By Cantor Emma Lutz

אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת-יְהוָה אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ
שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-יְהוָה כָּל-יְמֵי חַיַּי

“One thing I ask of Adonai, only that do I seek: to live in the house of Adonai all the days of my life.” (Psalm 27:4)

For fifty days, every morning and every evening from the first of Elul through the end of Sukkot, Jews around the world recite the words of Psalm 27 in daily prayer.

The Psalmist writes to us of King David, who dreamed that he would live every day in the “house of God.” How might we, in our own lives, understand this idea of living every single moment of these Days of Awe (and indeed, every day of our lives) as if we were in the House of Adonai, always in the company of the Holy One?

Rabbi Harold Schulweis taught that we verify God’s presence in our own lives through our good actions and the pursuit of our highest values. During this month of Elul, our tradition encourages us to reflect both individually and communally on the places where God has been present in our lives, as well as the spaces where we perhaps missed the opportunity to invite God in. We may miss the mark, we may fall short, but when we strive for goodness, we affirm our faith in God and make an opening for God’s presence in our lives.

Just like King David, we seek to live in God’s house, and it is we who must open the door to God through our prayers and acts of righteousness. In order to “live in the house of Adonai,” we must strive to be our best selves, remembering that we never make these efforts alone, but rather, always in God’s good company.