I just came back from a trip to South Africa with my family. We flew through Atlanta which meant the flight was 15 hours. As you can imagine, we were all completely exhausted. And on top of the exhaustion was the jet lag.
Jet lag has nothing to do with the hours spent travelling, and everything to do with the amount of time-zones passed. Our bodies, which are used to a regular day/night routine, are suddenly thrust into a completely different one. The “recovery rate” is approximately one day per time zone.
Watching my two-year-old son, Zalman, pass out from exhaustion in the middle of the day, got me thinking more closely about the whole jet lag thing, including spiritual jet lag.
For 11 months of the year, we are accustomed to a certain kind of lifestyle. Come the month of Elul, and it’s time to change. Really change. It’s time to wake up, reconnect with G-d, learn, contemplate, teach and pray. It’s a time of introspection, reevaluation and repentance. This month is radically different from the rest of the year.
The last 12 days of the month of Elul correspond to the 12 months of the year. Just as it takes one day to recover from jetlag for each time zone we’ve passed through, these 12 days are our chance to recover from 12 months of spiritual laxity.
This year, Rosh Hashanah catches us off guard. We’re still in summer mode—relaxing and vacationing and along comes Rosh Hashanah, right after labor day! Let’s use these next 12 days to make sure we’re not caught spiritual unprepared.