by Lois Rosenthal
 
There is resistance to the waning of the year
These late summer days of afternoon warmth
Sun’s glare softened by a chill
A bit of orange creeps in to the solar yellow
 
Fall is almost upon us, Elul is here
Time to think about wrapping up this old year
And stepping into the next
 
There is resistance
 
Remember last year’s beginning?
The intentions, the clarity of changes to make
The possibilities of bringing G-d into one’s life
The realizations of what path to follow
 
Now we have questions to answer.
What happened to those efforts?
Some fruitful, some forgotten
Others too simplistic or too hard
Perhaps there were some moments of contact with the divine
And other moments so very human
 
Resistance expects an inner voice
To answer with a list of shortcomings
 
Yet Elul is a tender month, and guides us
To approach the new year with appreciation for the old
Appreciation of every mindful effort
And then to build on what has been done
Repair the weak spots

And keep building
 
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Lois Rosenthal is a member of Temple Tifereth Israel in Winthrop,MA. In addition to participating in Shabbat services, she works withHebrew School students, prepares students for Bat/Bar Mitzvah, and regularly gives divrei Torah. Previously, she was an academic in the sciences.

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