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Betwixt & Between

 “May it be Your Will, God, our Lord, and the Lord of our forefathers, that You inaugurate this month upon us for goodness and for blessing. May You give us long life - a life of peace, a life of goodness, a life of blessing, a life of sustenance, a life of physical health, a life in which there is fear of heaven and fear of sin, a life in which there is no shame nor humiliation, a life of wealth and honor, a life in which we will have love of Torah and fear of heaven, a life in which God fulfills our heartfelt requests for the good. Amen, Selah.” We stand betwixt and between: Moshe was on Sinai for his second set of Forty days, pleading for God’s forgiveness of the sin of the Golden Calf. He will be coming down on the final day of Tammuz, and hopefully, will go up yet again for a third set of forty days to receive the Second Luchot. We await his report of God’s forgiveness as we prepare for his third trip and develop strategies so that we will not fall again as we did with the Golden Calf. This prayer of Blessing the New Month of Elul expresses our status waiting for forgiveness and preparing for regained heights.

By Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

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