Into the deep end
When I wrote to Rabbi S for the first time, I acknowledged that we were two weeks out from the busiest stretch of a rabbi’s year, more or less starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur. So I could have picked a better spot on the calendar. But…
The last month of the Hebrew calendar is Elul. With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approaching rapidly at that point, it is said that “the King is in the field.” Our Creator is closer, and He is listening —a king who comes down from His palace to attend to the harvest and the people laboring for it. A friend of mine pointed this out to me when I mentioned my interrupted journey. What better time is there to reach out?
It depends on what you’re after. Spiritually, my friend was right. Elul is precisely the right time. Logistically, however, it can be a different story because what makes the stretch between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur busy for rabbis is the need to attend to ritual observance. And if your life hasn’t been set up to account for this, too, there can be schedule shock.
My wife and I share a car, so two to three times a week, I don’t have it during the day. Combine that with things like standing appointments, and suddenly getting to shul often can be an issue. I was hit or miss during Rosh Hashanah, despite all my intentions to the contrary. I can do better.