People work hard today. Work, work, work! It used to be, in the Good Old Days, that most people had a day off in America – now that is simply not the case. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we work more days and longer hours today than people did 20 years ago. In most two-adult households, both adults work outside and inside the home. To pay your mortgage, and tuition, and phone bills, and cell phone bills, and cable bills, and Internet bills, and credit card bills, and … we get the picture.
Many stores are open 24/7. Stock markets are expanding their hours. Stockbrokers in California had to be at their desks by 6:00 a.m. for the opening bell in New York. Now we are moving toward 24-hour trading worldwide.
It used to be that people slept a full eight hours a night during the week. Now the average is 6 hours 57 minutes — more than an hour less. By the way, sleep deprivation is a leading cause of auto accidents, second only to drunk driving. And lack of sleep also leads to irritability and all kinds of other difficulties for us and those around us.
Bakeries used to bake all the bread while we were asleep. Well, they can't do that anymore, because people don't sleep long enough for them to bake the bread. They have to bake it while we're awake.
Plus, communication is faster and comes in growing volume. Getting a letter in the mail used to be a special occasion. If you're like me, you receive over 4,000 pieces of mail a year at home and 2,000 a year at work. And 2,500 phone calls at home, and 3,600 phone calls at work. And 4,200 email messages. I don’t even want to think about the text messages. Add that to 400+ TV stations on 70+ streaming platforms and I … I am overwhelmed.
And I think you might be too!
Well, Judaism has an answer for us, and it started last night. It is the month of Elul.
The month of Elul is Judaism’s way of reminding us to pump the brakes. We have to slow down and pay attention to what’s coming next.
The Jewish calendar gives us ample opportunity to slow down and prepare for the impending New Year. This is a month when we are invited and encouraged to engage in the process of cheshbon hanefesh, taking an accounting of our souls. That is, to slow ourselves down in all that we DO long enough to pay attention to what we DID and look forward to what we WANT TO DO.
Our tradition teaches that rather than being a narcissistic or anti-social exercise, taking stock of and taking responsibility for one’s behavior and actions is what mature individuals must do. During the month of Elul and the first ten days of Tishrei – a period beginning this week and stretching through Yom Kippur – we are encouraged to focus on our own lives and on how we care for ourselves, body and soul.
Judaism is smart; the concept of slowing down has been part of our very fabric of existence from the very beginning – it’s called Shabbat. Shabbat was important to our ancestors of old and it is potentially even more important in our modern world.
Judaism knows that sometimes we just need to slow ourselves down long enough so that we can review our hopes and dreams and plans so that they are not lost in the daily business of life.
Yet slowing down seems almost against our nature. Like a dreidel, we feel that if we go too slow, we simply might fall over and never start up again. But the thing with a dreidel is that it has to stop if you want to win.
With our cars, we know that it is the motor that provides the vehicle with the go. With the help of the accelerator, we regulate the speed of our Toyotas, Hondas, Chevys, and Fords. But our cars are also equipped with brakes which make it possible for us to slow them down when needed and even bring them to a complete stop.
There is no doubt that both the accelerator and the brakes are crucial to the proper handling of a car. When the motor fails, the brakes will not help one to move, and when the brakes do not work, we are in danger of a serious accident.
The same holds true of life. Each of us has been equipped with a heart, both literal and metaphorical, that serves as our motor. It supplies all the organs with energy to perform the tasks for which they were created. The desire to accomplish great things, the ambition to conquer new worlds, the drive to reach out for new horizons and scale uncharted heights all have their origin in the heart of humanity.
The month of Elul serves to remind us that sometimes we need to put on the brakes. If in this month we all make a commitment to slow down as we see the cones and hear the horn, even just a little bit, we will be ready for what is up ahead, and I am confident that there will be clearer skies, softer curves, and smoother pavement in our year ahead.
Amen and Shanah Tovah!
Rabbi Scott Nagel
The Sophia and Nathan Gumenick Senior Rabbi
Congregation Beth Ahabah
