The sound of the Shofar stirs my soul. Every day in the month of Elul (except Shabbat) a person is supposed to hear the shofar. Fortunately we live in the modern era. There’s an app for that. I am not suggesting that anyone should purchase this app, I am simply suggesting that this might be an option if you do not have your own shofar or access to hearing it daily.
How does the sound of the shofar resonate with you?
I was struggling with what to blog about today and then I saw this…
Sometimes the beauty of the natural world is all that it takes to remind me to just be. To appreciate the moment. To breathe.
I love that Judaism is a religion of doing. Whether it is praying, donating, eating, meditating, learning, or talking, Judaism is a religion of action.
Right now, in this month of Elul writing this blog is part of my spiritual preparation. What did I do right this year? Where are my growing edges? To whom do I need to apologize?
Teshuvah, repentance, is hard work. It’s time to get to it!
I’m participating in #blogelul this year. There are different writing prompts for every day as Jews around the world begin to prepare in body and spirit for the New Year, Rosh Hashanah. I don’t post on my blog on Shabbat so on Sunday I will select one of the themes from Saturday or Sunday for my posting. Here’s the Elul theme calendar.
Last week I went to a mall with my friend, Doug (names changed for anonymity) and his two new daughters Rebecca and Meredith. Doug’s husband, Jeff is already back at work while Doug is taking advantage of his 3-month paternity leave. It was unbelievable to experience the assumptions of nearly every person we interacted with. They all assumed that I was the mom to these babies and that Doug was a super awesome dad for attending to Rebecca and Meredith’s every need while I randomly looked around in stores. I have thought a lot about assumptions since that day and then I found this article from another friend on Facebook. Children with two dads or two moms or many other parenting formations are typical. I like the ways this dad/author suggests to be authentic, honest, and age appropriate with children.
I saw Doug, Jeff, Rebecca and Meredith at a party yesterday and Jeff told me about some interesting experiences with people while walking the girls in our neighborhood. People, read this article. It won’t only be helpful for people who are parents. It’s helpful for everyone.
Acceptance is a fundamental value for all of us.
I’m participating in #blogelul this year. There are different writing prompts for every day as Jews around the world begin to prepare in body and spirit for the New Year, Rosh Hashanah. I don’t post on my blog on Shabbat so on Sunday I will select one of the themes from Saturday or Sunday for my posting. Here’s the Elul theme calendar.
Today’s prompt is act and I decided that I could interpret it to acting.
Are you watching Orange is the New Black? Really, you should be (and only when young people are not around, I would give this show an ‘R’ rating). I am only a few episodes into the series and already I think it is fabulous. I’ve been at social gatherings and a very common conversation starter is, “Have you seen Orange is the New Black?” (In case you couldn’t tell, I live in Los Angeles. The place where people still go to movies and watch television because everyone is or knows someone who works in ‘the industry’). I confess that I did read the book by the same name and so far the two have very little in common (this is not a book review blog post but I can save you the trouble of reading the book).
I think the acting in this show is pretty outstanding. I very much appreciate that there is a transgender actor in the show and for this reason alone I believe the show should receive praise.
It might also be possible to create a stronger connection between my recommendation for television (is it still called television if it is an entire season of a show available on Netflix?) and the spiritual work of Elul. Each Jew is to be engaged in a process of Cheshbon Nefesh, an accounting of the soul. Some people focus on this exclusively during the 10 Days of Awe, the days between Rosh Hashanah* and Yom Kippur, however it is really to begin in the month of Elul. Every day we sound the shofar to stir our souls. It seems to me that some of the themes of atonement, repentance, and re-establishing relationships exist in Orange is the New Black just as we are trying to make them present in our lives at this time.
There you have it, readers. A television suggestion, a #blogelul AND a #PopCultureElul post!
*speaking of New Year, have you figured out where you are going for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services yet? If you need some assistance finding the right place, feel free to leave a comment.
