CBI Blogs

September 16, 2024/13 Elul 5784
Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin
Seeing the World in Jewish Time 

So often in our lives, we mark time through significant moments– the beginning of a new school year, the countdown to January 1st, the number of days until summer vacation, and the like. These moments serve to connect us with the world around us. And yet, as Jews, we straddle both secular and sacred time. Jewish time tells the story of how we, as a people, move through the world, and gives us the opportunity to invite in meaning and sanctity, as we weave it into the fabric of our lives. 

The cyclical nature of Jewish times teaches us that every season is connected, and that we cannot experience the fullness of one without the season that came before. We find ourselves in this arc of time, where Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the climactic moments, but we cannot appreciate their meaning fully without first living through the brokenness of Tisha B’Av. During the month of Elul, we begin the ascent towards the new year, and work towards realigning our thoughts with our speech, our priorities with our actions. Our spiritual challenge is to look inward, to find where the brokenness resides, and to begin the sacred healing of the rifts in our hearts, our souls, and our relationships