#BlogElul 2: Act

It's all an act.
Every day.
Putting on a mask to
find the quiet space
inside.

It's all an act.
Every day.
Getupgetdressedgetgoing.

It's all an act.
Every day.
A piece of the story
always
missing.

It's all an act.
Every day.
Smiling through
tears.
Breathing
in and out.

It's all an act.
And yet
it's somehow
it's all
real.


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 prayers of forgiveness, but I like to think of it as a whole-person preparation activity. 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 and on Instagram @imabima. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! Read more about #BlogElul here.

#blogElul 1: Prepare

Get ready....
get set...
go.

It's GO time.
Get going.
Get moving.
Get doing.

Don't just sit there.
Move.
Do something.
Be something.
Be someone.

Do it now.
Don't wait.
Don't put it off.
Don't let it sit.
Get it done today.
Now.

Are you ready?

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 prayers of forgiveness, but I like to think of it as a whole-person preparation activity. 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 and on Instagram @imabima. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! Read more about #BlogElul here.

#BlogElul and #ElulGram 2015

For the last few years, I've embarked on a project, and invited the social media world to join with me.

#BlogElul and #Elulgram have inspired, informed, and offered a little bit of additional introspection across the internet for the last few years. By popular request, it's back! 

Elul -- that wonderful and terrifying month that precedes the High Holy Days.

A month of introspection and considering, a month of personal reflection and preparation.

Perfect for blogging and other social media... 


What's it all about?I have made a list of Elul-related topics, and I'm inviting you (yes, you! reader, colleague, friend...anyone with a desire to share ideas about the holidays) to join me.


But I'm not stopping only with blogging. Sure, it's called BlogElul but you can "blog" in any way you like. Maybe it's your daily Facebook update or tweet. Maybe it's your Instagram photos or SnapChat story? Now we have Vine and other quick-video services -- perhaps a daily 6-second video? Maybe you don't want to do it daily. Maybe you just want to dip your toe into the experience, or just read (and share?) what others write. It's totally up to you.

Feel free to right-click and save this image to use wherever you #blogelul

I try to keep it simple, as I've done for the last few years. I've provided a topic (somewhat randomly mixed up) for each of the days of the month of Elul...just write a blog post about that topic on the assigned day! Use the hashtag to share your post, even in your title. This might be a great way to kickstart your blog (are you new at it?) and it might be a great way to get yourself ready for the themes and ideas of the holiday! (I plan to use #BlogElul in all my post titles, so that the hashtag is already there.)

And then there's #ElulGram. It's far more open to interpretation! I'm inviting you to post photos related to the same themes as the blogging project. Maybe you're not a writer or you don't have a blog - so take a picture instead! (And don't forget, sharing pictures is not limited to Instagram, but there is also Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr....etc.) Whatever you do, don't forget to tag it with #Elulgram so we can all share.

The themes are totally up for your own interpretation! I tried to think broadly about the general themes of the High Holy Days, and they are totally open to your own interpretations. There are no rules, but feel free to collaborate, cross-post, share thoughts, etc. I try to keep it as open-ended as possible.

(And yes, I know that the dates include Shabbat. I personally don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat, but I will post after Shabbat is over. That's my custom but you can do whatever you like.) 

Are you going to play along? Let me know! Leave me a comment here, send me a tweet, or send up a signal fire.... Feel free to grab my pretty badge to announce to the whole world that you're Blogging Elul. If you let me know that you're doing it, we can cross-post, or guest-post, or even just do some virtual hand-holding as the days grow closer to Tishrei. I'll try to link to as many posts and pics as I can - won't it be amazing to all share in the Elul journey together? 

I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you. Elul begins on August 16th (it's always on time), so I wanted to give you a head start if you're going to pre-write some of your posts. (And yes, I know it's a 2-day Rosh Chodesh, but let's start on Elul 1 to make things simple, okay?)

I hope that our shared preparation for 5776 brings meaning and hope, inspiration and enlightenment for all of us.

A text-based list of the #blogElul #elulGram topics:

Elul 1: Prepare

Elul 2: Act

Elul 3: Search

Elul 4: Understand

Elul 5: Accept

Elul 6: Know

Elul 7: Be

Elul 8: Hear

Elul 9: See

Elul 10: Count

Elul 11: Trust

Elul 12: Forgive

Elul 13: Remember

Elul 14: Learn

Elul 15: Change

Elul 16: Pray

Elul 17: Awaken

Elul 18: Ask

Elul 19: Judge

Elul 20: Dare

Elul 21: Love

Elul 22: End

Elul 23: Begin

Elul 24: Hope

Elul 25: Intend

Elul 26: Create

Elul 27: Bless

Elul 28: Give

Elul 29: Return

#blogExodus: Bless

What is a blessing, anyway?
benediction
invocation
supplication
favor
grace
sanctification....

