It’s Elul, the time to prepare for Rosh HaShana, the Jewish new year. Women are learning May You Have a Day on their own and together with friends and family. They tell me a chapter or two a day is making a real difference in their life. (There are 120 chapters!) Read a chapter such as the one below. Share your thoughts with a friend, relative or a child. Talk it over with Hashem. Get started. You never know how far you can go unless you begin.
From Chapter 4: Beginning with Prayer
Rebbe Nachman said that people will wait until they are at the end of their ropes before they pray. They will change their diets. They will go to doctors. They will fill in dozens of job applications. They’ll go for a jog or to the gym. They’ll rack their brains, have long complicated arguments, and even temper tantrums. People will do anything and everything to solve their predicament – except pray. Only when they can’t take it anymore, then they will pray. Then they’ll talk to God and ask for His Help.
Rebbe Nachman told us to do the opposite. He says: Begin with prayer. When you begin with prayer you are showing that you believe that God is the source of everything. You are demonstrating that He is the only address where you can find salvation.
We think of habits as negative things. But some habits are good. You can get into the habit of turning to God first, before you take action. If you do, you may end up standing taller, feeling stronger, and seeing solutions sooner.
May you have a day in which you turn to Hashem first.
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Photo credit: Osprey by Chana Sneider
