Elul Arrives: A Season of Sunlight and Soul-Searching

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The month of Elul arrives in a few weeks (August 25th), a time when many of us are soaking up long days, travelling, catching our breath, and delighting in the beauty of nature. It is a season of pause — of campfires and stargazing, of canoeing and kayaking, of long conversations, of afternoons that stretch lazily into evening. It is a time to reconnect with ourselves, with the people we love, and with the land that sustains us. These moments of rest and spaciousness are not just a luxury. They are nourishment for the soul.

Just beneath the surface of this summer ease, Elul quietly begins. In the Jewish calendar, Elul is the doorway into the High Holy Days—a spiritual threshold that begins to ring softly, gently, reminding us to pause again, but in a different way. Elul invites us return, to recalibrate, and to listen inwardly.

The Hebrew word Elul is an acronym for Ani l’dodi v’dodi li—“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” These words from Shir HaShirim/Song of Songs offer a surprising invitation: this month of soul-searching is not one of judgment or fear, but of love and relationship—with Adonai, with ourselves, and with one another.

Here at the Danforth Jewish Circle, we are deeply committed to this kind of return. We are not a community that shies away from complexity. We know that real teshuvah – real return – means turning toward the fullness of life: toward joy and celebration, yes, and also toward pain, heartbreak, and the messy work of repair.

Right now, many of us are carrying deep grief and anguish about theongoing horrors unfolding in the Israel-Gaza war. The staggering loss of life. The devastation of communities. The terror and trauma of Israeli families still living in the aftermath of October 7. The 50 hostages languishing in tunnels. The unbearable suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank: families killed in bombings, children orphaned, thousands hungry, entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble, and humanitarian aid starting and stopping.

And closer to home, we are also grappling with rising antisemitism, including the recent defacing of a synagogue in Victoria, BC, with hateful graffiti: slurs and threats scrawled across sacred space. The pain, fear, and vigilance this stirs are real, and they live alongside our determination to stand strong in who we are, as Jews and as Canadians.

These are not easy truths to hold. And they do not come with easy answers.

But the month of Elul is not a time of easy answers. It is a time for honest questions, for compassionate self-examination, for listening closely—perhaps more closely than we have all year.

In the weeks ahead, I invite you to listen:

• To the still, small voice within you. What do you know to be true, and how do you want to explore that?

• To the voices you may have turned away from. Who (or what) have you been ignoring, and what might it feel like to (re)enter into that relationship?

• To the voices in our DJC community that challenge, comfort, or stretch you.

Let us savour these final weeks of summer with presence and gratitude. And let us also prepare – not just for tefillah (communal worship services) and rituals, but for being together in all our complexity. Let us return to one another with curiosity, humility, and full, open hearts. Let us remember that Elul is not just a season of introspection, it’s a season of love.

And speaking of love, I hope I will see you this Saturday evening (August 9) at Withrow Park for our annual Tu B’Av Kumsitz gathering. Bring your voices, your instruments, your love of love, and we’ll provide the smores! It’s a sweet and relaxed way to come together in community and song during this month.

Wishing you light, rest, and meaning in these remaining summer days.

May Elul guide us all home.

Rabbi Ilyse Glickman

Please let me know what you think about today’s offering: rabbiglickman@djctoronto.com. I look forward to the conversation.