Wait, we're doing this again?

[Dani Schreiber]

While searching my gmail to see if I once wrote something about a drasha I'm planning on giving this Shabbos, I was linked to iChabura and was surprised to find that it's not just a pile of dry bones anymore! Baruch mechayei meisim.

Thought I'd share something (derasha notes) from last year's parshas Re'eh, which is still relevant since it falls on Rosh Chodesh Elul again:

• The most famous acronym for Elul is לדודי ודודי לי – sounds very romantic. But isn’t Elul just the leadup to Rosh Hashana and the Yamim Noraim? What's romantic about that?

• Some baalei chassidus point out that the word ראה is roshei teivos for "ראש אלול היום". What secret is in Re'eh which relates to Rosh Chodesh Elul?

• R. Hirsch explains, based on "אשר תשמעו" (instead of אם תשמעו) that the reward is in the listening itself. Becoming better. Mitzvot are their own reward.
  

• In fact, this is true in marriage. Building a great relationship isn’t about what’s trying to find what’s in it for you. It’s about investing and making it better. The reward is the improvement. Every kindness, every compliment, every time you push yourself – is its own reward.

• This brings us back to Elul. It’s not אני לדודי אם דודי לי. It’s not dependent. We’re not waiting or expecting God’s reward. Elul is the end of the year. The time for reward is pretty much over. We can worry about next year on Rosh Hashana. What we do now we do because it’s the kind of person we want to be. Because it’s the kind of relationship we want to have with God.

Chodesh tov!