You know the feeling of utter shock when thre's a sudden power outage? This past Sunday we experienced it.
Within a moment our entire life reverted back one hundred years. The AC and washing machine fell silent, and the computer and lights went dark. So we moved the kids outdoors. After about three hours, we realized the food in the fridge may spoil and we could not cook dinner, and soon night and darkness would descend. Worst of all, our cell phones batteries were dangerously low :)
With technology down, I had no choice but to flick my imaginative mind on. I thought: What is the message in all this? the Baal Shem Tov taught to learn a lesson from everything one sees, hears and experiences.
Then it hit me like a flash of light. Sunday, was Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the new month of Elul. This is what Elul is really all about. All year long, we are in this race called life. Work, commute, home, chores, bills, while technology lingers in the background providing constant distraction, generating artificial excitement, we may come to believe that this is all that life has to offer.
But Elul, the month leading into the High Holidays, begs us to stop for a moment, to turn off the artificial distraction and listen to the sound of our true, inner self. What is the purpose of everything we do? What are we here for? How did we do this past year, as humans and as Jews? Are we even going in the right direction?
Suddenly the lights went back on, and life returned to normal. But the race of life, now seemed to have a new perspective and a clearer goal. It was worth it.