This week we are welcoming the new Hebrew month of Elul, and with it, the daily listening of the sound of the shofar. Elul is the last month of the Hebrew calendar, heralding a period of introspection, a time to review our actions during the year that passed, a time to re-think our deeds and the opportunities that we let slip, opening the space to re-connect with the Divine. Starting with Rosh Hodesh (new moon of the month) Elul we blow the shofar on weekday mornings (but for the morning right before Rosh HaShanah) allowing ourselves to be immersed in that sound, finding the emotional strength to do heshbon hanefesh, the accounting of the soul.
This is a great time for us to embark on our exploration of the second triangle of the Tree of Life, formed by the sefirot Hessed, Gevurah, and Tiferet. These three sefirot are at the heart of the spiritual job required of us during this time of the year. We must balance these energies inside ourselves, and as we do our personal adjustments, our tikkun, we help balance these energies in the Divine spheres. Today, let’s start with Hessed.
Hessed means love, kindness, grace, or mercy. This sefirah is where we find our impulse to share what we have, to be generous, to offer what others need so they can be successful.
Hessed is boundless, God’s aspect of unlimited benevolence, and the instrumental channel for Creation. This world, given freely to human beings, was created because God was inspired by this sefirah. Hessed is the impulse to create and share, without limits, giving freely without expectations. Hessed is the vehicle that parents use to give their children a basic sense of love and security, that lovers give of themselves to the other, that human beings use to be present and attentive to others. Hessed is also the energy that animates our creativity, giving us the impulse to think new thoughts, to envision new possibilities, and to make new things. Hessed is the open spirit to give, to create, to love, and to strengthen.
During this time of the year, Hessed becomes a needed ingredient in the process of introspection that leads to teshuvah, the spiritual return to a healthy relationship with the Divine. As we review our actions, some of us have the tendency of being too harsh on ourselves, nervously re-hashing every moment in which we acted in less-than-optimal ways.
This is the time when we use the energy of Hessed to cradle our hearts with love and kindness. Hessed is the energy that helps us see that no one is perfect, that we are all liable to make mistakes, and that most of the things that we do can be forgiven.
I like to remind ourselves that if God wanted us to be perfect, God would not have made us out of clay, out of the earth’s soil. Clay is a finicky material, breaks easily, and has a limited lifetime. If God wanted us to be perfect, God would have chosen a different material, maybe sturdy as iron, maybe beautiful as gold. Therefore, our nature is to be imperfect. To withstand this time of the year, full of scrutiny, we must show a little Hessed to ourselves and to others.