I'm doing #BlogElul

Dear friends, in case you haven't seen too much of me this week over here at Ima on and off the Bima, it's because I'm working hard on #BlogElul over at my other blog, Thoughts from Rabbi Phyllis (really creative title, no?).

I'm blogging almost daily over there for the whole month of Elul, the Hebrew month that precedes Rosh HaShanah. I won't be abandoning this blog (I have a number of book and DVD reviews coming up, bli neder) but I will be putting up a lot of content over there too.

So...feel free to follow me on Twitter to catch all my posts, and all the other folks who are doing #BlogElul as well.

If you'd like to subscribe to Thoughts from Rabbi Phyllis (free! so why not!?), click to subscribe in a reader or subscribe via email.

Let the Little Light Shine

I'm going to Blog Elul over at my other blog on a regular basis, so make sure to check that out too!

Each day, the Jewels of Elul offer inspiration and words of wisdom during the month of Elul, the month that precedes Rosh HaShanah.

There's also going to be a daily question, and you can go over to the Jewels page to post your answer.

Today's question is:

If you could identify one light that changed your world this year, what or who would it be?

It sounds totally cheesy, but my new little guy has been quite a light. Quite by accident, I started posting a daily picture of him on Facebook. (Today is Day 263.) It's been really remarkable to take a picture each day and see how much he has grown.

From Day 1:

to Day 260, just a few days ago...

Watching him grow and change has been quite a light. The daily picture has been its own light. Feeling compelled (by social pressure - Solly has fans!) to put that picture up has been such an interesting feeling. To know that each day I need to find a few moments to snap a picture (which has gotten harder and harder as he has gotten faster!), in addition to snuggling and loving him...it has been a good and welcome challenge. To know that the three day trip I'm planning in November will also include a plan for making sure that the picture of the day is taken by someone else, that too is a lesson for me in how much wonderful time I've had to spend with Solly in his first year of life. I am truly blessed.

The other light that he has shined on our family is in his siblings. I'm constantly amazed by the way that they love him so much. They want to hold him, to get his attention, to make him laugh, to feed him, to play with him...I hope this delight in their brother (and in each other?) continues to grow and be always a part of our family's life.

What light has changed you this year? Feel free to answer here or pop over to Jewels of Elul to answer there.

When the Cake Falls....

For me, part of any holiday preparation involves getting into the culinary spirit as well. Elul, of course, makes me think of honey cake, apples, and round challah.

So today I tested a new honey cake recipe. (Is it really fair to say it's new if I've never made honey cake before? Well, it's new to me.)

I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which is really from Marcy Goldman's great cookbook.

Except it didn't quite come out the way I hoped it would.
The middles of all the cakes fell in.

And then they stuck to the pan when I flipped them out.

So they were messed up on the bottom AND the top.
But the upside? It tasted delicious.

Sometimes things don't go quite the way we've planned.
Life is unpredictable. Sometimes the middle falls in.

We work hard during this month to get it all right...we work hard to right our wrongs and fix our mistakes.

Sometimes it's not pretty.

But at the end...when we worked hard and spent the time in teshuvah and personal growth....
it tastes delicious.

So that's what I'm aiming for this month.
How about you? Share your Elul hopes here...

Crossposted from over at my other blog, where I'm Blogging Elul all month....

Thus it begins - we welcome Elul

This post is part of Jewels of Elul, which celebrates the Jewish tradition to dedicate the 29 days of the month of Elul to growth and discovery in preparation for the coming high holy days. This year the program is benefiting Beit T'shuvah, a residential addiction treatment center in Los Angeles. You can subscribe on Jewels of Elul to receive inspirational reflections from public figure each day of the month. You don’t have to be on the blog tour to write a blog post on “The Art of Beginning... Again”. We invite everyone to post this month (August 11th - September 8th) with Jewels of Elul to grow and learn.



as the new moon Elul approaches
the days begin to grow shorter
as the new moon Elul approaches
our minds begin to wander
toward the healing breaths
of the days of awe.

each day dawns
beckoning me to
examine
elaborate
consider
remark
pay attention
get ready!

my heart moves toward
the days of awe.
am i ready?
have i asked the questions?
forgive me
pardon me
raise me up
renew me
refresh me
bring my soul back home
so that i may fill myself up

plant the seeds of the new year
and watch them grow
small shoots of green that begin to poke up
during this month
they blossom and flower
into the days of awe
and i flower with them
reaching my petals, like a flower,
up to the Holy One.

