Elul, Ubuntu and the Work of Building Beloved Community

The rabbis teach us that Elul is actually an acronym. Each of the Hebrew letters  alef, lamed, vav, lamed – stand for the beginning letter of each word in the phrase ani ledodi vedodi li  “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” This phrase is taken from Song of Songs 6:3 and signifies the time leading into the Jewish High Holidays when we are meant to reflect on the relationship between “self” and “others.” In my own experience, I have also found this period to be a great time to reflect on my individual and our collective …