Elul Unbound 2021

Scroll down this page to explore our 2021 Elul Unbound content. To access all of our Elul content from previous years (Comics! Videos! Poetry! Social Justice! Spiritual Practices! So much more!), click the 2018, 2019, or 2020 buttons below! Sign up for our Elul Unbound email list here.

What the heck is Elul? What the heck is Elul Unbound? What the heck is Shmitah?

You've probably heard about the fall holidays of Rosh Hashanah ( the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). But far fewer people know about Elul, the month that precedes them. Elul is the last month of the Jewish year.

It is a time of introspection. Time to stop and take a look back at the past year to see how we did.  Where did we grow and how do we want to continue to build on that growth? Elul is a time of asking for forgiveness from others in ways we caused harm and offering forgiveness to people who have harmed us.

Elul gives us a month to get prepared before the Jewish New Year starts. And this time around, it also gives us a month to prepare before the Shmitah year — a once-every-7-years opportunity to radically reset our world — begins.

There are a few traditional practices that some Jews take on during Elul. These include listening to the sound of the shofar daily, reading Psalm 27, and reflecting on our behavior over the previous year.

This year, Judaism Unbound is experimenting with offering you a variety of experiences to try out during Elul. We created special weekly mini-podcasts, emails, Zoom gatherings, and more, all of which you can explore through the links at the top of this page (the orange buttons).

Elul Zoom Gatherings

Click the image above to register for our next Zoom gathering of Elul Unbound 2021! It will take place on Friday, September 3rd, at 8:30 pm ET/7:30 CT/5:30 PT. **This meeting will have a different meeting ID from our first three, so please register for it even if you attended one of the other ones!**

Elul, the final month of the Jewish calendar year, is here. And this time around, it's prepping us not only for the High Holidays, but for the "Holi-Year" of Shmitah! Come hang out with Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg, your two Elul Unbounders-in-Chief, to learn what the heck Shmitah even is, and start game-planning for how you'll be observing it this coming year, in our final Zoom gathering of the month!

Mini-Podcasts

Wendie and Lex are back for a special bonus episode, to think together about the holi-month of Elul, and the upcoming holi-year of Shmita (sabbatical year). In this conversation, they connect Shmita to the practice of land acknowledgement.

One year ago, Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg released a bonus episode of this podcast entitled "Prepping for the Holi-Year." At that point, Sh'mitah, a once-every-seven-years opportunity to radically recalibrate our relationship to the planet, and to our society, was a year away. But now...it ain't a year away anymore! It's one month away. So it's time to really, truly gear up for this holi-year. Wendie and Lex are back, to game-plan together for what this year might mean -- on an individual level and a collective level. This “mini-episode” is the first of two that are being released as part of Elul Unbound 2021 (our 13th and 14 Elul episodes overall).

STAY TUNED for another Elul bonus episode, coming up in a few weeks! And check out all of our bonus episodes from past years via the playlist below!

Elul Emails

Remember up this page a few inches, where we said “STAY TUNED?” Good times, good times. Well…STAY TUNED again!

All of our resources from Elul Unbound’s bi-weekly emails will be featured here, once the month of Elul begins (August 13th). Sign up to receive those emails, as they are sent out, by clicking here!

Shmitah

We are thrilled to announce that this year's Elul will be centered on preparation not only for the High Holidays, but for the "Holi-Year" of Shmitah. Shmitah is a once-every-seven-years Biblical observance which revolves around connection to land, and to a radical recalibration of society.

Learn more about Shmitah (its Biblical framing and its contemporary re-invention) by heading to ShmitaProject.org!

Sign up to join a Shmita Hive by clicking here! Shmita Hives, an initiative created by two Judaism Unbound listeners (Alexander Grace Vickery and Asher Edes) is a set of monthly prompts, designed to help you explore Shmita in small groups (“hives”), for free. Learn more about Shmita Hives here.

Spiritual Direction

Contact Us

Remember, we love hearing from our listeners! So please, in addition to utilizing our resources at the links above, we would be thrilled if you shared your Elul plans and resources with us. You can do so by sending emails to Elul@JudaismUnbound.com. Chodesh Elul Tov -- have an amazing month!