Adina Ellisis a graduate of the Matan Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute. She has been teaching Tanakh and machshava over the last two decades, initially on college campuses and in Hebrew Schools in the New Jersey area. Since making aliyah in 2005, she has given weekly shiurim in Hebrew and English to women in her community. Adina has taught in the ALIT program and Rosh Chodesh seminars run by the OU Women's Initiative as well as in the mother-daughter "learn and art" program of OU Israel. She is known for her unique ability to facilitate in-depth textual learning along with engaging and relevant discussions. Adina lives with her husband and children in Yad Binyamin.
According to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer (Vayikra Rabbah 29:1, Rosh Hashanah 10b), God began creating the world on the 25th of Elul, with the creation of humankind on Rosh Hashanah as the pinnacle of all creation.
This poem depicts this divine manifestation — from light to land, from sea to soul:
He spoke, and wondrous light shone bright,
Dividing day from deepest night.[1]
Then sky and sea were set apart,[2]
A stunning blue, a work of art.
The land arose, the trees took root,
The earth gave birth to leaves and fruit.[3]
He filled each canvas one by one,
The sky with stars and moon and sun.
Seas erupted with fins and tail,
While wings of birds began to sail.
Then beasts were formed from dust and sod;
Humankind —from the image of God.[4]
The sixth day is truly the start —
As Rosh Hashana stirs the heart.
We are renewed, the shofar cries,
As hope and awe begin to rise.
For we are shaped by sacred breath,[5]
With power to choose, build, and bless.[6]
So let us be renewed and hear—
The voice that calls our souls each year.
As Elul draws to a close, we arrive at the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.
As Moshe Rabbenu’s words petition us:
“I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse—choose life…” — Devarim 30:19
The heavens and the earth, created in those very first days, now stand as eternal witnesses. They watch as we, year after year, are offered the same choice: to live consciously, meaningfully, and with purpose.
The Netivot Shalom (Parashat Re’eh) teaches that just as God renews creation each day— וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׁה בְרֵאשִׁית as we affirm in the prayer Yotzer Ohr—each person is likewise a new creation, filled daily with new potential.
Every day, and certainly every new year, carries its own mission and unique calling.
The awakening of Elul is more than preparation; it is the sacred start of a majestic unfolding, a returning and reinventing of ourselves which echoes throughout the year. We are invited not just to remember that God created the world—but that He is still creating it, and us, every day.
And in our choosing life, over and over again, we too have a hand in our own creation stories. We recreate ourselves with our own breath, just as God breathed life into us and created us with His word. With our whispered prayers for how we wish ourselves to be, may we enter this Rosh Hashanah not as who we were, but as who we are becoming.
Newly formed. Full of promise.
And ready to choose life.
Sources:
[1] Bereishit 1:4 וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאוֹר כִּי־טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ
[2] Bereishit 1:7 וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָרָקִיעַ וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ וַיְהִי־כֵן
[3] Bereishit 1:11 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי־כֵן
[4] Bereishit 1:27 וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם
[5] Bereishit 2:7 וַיִּיצֶר ה’ אֱלֹקים אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
[6] Devarim 30:19 (Parshat Nitzavim, read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah) הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