Elul, Day 28 - כ"ח באלול

Dear Elul Writers,

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.”

Tonight we conclude our journey through the sounds of the shofar, having opened our hearts to the brokenness and the suffering we carry. According to the teaching of R’ Isaiah Horowitz that has been guiding us, we come back to the full sound of tekiah because this process of return is not meant to leave us in pieces, but, rather, it should help us recognize our wholeness. We have opened our hearts and that, in and of itself, is a redemptive act.

Tekiah-Shvarim-Truah-Tekiah

Prompt:

Each week, as Shabbat has gone out, we have taken up a different call of the shofar. Today we return to tekiah, to the full blast that symbolizes our potential for re-formation and renewal. I invite you on this penultimate day of Elul to imagine the version of yourself that you hope to realize. Imagine the world that you hope to build. Let this final blast be a tekiah gedolah; try to write as much as you can without coming up for air. What words, what feelings, what accomplishments will let you know that you are living into your aspirations.

Shavuah tov,
Jordan