Rosh Hashana God’s Day of Judgment
Elul. The very mention of this repentance-filled, preparatory month before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, usually evokes feelings of dread. Right in the middle of our summer vacations we are forced to face the reality that once again we will blow the shofar, eat the apples and honey, and - face the consequences of God's judgment. Elul is definitely (unless we lull ourselves to sleep and ignore it) a month that is full of anxiety, if not fear. This is why the famous acronym for E"L"U"L" is very surprising. E"L"U"L" stands for the phrase in Shir Hashirim 6:3, "Ani LeDodi VeDodi Li" - "I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me." This is one of the most loving expressions in all of the Torah in which the Jewish People declare their beautiful and close relationship with God. If E"L"U"L" means to signify this loving relationship, it seems quite strange and inappropriate for the aspect of love between God and His nation to be highlighted during the month before the judgment of the New Year. How can Elul be identified as a month full of love when it is associated more with fear, severity, and strict justice? And besides, why is it that God is always caring so much about our sins? Why the need to judge us all the time? (The Talmud says that we are actually judged every day and not just on the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashana 16a.) Why does God judge us? It cannot be because He has a need to judge or to exact revenge. God, by definition, is perfect and the ultimate source of goodness. He has no needs. It must be that He judges us for our benefit. Why is judgment to our benefit? God, through His judgment, shows His love for us and that He cares about everything that we do. We are so important to Him that He, like a father tracking his child's progress, constantly watches us. He is concerned with our every move. We are the beings, through our free will, who shape the world and its destiny. Through His judgment, we are made aware that every little thing that we do makes a difference to Him.
These comments are from a Rabbi, seeing the shadow of things to come.
I Corinthians 11:31-32For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are chastened of Yahuweh, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Unlike under the old covenant, we had to wait to be cleansed. Now when we come together, examine ourselves, submit to God, remembering what Jesus has done, we are cleansed and restored; not judged and chastened. This is the grace of God, divine influence upon our hearts and it’s reflection in life. You who say, grace is unmerited favor, have no depth of understanding. We have a work, a daily work, to examine ourselves that we walk in His Spirit, remembering His work and not ours.
Father, Your Son shall judge soon, when He arises to the cries of His martyred. We are the bride prepared to see Him in His glory.
Halle lu YAH