(My biggest fan, the DIVA wants more personal posts and less articles.  So…)

That’s right, dear reader.  The month of Elul has begun.  In synagogueland this means things are in high gear for membership renewals, sermon writing, religious school starting, and about a zillion other things.  Elul marks a unique spiritual time, too.  Because Rosh Hashanah is one month away, it being on the 1 Tishrei and all, Elul serves as a calendar reminder everyday of the preparation needed to prepare oneself fully for the High Holidays.

For me, the beginning of Elul = increase in stress big time. More on this another time.

However, this month in the Jewish calendar coincides with the celebration of Ramadan in the Muslim calendar (it’s that whole lunar calendar thing).  This year there’s something particularly poignant for these two special months aligning.  Perhaps in doing the cheshbon ha’nefesh, spiritual accounting in preparation for the new year we Jews can think about our Muslim brothers and sisters and how to be bridge builders.  (I am resisting the urge to reference the Islamic Center near the WTC site and linking to an article).

I certainly have a lot of accounting to do.  Better get to it!