Elul Day 28

Dear Elul Writers,

The Buddhist teacher and practitioner, Sharon Salzberg once wrote, “When we open our hearts to pain and suffering, we begin to heal, not because suffering is redemptive but because opening our heart is.”

Last week we opened our hearts to the sadness and regret and pain that we carry like countless shards. Reflecting on the fragmented, nine-part call of teruah– we considered that which felt broken within us.

According to the teaching of R’ Isaiah Horowitz that has been guiding us each Saturday night, we return to the full sound of tekiah because the process of teshuvah is not meant to leave us in pieces, but, rather, it should help us recognize our wholeness. We have opened our hearts and that is a redemptive act.

Tekiah-Shevarim-Teruah-Tekiah

Prompt:

Today’s tekiah gedolah symbolizes our potential for re-formation and renewal. I invite you on this penultimate day of Elul to imagine a feeling of integration and wholeness that you can carry into the new year. Gather the disparate parts of yourself together like tzitzit in your hand, hold them tight, press them to your lips. I invite you in your reflection to offer affection to your whole self. Just as we regularly proclaim a Oneness that is beyond us, today let’s focus on the Oneness that is within.

Shavua tov,
Jordan