The King is in the Field

People may think I'm totally crazy, but Yom Kippur is my favorite holiday.

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. How wonderful is it that every year, a Jew is given the opportunity for a brand new slate ? According to Jewish tradition, G-d inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, The Book of Life, on Rosh Hashana and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe( between RH and YK), a Jew is meant to seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, we consider ourselves absolved.

Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul...The first day of Elul. The month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that the month of Elul is a particularly propitious time for repentance. It is said that during this particular month, The King(G-d) is in the Field. This means that He is close by, waiting to hear from His children. This mood of repentance builds through the month of Elul and continues all the way through to Yom Kippur.

Every Elul, beginning on Rosh Chodesh, I take it upon myself to compile a list of areas that I would like to improve in my life and begin putting it into action all the way to Yom Kippur and onwards. I write down names of people I may have offended during the past year and attempt to go back to each person to ask for their forgiveness. As much as I love keeping Shabbat, Kashrut(Keeping Kosher) and Taharat HaMishpacha (The Laws of Family Purity), they mean very little to G-d if I am unkind to my fellow man. Every Elul, I take it upon myself to really think about those times where I may have spoken harshly, acted impatiently, insulted/offended someone, acted insensitively, undermined or embarrassed someone or behaved in a way that G-d would be very disappointed in me for.

Being a relatively new wife and new mama, my main focus of repentance this year will be on my loving, kind, supportive and wonderful husband whose beautiful character traits like seeing the glass half full and judging others favorably, I will constantly strive to emulate. The other strong focus will be on my kids and being a good role model to them.

G-d is near by. He wants to hear from all of His children. He wants to see all of us working to improve our relationships. He wants to see us going that extra mile for our fellow Jew by doing random acts of kindness and helping those in need. He wants us to put our pride and egos aside and ask for forgiveness from those people we've hurt. He wants us to let go and accept apologies from those who have wronged us. Now is our time. 

With Love,

Cigal