Shofar

It's always fitting that the month of Elul and the beginning of the school year align. Elul is a time of returning to Gd as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It's a time to re-commit to what we know to be true, and to lay bare our vulnerabilities.

Returning to the classroom brings the same drive. If a person doesn't feel vulnerable and afraid with the abstract concept of facing Gd, they certainly can while counting down the minutes to prepare a classroom, welcome a new set of students and preparing to face any number of challenges and tension that a new school year has in store. 

This year is no different, but the stakes are higher. It's so much harder to plan now, what will the year look like? What sudden shifts will we need to make? What an awesome responsibility to be a captain on a ship in these waters for a group of vulnerable children who might not only be afraid of the voyage, but might demonstrate their anxiety in all sorts of ways that make the navigation that much more challenging.

In 30 minutes I'll be "back at school" but starting the day from my couch and attending first meetings on Zoom. Strange. I'll go to school but be asked to distance from colleagues. Strange. I will bring back with me some of the books I brought home when we went virtual, but not many of them. I don't want to have to lug them back again afterwards. Strange.

I'm also blowing shofar daily for myself and family, driving our experience of Elul and drawing down strength from above. Not so strange. 

But powerful.