By Anna Coufal
The High Holidays can be daunting. Not only are they a busy time of year, but the season also calls upon us to reflect deeply and honestly as individuals and communities. The month of Elul leading up to the High Holidays is a time for heshbon hanefesh, accounting of the soul. As I thought about how to get my nails done, even though Rosh Hashanah was several weeks away, I decided to go for apples and honey nails.
Rosh Hashanah is a bittersweet time. We celebrate a sweet new year, yet the shofarA ram's horn that is blown on the High Holidays to "wake us up" and call Jews to repentance. It is also said that its blast will herald the coming of the messiah. wakes us up and reminds us that the Days of Awe are a time of teshuvah and serious reflection. Recently, I opened up to a friend about a dilemma I was facing, a situation in which I felt I was not acting within my own ethical boundaries but didn’t feel prepared to do teshuvah. They asked me, “Who is the person you want to be?” After some thought I realized, maybe Elul is not such a solemn time at all. Yes, we reflect and look back at our past year, which can bring up a lot of challenging feelings. However, we can also find hope and inspiration in envisioning a future that is more aligned with who we want to be. The goal isn’t perfection or immunity from mistakes. It’s the acknowledgment that we all have areas in our lives that we leave open to change so that we can feel more at home with ourselves and more aligned with who we want to be.
Now, when I look at the apples and honey, I feel sweetness in the possibilities of change, of teshuvah, of returning to myself in all my possibilities.
Anna Coufal is a rabbinical student at RRC.
Nail art by Chelsea at O’Studio in Philadelphia, PA.
