In Poetry and in the Classics, ‘summer’ refers to the youth of one’s life, the years of most vigor and playfulness. Ironically, as our summer comes to a close, we then begin the youth of our Spiritual lives with the onset of Elul. Self-help guru Anthony Robbins notes that young and old are not ages or stages in one’s life. “Getting old is not a matter of age, it’s a lack of movement.” If you see children walking along the sidewalks after a rain, and there’s a puddle in front of them, what are they going to do when they get to that puddle? They’re going to jump in! This is the way in which we approach Elul, not with a krechts but with a gust of energy. This joviality is a motif which makes its way throughout the month of Elul and up until the last minute of Sukkot. The Shofar blasts sounded each and every morning in Elul, tell us “Uru Yesheinim Mi’shinatchem” “Awake you sleepers from your slumber”. These awesome sounds awaken us for a month of life and energy. On Rosh Hashanah we recite the prayer “Hayom Harat Olam”- “Today is the Birthday of the World”. Celebration amidst the power. A brief moment of spring-like recourse on a day of judgment. Rosh Hashanah is followed by Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, the mystics teach us, is Yom Ki-purim – A day like Purim. Purim is noted for its joy and overt manifestation of merriment. The holiday season then continues with Sukkot. The Torah teaches us “Vesamachta Bechagecha”, “And you shall rejoice on your festival”. Sukkot is a time of excitement and pride as we march to shul with our heads held high holding our beautiful lulavim and etrogim. The culmination of two months of partying takes full form with Simchat Torah, where we lose ourselves in the ecstasy of Torah study. At the end of the Torah reading on Simchat Torah, we call up all the children for Kol HaNaarim (All the Children). What a way to end this period – having the children themselves teach us the lesson of vibrancy and movement in approaching spirituality.

As the New Year approaches may we bring to our community and congregation this youthful joy and make this year the “summer of our lives”.