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Shalom, Temple Beth Shalom!
One of the many jobs I had during my studies at Brown University was working as a certified kickboxing instructor. I taught boot camp aerobics six times a week to students and staff, and not surprisingly, my knees have still not recovered! I taught a very challenging class, and none of my students started the semester already strong enough or coordinated enough to make it through every exercise perfectly. The whole point of boot camp was to practice, build endurance and discover that we were capable of more than we realized.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that this year I am teaching a four-part class to build endurance for the High Holy Days called “Rabbi Rose’s High Holy Day Boot Camp.”
Do not worry: there will be no burpees, no roundhouse kicks and no one will be asked to do a single squat. Instead, during the four weeks of Elul leading up to the High Holy Days, we will strengthen our “Mensch Muscles” to empower our upcoming Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur experiences.
The spiritual work of the High Holy Days is demanding. We are asked to examine our behavior honestly, acknowledge where we have missed the mark this past year, forgive others and ourselves and imagine how we might live even menschier lives in the year ahead. Our tradition, in its wisdom, does not expect us to walk into services on Rosh HaShanah ready for that kind of religious workout. Instead, it gives us the month of Elul to prepare. Each week during our “workout,” we will engage with a different High Holy Day theme through text study, discussion, meditation and visualization exercises.
On August 12, we will begin by discussing forgiveness. As Menachem Mendel of Kotzk famously taught, “There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.” This teaching reminds us that acknowledging our broken places can make us more compassionate, more honest and more capable of healing. Forgiveness does not mean pretending we were never hurt, nor does it require us to excuse harmful behavior. It asks us to consider whether we are ready to loosen the grip resentment has on our neshama (soul) and whether there are places where we need to seek forgiveness as well as offer it.
On August 19, we will focus on connection. As Pirkei Avot teaches, “Do not separate yourself from the community.” The High Holy Days are deeply personal, but they were never intended to be private. We stand together, confess using “we” rather than “I,” and remind one another that none of us is alone in our mistakes or our desire to begin again. Elul calls us to strengthen our relationships with our families, our friends, our congregation and God.
On August 26, we will focus on equanimity, the practice of remaining balanced even when life itself is anything but. Rabbi Alan Morinis teaches that equanimity is the ability to stay present and steady amid life’s inevitable ups and downs. Living in beautiful Vero Beach, we understand that the ocean can be calm one moment and stormy the next. The same is true of our lives. Equanimity does not ask us to become indifferent; it helps us respond thoughtfully rather than allowing every disappointment, anxiety or conflict to sweep us away.
Finally, on September 2, we will explore teshuvah (repentance) and cheshbon hanefesh (self-reflection). As Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav taught, “This is teshuvah: returning from impurity to pure, from old to new, in order to gain new life.” Too often, repentance is understood as guilt or shame, but it literally means return. Real repentance requires more than simply saying sorry. It asks us to strengthen our sense of responsibility and our ability to choose differently when we encounter the same situation again.
Like any meaningful training, this work is not accomplished all at once. It happens through practice, honesty, courage and the willingness to keep showing up. Join us for Rabbi Rose’s High Holy Day Boot Camp as we prepare together for the sacred work ahead. My knees may no longer be prepared to lead six boot camp classes a week, but I am grateful that our tradition offers another kind of boot camp during Elul, one that strengthens our hearts, our neshamot and our kehillah kedoshah (sacred community).
Wishing you a meaningful and inspiring Elul. See you in the locker room!
L’chaim,
Rabbi Rose
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