Shavuah Tov As we welcome the Hebrew month of Elul, we enter a sacred season in the Jewish calendar. Elul is the final month of the year, a bridge between the year that is ending and the new year waiting just beyond the horizon. Jewish tradition invites us to use these weeks intentionally for introspection, for cheshbon hanefesh, an accounting of the soul, and for teshuvah, the work of returning, repairing, and beginning again. I have always appreciated that our tradition gives us an entire month for this work. Elul is a gift. Rather than arriving at Rosh Hashanah and suddenly being asked to consider who we have been and who we hope to become, we are given time to prepare. We can look back honestly at the year that has passed, acknowledge where we have succeeded, recognize where we have missed the mark, and consider how what we have learned can create forward motion in the year ahead. One of the beautiful teachings associated with Elul comes from Song of Songs 6:3: Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” The first Hebrew letters of these four words Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed spell Elul. During this season, these words remind us that the work of reflection and teshuvah is deeply relational. We consider our relationships with one another, with ourselves, with our community, and with the Divine. That idea feels particularly meaningful at the Tucson J. As an organization, we too have an opportunity to engage in cheshbon hanefesh. We can ask ourselves: Where did we fulfill our mission particularly well this year? Where did we miss the mark? Whom did we welcome and engage? Who might still be standing at the edges of our community? How can we listen more deeply? And how can we better fulfill our goal of building and strengthening Jewish community and creating vibrant Jewish life? Importantly, we cannot answer those questions alone. We want to hear from you. Once again, the Tucson J will participate in the JCC Association Benchmarking Project. In the coming weeks, you will receive a survey asking about your experiences, perspectives, and connection to the Tucson J. I hope you will take the time to complete it and share your thoughts with us. Your feedback is an important part of our organizational cheshbon hanefesh. Listening to our community helps us understand what we are doing well, where we need to grow, and how we can continue becoming the Tucson J our community needs us to be. This is not simply about measuring where we have been. It is about learning from where we have been so that we can move forward with greater purpose. Music often gives us another way to enter this season. Hashiveinu, asks that we be brought back so that we might return, and that our days might be renewed. That idea of return sits at the very heart of teshuvah. Elul asks us not simply to identify what we would change, but to consider what we want to return to our values, our relationships, our sense of purpose, and the people we aspire to be. I also find myself thinking about Bob Dylan’s Forever Young. Written as a blessing, the song expresses hopes for wisdom, courage, integrity, joy, and a life grounded in what matters. There is something particularly appropriate about a blessing during Elul. Our accounting of the year is not only about asking where we fell short. It is also about asking who we hope to become. Together, these songs capture something essential about this season: we return in order to renew, and we reflect in order to become. As we prepare to enter a new year, what qualities do we hope to carry forward? What do we want for our children, our families, our community, and ourselves? What do we need to leave behind? And what choices will we make to help our hopes become reality? Elul reminds us that reflection is not meant to leave us looking backward. We look back so that we can move forward with greater intention, wisdom, humility, and hope. As each of us begins our own cheshbon hanefesh, may we have the courage to celebrate what was good, acknowledge where we missed the mark, seek repair where it is needed, and imagine what is possible in the year ahead. And in the spirit of Hashiveinu and Forever Young, may we return to what matters most, remain open to learning and growth, stand firmly in our values, and continue to see the possibility and wonder around us. I wish you and those you love a meaningful month of Elul. May our individual journeys of reflection strengthen our collective journey, and may the work we do together continue to create a Tucson Jewish community filled with belonging, connection, purpose, and vibrant Jewish life.4 Chodesh Tov, Cochenu b’Achduteynu | כחינו באחדותינו | Our strength is in our unity. Am Yisrael Chai | עם ישראל חי Todd Rockoff President + CEO, Tucson J | 
