Our cherished early-morning slumber is often marred by the jarring shrill or melodious chimes of our alarm clock. And in the daily battle of sleep versus accomplishment it’s our hand sneaking out from under the covers to blindly hit “snooze ” that seems victorious.
The shofar blast teaches the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4) is calling “Uru yesheinim mi’shinaschem — Wake up you sleeping ones from your sleep.” The tragedy is that often we respond to the shofar as we respond to our alarm clock: We reach out a hand and simply press our neshamah’s “snooze” button.
How can we approach Elul if we’re lost in a dream of spiritual indifference and apathy? How can we awaken that latent spark as we approach Yom HaDin? If we attempt to fake it can we possibly still be zocheh ba’din?
I recently encountered someone blessed with impressive yichus. He mentioned that his grandfather knew Shas Mishnayos by heart by his bar mitzvah. “I don’t have much Torah of my own” he added.
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