Traditionally, the shofar is sounded daily during Elul. Not only does this custom remind us that it will be blown on Rosh HaShanah, but it also serves as a wakeup call of sorts, reminding us of the High Holidays and urging us to begin our preparations. Elul is a month of spiritual preparation for the season of return, renewal, and repentance that the High Holidays offer us each year. Just as we sweep the chametz (leaven) from our cabinets, cars, and couch cushions in the weeks before Passover, so, too, do we perform spiritual housecleaning during Elul. It’s a time to clean out our spiritual closets, get our moral and ethical house in order, and prepare our deepest, inner selves for the reflection and introspection we’ll be doing on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur—and during the 10 days in between. (From the Reform Judaism Blog)
My colleague, Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, created #blogElul. Every day she offers a prompt and encourages others to offer something as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the first of Tishrei. This year I’ve decided to try to follow along. Check back here every day (I will post after Shabbat ends on Saturday night or Sunday I will post twice). Let me know if you’re going to do the same. I hope this will be a new way to prepare for the coming New Year!
Rabbi Sommer describes this project as follows:
The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I’ll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation… I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others’ as well! This year, I’m not doing a linky or anything like that — I’m conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts….
Every Sunday I read the New York Times. While I don’t necessarily read cover to cover, I always read the ‘Weddings & Celebrations’ section because I like to see who of my colleagues is officiating at weddings. And in the last few years, every Sunday, I get aggravated. There are increasing numbers of couples that do not get married by trained professionals, religious officiants who have taken courses in pastoral and pre-marital counseling. (For the record, I do not know what judges and other judicial officers require to officiate at a wedding. They might refer to a trained counselor to do this or do some of it themselves. If an officer of the court requires this counseling they are in this category). Instead, a friend or relative became ‘ordained’ (and that is in quotations because they did not do any schooling to get their ordination. It is more of an online form to fill out and a fee) and officiate at their wedding.
This is a huge problem.
Every clergy person that I know, regardless of denomination or faith tradition will only officiate at a wedding after meeting with the couple and doing several session of pre-marital counseling. These sessions ideally take place in-person but if necessary, can even take place over Skype/FaceTime/Google Hangout. Some clergy do this in a combination of group meetings (with a few other couples) and private sessions or just 3-6 private sessions. Here is a post about what a couple might expect from these meetings.
Me officiating at a wedding for a beautiful couple in a gorgeous setting.
I do understand that not every couple has a shared faith tradition or wishes to have a religious officiant for their wedding. (This might make it even more important to talk about religion and marriage.) I assure you this isn’t a plea for religious weddings. Couples should have an officiant who meets all of their needs. However, it is a call to acknowledge that while a couple’s wedding day should be extremely special, it is also really about a marriage, one of the more significant commitments that two people enter into together. Officiants who are trained to about a marriage and what all involved hope to be a long-time relationship can help to solemnize a wedding that will lead to that of marriage.
The divorce rate in this country is extremely high. While marriages end for a wide variety of reasons, perhaps having an appropriate officiant and some pre-marital counseling could help lower this number. It can only make for a more healthy relationship!
There’s been a lot going on this summer, and I was lucky enough to go on vacation and even read several books.
I enjoyed;
I liked the way this author wrote this story. I found it entertaining. A great summer read.
I have enjoyed all of Hosseini’s books. This was no different. I found it to be a beautifully written story and would recommend it.
I read and might not recommend strongly as fine works of fiction;
I think I’ve read all of Daniel Silva’s books featuring the character, Gabriel Allon. I really didn’t like the way this book ended, I find Silva gives up on the endings in general. Nevertheless you can be sure I will read the next book that comes out in the series.
I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit that I read this book. It is definitely not a fine work of fiction. It felt a little bit like it was written as a screenplay. However, it was an excellent book to read by the pool/on vacation.
What have you read this summer? Anything fantastic? I’m always looking for recommendations.
You can see my book log here. Feel free to ask if you want to know more of my thoughts on a particular book.
Rabbi Eleanor Steinman 