Question of the Week:

WhatJewish native of England, later a resident of Illinois, played
an irnportant role in the election of Abraham Lincoln?

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Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

f it's the first day of a new school year, you'll need
new clothes, new notebooks, new pencils and pens, a
new backpack and a new lunch box — at minimum.
If it's a new job, you're going to need a new outfit,
new shoes, perhaps a new briefcase and a new perspec-
tive — at least.
So how do you begin to prepare for a whole new Jew-
ish year
,t§:i a a a
Thursday night, Aug. 12, at sundown is the
•
M
A
start of Rosh Chodesh Elul, the first day of the
month of Elul. This is a highly significant day on
the Jewish calendar, for it is traditionally when
Jews everywhere
we begin preparing for the Yomim Noraim, the
"Days of Awe" — Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur
prepare spiritually

and the days in between.
Aside from being the beginning of the new
Jewish year, and the anniversary of the creation of the

for the Days of Awe.

world, Rosh HaShana also is regarded traditionally as
Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment, when God
decides the fate of all creation.

Yom Kippur is the Day of

in a state of preparation for divine judgment. The rabbis took
their cue from the Torah itself, which in Parshat Ki Tisa (Exo-
dus 32), describes the great sin of the Jewish people in creat-
ing and worshipping the infamous golden calf. In his anger,
Moses smashes the tablets of the Ten ComMandments.
In chapter 34, God commands Moses to ascend Mount
Sinai once again and gives Moses new tablets. Accord-
ing to the rabbinical interpretation, Moses went up the
mountain the second time on the first day of Elul and
remained for 40 days and 40 nights. This signified that
God had accepted Moses' prayers for mercy on behalf
of the Jewish people, and the Jews' act of repentance.
When Moses went up, a shofar was sounded in the camp
to serve as a warning that the Jews should remain in a state
of repentance, because the shofar was heard at Moses' first
ascent. From the first day of Elul until Rosh HaShana, Jews
blow the shofar every day (except Shabbat) as a memorial
of that episode: The Jews sinned, repented, were forgiven
and then restored to a level of holiness.
In most communities, the shofar is sounded after the
morning service in the synagogue, although it is blown in

homes and schools, as well.
The pattern of sounding the shofar is of sounds: tekia, a

Lookin9 forward to Rosh HaShana with prayers,
penance and an appeal to the souls of those lost.

Repentance, when God
provides an opportu-
nity for those who
have sinned to do
teshuva, to return to a
state of righteousness.
Long ago, it was felt
that a Jew should enter
the Days of Awe

aware of their
significance and

long, single note; shevarim terua, three notes followed by
a series of short, staccato notes; and then another tekia.
On the first day of Elul, we also begin to recite Psalm
27: L'David, Hashem Ori V'lshi ("Of David: God is my

light and my salvation").
According to the traditional interpretation known as the
Midrash, "light" here refers to the souls of humanity, and on
Rosh HaShana, God uses the light of the soul to examine the
life of each person. This is derived from an allusion to
Proverbs 20:27 ("The light of God is the soul of man"). "Sal-
vation" refers to Yom Kippur, when God accepts atonement

8/6
1999

Detroit Jewish News

127