On the Practice of Elul

Today marks the first day of the month of Elul, the thirty days of ascent and preparation for the New Year and Yom Kippur. During the month of Elul we begin to sound the Shofar, once a day, to awaken our spirits from the deep slumbers they have resigned themselves to. Through one cycle of the moon, we create foundations in body, mind, and spirit that will become the altars from which our High Holy Day prayers are offered - the greater our practice of Elul, the swifter the ascent of our song. The practices …


Shofar - If you cannot hear a real Shofar once a day, here is the virtual version -

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Sound it daily.

Food - Change the way you eat. Eat vegetarian for the month. Three meals (or more) a day, each present the opportunity for reflection. The spiritual mirrors the physical - by changing our physical bodies and what goes in to them, we allow for the transformation of spirit. At each meal offer a blessing; the differentiation itself will be your cue.

Meditation - Sit for three minutes each day in silence, before you lie down or before you rise up. Focus on your breathing, and when your attention drifts away, return the focus to your breath. Conclude with the Shema.

Do not practice alone; share this journey with those around you. I will be in touch throughout the month, and I look forward to praying with you at the light of the next new moon.

Rabbi Zach

High Holy Day member reservation forms are available here and guest reservation forms here.

10Q: Reflect. React. Renew. Life's Biggest Questions. Answered By You.

An amazing High Holy Days online experience brought to us by our friends at Reboot:

10 Days. 10 Questions.

Answer one question per day in your own secret online 10Q space. Make your answers serious. Silly. Salacious. However you like. It's your 10Q. When you're finished, hit the magic button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping. One year later, the vault will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for private reflection. Want to keep them secret? Perfect. Want to share them, either anonymously or with attribution, with the wider 10Q community? You can do that too.

Next year the whole process begins again. And the year after that, and the year after that. Do you 10Q? You should.

Click here to get your 10Q on.

10Q begins Sept 28th, 2011.

Selichot: Spiritually Preparing for the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe)

Throughout the month of Elul, it is our task to be engaged in a process of deep, serious introspection and reflection on who we have been over the past year, and who we want to become during the upcoming year. For many of us, our relationship to many elements of the High Holy Day season and of the holidays themselves may be varied and complicated. For example, how do we reconcile our personal worldly, lives and journeys with the themes of sin, repentance, and salvation?

This Selichot experience will give us an opportunity to engage in some deep thought about how we can make real sense out of the complex themes of the Yamim Noraim. We will also take advantage of the opportunity to actually do a piece of the challenging work of teshuvah (repentance) by engaging in a deep guided meditation that will push us to acknowledge the gap between who we are/have been and our highest ideals of who we strive to become, and will help us to reorient ourselves into the direction we wish to head as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

I look forward to sharing this space together.

When: Saturday, September 24 at VCS (272 W 10th St)
Time: 7pm

Shalom,
Rabbi Darby J. Leigh

From those who brought you the highly acclaimed United Tastes of Passover

The New Shul Presents:

United Tastes for the Jewish New Year

At this intimate gathering hosted by New Shul member Wendy Kantor you’ll have an opportunity to share ideas, concerns, hopes and dreams of how to make the holiday experience be all it can be for your family and friends. Usher in the New Year with traditions and creative expression in food, ambiance and rituals that best suits who you are, your home environment and those in your gathering.

Bring recipes and ideas to swap, or just come to be inspired!

A light supper and wine will be served.

When: Thursday, September 15th, 7-9PM

RSVP: The New Shul office - 212-284-6773 or email us

Where: Wendy's apartment, TriBeCa (details upon RSVP)