Pearls of Elul 5786 - Day Twenty-Six

September 7 | 25 Elul

What Did You Bring to Life?

Talmudic question: עסקת בפריה ורביה - Asakta b'firya u'rivya?

The third question asks whether we engaged in the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. On the surface, this is a question about parenthood and procreation. But as someone who has struggled with my own fertility, I believe we can hear a broader question underneath it: What have you brought creatively into being?

Rosh Hashanah is traditionally understood as the birthday of the world, a celebration of creation itself. We stand before God as creatures who are also capable of creating. We create relationships, families, communities, art, ideas, traditions, acts of kindness, and possibilities for other people. The High Holy Days ask us not only what we have accomplished, but what kind of life we have helped make possible.

The questions for Elul are:

Who has grown because you encouraged them?

What community exists because you helped build it?

What kindness continues because you began it?

What have you nurtured into existence?