Category Archives: Holidays
Shavuot Commentaries
Book of Ruth (on Safaria)
See Shavuot commentaries below.
17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av — the Three Weeks
A section for posting commentaries from any source, as well as personal comments, about the 17th of Tammuz, the 9th of Av, and the three weeks in between.
Tu B’Av
An Elul Expedition — The King In the Field
“The King In the Field” — An Elul Expedition
The metaphor for the space of God-connection on Rosh Hashanah is “the palace.” The “palace” is a most special experience, separate from ordinary life, a place of special holiness, a place we don’t enter casually. We prepare as best we can, physically and spiritually. We do our best to be worthy, and where we fall short, we pray for compassion and forgiveness.
Elul is different. The metaphor for the God-connection space is “the field.” During Elul, our sages teach, “the King is in the field.” The “field” is the material space where we live our ordinary lives. Teshuvah — returning. During Elul, God is doing teshuvah! Returning to us to meet us in the field.
Our challenge during Elul: to meet God’s teshuvah with our own. But where and how do we find God in the field? Is it when we take the opportunity to do an act of kindness for another person? Is it how we notice with gratitude when someone does an unexpected act of kindness for us? Is it when we see a beautiful flower, or the smile on the face of a child, or stop to listen to a bird sing? Is it all of the above?
So here’s my invitation: What if we could stay in touch during the month of Elul and share some of our experiences of meeting “the King in the Field?” What if we can each strengthen our teshuvah practice by learning from each other?
This is a space for sharing our experiences, during the month of Elul, of meeting the King in the Field. And for sharing our learning.
On any day of Elul, we invite you to Post a Comment below, about your personal encounter with the King in the Field. We also invite you to see the comments of the other friends who are sharing the journey, and share your personal responses to what they have said.
Most of all, we invite you to share this journey of our Torah Circle community!