Elul 4: "Sunrise, Sunset"? Well, no sunset yet in N. IN

Elul 4: Today the kids started school for the year: Little Jazz in 8th grade, Sister Soul in 6th - both in middle school.  How the heck did this happen?

It's been a beautiful sunny 85 degree day here in N. Indiana - just doesn't seem to fit with "back to school" for this New England native. More so, it's making it harder to wrap my head around the idea of really getting ready for the Holy Days. And yet, that's the point. We can't really "get ready" to celebrate the New Year, to "prepare" for teshuva, or to gear up for the cycle of these yamim nora'im. Rather, we have to accept them as they mark a moment in the ongoing *process* of living a Jewish life, embracing what it means to be a human being, fully, with all of its ups and down, and the baggage we all collect along the way.

Just be careful about the baggage you pack as you continue your journey :)

Elul is gonna be long

Elul 2: UGH! So much to do, so much to gather, coordinate, plan, pull together....sometimes it just doesn't happen the way you hope, sometimes it just doesn't happen at all....man plans, God laughs....
At least we got Ben's hair cut before school starts....and again, beginning this Wednesday? Really? It's still August....I remember many summers coming home from camp later than this....aaaaah, the good ol' Midwest, where our calendars are informed by corn and harvest (ummm?)....
Anyway - had a good talk about the status of the movement - and my trepidation about its state of affairs....nothing new there though...
Well, at least red beans'n'rice (oh so nice - thanks Kermit Ruffins) can cure almost any road block....
...the great thing about the process - there's always tomorrow...
 

#elulpledge begins with wishes of Eid Mubarak, nice

Elul 1: first day of my Elul pledge, got to the gym - unusual for a Sunday, but a nice way to begin the new month.

Today is Eid al-Fitr - so as we enter the Jewish month of preparation for the Yamim Nora'im, it is absolutely appropriate to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters sweetness as they conclude the observance of Ramadan.

To them, and for all of us, we join in saying "Eid Mubarak" - wishing a blessed celebration.

New Year's resolution 5773: a pledge for Elul

This coming Shabbat coincides with Rosh Chodesh Elul - beginning the Hebrew month in which we "prepare" for the onset of the New Year. Yeah, like you can really just pick up and "get ready" for the Yamim Nora'im - the Days of Awe - if you haven't been in tune with the rhythm of Jewish time throughout the year (but that's a rant for another time).
So I'm thinking that this is as good a time as any to set my personal wheels in motion for this month of spiritual reflection and readying - that is, to make my own "Elul pledge." And here it is:
This summer has been a fantastic, dizzying, busy, hectic and over-scheduled time (not unlike most of the year). I have really slacked on my usual exercise habits. Not that I haven't been physically active, I'm just missing the benefits of daily trips to the gym and regular workouts with a trainer (and I can feel it). 
Over this coming month, as the Jewish world looks toward the Holy Days, as our children return to school, and as much of our programming kicks back into gear - my pledge is to enter the New Year in the best physical shape I can. For many of us, bodily exercise is a spiritual endeavor; for some, it is the most meaningful "ritual" or religious activity in which we engage. And as is proven over and over, healthy/active/fit bodies support emotional, spiritual, and physical health overall.
SO - as Elul is upon us - what's YOUR Elul pledge. Would love to know. And feel free to share #Elulpledge.

"Rosh Chodesh August" - another pearl from my camp exploits

It's August 1st - a long time ago, summer of '83 to be exact, while studying in "Judaica" with our counselor (now Rabbi) Charles Arian, exploring the idea of what it takes to "make" sacred time - my dearest friend Corey Cutler and I suggest that we create a holiday that would *only* be observed at camp: voila, "Rosh Chodesh August." With only a few days of prep time to introduce this new-fangled Jewish tradition, we tried to come up with a few rituals specific to the day. Well, I recall we might have sang something, and we (Charles, Corey, myself) definitely wore bathrobes to dinner - not such a surprise for us in those days, being half lazy teenagers and half devotees of M*A*S*H.
Though a silly experience - it has certainly stuck with me...yet another profound way in which my Jewish learning was enhanced and imprinted because of something at camp. To this day, whenever I teach students about what elements frame a holiday, I refer to an experiment by 16 year olds to sanctify the beginning of this month. And thankfully, it works every time.