A word of Torah:
        The month of Elul introduces the High Holiday season of introspection and repentance. The basic rabbinic notion about teshuva/change could be summed up as: “Just say no!” Faced with the temptation to do something you know is wrong, you should stop yourself. About to lose your temper and say hurtful things, count to ten and speak wisely. Needless to say, this is not an easy path to follow.
        I want to share with you a different approach to teshuva, rooted in Hasidism. Because prayer was the essential spiritual practice in Hasidism, distracting thoughts that could arise during prayer were a challenge. Instead of encouraging people to stop thinking about other things, Hasidism suggested a different understanding of why people get distracted in the first place. In its theology, Hasidism understood that the distracting thoughts weren’t random, because it believed that everything happened because God made it happen.
        The Degel Mahaneh Ephraim (18^th century Hasidic master commenting on Parshat Ekev) used the classic analogy for Jewish prayer of a servant coming before the king at his court. Surely while the servant was addressing the king no one else would interrupt by talking to the servant. If someone else did dare to speak to the servant, it must be that the person interrupting is doing so by the order of the king. In such a way, the distracting thought during prayer was not just some random idea that popped up in the person’s head. It must have come because God wanted it to come to the person. This rather startling and complex idea could be understood as Hasidism’s version of a Freudian slip. There are no accidental slips of the tongue or the mind. They are purposeful and come from the subconscious.
        The second part of this doctrine is just as remarkable. If the distracting thought has a purpose, then the response to it isn’t to stop thinking about it. The distracting thought provides an opportunity to reflect on why it is arising and what the kernel of holiness is that is within it. Hasidism called for the worshipper to transform the distracting thought by looking for the Godliness disguised in that thought. If you understood the pettiness of the feelings that are distracting you, whether it is jealousy, anxiety or annoyance, and return to the more essential truths expressed like gratitude for the blessings of your life, loving relationships, health, and life, wouldn’t you want to focus on those “truths” rather than the distractions? Couldn’t jealousy be a self-critique of your own efforts to succeed or annoyance a reflection of your lack of patience? In another words, isn’t the distracting thought more about your flaws than anything else?

        We will continue this teaching next week with how, in this Hasidic approach, change comes about through acceptance of those flaws rather than trying to say no to those impulses.