Today is the first day of the month of Elul, which means that Rosh Hashanah is exactly one month away. During this time, we traditionally sound the shofar each morning as a type of spiritual alarm clock designed to wake us up to teshuvah.
Yom Kippur falls 10 days after the New Year, so the Day of Judgment is exactly 40 days from today. On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the words of the reluctant prophet—Jonah. He doesn’t want to accept his mission to warn the Ninevites to change their ways. He actually tries to run away from God and is then famously swallowed by a giant fish and spit out on dry land. He understands this as a sign that he has no choice but to fulfill the task.
When he arrives in Nineveh, he delivers his simple five-word message:
עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת
Od arbaim yom v’Nineveh neh-pachet!
“Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days!”
—Jonah 3:4
Here’s the hopeful part of the story: The people of Nineveh repent, change their ways, perform teshuvah, and are forgiven. The city is spared.
We hope that, in our own lives, the same might be possible.
It’s time to do the work. We are called to teshuvah, the sacred process of turning towards our better selves, the people we are meant to be.
It’s actually a daily task, not a yearly one. We have the opportunity at every moment to embrace the good. Let’s run towards it.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov!
Rabbi Yoshi
