Engaging w/ Elul August 10, 2013

On this first Shabbat of Elul, my mind turns to the purpose of this day not just as rest in the week, but the collection of Shabbatot throughout the year.  What is their purpose?  In stringing together the experiences of Shabbatot over a year, what do they, or can they become?  The time committed to the various parts of lives must add up to something.  I often consider what my Shabbatot add to?  What is their sum?  Is it greater than the sum of the parts?  

Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, "The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world." (The Sabbath)

Heschel writes and teaches us that on Shabbat our Jewish tradition urges us to contemplate the creation of the world rather than engage in it, or rather than engaging in our weekday creative acts.  While, just at that moment, the instant we pause from the hustle, the daily rigamarole, we begin to engage in creative acts of a wholly different kind.  It is the creation of our best selves.  When we insert activities, thoughts and studies (and countless other meaningful Shabbat endeavors) into Shabbat as, perhaps, an escape it allows us to become different as we experience a day different.  Shabbat allows us to engage in the very best kind of creation.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Evon