Rabbi Naomi Levy

When we were camping last week, sitting around the fire beneath the stars my daughter Noa said, “Let’s play Stop-Start.” I asked, “What’s Stop-Start?” She said, “I just invented it.” I asked what the rules were. She said, “You have to say what you want to STOP doing in your life and what you want to START doing.” …It’s quite an amazing game to play with family, friends, even a stranger. A great game for Elul.

I love the Yiddish Proverb, “If you want your dreams to come true, don’t sleep.” Maybe we spend too much time dreaming instead of living. Maybe we spend our time sleepwalking, just going through the motions, instead of really taking part in what’s going on all around us. Stepping inside life is such a huge challenge, b…ut it doesn’t require a huge leap. Perhaps it’s just a pivot in place, turning from there to here.

Welcome to my blog. The Jewish month of Elul is beginning on Tuesday. It’s a time when we prepare ourselves for entering the new year. Starting Tuesday I will be posting one meditation per day for the month of Elul. I hope you will take this journey with me and find it a meaningful practice.

Naomi Levy’s new book, Hope Will Find You, is out September 21, 2010.  Read more about it.