Poems for Elul by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat 

In 2003, the year that I started Velveteen Rabbi, I also started the practice of sending a poem to family and friends during Elul as the Days of Awe approach. On this page you'll find those poems, sent to friends and family during Elul from 2003 until now. (They're ordered in reverse chronological order, with the newest one at the top.)

2019 / 5780:  Now

Suddenly the two stately trees
outside my window are shot through

with sprays of gold. My heart rails
against the turning season

like a child resisting bedtime, but
the trees hear the shofar's call.

Come alive, flare up, be
who you are: let your light shine!

The katydids and crickets sing
the time is now, the time is now.

The last time I visited my mother
I told her "it's okay if you're ready

to go." My heart railed against
her dying, but after one last burst

of color she was ready to rest.
This year the trees' razzle-dazzle

speaks to me in her voice: be here
while you can. Drink every drop

of daylight. And when night falls,
it's full of stars: don't be afraid.

poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, 2019

 *

2018 / 5779: As days are waning

The new year starts as days are waning.
I'm never ready when the first leaves turn.
Every Jewish day begins with evening:
darkness before light, since the beginning.

I'm never ready when the first leaves turn.
Roll the scroll toward the end of our story:
darkness before light since the beginning.
Am I ready to turn and face what's coming?

Roll the scroll toward the end of our story --
can I open my hands and let go of the summer?
Am I ready to turn and face what's coming?
You know what they say about endings.

I open my hands and let go of the summer,
paint every cracked and broken place with gold.
You know what they say about endings:
turn the page, start a chapter, begin again.

Paint every cracked and broken place with gold!
Every Jewish day begins with evening:
turn the page, start a chapter, begin again.
The new year starts as days are waning.

poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, 2018

 *

2017 / 5778: Transplanted

God says: face facts. The old year
is ending. You’ve outgrown it.

The flowerpot that used to be home
isn’t big enough anymore. Once

it was spacious. Now your roots
push uncomfortably against the walls.

It's time to stop contorting yourself
to fit inside a story that's too small

for who you can become. God whacks
the bottom of your pot, sends you flying.

Once you're pried from the old year
your roots will ache, shocked

by open air. You'll wonder whether
you could have stopped growing.

But one morning you'll wake, realize
you've stretched in ways you never knew

you hadn't done before. The sun
will feel like a benediction, like

grace. You can't help turning
and re-turning toward the light,

toward becoming. And wait 'til you see
what dazzling flowers you'll discover

springing from your fingertips:
your life renewed, beginning again.

poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, 2017

*

Find all of the Velveteen Rabbi's poems for Elul here: https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/new-years-poems.html

And find more High Holiday liturgy from Bayit at: https://yourbayit.org/holy-at-home/


Booklet Section: Elul Blessings 
Source: https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/new-years-poems.html