come. And other years we seek a complete do over. It is this turning inwards and looking critically at ourselves that takes a certain degree of gentleness. We are not perfect. God does not expect perfection.
The month of Elul is a time for teshuva, to turn back to the wholeness (and the holiness) of our divine spark. To seek teshuva takes love. We must love ourselves enough to work through the brokenness, imperfections, and fractures that have developed in our personal relationships. We must love ourselves enough to start over this year and to recommit. We must love ourselves enough for us to seek to be one with the One.
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. It is with this reciprocal love we embark on this pilgrimage together. A month filled with opportunities for learning, growth, and renewal to prepare us for the 5782 New Year.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Stephanie Kramer