Fear of God During Elul: Are We Supposed to Be Scared?
I was once walking out of synagogue when a guy turned to me and said, “So now we’re supposed to be scared, right?” In other words, Elul has arrived, the High Holidays are approaching, and now it’s time to turn on scared.
But is that really what fear of God during Elul is supposed to mean? What an oppressive understanding of God — that as we approach Rosh Hashanah, God somehow wants us to become frightened of Him. That’s not what this season is about.
What Does Fear of God During Elul Really Mean?
During the High Holidays, we say Avinu Malkeinu again and again. We usually translate those words as “Our Father, our King,” but think about what we are actually saying: our Father is our King.
And that’s good news.
If our Father is the King, then we’re doing pretty well. The One who is running the world is not some distant ruler looking for reasons to punish us. He is our Father. And a loving father wants to embrace his children, support them, encourage them and help them become who they can be.
That should give us tremendous reason for trust and confidence, not fear and anxiety.
So What Should We Be Concerned About?
That doesn’t mean Elul asks nothing of us. There is something we should be concerned about — that we might behave in ways that alienate us from the truth of where we are and who we are with.
We are already living in God’s house. The question is whether we recognize it, and whether the way we think, speak and act reflects that reality.
This is one of the powerful messages of Psalm 27, which we recite throughout this season. King David’s great desire is not to escape God or hide from His judgment. He wants to dwell in God’s house and experience His pleasantness. That changes the entire way we understand the journey of spiritual growth and teshuva through Psalm 27.
From Fear to Closeness
The goal isn’t to become scared of God. The concern is that we might distance ourselves from a relationship that is already ours.
That is a very different kind of fear. It is not the fear of a child who is terrified of his father. It is the concern of someone who recognizes how precious the relationship is and doesn’t want to lose touch with it.
The High Holidays Are an Invitation
Whatever period we are going through, and wherever this is all going, we can trust that ultimately it is going to be good. It may take a while. We may not understand the journey while we are in it. But our Father is our King.
The fear of God during Elul should not leave us feeling frightened or oppressed. Elul and the High Holidays invite us to recognize that we are in the house of a loving Father who wants to embrace us, support us and encourage us.
The question this season isn’t simply, “How afraid am I?”
Maybe the better question is: “How close do I want to be?”