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Click the image below to watch an Elevating Elul rendition of L'dor Vador sung by past and present members of B'nai Amoona's Zamarim Youth Choir under the artistic direction of Cantor Sharon Nathanson. Then, scroll down to read an Elevating Elul message from Rebbetzen Carol Rose who teaches many of our B'nai Amoona classes and programs. 

An Elevating Elul Message From Carol Rose

Considering what to write about "Elevating Elul" during a pandemic is challenging! 

Many of us are indoors, confined to home - some alone, others with families who may be tripping over each other’s lives- all in new & unfamiliar ways.
I’m especially thinking of those who continue to work from home & who have young children climbing all over their desks. Children they now have to feed (many more times a day). Children who need activities, both physical & intellectual. Children who require extra love & assurance. 

It is for them that this Elul story comes to mind, the one about the Rabbi & the goat; I hope that it offers some solace, some humor, & a tad of wisdom.
A man comes to the Rabbi & says. “My wife is stressed, my children are out of control, I can’t pay my bills, & no one seems to listen to me.” The rabbi nods his head & then he advises the man: “Go out & buy a goat. Live with it, in your house, for a month & then come back - we’ll talk, then.” The man does as the Rabbi advises.

Soon the darn goat eats through his clothing, devours his food, goes to the bathroom on the rug, & generally creates total chaos!

The desperate man returns to the rabbi & pleads with him, “What should I do now?”  “Oh, the Rabbi says, "that’s simple, just get rid of the goat”. A few months go by & the man returns. He is bouncing with joy … "I am so blessed, Rabbi”, he says “- you are brilliant”!

So what just happened - was the man’s life actually any different than it was before the goat moved in?  Perhaps not, but the rabbi helped him shift his gaze, see things in a new way, learn to appreciate how much he already had, despite the difficulties that he was facing.

I believe that the month of Elul can have that kind of an affect on us, even during these difficult days. 

When we look around & see those we love, or when we connect (on line) with those whom we admire, or with those we can learn from - when we appreciate what we have instead of what we lack; when we see the Divine in nature & marvel at her beauty … when we do all that … we gain perspective, & we return to ourselves. We are whole again. 

The gift of Elul, then, is perspective!  

It is an opportunity for us to turn inward & reconsider our lives. More often than not, this moves us to feelings of gratitude, or thanksgiving.  We begin to see that our cup is actually half full; the angle has shifted.   

I think that's what our sages meant when they said that word Elul is an acronym for "Ani L’Dodi V’ Dodi Li - I am my beloved’s & my beloved is mine”. They were saying  that we have an opportunity to tip the glass, to gain perspective - to harness a sense of proportion & value. Perhaps they even meant that we have an opportunity, albeit for an instant, to glimpse at the Source of life Itself.