RABBI DEBRA KOLODNY

AS THE SPIRIT MOVES US

Meditations for the Month of Elul

Posted by on Aug 13, 2018

Meditations for the Month of Elul

Elul begins this year on the heels of the most tumultuous political year I have ever experienced in almost 60 years of life. Our sitting president puts out an average of 6.4 lies a day. ICE and our immigration policies are not merely cruel, they are torturing children and are impeding our economy from functioning to boot. Hate incidents have skyrocketed. In Portland alone, hate incidents increased by 200% from 2016 to 2017, hundreds and hundreds of incidents of verbal violence taking place on public transportation alone. A regressive tax plan that serves only the interests of the 1%, putting the cherry on top of our grotesque kleptocracy. A president defying his own intelligence agencies and justice department to join with a nation who is seeking to destroy our democracy. Will we survive? YES! We will, in fact, THRIVE. The underbelly of our nation has been exposed and the need to make justice the rallying cry of our political sphere has never been more clear.

The humans of this country have shown up by the millions. Marches, vigils, lawsuits, rallies, ballot initiatives, donations, and a wave of beautiful, compassionate, visionary people running for office and getting elected, with platforms of economic, racial, LGTBQ and immigrant justice. Baruch HaShem!!! Blessed be the One!!!

On this first day of our 29 day journey to Rosh HaShanah, an invitation to start our cheshbon hanefesh, our soul inventory, with a set of daily questions. All of our questions will invite introspection on how we can show up with our best selves in the future, and many days we will focus on the intersection of the personal and the political. Here at Portland’s UnShul we are serious about our commitment to being part of the solution!

Questions: How have I contributed to the silencing/negation/oppression/pain/ exclusion/violence/harm/ disenfranchisement etc. against those who are different than me, especially those who are Black, Brown, Native American, Asian, trans or gender non-conforming, disabled or immigrants? How can I remedy those harms?

Head over to our Facebook group for daily Elul meditations.

 

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