#blogExodus 6: Retell

I keep lists of the stories I tell. And yes, I tell them over and over. I try to vary them, to keep them fresh, and to tell them in different sequence. And I love when I can find a new story to add to my general repertoire. But overall? I tell the same stories again and again.

And we all love it.

Think about the child who watches the same movie over and over. Or reads the same book again and again. It's joyous, it's immersive, it's comforting.

One might even say that we NEED those retellings. How else does a story become a part of the very fiber of our being if we don't tell it over and over again?

So it is with the Exodus.
Over
and
over
and
over
we tell the same story.
We never get tired of sharing our journey from slavery to freedom. It never gets old.
We work the story over, like a ball of putty, making new shapes from the same material, and yet always returning back to its original form.

It is in the re-telling, the tell-me-again, the turn-it-and-turn-it, that we find our deepest meaning.

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

March 2020 Books

Have you noticed that the world feels topsy-turvy? (that was a joke) It's been hard to focus and I feel like I'm working around the clock, so there have been fewer books in March than in previous months...but I'm still over here reading. 

The Cactus - this was a little bit of a meh read for me. It felt a little like Eleanor Oliphant but not as compelling. Maybe I wouldn't read this unless you were stuck at home and didn't have much else to do....

Wunderland - I read a lot of books about the Holocaust, and this one was a little bit unique in its perspective of two young women in Berlin as the Nazis come to power...and in the aftermath of all of that. One of the women discovers a family secret (it's a spoiler for me to tell you, I think, but I'm betting you can guess) and it changes her whole life. This one was definitely worth reading!

House of the Broken Angels - last month, I read American Dirt, and I committed myself to reading another book by a Latinx author to balance the controversy. I chose this one because I heard this author specifically speak against the American Dirt book. House of the Broken Angels was a little bit of a tough read for me, but it also might have been due to the chaos that seems to have erupted in the world while I was reading it. The story was powerful and strong, a saga of a Mexican-American family and their immigrant experience. It was also interesting to compare to my own family's immigrant story.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January  - a fantasy tale about the power of words and stories. In this world, there are "doors" that open into other worlds, and people who want to close them all down. Sound familiar? My favorite quote: "I believe I already know what happens to a world without doors." I really liked this one.

My Dark Vanessa - has this ever happened to you: you start reading a book and think to yourself, "what on earth convinced me to put this book on my to-read list?" That was how I felt as I started this dark and really difficult book. Did you recommend this book to me? It was sad and hard to read this story of a young woman who was a victim of a sexual predator, a teacher at her school. The book is getting a lot of press, and I recommend you read some articles and interviews before you decide if you want to read this one...

Once We Were Brothers - how have I never read this book or any books in this series? So weird. (Thanks, Julie, for putting it on my list!) Anyway, I enjoyed this one. I was pretty sure I knew how it would end (I mean, come on...) but I still liked reading the story and seeing it play out. I've just grabbed the second book in this series from the library app so I'll probably tell you about that one next month. I also liked the Chicago setting... anyway, this was a good, readable, solid Holocaust telling.

February's List
January's list

What are you reading?

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#BlogExodus 5: Seek

We search
hunt
seek out
the chametz
the fluff
the puff

We look for it
so we can
sweep
it
away

and
emerge
feeling
free...

(repost from 2017)

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

#blogExodus day 4: RISE

When we observe the period of shiva, the seven-day mourning period following a death, it is customary to sit on low stools. The mourners literally are brought low by the death of a loved one.

Thus, at the end of shiva, we say that one "rises from shiva."

In so many ways, the isolation that we are feeling in these days of physical distancing is like shiva.
We are lying low....waiting.
For many of us, it's impossibly difficult to be so far apart.

And so we talk about what we'll do when we rise.

We will go out.
We will visit friends.
We'll eat in restaurants and get our nails done.

"Rise" is on the BlogExodus list because of the rising that didn't happen in our bread. It's like we need to rise up in other ways to counteract the flatness of our matzah.

And so it is right now.
We talk about what we'll do when we rise from our isolation.
But, let us talk about how we will rise RIGHT NOW.

We rise together when we check in on our loved ones.
We rise together when we send meals to the staffs of our local ERs.
We rise together when we help others to heal.
We rise together when we join in virtual song, prayer, story, learning.
We rise.
Higher and higher.

