Elul Unbound 2019: Media

Each Monday of Elul, during this year’s Elul Unbound, we are sending out videos, audio, and other forms of media that dovetail with the week's Elul Unbound theme. As each one is released during the month of Elul, they will be featured on this page.

Week 1: Doodling as a Spiritual Practice (September 2nd, 2019)

The week one “Media Day” features a video from Creativity Coach Melissa Dinwiddie, inviting you into an Elul practice of doodling (just click the video below to watch!).

A doodling practice is...maybe not not your most common spiritual practice! Despite/because of that, we encourage you to try Dinwiddie's method out. Even if you doodle only once during your Elul journey, we hope this experiment helps something in you emerge that might not have otherwise. You may want to have a small index card and a nice pen or marker with you as you watch the video.

For those of you who want to color in the lines, Melissa is sharing a page from her book for you to print and have fun with. You can color it in all at once, print out multiple copies to color in on other Elul days, or play with it a little bit over time and see how it develops. Just click here to give it a try!

Week 2: Embodied Jewish Learning (September 9th, 2019)

For Week 2, we invite you to weave together yoga and Jewish wisdom, through an audio-clip from Julie Emden, the founder and creater of Embodied Jewish Learning. Grab a yoga mat and a chair, and click the play-button below to listen!

Emden is masterful at weaving yoga and Jewish spiritual wisdom together. In the audio-clip, she offers teachings on forgiveness (Mehila in Hebrew) and guides you through some yoga postures that help you to embody it. Even if you don’t take on all the postures, we encourage you to listen to the podcast, which is filled with lots of wisdom about forgiveness.

Week 3: Fantastic or Ecclesiastic? (September 16th, 2019)

We have two types of media files for you today on this week’s theme of Autumn. The first is a song embedded in a Sefaria resource sheet. The song has lyrics that are part of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet in Hebrew). We thought it would be interesting to listen to the song and see the Byrds perform it while meditating on the text on which it is based.

The second (below) is an amazing art piece created by Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy is a Swedish Artist who makes art out of natural objects. This photo is of an installation he made entirely from Autumn leaves.

Questions for Reflection

1. What would it mean, or does it mean, to create a piece of art like these that is by definition temporary?

2. How would you encapsulate the general message of the song (Turn, Turn, Turn, from the source sheet), and/or the text on which it is based? Does it resonate for you?

3. One of the themes of Kohelet/Ecclesiastes (quoted in the source-sheet) is the idea of "temporary-ness" -- for lack of a better term. Why might autumn be a particularly suitable time to meditate on that?

Week 4: I (We) Stand Here (September 23rd, 2019)

We are so pleased to offer you a song by Judaism Unbound listener, and Elul Unbounder, Beth Hamon. Beth wrote a song for Elul and gave us permission to share it with you. It is called “I Stand Here (Hineini)” and you can access it below. You may want to listen to the song at least twice. As you listen to it the second time, you can really listen for the words.

Questions for Reflection

1) What words or phrases from the song jump out most for you? Reflect on what that might mean for you.

2) Beth sings “I stand here naked in my soul, so I can fill myself up with you.” What doubts or challenges might be getting in the way of you standing naked in your soul? Are there any amends that you still need to make or forgiveness you need to ask for with another person?

3) Beth sings, “How to find a better path?” What is clear and what is unclear about the path you are on