Elul Day 14

Dear Elul Writers,

The moon is almost full. I know this because last night it blasted in through our skylight and lit up our room. I slept poorly. Perhaps it was Dolly’s death or the kimchi fried rice that I’d made, but I feel pretty certain that it was the moon. Like a spotlight, it roused me from my sleep and whispered to me that Elul is almost halfway done. I am not one to panic, but under the glare of the moon’s light I thought, “I’m not ready, I’ve only barely begun.”

This sense of urgency lingered into my morning. Over breakfast, I sat, thinking, how can we ever feel prepared when we are all managing so much? But then, as I sipped on a little bit of miso soup (I swear to you that I’m not trying to be a caricature of myself) I remembered that this very miso was how we ended Elul last year. On the 29th day, last year, I wrote:

Today I took the plunge; I bought soy beans, rice koji and arajio natural sea salt. I feel ready for miso. I am thinking about who I will be, not next week or next month, but eleven months from now when, God-willing, we will meet again. Let’s not be afraid, as Rosh Hashanah arrives, to imagine all the changes that might be possible in a whole year.

Prior to this undertaking, my fermentation projects were a few days, a week, maybe, a month. I had struggled to take on projects that felt long-term. Well, I am happy to report that those soy beans fermented over ten months and became the miso that now sits in a jar (three jars!) at the back of our fridge. Somehow this realization felt reassuring, all of the work doesn’t have to happen now. If we mix the right ingredients together, if we allow ourselves time to sit and just be, then change may take hold, we may emerge transformed.

Prompt

I have lots of rabbis and teachers, but only one guru. Sandor Katz, in his book Fermentation as Metaphor, writes, “As a force for change, fermentation is relatively gentle. Bubbles are not flames…fermentation is a force that cannot be stopped. It recycles life, renews hope, and goes on and on.” On this fourteenth day of Elul, I encourage you to consider the types of long-term change that you are hoping for. What gentle changes do you hope to witness in the year to come? What is already fermenting, shifting within you, recycling life and renewing hope? Are there words of encouragement that you can offer yourself to simply sit and be, to let transformation happen? In the days to come, we will focus on the short-term, on the practical and quickly achievable, today let’s stretch our gaze towards the horizon.

Take care,

Jordan