Elul gives us time to prepare before the High Holy Days are even on the close horizon. Like training for a race, the goal is not simply to reach the finish line, but to be changed by the journey.

We live amid extraordinary beauty and abundance, yet need surrounds us. How can we open our hearts, open our hands, and make a difference?

I almost said “no.” I’m grateful I didn’t. Sometimes the moments we’re most tempted to skip become the ones that bring the greatest blessings to our lives.

The Jewish calendar does not ask us to rush past grief. It teaches us how to move from lamentation to consolation, and from consolation to action.