One of the many traditions that has become part of Elul is sounding the shofar on each morning of the month, reminding us of the imperative to repent. This morning, our students heard the shofar blast for the first time; reminding them, as we suggested, that now is the time to practice t’shuvah–a return toward our best selves.
We asked our students to consider an adjective which they hope others would use to describe them. We heard words like honest, kind, and thoughtful.
These are the ways in which we want to be known. These are the ways in which we want to be remembered.
And yet, so often, we make choices which are bereft of honesty, or kindness, or thoughtfulness. We lie. We cheat. We rush to anger. We frighten others with our malevolence and intolerance. We do all these things, even though we want to be known as honest, kind, and thoughtful people.
The sound of the shofar is now. Elul has arrived to remind us that if we want to be known as honest, or kind, or thoughtful–if we want to be known as anything at all–then we have to act that way.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel