RJ Blog

by Rabbi Jen Gubitz In 5771, I missed Elul. The final Elul of my rabbinical school career, and I missed it. I didn’t even know the significance of the Hebrew month of Elul until my first year at Hebrew Union College’s Jerusalem Campus. But in just a few short years, Elul’s absence in the arc of my year was palpable. It was as though I’d purchased an 11-month Hebrew calendar that skipped right from Av to Tishrei. That year, when I went to lead Rosh HaShanah services for unaffiliated 20- and 30-somethings in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I was undeniably off [...]

The Jewish month of Elul is the perfect time for this symposium, and not just because  synagogues are opening of their religious school doors to young people and their parents for another year of Jewish learning. Elul is the very season of return. This month, in anticipation of the new year, we pause to recommit ourselves, communally and individually, to the enterprise of Jewish life and learning. So it’s the perfect time not only to imagine the future, but also to examine ways to inspire the next generation to discover joy in Jewish learning. Dr. Charles Edelsberg’s recent essay, characteristically, is [...]

by Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr Love your neighbor as yourself. More than once, You commanded us. And pages upon pages have been written about this verse and how it teaches us to treat others. But are we not missing part of Your Commandment when we do not afford ourselves the same respect that we afford others? Are we not disregarding Your Message when we fail to love ourselves? And what does it mean to love ourselves?

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 S’lichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I’m blogging a thought or two over at my blog for each day to help with the month of preparation. Now, nine things I love about the month of [...]

by Rabbi Gilad Kariv Earlier this month, over a million Israeli Muslim citizens celebrated Eid el-Fitr – the holiday that ends the month-long Fast of Ramadan. At the same time, we began our month of mercy and forgiveness, and with it, the many preparations prior to the New Year. In less than one month’s time, on the first days of the New Year, we will read the story of the birth of Isaac and his complicated relationship with his brother Ishmael. Scholars who have dealt with the inherent difficulties of this story, have posited that after the death of Sarah, [...]

In his introduction to musician Craig Taubman’s annual “Jewels of Elul,” project Rabbi David Wolpe writes, “Here is a booklet full of wisdom about age and aging, the land we will all visit if we are blessed. As each year passes, clap your hands and sing. Spring is green and vital, but winter has its beauty and its joys.” Throughout the Hebrew month of Elul, which began last weekend, receive short stories, anecdotes, and introspections in your inbox to celebrate each day of the month. Guest bloggers will include Herb Alpert, Peter Yarrow, Donna Shalala, and Zalman Schacter Shalomi,  among [...]

The month preceding the High Holy Days is called Elul. It is a time of reflection before we “officially” begin the important process of teshuvah. In some ways this time of the Jewish calendar reminds me of Havdalah – the short but sweet service in which we say good-bye to Shabbat, but not before we have paid tribute to the fabulous 24 hours of rest and renewal we experienced. The goal of Havdalah is to think back, so we can gratefully and gracefully move forward into the new week. Elul has always been a time for me to think back [...]

At the end of this month, another summer full of pool parties and outdoor barbecues will fade away as we enter the time of reflection. In the Jewish faith, we traditionally dedicate the 29 days in the month of Elul to studying and preparing for the coming High Holy Days. The time is supposed to challenge us to use each day as an opportunity for growth and discovery. For the past seven years, Jewish musician Craig Taubman and his group Craig & Co. have collected short stories, anecdotes, and introspections from some fascinating people, distributed in their daily Jewels of [...]

During the year I spent studying in Jerusalem as a rabbinic student, it was impossible to escape the upcoming High Holy Days. Even if one were not at all observant, each day of Elul, the month preceding the Days of Awe, brought an auditory reminder. During Elul, at daily morning services the shofar is blown. While this tradition reminds us that the shofar will be blown on Rosh HaShanah, it also is a wakeup call of sorts. We are reminded of the upcoming Days of Awe and urged to begin preparing for them. Our liturgy, too, offers us reminders and [...]

by Najeeba Syeed-MillerOriginally posted on Jewels of Elul “God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth.” Qur’an 24:35 This verse of the Holy Book of Muslims has been elucidated upon byMuslim scholars for generations. My explanation is decidedly morepedestrian. I write in the month of Ramadan, withholding myself fromfood, drink, gossip and speaking negatively of others. My tongue ispracticing peace in this most blessed of months. These days even as aprofessor teaching at a theological school, no discussions resonate morewith me than my conversations with my five-year-old.

by Amy R. Perlin (Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) “Success” is a song sung by the immigrant Jew, Tateh, in the Broadway play Ragtime. In the song, a father sings to his young daughter that “hope is in the air.” They have journeyed to America, the new Promised Land, so that he can give his daughter a better life. Tateh defines “success” as “doing well.” But, he is soon disillusioned in the fetid tenements and uses his prayer shawl (tallit) just to keep his sick daughter warm. Tateh calls upon God, “Why have you brought us here?” [...]

I’ve been thinking about parnassah (right livelihood), because, once again, I don’t have a clear path to follow. The Ba’al Shem Tov said that a person’s parnassah is decided at Rosh HaShanah, but judged each and every day. It’s in how you live, how you respond to the questions that are put to you, how you frame your responses that are judged everyday. I stand during my morning prayers, and with open hands and heart, ask, “What’s next?” This past summer, I was thrilled to be the Jewish Experience Educator/Song-leader for the BBYO Chapter Leadership Training Conferences, eight weeks of [...]

by Rabbi Phyllis SommerOriginally posted on Thoughts from Rabbi Phyllis So I got a sneak peek of Chana’s post for a Healthy New Year (go and subscribe to her blog so you’ll get to see it when it comes out!) and it got me to thinking about how the holidays seem to be all about internal checkups. What kind of person have I been, what kinds of actions have I taken against and for others this year? So here are some of my suggestions for a healthier Elul, which might lead to a healthier year: 1. Get a physical. When [...]

by Eric S. Gurvis(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) Our portion this week opens with the words, “When you [an Israelite warrior] take the field against your enemies, and the Eternal your God delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive . . .” (Deuteronomy 21:10). It is notable that the opening phrase Ki teitzei lamilchamah, “When you [an Israelite warrior] take the field against your enemies” is written in the singular. Since our portion describes ancient Israel’s teachings regarding going to war against an enemy, we may presume that [...]