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September 01, 2006
Shabbat Ellul 8: Ani l'dodi v'dodi li
Teshuva contemplations every day until Yom Kippur here. You can also find the link on the sidebar under "Yamim Noraim." Rabbi Amy Scheinerman's guide to teshuvah focuses this week on Regret. But let's delay our theme of regret for our mistakes until Shabbos is over, for now the only appropriate regret is that of being too long parted from one's lover.
Shabbat is about committed coupling, among other things. Two candles, two challahs, two spouses, Hashem and Israel, commanded to sanctify their intimacy on the day of rest. This is the elegant metaphor which powers the signature song of Shabbat, "L'cha Dodi," performed here by Pharoah's Daughter.
The rabbis applied the same metaphor to Ellul. "Velveteen Rabbi" Rachel explains:
The Hebrew letters of the word אלִול [Ellul] can be read as an acronym for the phrase Ani l'dodi v'dodi li, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." (That's from the Song of Songs.) The Beloved, the rabbis teach, is one way of understanding God; the acronym reminds us that Elul is a time to keep God and love foremost in our minds. Today as we sat in the sanctuary and focused on our breath, we were encouraged to think of each inbreath as ani l'dodi and each outbreath as v'dodi li -- each breath a conversation with the Beloved, an assertion of that relationship which underlies everything we do.The metaphor of Adonai and Israel as each other's beloved partner is also echoed in one of the brochas for putting on tefillin, as well as other places in the liturgy, and is the subtext of Shir haShirim, which here is compared explicitly to Ellul:
Not for nothing was the Song of Songs called by the incomparable Rabbi Akiva, "the Holy of Holies" of all the books of Tanach. For the kind of love expressed in it IS holiness. Holiness is to escape from the selfishness and greed of the animal; it is to smash the passions and desires of the ego; it is to master the will that makes man seek only his own gratification. And is not love just that, in practice? Is not love exactly that, if it is true love?And not for no reason did the rabbis see in the Hebrew letters of the month of Elul the first letters of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li…I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Elul is the month of tshuva, return and introspection. It is the month of scraping away the ego that has settled and crusted our hearts and souls. If Pesach calls for searching out the leaven in the home, Elul decrees removing it - the yeasty and bloated ego - from the soul. It is a time to note the calendar, the graying and aging, and to realize: Not for nonsense was I born and not with nonsense must they bury me.
(Read the whole thing and find out who wrote it - you will probably be surprised.)
א לִ ו ל
is also an acronym for several other verses which speak to the concerns of the season.
Judith | 09/01/06 at 06:02 PM | Categories: - Yamim Noraim
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» Preparing for Teshuva: Regret from Kesher Talk
Teshuva contemplations every day until Yom Kippur here. You can also find the link on the sidebar under "Yamim Noraim." Rabbi Amy Scheinerman's guide to teshuvah using the text of Psalm 27 focuses this week on "Regret: . .... [Read More]
Tracked on September 3, 2006 02:55 AM
Comments
Judith,
Thank you for the direction to all the festivals. It's all profound. And totally cool. I really appreciate your labour. I know it helps me find meaning. Especially now. Kol tuv!
Barefoot Jewess | September 1, 2006 08:15 PM
Thanks, that means a lot to me!
Judith | September 1, 2006 10:39 PM
