Rosh Chodesh Elul

I know that you have been waiting for my email. Some of you have even reached out to me, asking where it is. Elul has become synonymous with Write Your Way Home, because Elul touches me so deeply.

Anyone who is part of this community is here because they want to grow. And there is no greater time to grow, transform, and harness all the extra help that Hashem is offering us, than in the month of Elul. It's that permission to connect to ourselves, to our desire to grow, to our deep wish to become the person we know that we can be.

Imagine a farmer who has planted a large field. All year long he invested in plowing, and sowing, and seeding and watering. He's so grateful that his crop grew beautifully. Now, it's finally the end of the year and he can reap the results of all his efforts. But before he ships off all his bounty, he goes through each crop and removes the seeds from plant, so that he can begin the process of growth again the following year.

That's what Chodesh Elul is. It's a culmination, a processing, a reflection on all of our growth the past year, and then collecting those seeds to begin another year of transformation and growth.

In order to begin with all the power and force that Chodesh Elul has, we need to first end it properly and process our past year.

The Torah calls the month of Elul "אחרית השנה" - the end of the year (Devarim 11:12). Endings are always difficult. When we begin a project, we begin with energy, excitement and drive, when we have to finish it, it's so much harder. But without finishing the project properly, it has much less worth.

Rav Leibele Eiger said he learnt three things from the Kotzker Rebbe. The third was: Bereishis bara Elokim, Hashem creates the beginnings, but it's up to man to create the endings.

Creating a conscious ending is what allows us to gear up to a powerful new beginning. Let's try to do that process in a way that is easier and more empowered than you'd think.

Let's Write! 1. Try to find your notebook from last year Elul and see which topic you focused on. (If you're new in our community, or if you didn't write last Elul, just try to remember which topic was on your mind.)

2. You're going to think through your year and try to find at least seven times that you succeeded in this area. Write a few lines about each one.

(You might think, I didn't do it at all! I have nothing to write about it. I'm asking you to stretch yourself and try to be creative and find times that you were even a bit successful in this area. You'll surprise yourself.)

3. What are the seeds of this topic? What can you take with you from this past year to plant your growth for the coming year? 

4. Write about how you'd like to take this forward this upcoming year. 

5. If you want, you can choose a tiny, tiny step that you can take over the 40 days of Yamim Noraim. 

(It says that it takes 40 days to create a fetus and when we do something for 40 days, we create a new life inside ourselves. Start Rosh Chodesh Elul and try your best. It does not need to be perfect, it's about the effort.)

Warmly wishing you a Ksiva V'chasima Tova,

Yocheved