PLEASE NOTE: With the change to Daylight Savings Time, our Friday evening services will begin at 7:30pm ET, except for First Fridays.

Weekday Elul Learning

Each weekday during the month of Elul we gathered for short teachings to help us prepare for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Members of the community shared on a variety of topics.


View daily teachings here:

 

3 Elul | Karen Levine | Tkhine imohes fun rosh khoydesh elul — Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon Elul

Tkhines or teḥinot (Yiddish: תְּחִנּוֹת, lit. ’supplications’) may refer to Yiddish prayers and devotions, usually personal and from a female viewpoint, or collections of such prayers. They were written for Ashkenazi Jewish women who, unlike the men of the time, typically could not read Hebrew, the language of the established synagogue prayer book. They were most popular from the 1600s to the early 1800s, with the first major collection of tkhines, the Seyder Tkhines, being printed in 1648. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tkhine)

“This new tkhine was written by the Rebetsn Seril (c.18th century), daughter of the well-known Rabbi Yankev Sega”l of Dubno, wife of the great and learned and profoundly wise Rabbi Mordkhe Ka”Ts Rapaport – may the memory of the righteous be a blessing. It should be read daily throughout the month of Elul…” (https://opensiddur.org/prayers/torah-service/shabbat-mevorkhim/tkhine-matriarchs-new-moon-elul/)

More information:
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tkhines
The Merit of Our Mothers: A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, By Tracy G Klirs · 1992


 

 

4 Elul | Avigayil Landsman | An exploration into the deeper meaning of making challah

 

 

5 Elul | Roberta Wall | Elul: Into the Field of Motherlove

 

 

6 Elul | Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit | A Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul

https://opensiddur.org/prayers/lunisolar/roshei-hadashim/elul/blessing-for-rosh-hodesh-elul-by-kohenet-ilana-joy-streit/

 

 

9 Elul | Roberta Wall | Ki Teitzei: When you go out against your enemies

 

 

10 Elul | Rabbi Pauline Tamari z”l | A teaching from the archive: September 15, 2020 (26 Elul 5780)

 

 

11 Elul | Meg Soiffer | Reflections on Psalm 27

References:

Rabbi Arthur Green, Seek my Face, Speak my Name (https://soundcloud.com/valleybeitmidrash/rabbi-art-green-seek-my-face-speak-my-name-a-judaism-for-todays-seeker)

The Healing Power of Psalms: Renewal, Hope and Acceptance from the World’s Most Beloved Ancient Verses, by Samuel Chiel

 

 

12 Elul | Avigayil Landsman | Immunity to Falsehood

Reference: https://www.radiolab.org/episodes/my-thymus-myself:

 

 

13 Elul | Gail Albert


 

 

16 Elul | Ruth Samuels Hirsch

 

 

17 Elul | Joan Goodman | Returning to Joy Using Color

 

18 Elul | Joan Goodman | Exploring Our Intentions for the New Year (A Writing Exercise)

 

 

19 Elul | Avigayil Landsman | Avinu Malkeinu

Reference: Minding the Temple of the Soul: Balancing Body, Mind & Spirit through Traditional Jewish Prayer, Movement and Meditation, by Tamar Frankiel and Judy Greenfeld

 

 

20 Elul | Blaze Ardman | A Blessing for Elul

 

 

23 Elul | Vickie Russell | Parashat Nitzavim: Choose Life!

 

 

24 Elul | Karen Levine | Gematria for 5783

References: Hebrew letter/number equivalents

Gematria samples for the new year: 5783

 

 

25 Elul | Kathy Koerner |

 

 

26 Elul | Roberta Wall | We Are Standing

 

 

27 Elul | Rabbi Ellen Triebwasser | Unetoneh Tokef and Avinu Malkeinu
Reference: https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.128/07g.7f4.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ForEarthsSake-HHD-from-Bayit.pdf