Elul Day 2

Dear Elul Writers,

Halachic literature on the month of Elul is pretty light. The Jewish legal tradition doesn’t have too many things to say about how best to spend this month of introspection. The Shulchan Aruch does speak to the recitation of selichot, with differing practices between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The sounding of the shofar is mentioned, the inclusion of Psalm 27 and customs around fasting on erev Rosh Hashanah are retained, but the material begins to thin out around there. 

That said, there is a compendium of traditional practices from Elul through Yom Kippur called Mateh Ephraim written in the early 19th Century by R’ Ephraim Zalman Margolit that mentions another custom that feels notable. He writes that there is a practice between Rosh Chodesh Elul and the forty days that follow when a person writes a note to a friend that they should include in the beginning or the end a few words of blessing like, ‘may you merit to be written and sealed in the book of life.’

I am a fan of the epistelary–writing a letter feels intimate and relational and it offers us the ability to connect across time and distance. Is it any wonder that instead of blogging or posting or tweeting that I much prefer to land in your inbox? I like a salutation to start things off and a valediction to close them. So, I am endeared to this idea that starting from the first days of Elul, we should offer words of blessing in our written communications. Perhaps we are meant to feel encouraged during this time to reach out to people we care about, to remind them that they are loved, to feel unafraid to offer words of blessing.

Prompt

Long before the days of email signatures we had this sweet custom of adding a few words of hope and good wishes for the person we were addressing; an old-school, Elul writing practice, if you will. Offering blessing is at once an act of deep generosity and a slightly vulnerable thing to do. What would it feel like to offer the words ‘ketivah v’chatimah tovah / a good writing and a good seal’ as you sign off your emails this month? Too rote? What could you write that would feel authentic? On this second day of Elul, I want to invite you, first and foremost, to reach out to someone that you have wanted to connect with. The email or letter or text, in and of itself, might feel like a blessing. Then, consider what the brachah or blessing you want to convey to those you encounter as we move through this season.

May we be signed, sealed and delivered for a year of peace ahead,

Jordan