EJW Network Extended Embodied Practice Session: Elul & Tishrei
Thursday, September 18, 2025
4pm PST | 7pm EST [90 mins]
RENEWING THE CYCLE: ELUL/ אלול to TISHREI/ תשרי
The Rabbis point out the secret hidden in the letters of Elul אלול, Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed: an acronym of the line from the Song of Songs, אני לדודי ודודי לי Ani L’dodi v’Dodi li, I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
Join us to celebrate the renewal of our yearly cycle, ELUL אלול to TISHREI תשרי, as we also celebrate the renewal of our EJW Network as we move from Year 5 to Year 6!
As we continue the introspection of Elul we will soon arrive at the inwardness of Tishrei. Accompanying the sometimes dark tone of ‘Teshuvah’ (returning to our highest self through repentance and introspection) in Tishrei, we remember Elul’s overriding whisper: God’s ever-present love for the Jewish people, symbolized in the love affair between the Dod (beloved) and Ra’yah (friend, shepherdess) of the Song of Songs.
In today’s offering we will embody the Hebrew letters that spell Elul. What mysteries will they reveal that might shed light on your own relationship to your own 'beloved' as we begin the new year? Who or what is the beloved that resonates in your heart, mind, soul?
All year we will highlight this theme from the Song of Songs, exploring our relationships to all that we love - wrapping ourselves in the embrace of different aspects of our love, and in all of the ways that we as a community embody Jewish life and learning.
Extended Embodied Practice Guided by Idelle Packer.
Idelle Packer, MS, PT: Idelle’s teaching springs from a matrix of studies of somatic practices, dance and Judaic wisdom spanning a 45-year journey. She completed the EJW Advanced Teacher Training 2024. Her dance background includes choreography and performance and dance and children’s theatre studies at Sarah Lawrence College. Her most recent dance work, ‘Three’, a solo exploring the liminal space of transition from life to death drew on her personal experience of her husband’s passing a year earlier. That evening of Dance and Spirituality, 'With/In Sight', included the work, ‘Inside Amanda’, an exploration of the aspects of neshama/soul revealed in conversations with a young woman in a wheelchair, the central figure in the work. Her full evening-length work, "Etude 22: Meditation on the Aleph Bet' can be seen on Vimeo.com. She credits Contact Improvisation masters Alicia Grayson, Nita Little and Martin Keogh as influences in both dance and teaching styles. A foundation of body knowledge informs her dance, choreography, and teaching: Alexander Technique Teacher Certification, Master’s in Science/Physical Therapy, Columbia University and current Judaic studies with Rabbi Mieri, Diane Bloomfield, Dov Laimon and Daniel Silverstein. She works closely with the Meru Foundation after Stan and Levanah Tenen revealed to her the gestural cognitive patterns of the Hebrew alphabet. She integrates her somatic studies and love of dance expression with her investigations into the mystical secrets of the Hebrew letters, a unique approach to embodying Jewish wisdom.
The Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network offers quarterly virtual events and community connection, inspiration and resource sharing for leaders and learners of Embodied Jewish Wisdom worldwide.
EJW Extended Embodied Practice Sessions are offered to members of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our Jewish embodiment community!