30 Days to the High Holy Days
Have you ever noticed how many “30 Day Challenges” our society gives us? Challenges to lose weight, to learn a language, to straighten up your house, or even straighten up your finances! The world loves to give us month-long challenges.
But did you know the Jewish people have been doing a 30-Day Challenge for thousands of years?
That’s right! The Hebrew month of Elul began last night at sunset. And so did an ancient biblical Jewish practice—one Jesus likely participated in. During Elul, the Jewish people prepare themselves spiritually for the High Holy Days, which begin with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and conclude on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This annual month-long challenge—performed by generations of Jewish people—lays the groundwork for real and lasting change.
Host Yael Eckstein shows us that it takes a full 30 days to connect with God, nourish our souls, and make spiritual changes that last, setting us up for a successful year to come and a blessed life ahead!
Episode Notes:
Why is 30 days so important? In this podcast, Yael looks at a biblical answer from Deuteronomy 21:10-13:
“When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.”
Of course, these laws don’t apply to us in the way that they once did, since we don’t take women captive in war anymore. But God’s Word is eternal, which means that there are still meaningful lessons within these verses that are relevant to our lives today. Yael explores the reason why the 30-day waiting period was necessary from the time a woman was captured to the time that the Israelite soldier could marry her.
As we’ll learn in this episode, true growth is a gradual process—a process that happens over time. You need more than a day or an hour to make meaningful changes. That’s why the Jewish people take the full month of Elul to lay the groundwork for real and lasting change. You can join the Jewish people this month—or whenever you are listening to this—and heed this call.
Learn more about Preparing for the High Holy Days by visiting our Learn Center.