Right now.
We rise.

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

#blogExodus day 3: cleanse

wash
your
hands

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

#blogExodus day 2: exalt

exalt
praise
glorify
laud
celebrate

those are tough words
in the face of
a global pandemic

how can we find
gratitude
when we are
scared
worried
afraid
alone?

and yet...
the sun rises
and sets
the clouds make
beautiful formations
the lake sends
waves over the shore

we breathe

and then realize
that the
breath
itself

is worthy
of praise.

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

#blogExodus Day 1: Launch

Today we launch the strangest Nisan ever.

With two weeks to go until the Seder, my house is full of chametz and not a box of matzah in sight.

My Facebook feed is not full of carmelizing onions or jokes about covering the whole kitchen in foil. Instead, it's full of posts about whether it's safe to bring in the mail and how to snag the last instacart time slot available for the week.

This year is different. Using the word "different" feels so small and insignificant. It's beyond different. It's monumentally, fundamentally, outrageously different.

And yet, we launch Nisan. Because the calendar doesn't slow down or stop. Because Passover is, at its very core, a celebration that we always need, even in the midst of darkness. Even when we are scared and worried and anxious and afraid, even when our focus is elswhere, the calendar launches us into Nisan.

So just for today, take a breath. Organize a thought. Consider the next step.

Launch into Nisan.

What's #BlogExodus? Read more here.

#BlogExodus and #ExodusGram 5780

Rosh Chodesh Nisan is on Thursdsay, March 26, 2020.
I know we're all in lockdown mode. I know it means that Passover is going to be VERY different this year.

And I also know that many people are out there, looking for ways to be creative, engaged, and focused on the real meaning and messages in our lives today.

So...with Passover around the corner, you might not be making brisket or matzah balls. You might have cancelled your big Passover plans and are planning a small seder (perhaps online!). And it's all so different. Which makes this a great time to have something to focus on, something to think about that is a little bit outside of our four walls.

Enter: BlogExodus and Exodusgram.

So what is this really about? #BlogExodus is really what you want to make of it. I've provided topics for the first 14 days of the month of Nisan. What you do with it is up to you -- write a blog post, tweet, Facebook, tumblr, or something that I haven't even thought of yet! Use the hashtag to share your post (I put it into the title of each post). It's a great way to kickstart a blog or rejuvenate your languishing blog or just get yourself ready for the holiday of Passover! I will be posting my #blogExodus posts here on this blog and I will tweet them out at @imabima.

Maybe you don't have a blog? I'll post an "open thread #blogExodus" each day on my Facebook page as well, so you could just post your thoughts, photos, comments, or haikus there. Maybe you're a yogi? What about a photo of a different yoga post each day related to the theme of the day?

There aren't any rules, so maybe you don't like the order of the topics? Maybe you want to write on only a few of them? It doesn't matter. It is what you make of it.

 #Exodusgram is a even more interpretive. While I love Instagram (I'm imabima, of course), I know some people don't. So maybe you want to share Exodus-themed photos via Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Pinterest or....whatever! My #Exodusgram posts will go up on Instagram and then be shared to my tumblr, imabima.tumblr.com. Whatever you do, don't forget to tag with #Exodusgram so we can all share. (Note for some of my colleagues: this might make a fun teen project...who's up for #SnapTheExodus?)

The themes are really up for your own interpretation. I was thinking broadly and openly about what makes Passover special and interesting to me. I hope it will translate into creative and inspirational posts from all of us!

Are you going to join in? Leave me a comment here or send me a tweet or just...jump in! I will try to retweet all the #BlogExodus and #Exodusgram posts through Twitter via @imabima. If I miss your posts, let me know so I can go back and be inspired by what YOU have to say!

#BlogExodus #Exodusgram topics for 5780
1 Nisan - Launch
2 Nisan - Exalt
3 Nisan - Cleanse
4 Nisan - Rise
5 Nisan - Seek
6 Nisan - Retell
7 Nisan - Read
8 Nisan - Expand
9 Nisan - Perplex
10 Nisan - Join
11 Nisan - Celebrate
12 Nisan - Reveal
13 Nisan - Welcome
14 Nisan - Thank

 *Yes, I know that I put the Shabbat dates there. I don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat but I will post on Fridays before Shabbat and on Saturdays after Shabbat is over. You can, of course, do it any way you like!