#BlogElul 21: Hearing {Guest Post}

I decided that I would invite friends to do a "guest post" here on Ima on and off the Bima during BlogElul. There were quite a few motivations - 1) writing daily posts on two blogs - whew! 2) encouraging non-bloggers or new bloggers to "get out there" and just do it and 3) to hear from other people! So I hope you enjoy them - there are a number of guest posts coming up in the next two weeks! Yay!

Today's post is from Wendy Grinberg. She likes experimenting with technology and Jewish education and is working on a new podcast (stay tuned!). She is a freelance writer and Jewish education consultant and serves as clinical faculty at HUC-JIR. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two kids.(And, this is the first time that I've ever included an audio file here on my blog. I'm loving the challenges that my friends are placing before me. Did it work?)

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“There is also another important element in the Shema as a meditation, and this concerns the actual spelling of the word. … The shin has the sound of s or sh, and hence, of all the letters in the alphabet, it has the sound closest to white noise. ... The opposite of white noise is pure harmonic sound. This is a hum.... This is the sound of the mem. … True listening involves a transition from normal “shin” consciousness to meditative “mem” consciousness.” --Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation

A Meditation on Hearing
By Wendy Grinberg

Hear, Israel!

“Can you hear me now?”
This year, I will hear you.
This year, I will hear myself think.

“We will do and we will hear.”
This year, we will do and hear.

Hineini. Here I am. Hear: I am.
Here I am, hearing.
Hear! I am here-ing.
Here, I am hearing.

Praised are You, God, who makes us holy by commanding us to hear.

Now, hear this...

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 Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! 

Leave your blog Elul post in the linky below!