Waking up this morning to a brisk fifty-two degree reading on the thermometer was a reminder that the dog days of summer are quickly coming to a close, that soon a new school year will begin and that not long thereafter, a New Year will be upon us.
My wife Randi likes to say that summer isn’t over until the onset of Rosh Hashanah, whether it comes “late” as it does this year, or as “early” as Labor Day weekend, which it did way back in 1978. She feels fortunate to have an additional month of summer to enjoy this year. And let’s not forget that summer doesn’t “officially” end until September 23.
Of course, Rosh Hashanah is never early or late; it comes right on time, on the first day of Tishri. And lest we lose track of time and forget that it’s coming, we have a reminder each weekday morning during the month of Elul, which begins this coming Shabbat. Each morning service ends with the sounding of the Shofar. It is literally a wake-up call to us to begin the process of self-examination which should begin now and conclude on Yom Kippur.
If you think about it, it takes us a whole year to do all of the many things we shouldn’t have done. What makes us think we can go to shul for three days, beat our hearts as we recite Ashamnu and believe that we’ve made it all better? Common sense should tell us that those few days just aren’t enough. That’s precisely why we’re given a whole month to prepare to ask for forgiveness.
And by the way, the Penitential Season doesn’t end with Yom Kippur…but that’s a topic for another day!