The War is now in its eleventh month, and there seems to be no end in sight. And it’s exasperating to the say the least.

We have come to learn—the hard way—that we cannot count on our political leaders for our salvation. In America, our children are no longer safe in college or even on the subway. It’s beginning to dawn upon us, that our only hope lies in the hands of G-d Himself, to save us from this ugly predicament.

Countless times, the Torah warns us that our indifference to G-d will result in catastrophic attacks on our People. As we learned in so many biblical and subsequent narratives, only a change of heart—teshuva—will chase our enemies away and restore G-d’s grace and love upon us.

But is change possible?

If we’re so set in our ways after all these years, are we truly capable of evolving our lives to become more spiritually attuned to our Torah and sensitized to her values, rituals and practices?

Whenever the Torah describes a complete cycle, it does so with the number 40: The Jews wandered through the desert for forty years to shed their slavery mentality before they could enter the Promised Land. Similarly, a student is able to fathom the depths of his mentor’s mind only after 40 years of study.

A new life is born after 40 weeks of pregnancy. And the Great Flood of Noah—that cleansed a sinful world from corruption—lasted for 40 days.  Once someone becomes impure, they can be purified after immersing in a Mikvah, that comprises a measure of 40 seah (a biblical measurement) of water. And the rule of the greatest leaders of our People, including Moses, King Solomon, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Akiva, all lasted for 40 years.

Indeed, the Torah mentions the number 40 over 100 times! This is because 40 represents a complete cycle of rebirth and transformation—a new beginning.

And that’s why there are 40 days from this week—the beginning of the month of Elul when we focus on repentance and returning to our core values—until Yom Kippur. When we make the choice to improve our behavior and transform our relationship with G-d through modifying our behaviour over the next 40 days, we will indeed emerge on the other side as a new person!

The saintly Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk said that every person should meditate upon the following idea each and every day:

“A person was only created by G-d in order to overcome his default desires. Hence, one who by nature is stubborn should break his nature by forcing himself to be kind and flexible for 40 consecutive days. Similarly, a person who is lazy by nature should train himself to be industrious and energetic for 40 consecutive days, when he goes to sleep and when he jumps out of bed, when he dresses and when he serves His Maker.”

If we’re serious about winning this war, it’s time for us to bring out the big guns—weapons that we seldom use. It’s time for us to enlist the help of Almighty G-d. If we push ourselves to be kinder to others in our words and our actions, to lay Tefllin for 40 days, to study Torah or to light Shabbos Candles for this period of time, then we will succeed in making these behaviors our second nature, regardless of the home and culture in which we were raised.

Our mystics reveal that this final month of the Jewish year is particularly conducive to renewing our relationship with G-d.

“[During this month of Elul,] the King is in the Field. At that time, anyone who so desires is granted permission [and can] approach him and greet him. He receives them all pleasantly, and shows a smiling countenance to all…” (Likutei Torah Re’eh 32b)

Eager to renew our bond, G-d reaches out to each and every one of us in this final month before Rosh Hashana, making Himself accessible to us all. He assuages our anxieties as he assures us that He will welcome us with unconditional love, regardless of the severity of our offenses. All we need to do is to approach Him and start the conversation.

Sometimes you just have to turn the page to realize that there is more to the book of your life than the page you are currently stuck on. The first step is always the hardest—but if you stay committed to your new beginning, you’ll rebuild your life the way it was meant to be! The life in front of you is far more important than the life behind you.

If there’s one consistent theme throughout all of Jewish history, it’s about the dangers of placing our trust in people and the importance of directing our hope to G-d. We too can be like David—able to strike down the mighty Goliath—when we place our trust in Hashem. You’re not a prisoner of your past. Take advantage of the extraordinary opportunity of the “King enthusiastically waiting for you in the field,” to secure G-d Almighty’s powerful blessings upon our nation.

We encourage you to take the 40 day plunge: Take some time today to ponder which part of your life you would like to improve spiritually. For the next forty days starting today, focus on implementing this behavior in action. You can choose to modify your words from nasty to nice or to express compliments instead of curses. You can evolve your thinking by studying some Torah and choosing to meditate on it for five minutes each day. Or you can choose a mitzvah to take upon yourself. We’ve prepared a full list of the 613 Mitzvahs for you to peruse at JewishGardens.com/756399

How exactly our spiritual choices will manifest on the battlefield is for G-d to decide. But one thing we now for sure, is that with our nation’s back to the wall, we’ve got to pull all the punches we can! Lets give this all we’ve got!

Rabbi Dovid Vigler
Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens
6100 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
JewishGardens.com  | 561.624.2223

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