As I realized that the month of Elul was approaching, I looked back at the tag "Elul" for this blog. I giggled a little, because the posts about Elul are much like how I interact with the month - a little scattered. Sometimes, I've written panicked lists about what still needs to be done. And other times, I've been more eloquent about the month and its meaning. I wonder what this year will bring...each year is different, each year has its own character and flow....

An incredible free email will come directly to you each day of Elul - The Jewels of Elul begins today!

For the past six years Craig Taubman (yes, the musician) has collected short stories, anecdotes and introspections from some fascinating people. It's an eclectic group of people including President Barack Obama, Eli Winkelman, Desmond Tutu, the Dali Lama, Sarah Lefton, Eli Wiesel, Deepak Chopra, Pastor Rick Warren, Kirk Douglas, Rev. Ed Bacon, Rabbi David Wolpe, Ruth Messinger, Jeffrey Katzenberg and over 100 other inspired voices . . . well known and not so well known.

Just click on the Jewels of Elul link below and enter in your email address. That's it. No spam, no guilt. Just inspiration on a daily basis for the whole month. What have you got to lose?

This year I'll be "blogging Elul" over at my other blog. Join me over there, won't you? 

May this month bring you what you need.

Jewels of Elul

I'm afraid to say that I got this email about Jewels of Elul. Why am I afraid? Because it does seem that people regularly like to point out how "soon" the High Holy Days are. As if the date isn't seared into my brain. I'm a rabbi, for goodness sakes! The High Holy Days are like the World Series, the Olympics, the Jeopardy Finals, all rolled into one big spiritual package. Especially for a rabbi.

But with all that said, I do happen to love the holidays. I love the personal preparation, I love the excitement, I love the very idea that we get to start again...



It's a pretty great thing - each day someone posts their thoughts on the Hebrew month of Elul, which leads into the holidays. You can click on the above graphic to sign up for your own emails from the Jewels of Elul.

Hard to believe it's time, isn't it?

And it's not even August yet!

Visiting the Mikveh - 13 Things I Loved About It

The Mikveh is a Jewish institution shrouded in mystery and confusion for modern Reform Jews (and probably some Conservative ones too!). The mikveh is defined as a ritual bath, used not for purposes of physical cleanliness, but rather ritual purity or spiritual cleanliness. According to the Wikipedia entry, (which is actually pretty accurate - thumbs up!)

Its main uses nowadays are:
by Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation or childbirth
by Jewish men to achieve ritual purity
as part of a traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism
for utensils used for food

It's the first one that makes many modern women crazy, the second that less people know about, the third that is the most well-known in most Reform circles, and the last that is also less well known. But what is not accurate in the Wikipedia entry is the brief entry about Reform Jews and their lack of use of the Mikveh for anything other than conversion. Okay, maybe this is somewhat accurate, but we are working on it! Organizations like Mayyim Hayyim in Boston are making mikveh more accessible to modern Jews.

Okay, so all that said...where am I going?

It is customary, in that second idea up there, that "men" go to the mikveh to achieve ritual purity. These days, anything the men can do, so can the women! Often, people (okay, men) will go to the mikveh before Shabbat or holidays in order to fully prepare themselves physically/spiritually. I've never used the mikveh in this way (I've only been once before, right before my wedding). This year, I decided to go to the mikveh to prepare myself for the High Holy Days. As a rabbi, I spend these weeks before the holidays stressing and preparing and basically running around like crazy and I rarely have the time to prepare myself in any meaningful way. (In an earlier post, I referred to teshuvah, which is the Hebrew word for repentance...the "work" of the High Holy Days)

So the mikveh it was for me...and to describe it, here is a list of
13 things I loved about it...

