A Message from Rabbi Bellows

August 16, 2026/3 Elul 5786

Dear Friends,

As we begin the Hebrew month of Elul, our minds and hearts are to turn toward the process of teshuvah, ‘repentance’. The word Teshuva comes from the root “to turn.” During Elul, the month before the High Holidays, we turn our minds and hearts within, examining our deeds and relationships this past year. Did we turn away from that which is harmful? Where did we miss opportunities to turn to kindness or to be of service? In Hebrew, there is no word for “sin”. The closest we come to the word is Chet—“to miss the mark.” In Elul, we contemplate all the times when we have ‘missed the mark’, times when we could have done better.

Rabbi Eliezer said to his students, “Repent one day before you die.” His disciples said, “Who knows when we will die?” “All the more reason to do so,” he replied. Let us repent today, lets we die the day after. The result will be that all our lives will be spent in repentance.

– Avot de Rabbi Natan 15 (8^th-10^th century), translation by Borowitz & Schwartz, The Jewish Moral Virtues

May this month of Elul be one of fruitful introspection and connection. 

Rabbi Lisa Bellows