Sunday, September 16, 2012

#BlogElul 29: Justice


Justice.
It seems like a strange ending to BlogElul. What could I have possibly been thinking?

Maybe I meant "social justice" - those words are so often used together. It's such an important part of the holidays, right? We talk about all the problems in the world and how we can fix them. We collect food and set up volunteer programs.

But maybe I meant the vast unfairness of it all. Maybe I was wondering how we can speak of justice when we know darn well that the world is full of injustice.

And maybe that is it - maybe we speak about justice just like we speak of peace - if we abandoned our talk of it altogether just because it seems so totally out of reach....then we would for sure lose hope. So we continue to speak of it fondly, like it's just around the corner, like it's in the next room waiting for us.

Someday it will be.
For all of us.
For the whole world.

Okay, maybe justice was a good ending to BlogElul. As Elul draws to a close, we hold our hopes for the new year so tightly and we speak of them as though they have come true. If our highest aspiration is justice for the whole world, then let us go into the new year feeling, breathing, hoping, believing that is just around the corner. Just in the next room.

May it be so.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! 

Today is the last day of Blog Elul! Leave your blog Elul post in the linky below!

1 comment:

Mark Kaiserman said...

It was a bit of a strange topic to end on. But you made it work, as always! Thanks for spearheading this fun and creative effort.