1. The quiet. It was in the evening, and it was dark. It's traditional to go at night to show humility and to increase privacy (of course, blogging about it doesn't make it too private, does it). It was quiet. I had a few moments before all to myself to breathe and just be.
2. The reminder. The mikveh lady (a technical term) reminded me of the special nature of this moment. She knows that I come all the time to the mikveh with conversion candidates but she reminded me to take my time, to pay attention to each item of clothing or jewelry or act like brushing my hair, to realize that this was more than just a shower and then a dip in the pool, and more than just getting ready for bed.
3. The words. I hummed the tune for Hashi-veynu, one of my favorite penitential prayers that we sing at our Selichot service this coming Saturday night. To me, that tune really "kicks off" the holidays. Hashiveinu Adonai elecha v'nashuva, chadeish yameinu k'kedem...Help us to return to You, O God, then truly shall we return. Renew our days as in the past. I felt like this helped to remind me why I was doing this.
4. The washing. As I washed my eyelashes (the purpose of the pre-immersion cleansing is to remove all "barriers" to the living waters of the mikveh, so you wash carefully all your crevices -- like blowing your nose and cleaning your navel -- and you wash the parts you might not normally wash, like eyelashes, as well as comb out all snarls and tangles in your hair so the water can fully reach every part of you.)...I thought of how unusual this was, and how much more special it made it, and different from other shower/washing/hygiene experiences.
5. The privacy. Once I was prepared for entry into the mikveh, the mikveh lady was so careful to ensure my privacy. She is required to "guard" my immersions and to help make sure I've gotten the stray hairs from my skin, but she takes such care to be modest and private about the experience. She takes the towel and holds it up in front of her face until I'm fully immersed in the water.
6. The water...ah, the water. It's warm and wonderful, embracing and uplifting. As I stepped into the middle of the small pool, I realized how deep it actually is -- just about my height! The water didn't weight me down, though, in fact, it buoyed me up, encouraging me to float. When I was prepared, I took my first immersion, deep under the water, spreading my fingers and toes to get water into every nook and cranny of my being...these living waters holding me up and filling me up with their powers of personal purification.
7. The second immersion...this is the one where the mikveh lady takes a step outside the room following the immersion to offer the dipper a few moments of personal prayer or meditation. It is a mitzvah to ask for something for yourself, and as I floated in the water, feeling how safe and warm and comfortable I was, I was reminded of the title of a book by Rabbi David Wolpe - "Floating Takes Faith" -- and I knew that to be there in that moment, I was truly renewing my own faith.
8. The third immersion. To say shehecheyanu, the blessing for a first time, it was as though I were new again, reborn so to speak. If you think about it, the last time we were so surrounded by water like this was in the womb...this is a re-creation of that living water, a chance to be spiritually re-born for this new year.
9. The exit. As I stood in front of the mikveh lady, with my back to her, she wrapped the towel around me. She is a very traditional lady, and she avoids personal touch throughout the whole process. But as she wrapped the towel around my shoulders, she gave my shoulders a little squeeze. It felt like a whole hug, as though she were giving me her most heartfelt wishes and prayers. I really believe that she feels that what she does is truly one of the most precious jobs in the world -- and she acts like it. This squeeze was, I feel, her way of telling me that. And I am grateful.
10. Getting dressed. I put on all my clothes, my jewelry, my contact lenses...and then I examined myself in the mirror. Am I different now? Somehow more pure and more ready for the holidays? I decided the answer is yes. I did look different. I looked relaxed and happy and ready to face the holidays with a whole heart.
11. The drive home. To know that I was going back out into a world unchanged, but I, I was different somehow. I felt more calm, more prepared. With Rosh HaShanah only one week away, I could face the moment with far more ease than I had felt all day long. I felt refreshed, washed clean.
12. The work. I'm not done with the work of teshuvah, repentance, just because I washed clean in the mikveh. Jewish life doesn't work that way! I still have the obligation to ask forgiveness and work on my own spiritual and personal faults and shortcomings. But somehow I feel that it will be made easier or more do-able for me after this visit to the mikveh.
13. The blogging. I was so excited for the opportunity to share this experience with those who read this blog as well as my other one, http://rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com, so I could share a different and new way of welcoming the Jewish New Year. As a rabbi, my preparations are often different than other Jews. This was a great moment for me to have a personal opportunity to expand my own spiritual practice.

