Hashem is Our Lifeguard - Rabbi Ori Strum

If you've ever seen a lifeguard on duty, they were probably seen wearing sunglasses, looking quite serious, and doing that classic fidgeting maneuver, swinging the whistle back and forth over their fingers. You know what I'm talking about? The whistle is one of the most important tools at a lifeguard's disposal. When things are noisy, there's wind, splashing, and people screaming having a good old time, the sound of the whistle is able to cut through all of the ambient noise and signal a warning. Hey, be safe. No running. Over the course of our lives, we're often busy running in so many directions, often times running away from our mission, from our secret calling, running away from Hashem. But luckily, Hashem is our lifeguard, and he cares about us tremendously. So, what does he do? Like a good lifeguard, he blows a whistle. That's the shofar. The pasuk in Daniel says, "Kol karna mashokisa." The whistling sound of the horn. What horn is this? Says the Even Ezra, "The kol has shofar," the sound of the shofar. The shofar is a whistle. It's signaling us to wake up and to stop running the wrong direction. So, this Elul, when we hear the sound of the shofar, let it remind you that Hashem is the lifeguard on duty, and he cares about us tremendously, and he wants to protect us and give us the best life possible. So, go ahead, heed the calling, and stop running away from Hashem, and start running towards him.