Elul Unbound 2020: Stories

Week 1: Time is an Illusion + Writing Exercise (August 25th, 2020)

For week one, we are focusing our attention on this Psychology Today article, Why Time is an Illusion. Take a moment and read about Joseph Mazur’s new book, The Clock Mirage: Our Myth of Measured Time. Then, explore your own understanding of time in this strange plague-year when time seems to expand, contract, and fold in on itself with a writing prompt from our dear friends at New Voices Magazine.

How to do this exercise: Set a timer for 8 minutes and free-write using the prompt above the image; try not to self-edit! That means no crossing-out or stopping. There will be another writing prompt each week of Elul Unbound!

Week 2: September 1, 2020

Today, we have two very different texts to dive into. The first is the beloved children's book, Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted To Be Kosher by Laurel Snyder, written by David Goldin. The second is a poem by the 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, entitled “Now is The Time.”

Questions for Reflection:

1. On Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted To Be Kosher

How might you use the themes from this story to enhance your holidays or your own everyday Jewish life? Do you make assumptions about who will or will not want to be included? 

2. On “Now Is The Time”

How would you define the word “sacred” as it’s used here? Does this use of the word resonate with you? Why or why not?

Question by Yael Kiken for At The Well

Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child's training wheels
To be laid aside

When you can finally live
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred

This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

How to do this exercise: Set a timer for 8 minutes and free-write using the prompt above the image; try not to self-edit! That means no crossing-out or stopping. 

Week 3: September 8th, 2020

Today, we have a traditional text to dive into — two paragraphs of the Shema! We have translated the prayer in a very specific manner, with a focus on pronouns. We would like you to dive into this prayer, focusing on the pronouns that you find in each segment. Throughout, ask yourself, why exactly would Elul Unbound be featuring this prayer -- particularly within a week of Elul Unbound focused on balancing the "I" work of introspection and the "We" work of restorative justice?

Questions for Reflection:

1. Many of the words in these two paragraphs are repeated. Occasionally, entire sentences are repeated, with the first case addressed to individuals (you-singular), and the second to a collective community (y’all). Why might this be? What could be the intention of this juxtaposition?

2. Does one paragraph resonate deeper for you? Why or why not?

3. (An Activity): Set a timer for 8 minutes and free-write using the following prompt (try not to self-edit — that means no crossing-out or stopping):

   “I wish we would collectively do teshuva (societal repentance) for…

Week 4 (September 15, 2020): Shmita - Radical resting

Today's story is an Eli Talk by Aharon Ariel Lavi in which he proposes how we can use the Shmita or sabbatical year to inform our economies and personal lives. Shmita has a lot of aspects, but at its core, it's an agricultural cycle, where every seven years all the fields of Israel are allowed to grow fallow. Harvesting stops, debts are erased, private land is made open to all and the fruit of the land is redistributed across society. 

Take some time (this video is about 14 minutes long) and listen to Lavi's thoughts on the transformative potential of Shmita.

p.s. Want some textual references for this video? Of course, there's a Sefaria Source Sheet for that.

p.p.s. Shmita is only a year away! The next sabbatical year will be 5782 or 2021/2.

Questions for reflection: 

1. What if we took sabbatical years instead of a 'traditional' retirement? 

2. What would it mean to abolish slavery in the 21st century?

3. What might Hakhel- a gathering to all learn together in one place look like?

4. How could our food system benefit from applying a seven-year agricultural cycle?