See more Thursday Thirteen posts here...
Crossposted on http://rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com

Thursday Thirteen...13 Before the Chagim Come

Here are thirteen things I have to do before Rosh haShanah

1. Find a babysitter for Erev Rosh HaShanah, Rosh HaShanah, Erev Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur (all day). Does this count as one thing or 4?
2. Make sure all my children have clothes to wear to the Family Services on Rosh HaShanah.
3. Work on Sermon...oh wait, start sermons.
4. Pick stories for Family Services, Alternative Services, and the other Family Services.
5. Mark up the Family Service prayerbooks for my new songleader.
6. Decide if I'm going to bake apple cakes for the whole world again. People do love them. I do love making them. How many should I make? It definitely falls into the "I don't know how she does it" category. But do I care about that category?
7. Make sure I have clothes to wear for each service.
8. Schedule a manicure.
9. Take some time to self-prepare for the holidays. My own teshuvah always seems to get neglected. I start with such good intentions.
10. Decide what we're going to do about decorating our sukkah.
11. Plan, if we want to, a Sukkah Open House. I think we'll do it on the day of the Sukkah Trolley Ride, since we are a stop...and we won't have to ride the trolley except to our house and then we can be done! I think this is a great plan. Guess I should check with my hubby...
12. Convince the baby to sleep through the night.
13. Get over whatever bug is making me sick right now. Sore throat, headache....feels like strep but the rapid test was negative. I know this too shall pass. But look at this list!!!!!

I do love the High Holy Days. But the lists always seem to creep up on me! I thought Thursday Thirteen was a great idea for today's post. See more Thursday Thirteen here...

8 Things About Me...8 Things I Love About Elul

Okay, so I was tagged by my friend Marci (check out her blog!) to do this 8 things meme...

8 random things about me. So here goes:

1. I didn't go to kindergarten.

2. I am so excited that The Biggest Loser is coming back on television very soon.

3. I haven't slept through the night in 6 months and 2 weeks.

4. I enjoy updating my facebook from my blackberry. Geeky, I know.

5. I hate wrinkly laundry and sometimes I'll rewash it if it doesn't get folded in time.

6. I am somewhat obsessed with the weather and knowing exactly what temperature it's going to be during the day.

7. I am on my second go-round with Weight Watchers and so far I've lost about 20 lbs. Only 20 to go!

8. I have a hard time coming up with interesting facts about me.

Since I can't just leave it at 8 things about me (so self-centered?), I thought I'd also share

8 things that I love about the month of Elul:

1. I love the anticipation!

2. My favorite service of the whole year is Selichot, the Saturday evening before Rosh HaShanah when we say penitential prayers late at night. It's beautiful and meditative and I just love it.

3. I think it's so cool that the initials of the phrase "ani l'dodi v'dodi li" (I am my beloved and my beloved is mine) are the letters that spell the word Elul. I think if I could go back and do my wedding all over again, I'd get married during Elul. Or Sukkot. But that's another post.

4. What am I going to make for a Shana Tova gift for our friends and family? (Do I send gifts to David's new teacher, who I don't think is Jewish?) I love the planning.

5. I enjoy anticipating seeing the people who really do only show up at the synagogue once a year. Sometimes it's young couples that I've married, or older people who don't come around much...I look forward to seeing their faces in the seats!

