Elul Unbound 2020: Comics
Crafted by 2020 Judaism Unbound/New Voices Fellow Becca Lubow, our four-part Elul Unbound comic was released each Shabbat of Elul 2020.
Becca Lubow was the 2020 Judaism Unbound and New Voices fellow. She gets excited about innovation and transformation in Jewish ritual, community, and politics. Becca can be found watering her plants, singing enthusiastically, and building the new Jewish future as an organizer with IfNotNow and Never Again Action.
Week 1: Preparation (August 22nd, 2020)
An image description for this comic is available by scrolling down this page (or by clicking here).
[Image description: this comic includes hand-drawn images and printed words. At the top in larger bolded text is the word "preparation". Below that are two quotes, "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds. - Mexican proverb" and "Change is coming. What do we need to imagine to be prepared? - Molly Bajgot". To the right of these quotes are two drawings of seed packages, one with a picture of a carrot and one with a picture of a beet, and seeds scattered between the two. The next paragraph starts with a picture of an up-side down person, with their long hair falling down the page, a cell phone near their ear, and a dotted line swirling from the cell phone across the page. Text beside and under that image reads: "In the early days of the pandemic, I called a friend. he said something like: 'I want to have found a plot of land with a community of people to grow food and take care of each other and be a shelter for whoever needs it. And now this moment is here and I'm not prepared." The next paragraph reads: "I understood the impulse. If I could gather everyone I know into my arms like a harvest to keep us all safe while the world changes, I would." To the right of that text is a drawing of two arms embracing a basket full of colorful vegetables -- eggplant, peppers, lettuce, radish, carrots, and celery. The next paragraph begins with a drawing of two brown oblong nuts, beside text that reads: "Elul is a time set aside for preparation. It suggests that what we do right now lays the groundwork for our future. Preparing is an important act, not just prelude." The next paragraph is printed on top of purple paint that swirls into crests of ocean waves. The text is bolded and reads: "What seeds will be plant for the year to come? How will we water them?"]
Week 2: Reflection (August 29th, 2020)
An image description for this comic is available by scrolling down this page (or by clicking here).
[Image description: this comic includes hand-drawn images and printed words. At the top in larger bolded text is the word "reflection". Below that is a roughly horizontal black mirror line with blue pooling underneath like water, and in the blue an upside-down reflected version of the word "reflection" in pale text. A quote is printed across the bottom of the blue stating "Somehow I cannnot hide. - Fa Mulan". Below this is the statement "On Shavuot, when Jews traditionally stay up all night studying, Torah, I watched a police precinct burn." Then there a line of space, and the sentence "I'll never forget the lesson of that night". Below are two wavy intersecting lines like crackling flames, red against a yellow background with red sparks emerging up into the text above. Underneath is printed lettering saying "This year of crisis exposed the cruelty, inhumanity, brokennness of so many power structures in our world." Underneath in the middle of the page is a drawing of a sign planted in the ground. Text to the left of the sign reads "We can't go", then on the sign is an arrow pointing to the left, with "normal" in the arrow and "Back to" on the part of the sign -- so read left-to-right is "We can't go back to normal". Underneath a swath of green grass is the lettering: "We have an opportunity to learn and change." There is a line of blank space, then the lettering continues: "That means deep self-reflection and hard work, to stop and take stock of ourselves." On the right side of the page is a standing mirror held up by a wood frame. On the glass of the mirror four questions are printed: "What have I learned this year? What do I need to learn? What makes me uncomfortable? Am I willing to lean in anyway?"]
Week 3: Atonement (September 5th, 2020)
An image description for this comic is available by scrolling down this page (or by clicking here).
[Image description: this comic includes hand-drawn images and printed words. At the top in larger bolded text is the word "atonement". Underneath and beside that are two clenched fists, one is dark brown skin and one is lighter tan skin. A quote to the right of the fists reads "No Justice, No Peace. - Black Lives Matter". Below this is three paragraphs quoting from the Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 54b. The first states "Anyone who can protest the actions of their household and does not, is held responsible for the actions of their household." Below and to the right of this is a drawing of two upside-down fists chained together by handcuffs around the wrists, with a blue background behind the wrist on the left side and a red background behind the wrist on the right side, like the red and blue of a police car light. To the left of this image is the second section of the quote from the Talmud, "Anyone who can protest the actions of their town and does not, becomes responsible for the actions of their town." Below this to the left is a drawing of evergreen trees against multiple hill-shaped squiggles, and to the right the final quote, reading "Anyone who can protest the actions of the whole world and does not, is held responsible for the actions of the whole world. - Talmud Bavli Shabbat 54b". A new paragraph of printed text states: The tradition of Teshuvah offers a model of atonement based on acknowledging our mistakes, turning away, and making amends. Imagine Teshuvah practiced on a mass scale, a society pursuing justice instead of punishment." Below and on the right side of the page is an image of a fist clenched against a tallit - fringed garment - with blue and white stripes. The fringes hang over and off the wrist. To the left of this is printed text stating "Elul is a time for the reckoning which makes forgiveness possible". Underneath this are words in different colors, spaced out across the left side of the page, staggered on multiple lines: "hatred", "destruction", "scarcity", "selfishness", "greed", "racism", "neglect", "apathy". Beneath those words is the question: "What must we turn away from this year?"]
Week 4: Vision (September 12th, 2020)
An image description for this comic is available by scrolling down this page (or by clicking here).
[Image description: this comic includes hand-drawn images and printed words. At the top in larger bolded text is the word "vision". On either side of this word are two drawn eyes that are wide open, with lashes above them and a visible iris and pupil in the centre of the eyes. Underneath is a horizontal streak of orange and yellow paint, with a quote written over top and below: "Imagine winning. This is your sacred task...Breathe the possibility of another world into the 37.2 trillion cells of your body until it shines with hope. Then imagine more. - Aurora Levins Morales". To the left of this quote is a painted swirl of different shades of blue, with different colors of dots and a yellow moon, two stars, and a ringed planet. In the center of the page is a printed quote, "If I did not have faith in your rightness / That it would bloom in this living land -- / It is unthinkable. - Psalm 27, translation by Norman Fischer". Beside this is a vivid red multi-petalled flower with a green stem and leaves. To the left is a doorway and solid wood door opened to the right, inside the empty doorframe is a quote: "Hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency. - Rebecca Solnit". To the right of the door is another quote, "In my dream, the angel shrugged and said, if we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination and then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand. - Brian Andreas". On the right side of the page and sloping down to the left is a cut wedge of apple wiht red skin and two black seeds in the centre, with a drop of yellow honey on the left side of the apple dripping down into a pool of yellow honey below and to the left. On the left side of the page is the statement: "Old systems and certainties are gone. Our future will be determined by the limits of our visions of what is possible." Below is a blank line, then the question: "What will you have the courage to hope for in a new year?"]