Shalom y’all,

My name is Ben Freed and I am the Student Rabbi at Synagogue Agudath Achim in Little Rock. I’m also a fifth (and final)-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where I spend most of my time. It’s been a true joy to get to know the Agudath Achim and broader Little Rock Jewish community over the past year and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to kick off the “Hear it from the Rabbi” blog for JFAR.

For the last six months, it’s been tough at times for me to remember what day of the week it is, let alone what day of the month. Some days and weeks seem to drag on endlessly, but it seems that summer has come to an end in the blink of an eye!

One thing that has helped me keep a regular rhythm is the Jewish calendar, which is about to get a whole lot more busy. Shabbat is an anchor that keeps me grounded to the weekly cycle of time, and we’ve now entered into a period leading up to the High Holidays that is meant to remind us that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are just around the corner.

Rabbi Alan Lew z”l wrote a book about this period of the Jewish calendar whose title is perhaps more applicable this year than ever before: This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared. He wasn’t writing about pandemics or politics, he was writing about the yearly reckoning that Judaism asks each of us to have with our own actions. Each year we are meant to use this time to examine our past year and ask ourselves how we measure up to our ideals—to be brutally honest with ourselves about where we’ve succeeded and where we’ve fallen short.

To heighten the stakes, when this month of Elul ends and Tishrei begins, we will come before God—usually in the sanctuary of a synagogue or temple, this year perhaps in our own homes—who will act as the final judge of our progress. The point of Rabbi Lew’s book is that whether or not your belief in God includes a divine being that actually sits in judgement, the enormity of our need for self-reflection and repentance is incredibly serious. If we believe this task is real, then we are certainly unprepared. The good news is, we have this time to get ready!

As we progress through this month of Elul (it’s already almost half over!), let’s all take the time to prepare for the upcoming high holidays. Don’t let Rosh Hashanah be the first time you think about your actions for the past year. Get a head start now and I guarantee you’ll feel better during services.

For the next three weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I invite you to join me in the following three activities: 

• This week: Take one hour and make three lists—a list of things you’re proud of accomplishing this past year, a list of things you wish you had accomplished, and goals for the coming year.

• Next Week: Either by yourself or with your family, decide on one charitable or justice-focused organization you’d like to offer more support to this year—either monetarily or by volunteering your time. Tzedakah is one of the three things (along with prayer and t’shuvah, repentance) that we are supposed to focus on this time of year. 

• The week before the holidays: This is the week when we traditionally start to say the s’lichot (penitentiary) prayers. Think of one person who you wronged in some way this past year and do the hard work of reaching out to them and apologizing.

I’m confident that if we as the Arkansas Jewish community can do this work over the next few weeks, our prayer services will be that much more meaningful on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and our coming years that much more productive. I also believe it will make our communities stronger as we all commit to the personal and collective work of t’shuvah, returning to our best selves.

I wish you all a meaningful month of Elul and a sweet, happy, and healthy New Year. I invite everyone who is interested to join Agudath Achim as we live stream our services during the High Holidays—or join your home synagogue or temple if they’re streaming.

Shanah Tovah!

Student Rabbi Ben Freed

Ben Freed served as the Gladstein Fellow and Student Rabbi at Agudath Achim in Little Rock in 2020-2021.