6. The Haftarot are great during this month.

7. Everyone understands when I explain what I do and that I'm very busy this time of year. It's been described to me once as my "tax season." Which I think is great -- taxing our souls!

8. I like knowing that all over the world, Jews are counting down the days....

And that's me!

Take a Deep Breath...

Shabbat is almost here. The day of rest....

I must admit, my life is not so restful. The two little ones are not sleeping well and therefore, neither am I. Tomorrow I am driving myself and the baby back up to camp for the conclusion of the NFTY Summer Kallah, then back home again on Sunday. There are many things to do...

But Shabbat is here.

During this month of Elul, I'm trying so hard to prepare myself for the High Holy Days. I'm trying to embrace the opportunity that this month offers, to think through myself and my actions...so today, I offer this line from Psalm 27, traditionally read each day during the month of Elul:

"Only one thing I ask of God, this I seek: May I dwell in the house of God all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of God and to visit God's sanctuary."

If each day of my life is lived as though I am in God's sanctuary, then even the dirty kitchen will hold holiness, for it is in God's sanctuary.

May this Shabbat bring rest and peace and joy to you and yours.

Welcome to Elul and Places I've Been This Week

Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh Elul.

Rosh Chodesh, the new moon, is the beginning of the Hebrew month. It is traditionally regarded as a "women's holiday" because of the connection that women have with the lunar cycle. The Hebrew calendar is actually a combination of lunar and solar, using lunar months but adjusting them (using leap months) to keep the calendar on a seasonal footing (as in, Rosh HaShanah always lands in the fall of the year).

Each month has its own character, just like in our Gregorian calendar, and Elul is no different. It is the month that we count carefully, measuring each day, for we know that at the end of this month, the High Holy Days (Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) begin.

How to fully measure each day? How to prepare oneself to stand before God and begin the year again? And of course, the tachlis, the mundane details, how do we organize the holidays? Write the sermons, plan the meals, the activities? This is the month to do it.

To begin the Elul journey, I offer this poem by Debbie Perlman, reposted from ritualwell.org

Rosh Chodesh Elul: A Modern Psalm

Fighting the languor of sultry days,

We begin the turning, back to You;

Moving against the heat of our hearts,

Against the anger inside, we turn.
Call us to begin the examination,

Healing God;

Call for us to remove the garment of our deceit,

The fears that bind us away from You.

Chafing at our tender miseries.
In the month of Elul,

we uncover our secrets,

Examining them with a truthful heart,

Counting the pulse beats of our life,

The selfish pressures we apply and resist.
Call us to the consultation of our souls,

For You are a God of healing and mercy;

Call us to begin without delay,

That Elul might draw us near to You.

5 places i've been this week....

Birthdays Without Pressure -- a whole post in itself someday soon, I'm sure.

The Goody Blog - a new fun site I just discovered as they were just about to give away a lot of stuff. I want to win!!!!

Google Reader - my newest way to check out feeds. I was using IE's in-house feed reader but it didn't always refresh properly. Thanks to ZRecommends for recommending it!

Mabel's Labels - everyone raves about them so I think it's time to buy...

Baby Einstein makes your kids dumber!? Who knew. I always thought they made me dumber....

Challenged

I have just joined the 30-Day Blog Challenge over at Casual Friday Everyday.

This is going to be a fun experiement. Looking back over my blog, I tend to go in spurts. Either I blog everyday for a while or I blog not at all! So...I'm going to try to consistently blog each and every day.

I make no promises for:
1. Length
2. interestingness
3. non-self-centeredness
4. my other blog

But...I'm game. It's like an Elul challenge, sort of. Maybe I can begin my journey towards teshuvah a little early by blogging about it. We'll see.

Exciting!

Maybe I'll try some of the other daily blog things that are out there that others participate in, like Best Shot Monday or Wordless Wednesday. Stay tuned!

(Hey, is there anyone really out there reading this????)