The King is in the Field

As we are really close to the Day of Judgement, beginning this coming Wednesday, it has been a mad dash to the finish line to do all of the teshuva I have been working on for the past year, and specifically in the past month in sem. I am incredibly fortunate to be able to be in such a place of Torah knowledge during this crucial time in the year. Although last year I thought I did a pretty good job of learning from sefarim on my own and listening to online shiurim, it pales in comparison to the work I have been able to accomplish and the knowledge I have acquired just this past month of Elul in seminary.

In current events, a huge MAZAL TOV to my good friends Mel and Avi on 1. getting married and 2. making aliyah, which was there true "teenage dream". In fact, Katy Perry's song was about THEM! It's great to have them in Israel with me, and I can't wait to be with them on this journey! There is a teshuva, tefilah, and tzedakah mobile that drives around town playing music to get everyone in the Rosh Hashanah spirit, so that's pretty interesting and thrilling. And to top off the weekly news, the man who works in the Brooklyn Bake Shop knows me, and tells me to buy more to bring to my fellow Kentuckians. Maybe that means I go there too much? Just doing my job in supporting the local ma and pop shops! Anywaaays...:)
Two weeks ago, I got up at 4:30 am and took an organized bus to the city of Chevron, where Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, and Leah are buried. It really was a holy and amazing experience to be at this special place, where such tzaddikim and the foundations of the Jewish religion are buried. My favorite part was the fact that Sarah and Avraham are buried right next to each other. There is a separate room in which both of their kevarim rest. It's a pretty vast and grandiose place, but the fact that two people who loved each other so much, and had such a good marriage for such a long time were buried right next to each other really says a lot to me.
We've been learning a lot about brachos in halacha class, which has led me to search out the different kinds of food that we have talked about. For example, all I want to eat are chocolate covered raisins because I now know that the bracha is ha'etz instead of shehakol. Don't worry, I finally found them today and bought enough to last me through Rosh Hashanah. I am also the proud new owner of "The Marvelous Midos Machine" CD, which is exactly as it may sound...a Jewish children's CD that teaches about good midos and being a mensch. I plan to learn all the words to the songs so I can impress little Jewish children everywhere with not only my BEAUTIFUL voice, but also my intense knowledge of good midos. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
As the Day of Judgement comes, when our next year will be inscribed in, please G-d, the Book of Life, it is a very intense time of teshuva and working on ourselves. On this day, everything that will happen to us in the coming year, who will live, who will die, our wealth, our health, will be inscribed by H-shem. In these last few days, it is our last chance to crown G-d as our King and ask for forgiveness so that we can change any bad decrees that we may receive, chas v'shalom. Although a lot of the things that I say may seem to be a joke or sarcastic, this time is crucial, and I can only continue to daven that I have done enough this past year to be written in the Book of Life for the upcoming one.
While some of you may think that I am a little crazy for having a mild freak out before the New Year instead of simply buying my apples and honey, please realize that whatever you believe in, whether it be an ultimate Truth or something else, that this time of year especially is really just a time to work on ourselves, and as good people, this is what we should be striving to do all year long. While the Torah helps us out a little bit by dedicating this entire month to teshuva and self-introspection, it doesn't mean we can stop as soon as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur end. We should write down small resolutions and continuously work on them all year long until they no longer need to be conscientiously worked on. My hope for all of us is that we can all work on ourselves to make the world a better and more peaceful place. Ketivah Vachatimah Tovah, may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.