The dictionary says:

a special favor,
mercy,
or
benefit....

praise, devotion, worship

approval

good wishes

And what is it to bless?
how do we,
mere humans,
invoke God's favor?

What does it mean
to be
blessed?
To be grateful
to find divine favor
to feel that glow of

something

not quite definable
not quite tangible
not quite name-able....

what does it mean
to be
blessed?

like love, it must be felt
to
be
understood.

Want to join in? We're sharing #BlogExodus for the 2 weeks leading up to Passover. All you have to do is use the hashtag and there are suggested prompts on the graphic above (feel free to grab it). Maybe you just want to post on your Facebook or Twitter about these topics...or maybe you want to try #Exodusgram, posting photos related to these themes? I'll be posting my #blogExodus posts here, at this blog, my #Exodusgram pictures on my Instagram and also my tumblr site, imabima.tumblr.com, and who knows what else!? It's going to be a busy fortnight!

#blogExodus: Begin

sometimes it's so hard
just to take
the
first
step

i want to be like
Nachshon....
brave
bold
daring
the first

but i'm held back
restrained
unready
unprepared
enslaved
by
the thoughts and worries and pressures

let's roll
here goes
get moving
yalla!

how did Nachshon do it?
to begin
is so hard.

and yet...here we go...
we begin again
every
single
day.

Want to join in? We're sharing #BlogExodus for the 2 weeks leading up to Passover. All you have to do is use the hashtag and there are suggested prompts on the graphic above (feel free to grab it). Maybe you just want to post on your Facebook or Twitter about these topics...or maybe you want to try #Exodusgram, posting photos related to these themes? I'll be posting my #blogExodus posts here, at this blog, my #Exodusgram pictures on my Instagram and also my tumblr site, imabima.tumblr.com, and who knows what else!? It's going to be a busy fortnight!

#blogExodus and #ExodusGram 5775

Oh my.
Yes, Passover is actually almost here.
It seems that the period between Purim and Pesach gets shorter every year....but I know that isn't true!

Rosh Chodesh Nisan is just about a week away, and that means it's time for #BlogExodus and #Exodusgram! I know you're excited for this...

Feel free to grab this image and share it, use it, post it....add it to your blogs, whatever!

This year's topics are based loosely on the steps of the Seder.  
Can you find the one that isn't like the others?

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. 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 little 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, maybe not done over the two weeks but instead over one class period...)

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!
At some point in the middle, I will probably do a "roundup" post and I will 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!

*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!

1 Nisan - Begin

2 Nisan - Bless

3 Nisan - Cleanse

4 Nisan - Grow

5 Nisan - Hide

6 Nisan - Tell

7 Nisan - Ask

8 Nisan - Rise

9 Nisan - Bitter

10 Nisan - Join

11 Nisan - Celebrate

12 Nisan - Find

13 Nisan - Welcome

14 Nisan - Praise

Hidden

On the holiday of Purim, we talk a lot about that which is hidden.

Esther is hidden, even in her very name. Her identity, her true self, her origins....all hidden.

God is hidden, the Holy Name not mentioned in the story even once.

Mordecai's saving of the king from would-be assassins, hidden in the King's record books.

We hide the filling inside our hamantaschen. What kind did you get?

And we wear masks on this day...masks that hide our true identity. We hide ourselves in the cloak of silliness and mirth, we hide behind the goofiness and the giddiness that changing our clothes into costumes allows.

There's a deep gulf of grief inside of me, a hole shaped like Sammy, who isn't here to see that mom relented and let a couple of Purim Carnival fish into the house.

And yet that deep gulf of grief is hidden, especially on a day like Purim. You can't see it on the outside.

"Be happy -- it's Adar!" we say.

And yet it's days like this one that make me want to sink far into that gulf, hide away, and retreat from the world. Purim is a pretty big deal in synagogue life -- we make silly videos, sing funny songs, tell goofy stories and generally act in a way totally opposite from our usual selves. Sometimes it's a total fakery, and that's part of the way that Purim works.

On Purim, we talk about that which is hidden.
And I realize that we all have hidden gulfs inside of us, deep rivers of grief and sadness, pains and problems. We all have these depths that are hiding.

On Purim, a day that we're doing a lot of "faking it" in so many ways...let's remember the hidden in all of us, and let's take that lesson forward into every day.