Ep 104: Elul, the Shofar, and Awakeness (Reprise)

The Joyous Justice Podcast

In this week’s episode, we’re bringing back some wisdom from last year’s Elul episode and reflecting on the meaning of this month in the Jewish calendar that leads up to Rosh HaShanah and the high holidays. This time of anticipation calls us to prepare ourselves spiritually for the new year. We talk about the symbolic meanings of the holiday and how the ritual of hearing the shofar can be a powerful call to being “awake.”
And, we’re excited to hear from you! Let us know your insights or ask us a question at https://joyousjustice.com/jews-talk-racial-justice-questions. In the next few weeks we’ll be sending some questions we would love for you to weigh in on. Join our mailing list at https://joyousjustice.com.

Find April and Tracie's full bios and submit topic suggestions for the show at www.JewsTalkRacialJustice.com

Learn more about Joyous Justice where April is the founding and fabulous (!) director, and Tracie is a senior partner.: https://joyousjustice.com/

Read more of Tracie's thoughts at her blog, bmoreincremental.com

Learn more about the month of Elul here: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/what-is-elul/

Read more about the Senegalese holiday, Grand Magal of Touba here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Magal_of_Touba

Learn about the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute here: https://www.kohenet.com/

Read the Song of Songs here: https://www.sefaria.org/Song_of_Songs

Better understand Shekhinah, the Divine Feminine in Judaism, here: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-divine-feminine-in-kabbalah-an-example-of-jewish-renewal/

Discussion/Reflection Questions for this episode:

1. April and Tracie spend the episode discussing Elul. What do you know about Elul? What, if any, traditions and rituals do you have for the month of Elul?
2. April and Tracie reflect on the Kabbalistic teaching about Elul being an acronym for “Ani l'dodi v'dodi li/I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine” and the idea of intimacy with the divine. What does intimacy with the divine mean for you? What does it look like?
3. April notes that hearing the shofar is a type of pattern interruption that reverberates within us? What do you feel when you hear the sound of a shofar? What memories or thoughts arise in connection with it?
4. Tracie connects the daily sound of the shofar to a wake up call, and a daily reminder for us to do the work of fighting oppression. What are the injustices that you have become more attuned and “awoken” to over the course of the last year?
5. April describes “awake” and “matrix” versions of herself. Do you have a similar view of how you operate in society? What are the daily acts of injustice and oppression that serve as their own kind of shofar for you?
6. Tracie also reflects on what the sound of the shofar means to her, connecting it to mechayeh HaMetim, and enlivening the dead. Having listened to their discussion, do you have your own thoughts on what the sound of the shofar symbolizes to you?