I spent most of my summer with Taylor Swift.

Well, not actually with Taylor Swift, but with her music and her concert livestreams and making friendship bracelets with her titles and lyrics. Wherever we were—at home, in the car, in the coffee shops of our neighborhood—chances are that you would have found us (me and the kids) listening to and/or singing Taylor Swift. On any given day, or week, I find a particular snippet playing over and over in my head—and right now, perhaps fittingly on the last day of this month, it is the song “August,” from her Folklore album. If you—like I was at the beginning of last year—are not fluent in Ms. Swift’s catalog, here is the piece I keep hearing:

But I can see us lost in the memory
August slipped away into a moment in time
‘Cause it was never mine

The song, like many of her songs, seems to be about lost love, or perhaps the nostalgia of a summer romance. But, with school starting and summer ending, it also feels like a fitting reminder of the passage of time; as we approach a New Year, it is natural to reflect on the past one.

While I am reasonably certain that Ms. Swift did not set out to write an Elul anthem, it turns out that she did anyway. Not only does she offer us the message of time and its fluidity, she offers us an eternal message, singing: “For me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all.”

As you may remember, our theme last year was hope, centered around a phrase from Psalm 27, the traditional psalm for the month of Elul. The verse (27:14) reads:

קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְ֫הֹוָ֥ה חֲ֭זַק וְיַאֲמֵ֣ץ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְ֝קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְהֹוָֽה׃

Turn your hope to God; be strong and be filled with courage;

turn your hope to God.

Today, August slips away into a moment of time, and Rosh Hashanah draws one day closer. Whether your inspiration comes from our ancient Psalms, Taylor Swift, both, or neither, the message is clear. This month, for all of its introspection and reflection, is a month of courage and faith, a month of strength and vision, and a month of living for the hope of it all.

—Rabbi Sari Laufer