Rabbi's Blog

 For several years now I have written on a variety of subjects, some of which are halachik, community-oriented and some which are personal. One overall personal subject that I have chosen to discuss is the attachment I have for certain items, no matter how replaceable, and the difficulty I endure when letting them go onto their next purpose in their existence, probably far off and away from the nourishing home I provided for them. I usually send these items off into the sunset either because they longer function well, no longer perform as they should, or are broken beyond repair. The gut-wrenching decision to discard usually occurs as a last-ditch concession following a final admission to myself that it would cost less to purchase something new than to spend far too much to attempt to repair the item.  I would like to add that the connection and closeness I had - and typically still have - has nothing to do with the item’s cost. This includes something as costly as my Blackberry, a”h, to the minimal cost of a silver plaited Parker pen that I am still looking for.

Those who often travel know how important a good piece of luggage can be. Like so many items we need to purchase, there are many different designs and options when it comes to luggage, but ultimately the primary decision is the price.  I have owned a Delsey suitcase for almost fifteen years, finding these large-capacity suitcases to be impressively spacious yet lightweight, with built-in expanders and smooth-rolling wheels and remarkably are able to hold all the items These suitcases comfortably hold all the items on our packing list with room to spare, even without expansion functions. The suitcases also maneuver well on their four spinner wheels, even over carpet, cracks, and bumps. Most models are also lightweight, so lifting them into an overhead bin is no problem. 

 About ten years ago, on a Lufthansa flight, a wheel broke. Lufthansa compensated me so I could have the wheel replaced. The compensation was almost enough to buy a new suitcase, and it only cost me a fraction of that to replace the wheel. I was not bothered by the obvious new blue wheel, even though the others were black.  In fact, it turned out that having a blue wheel made it easier to identify my luggage as it was rolled down the carousel. Now, on my most recent trip, the corner of the well-worn suitcase with that blue wheel began the aging process of cracking apart, most likely beyond repair.   I am still nursing it and will need to decide how to proceed, again facing the conundrum of whether to repair or retire and buy a new suitcase. It is truly amazing that we can find answers and direction from the sages and the Torah regarding how to proceed.

Often answers to Hashkafik/philosophical questions are more deeply understood when connected to what is happening around us in place and time. We are now progressing through the month of Elul, the month of introspection and preparation for the upcoming new year. Rav Yeruchum Olshin, in his work Yerach L’Moadim, explains that the time span, beginning on the first of Elul through and including Yom Kippur, is 40 days. He quotes Rav Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939), a Sephardic Rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and Posek who wrote Orech Chaim Siman 581 s”k 14, quotes from Gemara Brachos 60a that the 40 days mentioned are compared to the first 40 days of a child’s formation in its mother’s womb. Rav Olshin explains this powerful connection between these two “40 day” periods.

The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni in Tehilim 247, 855 expounds the passuk in Tehilim 102:19 "תכתב זאת לדור אחרון ועם נברא יהלל  י-ה"   “This will be written for the generation to come, and a newly created people will praise God.” Is it that until now a new nation will come to be born that the verse says a newly created nation? The Rabbis explain that ’These are the generations that are like the dead in their actions.  They come to pray before the Almighty on Rosh Hashana, and on Yom Kippur it is as if a new creation was born’. With this we can understand the Kaf, the core meaning, of HaChaim’s statement of forty days from Elul to Yom Kippur being compared to the first 40 days since conception.

 It is during these 40 days that the emergence of a new creation takes place for every Jew, as though he is  being re-born, or born anew. According to this beautiful analogy, the Rabbis explain that during these forty days we each have the opportunity to experience a new depth of understanding, in essence, a rebirth.  Furthermore, the Rabbis continue to explain that this period of creation throughout these forty days, continuing through Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is the completion of its formation. This process began on the first day of Elul.  However, we still need to explain the meaning of the Yalkut Shimoni statement, ’These generations are like dead in their actions, so much so that they need to be re-born.’ Rav Olshin explains this is due to the sins we commit that render us as if we were dead; it is through the process of Teshuva/ repentance that we are like a new creation, or like we are re-born with a clean slate.

Each day of the 40 days the baby grows a little bigger. So, too, through the process of Elul, we each become like a new person. More than just adding on and becoming a new person, we are each shedding away from the old person, essentially being reborn. To become someone new, we need to shed ourselves from the old. The timing of this concept, right now, during this powerful month of Elul, could not be more symbolically powerful.  Now is the time for each of us to focus on ridding ourselves of the old ways, the old, worn behaviors, focusing instead on a new regard for our potential to grow, to embrace the new ‘inner person’, conscientiously using this period to establish a new respect for our potential to grow, to embrace our new awareness of all we can be.

Ah Gutten Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky