Magazine 2023-08 web

the areas of life in which we know we need to improve, and in which we have been trying to improve. Please don’t get me wrong – this is certainly part of the process, and an important part of the process: strengthening our resolve and determination to break our bad habits and making the changes we knowwe need to change. But this is only part of the Elul experience. The other part is far more difficult, but no less vital. We need to challenge our assumptions about ourselves and our behavior. We need to humbly reassess not only our behavior, but our ideas about what behavior is acceptable and which isn’t acceptable. We need to question our basic premises about what is right and what isn’t. If we don’t challenge ourselves this way, and we continue to be “teachers,” stubbornly adhering to our presumptions, then we cannot change. This is a very uncomfortable exercise, which is probably why many people neglect it. This exercise involves raising the possibility that things we’ve always assumed to be correct are actually wrong, and that things we’ve always assumed to be wrong are actually correct. It means thinking about the times when a peer suggested that we acted improperly, and we defended ourselves – and considering if maybe the criticism was actually correct. It means thinking about the time when we heard a rabbi speak about a certain religious obligation, and we defended our laxity in regard to that requirement – and considering if perhaps our defense was misguided. It means thinking about the fight we had with a family member, neighbor, friend, or business associate, vehemently insisting that we were right – and considering if perhaps we weren’t. To put it succinctly, addressing the “ sorer ” elements of our character is relatively easy, but addressing the “ moreh ” elements is far more challenging. Once we are already aware of a flaw, we can overcome it with patience, persistence, and belief in the sacred spark and divine spirit within us. The greater challenge is to change our perspective on our behavior, to humbly acknowledge that we saw things incorrectly, that we’ve foolishly defended our “wayward” conduct, that we’ve succeeded in deceiving ourselves into thinking we were right when we were actually wrong. This is the true Elul challenge. Let us all try to approach Elul this year with genuine humility, with an open minds, with a willingness to honestly reassess our behavior, and to acknowledge that sometimes, we get it wrong. And the way we open our minds is to recognize that, as frail human beings, there is no shame in being “ sorer ,” inmakingmistakes, in getting things wrong. This is part of life. Everybody makes mistakes, because we are all human. Once we accept our human frailty, we will feel less discomfort in reevaluating, reconsidering, rethinking, and re-examining our behavior. We will then be able to meet the Elul challenge, so we can begin the new year ready to open a new page and achieve all that we are capable of achieving. לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. 800.366.2 217 sales@franklingroupusa.com www.franklingroupusa.com integrated marketing & printing solutions COME IN FOR YOUR CAMP FORMS! 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