17 Elul 5784

Rabbi Dr Orna Triguboff

Emanuel Synagogue

The process of Teshuvah
Elul is a month for inner reflection and repentance – teshuvah in Hebrew.

Here are a few ways to understand what we mean by teshuvah.

Soul Accounting
It is a practice of “soul accounting” or cheshbon ha-nefesh, where we consider the positives and negatives in our lives. We think about the way we conduct our life and ask ourselves, “Which things are going well and which aren’t?” Often people associate teshuvah with a focus on the negative, however as the term “soul accounting” suggests, we are also invited to explore the positive. As we reflect, and identify something a positive in our lives, our teshuvah work entails exploring how we can sustain it and build on it so that there will be even more positivity in the year to come. With the negatives in our lives, we are invited to make amends with others, with ourselves and with God; and consider how to make sure the same negative doesn’t happen again.

Returning to our Source
The word teshuvah comes from the root word – shav, return. From this perspective, doing teshuvah means returning.
Returning to what? Re-focusing our attention to connect with our authentic selves and the inner core of who we really are. Elul is a time to get in touch with what really is important to us and what our priorities are. It is a time to reassess what keeps us busy.

AtOneMent
Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, taught that the word ‘atonement’ is an apt translation for teshuvah because it can be understood at At-One-ment: the experience of feeling at one with the world.
A suggested exercise for reflection during Elul, is to consider all the things that bring you a feeling of oneness, and see how you can increase these feelings of oneness in your life.

With these three ways of understanding the themes for Elul, I wish you a heartfelt month and a Shana Tova.