Elul begins with a sound that is not music but signal.

“The shofar is sounded at the end of every weekday Morning Service beginning with the first day of Elul,” a daily blast that “alerts attentive worshipers to the approach of the Days of Awe” (Rituals and Prayers Recited in Elul) and calls us to get busy with teshuvah. A wake-up is not an accusation. It is an invitation to notice where we have been asleep.

Today, listen for where you have gone numb. What have you been postponing because it felt easier not to look? You do not need the perfect plan. You need a first honest step. Identify one place you want to pay attention again. If you have a shofar near you, sound it and let the breath move through you. If not, stand at a window, open it, and take one slow breath that you offer as a beginning.

Kavanah: Wake one part of your life today. Just one. Let the rest follow.

Explore the full Elul intentions here.