Don’t procrastinate

Are you the kind of person that waits until crunch time to get the job done? Do you work best under pressure? Most of the time it is arguably alright to wait until the last minute, provided that you are actually good at getting the job done even with so little time.

Sometime though waiting until the end (even if you get the job done) is detrimental to the very essence of the job. Let me explain. This Shabbos blesses the month of Elul. Elul is a month of preparation for Rosh Hashanah and the days of Awe. G-d in His mercy, gave us an entire month to prepare for Rosh Hashanah so we don’t show up in the Kings palace in our peasant clothing. But as we say in Yiddish, vus far a punim hut es (what kind of appearance does it have), when you show up every year and start getting your act together just in preparation for Rosh Hashanah? Are we being genuine?

The short answer is yes. Every soul yearns for profound spiritual and divine connection all the time. But the challenges of life preclude us from being super conscious of that desire all the time. When Rosh Hashanah is on the horizon, we begin to become inspired and our soul breaks free from its confines and wants that connection again. So, the real question is when our soul is awake we do respond genuinely to that inner burning yearning for connection?

But, if we don’t wait until crunch time (the month of preparation) and begin preparing ourselves before the actual start of the month (next Shabbat) of Elul, then we are actually showing that our desire to get our act together is who we really are, even before our soul begins to stir. So what are we waiting for?

Have an inspiring month.

Rabbi Schusterman