Elul Reflections: All the Days of My Life

On this first Shabbat of Elul, we ask: What does your day look like, what does today look like, when you are living in the tent of the Eternal?  Daily recitation of the words of Psalm 27 inspire us throughout Elul, and we sing verse 4  regularly during Shabbat services (Fridays, 6pm) at RS this month: “One thing I ask of the Eternal, only that do I seek: to live in the house of God all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Eternal, to frequent God’s temple.”  The full Psalm:

The Eternal is my light and my help; whom should I fear?

The Eternal is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread?

When evil men assail me to devour my flesh it is they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall.

Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear; should war beset me, still I would be confident.

One thing I ask of the Eternal, only that do I seek: to live in the house of God all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Eternal, to frequent God’s temple.

God will shelter me in the divine pavilion on a evil day, grant me the protection of the divine tent, raise me high upon a rock.

Now is my head high over my enemies roundabout; I sacrifice in God’s tent with shouts of joy, singing and chanting a hymn to the Eternal.

L’shanah tovah–Rabbis Bill Kuhn, Jill Maderer, Eli Freedman and Cantor Erin Frankel