A Thought For Our Times

Yiyeh tov, all will be good.

As this thought is being written, my kids are just arriving home from their last day in camp and some are planning out day trips or overnights to take a short break from their usual surroundings. Ironically, it also happens to be the day when Hashem is packing His belongings and is preparing to move closer to His chosen nation, at least for the next couple of months. 

Tonight was Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of the process. By tomorrow night, He will most definitely have reached His destination. What once may have taken several attempts to get what we yearn for, will now be significantly more attainable.

As the sun sets on Rosh Chodesh, we are in the heat of summer. By the time we exit Tishrei, we will walk outside and see our brothers and sisters wearing long sleeve shirts and light jackets. We now see trees filled with leaves, and as we exit Simchat Torah, the trees will be close to naked with a long and cold winter ahead, with no sign of another Yom Tov until the leaves start to resurface. There are many changes we will notice and experience between now and Mar Cheshvan, but the most notable will hopefully be ourselves.

We are all experiencing an array of situations and emotions, some wonderful, some uncomfortable, and some downright ugly. We all have questions, and are confused to some degree. Sometimes we feel on top of our game, and sometimes we are just plain lost. Always though, are our neshamot yearning for answers, and yet more often than we would prefer, our bodies throw in the towel and give up the search. 

Now, as we commence with Rosh Chodesh Elul, we have that chance to find answers significantly easier. Consider the father who hides the afikoman from his children on Pesach. At first, he gets a kick out of seeing them search. But after a while, he sees the frustration build, and what was once a fun little game just a few minutes earlier, is now defeating its entire purpose. So, he reveals the hiding place out of mercy and compassion.

We have arrived at that point, where these last several months, or maybe even years, have been building up such frustration, where we have hoped, looked, searched, and prayed for help, answers, and relief. Yet, we have not merited to experience salvation. As Elul concludes and we move into the meat and potatoes of the Yamim Noraim, we spend a week at His home on Sukkot, work out any leftover kinks on Hoshanah Rabbah, and offer our most spiritual and meaningful goodbye on Shemini Atzeret, and certainly Simchat Torah. In seeing how frustrated we have truly become in our search, is when we will b’ezrat Hashem have finally earned our right to receive a brand new industrial strength shower head that we can finally tangibly experience the relief, love, and security of our Father in heaven that we have yearned for so long. We then get to watch as it trickles down our neshamot right here on Earth.

In spending this critical and opportunistic time in preparation and introspection, may this be the very z’man when we are able to find what we have always been yearning for, and maybe even realize that what we have always felt we truly needed... we have always had all along

Yiyeh tov? Nah. Achshav tov, now is good! With wishes for a meaningful z’man and a happy and healthy Shanah Tovah u’Metukah!

 By Ariel Natan Dori