Bad things really do cluster around the high holidays. It's not myth. I've spoken to funeral directors who've been in their business for long years, and they confirm that they see an increase in deaths around holidays. More Christians die around Christmas and Easter.

While in Washington, DC, for a family gathering, two unrelated events collided and provided me with some interesting reflections about how Judaism affirms life. First, I reread most of a novel by the Czech author, Milan Kundera. Then I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. While I have contributed to the museum in the past, this was my first time visiting.

It's begun. Every year around this time, a sort of dread and anxiety washes over me. In the beginning, it would paralyze me. Now I observe it with alternating states of dispassion and curiosity as it cycles around again. If I had to name it, I'd call it the pre-high holiday terrors. Most rabbis I know experience it to some degree, because the stakes are so high.

 This Shabbat marks the start of Rosh Hodesh Elul, the beginning of the Hebrew month Elul. There are several ways that this is significant. First, the start of a new month in general is considered a small holiday; treating it as such really connects us to Jewish time and our national calendar.