Ask the RabbiS!
so much wisdom, soooo many opinions
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As always, two weeks ago y'all had a lot of great questions. It's impossible to address all of them, but we've gotten to a bunch of them. I'll pipe in some, but I decided to ask a bunch of amazing colleagues and see who responded if they had time– assuming that a couple of weeks before Rosh Hashanah that would not be everyone– but I got a lot of answers in! So here we go! Experiment #2, as always let me know what you think!
Rabbi Avigayil Halpern (she/her), an independent writer and educator whose work focuses many things, including queer and feminist Torah, who is currently at work on a book about queer niddah. You can read her writing here, and check here to see the online classes she's offering now.
Rabbi Jess Belasco (they/them), a radical Torah teacher, organizer and community convener primarily focused on disabled and queer Jewish communities, ordained at JTS and the founder and director of the Disability Justice Torah Circle.
Rabbi Michael Rothbaum (he/him) who lives with his husband, Yiddish cultural worker Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, in La Mesa, California and serves Congregation Dor Hadash, a Reconstructionist synagogue in San Diego.
Rabbi Becky Silverstein (he/him), one of the cofounders of the Trans Halakha Project and Horizon Philanthropy, who believes in the power of community, Torah, and compassion in transforming the world.
Rabbi Jenna Shaw (they/them) an organizer and educator serving as the Associate Rabbi at Sixth and I whose work lives at the intersection of relationships, intentional pedagogy, queerness, joyful Jewish practice, and a commitment to justice.
Rabbi Megan Doherty (she/her) the CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (among many other things).
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (AKA RDR): yeah yeah yeahhh (she/her)
Without further ado...
How do we turn towards repentance and repair in [the month of] Elul [that leads up to Rosh Hashana] when we are hurting and exhausted, sometimes in the very interpersonal relationships that need repair? How do we make ourselves reach out to start that repair when part of our exhaustion and hurt is that we are always the one building the bridge? What do, rabbi(s)?