On Thursday and Friday we will celebrate the coming of the new month of Elul, when we turn our hearts toward the High Holidays and begin to hear the sound of the shofar every weekday morning. The waxing and waning of the moon during the month of Elul teaches us about the possiblity for change that we strive to embrace every year. We are built with the capacity to fail but also with the capacity to learn from our failures, to grow and change and improve with each phase of our lives. May the moon of Elul inspire us to show different sides of ourselves and to do the work of transformation as we move toward the new year.