#BlogElul Return

Elul is a time of introspection - and I am starting off with acknowledging a mistake and offering an apology. (I don't think this bodes well for the month ahead - but we'll deal with that later.) It seems that I was so excited about taking this challenge that I TOTALLY neglected to share the inspiration.

I definitely didn't think of it! I love technology and communication and social media, but am still struggling with how to take them from toys to tools for connecting with others, for connecting with my self. Which is another reason I am trying this challenge...

So the inspiration comes from Rabbi Phyllis Sommer who blogs as Ima on the Bimah.

Rabbi P. Sommer (not to be confused with her husband Rabbi M. Sommer) is a Rabbi at Am Shalom in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a blogger, a mother of 4, a fighter, and just a general inspiration (with her digital footprint, her use of social media for good, and her value-centered life).

Now Phyllis and I both run in the "professional Reform Jewish" crowd - which means we have friends and colleagues in common, we see each other periodically at conferences to catch up, that sort of thing. But that's not the Phyllis I think of when I read her blog or when I take this challenge.

Then I am thinking of Phyllis Sklar - my bunkmate at OSRUI in Chalutzim. That summer we spent seven weeks at camp, with a particular emphasis on conversing in Hebrew. It was a pivotal moment in my life. After all, I returned from camp, dropped French, and began studying Hebrew five days-a-week. But it was also a summer of self discovery.

So on the theme of return, it is easier for me to think about what I may be turning away from (bad decisions, brash judgements, harsh words) but it is sometimes harder for me to identify what I am returning to. There is a part of me that wants to return to being a camper at OSRUI. It was a place and a time where in the midst of teenage angst I felt accepted for who I was. It was a place that ran on Jewish time. There weren't dark shadows of things like cancer and illness (which has been a large part of my life this past year).

But I know that kind of return isn't the purpose of Elul. I want to move forward, not backward. So this year, how can I harness the physical and emotional security I found when attending a Jewish camp (and have observed so many others experience) and share it with our Temple Judea educational programs...and personally use it as a source of strength to myself?