In 1996 the US government mandated that all new cars and light trucks sold in the US would require an On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system. Europe would introduce its own version in 2001.

The 1996 mandate, known as OBD-II (Oh-bee-dee two), followed the OBD-I regulation introduced by California in 1991, primarily to monitor vehicle emissions.

The OBD-II standard proved to be widely successful, providing vehicle technicians much easier ways to diagnose what ails a vehicle through the standardized Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs).

The DTCs, through a short five-character reference, could quickly point a technician to what the problem was. Was it in the powertrain (P), the body (B), the chassis (C), or the Network (U)? Was it a generic problem (0) or manufacturer-specific (1)? The last three digits of the code pointed to more specific faults.

For example, a P0128 would tell the technician that you have a stuck-open thermostat. Now, instead of taking the whole engine apart, you just need to replace the thermostat (Motorad’s are great! – another unsponsored plug).

A P0300 means you need to check the spark plugs and ignition coils (there are a lot of great spark plug vendors, though I still have a fondness for Champion spark plugs from my childhood – and especially their great t-shirts).

What do DTCs have to do with Jewish Repentance?

I’m glad you asked. On the Jewish calendar, we have now entered the Hebrew month of Elul, the twelfth and last month of the Jewish year. August 25^th was the first day of Elul. The month of Elul launches what has traditionally been seen as a period of the year of greater introspection and repentance for our misdeeds of the entire year.

This then leads to the Ten Days of Repentance which starts with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, celebrated this year on September 23 and 24, (1 and 2 of the first Hebrew month of Tishrei), and reaches its apex on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, 10^th of Tishrei, this year on October 2^nd.

So that gives us a total of 40 days (related to the 40 days and 40 nights that Moses spent on Mount Sinai), for greater soul-searching.

I would argue that this is the period of the year for greater focus on our own internal DTCs. What are the Diagnostic Trouble Codes of the soul that we’ve been ignoring? (How many of us have engine lights that go on and we take our sweet time to get them checked out?)

It is all too easy to get caught up in the day to day of our busy lives. It is natural to ignore, postpone or push aside the little signals in our gut that indicate something is amiss. Is it the bad habit I have trouble dropping? Is it a good habit I haven’t been consistent with? Is it something in my personal relations? How I talk to people? Do I listen to my children and put the phone down? Is it how I relate to my coworkers? Significant others? Are there friends or family members that I should be giving more time to? Am I as ethical as possible in my business and personal dealings? The list goes on and it is highly personal and unique.

We are each unique years, makes and models, with our own very personal Diagnostic Trouble Codes. However, as opposed to simply plugging in a diagnostic tool to decode the problem, we need to carve out time and attention to a signal that only we can hear. We need to create the space and the focus, the silence and the introspection to discover that quiet voice that is always talking to us, but that we’re too busy, in too noisy an existence to generally pay attention to.

That is what this month of Elul is about. May we each decipher our personal Diagnostic Trouble Codes, and like a good technician, get the car up and running better than it came in.