Moving Forward-Rabbi Boris' Blog

Elul Message: Week 3

Outside of my office window, I have a clear view of a large maple tree in the front yard of the house next to the synagogue.  I wouldn’t call the tree anything too impressive. It’s got a nice sturdy trunk, a hefty set of leaves, and a modest little bulge around its middle.  Admittedly, it is most likely not much different than endless other trees in the neighborhood, since thankfully even in the midst of our busy city streets, where there is a tree, there is bound to be another not far away.  Yet it is still something to marvel at.

In the wind, the rain, and of course the snow, this tree holds itself up, standing tall and proud no matter what the world throws at it.  Silently absorbing the energy from the sun, and releasing life-giving oxygen to the atmosphere, the tree gives and takes from the world at just the right pace.  The tree doesn’t speak, but it also doesn’t complain. It doesn’t fight and it does its best to never hurt others. Even during the fiercest storm, it holds on to its heavy limbs, its sturdy trunk and bark resisting all of the elements with an admirable and calm power. 

One tree among many.  A world of plants, of animals, of buildings and flowers, of cars and streams, of children, streetlights and silently flowing clouds.  Every moment of our lives if we let it, is an immersion into the natural world, an important reminder of the life right outside our windows.

We have to remember that the Jewish holidays are deeply tied to the natural cycle.  From the waxing and waning of the moon, to the necessity of having holidays in certain seasons, our ancestors made sure that no matter where we were, we had no choice but to pay attention to the guiding hand of the nature around us.

Don’t think that just because you will soon be sitting in the warm communal space of our sanctuary with a sheltering roof over your head that this connection with the natural world is any less strong.  This time at its core is a transition from summer to fall (or as some in Montreal say, from summer to winter) that guides the High Holidays; holding on to the heat and the joy, as we slowly make our way into the dark and cold of the approaching months,

This year, we enter the final stage of the weeks of preparation for the High Holidays as we always do, with the ritual of Selichot.  This is the name given to the prayers of “pardon” and forgiveness we we say during the Yom Kippur service, and also the short service which guides us into the Days of Awe.  Beginning with Havdalah on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah, we sing some of the familiar prayers and first hear the special melodies of the days. And this year, we have a special connection as the autumn equinox falls on the week of Selichot.  Our service will be guided by this powerful mix of the natural cycle and our spiritual calendar.

After the service we will be watching the award winning film Treeline, taking a step back, and taking time to reflect on how the natural world and the cycles of the seasons can provide a healing blueprint for the upcoming year and the never ending task of teshuva.  

When we are constantly bombarded by the ups and downs of our daily lives and by the endless news cycle of suffering and political strife, the symbolic power of trees and the cycle of nature can hopefully guide us back to a more clear path.  

I invite you to join me on Saturday night at 7:30 for the film and discussion, and hope that no matter what, we can enter this season with a strength and clarity as strong as the humble maple tree outside my window.