September 10, 2024

Elul Week 1 - The first 7 names toward return

Hello there,

I hope that this first week of Elul have been meaningful in whatever ways you’ve hoped for.

The practice that my friend Leia and I have been exploring for the first time this year has been magical for me so far, and while I don’t have capacity to share any of it as daily fully-fleshed out offerings, I want to share the past week as a launch point if you were intrigued by the idea I shared last week but don’t know where to start.

Each day, I awaken to find which name of G-d Leia (who is 14 hours ahead of me) chose to reflect on next, marvel at the resulting collage art (which I’ll let Leia share if they wish), then I intuit some questions for myself about my relationship to that name and how I embody that name, I spend time with those questions, and then I create a prayer to that name that I try to carry with me through the day.

Here are the first 7 names we’ve explored so far, and what grew from that exploration in a first draft form. Feel free to engage with these questions and prayer for personal use - journaling or pondering, or to create a personal practice that better suits your journey.

• Atik Yomin — עַתִיק יומין  The Ancient One

  • Have I considered the long term impacts of my choices and behavior? 

  • Have I reached for available wisdom in order to take action that connects to long range efforts, such as collective liberation or personal work in healing my lineage?

  • How will I carry a reverence for eternity as I continue to navigate my chapter of an ancient collective story?

  • I ask Atik Yomi to help ground me in a timeline much longer and greater than myself.

• Nishmat Kol Chai -  נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי  The Breath of All Life

  • How have I allowed my breath, shared with All, to ground my movement through life? Do I remember to breathe?

  • Have I used my portion of collective breath well, through right actions and words, and taking only my share of space in any room? 

  • How do I want to use my breath in the coming year?

  • I ask Nishmat Kol Chai to hold me in the breath of the collective, reminding me that I am not alone.

• El Nistar — אל נסתר -  The Hidden One

  • How have I worked to unearth what I needed to know in the past year? What revelations have resulted from all that I’ve discovered?

  • Have I carefully held and been worthy of trust in my relationships? Do I hold carefully the hidden and tender parts of myself and others?

  • Do I allow revealing to happen in its own time? Do I avoid dragging to the light what is not yet ready to emerge?

  • I ask El Nistar to build my strength and trust through holding me from a hidden place, secure even in the Face most hidden from me.

• Rachmana — רַחֲמָנָא - Compassionate One

  • Have I remembered to fuel my capacity for giving grace with a gentle compassion for self?

  • Do I reach for the gentle embrace of a compassionate G-d? Do I look for a gentle face as often as I look toward a fiercer, bolder face of G-d?

  • I ask Rachmana to offer me both compassionate holding and the capacity hold others with the same divine grace.

• Oseh HaShalom — עוֹשֶׂה השָׁלוֹם- Maker of Peace

  • Do I reach toward a divine presence capable of making peace with my own willingness to contribute toward its creation, both internally and in the world?

  • Have I contributed toward a goal of peace in my personal, spiritual, and community-based practices, thereby embodying the Peacemaker?

  • I ask Oseh HaShalom to weave within me a roadmap toward a kind of peace that starts in the work of building a community that creates and protects its member’s internal peace, including mine.

• Ehyeh — אֶהְיֶה‎ - Becoming

  • Have I worked toward betterment of myself and the world, while remembering that both are never complete? Do I fuel myself for labor that doesn’t end, but is always changing?

  • How can I reach for the grounding momentum of navigating an existence that has always been in a process of becoming? Can I allow that constant, deeply divine motion to release me from a need to be “complete?”

  • I ask Ehyeh to help me embrace and root deeply within the constant motion that is life.

• HaMakor — המקור - The Source

  • Do I look for the roots when I am unsure of myself, of a right choice, of the heart of a matter? Am I willing to dig for all that I need to know?

  • Am I willing to create what is not yet available to me, when it is possible? Do I embody Source by being a part of something new?

  • I ask HaMakor to help guide me toward the deep inner source that feeds my roots and allows me to be a powerful source in the image of The Source.

I’ll share again some other places that I’ve found Elul offerings/spaces, if you’re still looking:

• Opening Your Heart to Psalm 27 by Rabbi Debra J Robbins (there’s an app too)

• Elul Unbound 2024 from Judaism Unbound (see you on Fridays if you decide to join!)

• Weekly Elul offerings from The Torah Studio! (see you on Thursdays if you decide to join!)

• Change Happens in the Moment Before, a daily listening practice from the lovely Dr. Eva Peskin (these have been lovely!)

• Daily creative prompts from Jewish Studio Project (delivered to your inbox each day)

I mentioned last week that part of my Elul practice is also tzedakah, and I’ll share the places toward which I’m aiming my funds so far:

• The Sameer Project - Donation-based iniative for Gaza led by Palestinians

• Operation Olive Branch - Donations to a different GoFundMe for each day

• eSIMs for Gaza - At each week mark, I’m checking the balance on eSIMs I’ve already donated to top them off, and purchasing a new one. (I use Nomad and my referral code YAAK32CY will save us each 25% on purchase of a future eSIM.)

Offered as a launching point for another week: The name chosen by Leia for Elul 8 is Yedid Nefesh, or the Soulmate / Soul Friend.

Wishing you a meaningful week 2,
Yaakov

yaakovakiva.com | @yaakov.akiva