Rabbi Mark Goldsmith for ERA Elul Series 5782 In his 1968 book ‘Vietnam: Crisis of Conscience’, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel related the following anecdote from his life: Here is the experience of a child of seven who was reading in school the chapter which tells of the sacrifice of Isaac: Isaac was on the way to Mount Moriah with his father; then he lay on the altar bound, waiting to be sacrificed. My heart began to beat even faster; it actually sobbed with pity for Isaac. “

Rabbi Eliezer famously taught that one should: “Repent one day before your death.” So his disciples asked him: “Does a person know which day he will die?” Rabbi Eliezer responded: “Certainly, then, a person should repent today, for perhaps tomorrow he will die—so that all his days he is repenting.” (Talmud, Shabbat 153a) When Rabbi Eliezer tells us to repent one day before the day of our death this is not a rhetorical flourish, but a reminder of the value of our lives. He is

The Wool of Elul There are four new years: the first of Elul is the new year for animals.[1] Sheep conceive in Nisan and give birth in Elul, and so it is fitting that their New Year is on the first of Elul.[2] Sheep enrich their owners.[3] Wool is the most valuable part of a sheep, from which the priestly garments were woven.[4] The first sheared wool that every Jew must give to the priest,[5] whether in or out of Israel, with or without a Temple, applies only to sheep, but n

Any gardener knows the importance of the work done in the Autumn. Clearing the beds of the colourful but dying annuals and tidying so that no shelter is left for the pests to overwinter. Rooting out moss and thatch from the lawn and digging small holes to aerate it. Lifting or protecting the tender species that will not survive the cold winter. My mother calls it “putting the garden to bed”, a phrase I have adopted as it reminds me that the work is not to end life in the gard