Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, contains more mitzvot than any other section of the Torah. What’s striking, though, is how many of those commandments focus on the small details of daily life. We’re told to return a lost animal to its rightful owner. We’re commanded to build a railing around a roof to prevent accidental falls. We’re instructed to use honest weights and measures—to be ethical in business. And we’re obligated to pay a worker promptly at the end of the day.
In other words, Torah teaches us that holy living isn’t just about the big, dramatic moments. It’s about the little things.
Reading this portion during Elul feels anything but accidental. We often think of the Yamim Noraim—the High Holy Days—as being about sweeping confessions and grand promises. But real teshuvah, real change, rarely begins in grand gestures. It begins in the details: the apology we’ve been meaning to make but haven’t, the kind thought we never voiced, the unhealthy habit we keep promising ourselves we’ll fix “tomorrow.”
Elul is about stopping that cycle of ignoring. The Torah’s command, “You may not ignore [when you see a neighbor’s ox gone astray],” paired with this season, asks us to confront the things we would rather not face:
What am I ignoring in my life?
Who am I ignoring?
Which small acts of repair can I make right now to begin returning—to others, to myself, to God?
It’s easy to say, “This year I want to be a better person.” It’s much harder, and much holier, to say: “This year, I will be more mindful of my words. I will practice gratitude. I will put boundaries in place—a railing around the roof of my life—so I don’t stumble into the same mistakes again.”
The High Holy Days call us to transformation. That sounds lofty—and overwhelming—if left as an abstract idea. But Ki Teitzei reminds us that change comes slowly, through the small details of living. Prayer and services open the door and create an opportunity for introspection, but the real work is in the daily acts that shape who we are.
As we find ourselves at the midpoint of Elul, I pray that each of us takes this time to notice the details. To return what’s been lost. To stop ignoring. To measure ourselves with honesty and with generosity of spirit. If we do this work now, we can step into the New Year carrying not only good intentions, but also the daily practices that help us become our best selves.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel Cohen