Posted on September 2, 2024
(This article first appeared in the Fall/Rosh Hashanah issue of Shalom Magazine)
When we approach the secular New Year alongside countdowns, parties, and the ball drop the
major way that we mark the transition is through the making of resolutions. These can have varying levels of success, although they often do not prove to be particularly “sticky.” The poet Shane Ward wrote about New Year’s resolutions, and his final verse is telling:
Most New Year’s Resolutions start to fall
for reasons that are trivial or small.
Like the corn before the thresher
you can sense the looming pressure.
So why stress yourself? Just don’t make them at all!
When I think about the New Year, I often think about being presented with a new and clean book, the pages are empty for us to write whatever we want upon them. And then I recall a vivid memory from an elementary school art class when I was about 7 years old. In this class we each had a book full of plain white pages, and all we were expected to do was to draw or paint something on each new page. For some reason, in this particular class I wanted to be the first to complete my book (I have no recollection of why, but I can be rather competitive). I wanted to fill up all of the pages as quickly as possible so that I could get a brand-new book.
And so I did what any sensible 7 year old would do, I drew pictures in pencil (much quicker and less mess and drying time), and I probably drew enough to get through at least four pages a minute. Less than halfway through the class, I went up to the teacher to ask for a brand-new book, I had finished first. Instead of presenting me with the new book, which I was certain I merited, the teacher flicked through the book and looked unimpressed at my sparse squiggles, inadequate line drawings, and semi-empty pages. I was told to sit back down and draw proper pictures with the care and attention that they warranted.
With the ending old books and the beginning of new ones, there can be a desire to rush through the old, to close the book as quickly as possible, to start a new book immediately. But Rosh Hashanah and the New Year, while providing transitions, also remind us of the continuity of time, the way that time cycles and flows.
The New Year can feel like a brand-new book; but this is not the way that Judaism approaches New Years, and I think it’s part of the reason why we don’t make resolutions as part of our Rosh Hashanah practice. We do not begin turning the page on the first of Tishrei (the month of Rosh Hashanah), instead we begin turning the page a full month earlier with the start of Elul. During the month of Elul we sound the shofar every morning, as a way of reminding ourselves that Rosh Hashanah is coming. We take a full 30 days to prepare ourselves m
entally and spiritually for the year which lies ahead. And then, we give ourselves an additional ten days at the start of the year, as we prepare for Yom Kippur. We do not leap headfirst into the new Jewish year, instead we start it gradually with ten days of reflection, preparation and renewal.
We don’t make resolutions out of the blue we give ourselves 40 days for reflection – 30 in the year that is ending and 10 at the start of the New Year. In this way it is not so much a new book, as a new chapter in a book that goes on indefinitely.
One of the lessons of the month of Elul comes from the name of the month itself. Elul is spelled – aleph-lamed-vav-lamed – and is said to be an acronym for the phrase – Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li – I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. This line from Song of Songs is often considered to be symbolic of our relationship with God, and so in this way during the month of Elul we are encouraged to find our way back to God, or back to a relationship with God. But I think it can also be about our relationship with the Divine spark that is present inside all of us, and so Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li can be about repairing our relationships with our fellow person. As we enter this Rosh Hashanah, rather than making resolutions for what will be different, I hope that we can all use Elul to reflect on the year that has been and enter the New Year in renewed relationship with each other.