Alef: The NEXT Conversation
10 Questions
by Emily Comisar
In Fall of 2009 I signed up for the first time for 10Q, a project by Reboot that encourages participants to take a little time for reflection by answering questions about themselves each of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I never found any the questions particularly hard-hitting and as I write the answers every year, I wonder if my responses will really change at this time next year. But then something happens. Reboot does something they lovingly refer to as “opening the vault” and without fail, about a week before Rosh Hashanah I get an email with all of my answers from the previous year.
The mid-twenties of any one’s life are a time of rapid change; jobs come and go, relationships are formed, weddings and babies are had and so on. Even with this in mind, I am continually surprised when I re-read my answers to last year’s questions knowing what I know now, 365 days later (give or take).
The whole concept behind the High Holidays is full of promise, when you think about it. The chance to atone for your errors and be once again written the in the Book of Life is all about looking forward to greater and happier times, but there is something about participating in 10Q that has made it exceptionally hopeful for me. In 2009 I was mourning the end of an old relationship, in 2010 I was reveling in the joy of a new one and in 2011 and I am looking forward to even greater life changes. Not to mention in each of those years I had a different job title, different set of “extra-curricular” activities, and different relationships with my friends and family. It makes me wonder if this period of constant transformation isn’t just a function of being twenty-six, but a function of being alive. It is hopeful to have in writing just how many things have changed in the last twelve months.
Photo by Eleaf, licensed under Creative Commons.
1Q + 1Q + 1Q… What we learned from 10Q
As you may recall, for the past 10 days Alef has been pretty excited about a program put on by our good friends over at Reboot called 10Q. During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, 10Q emailed thought-provoking questions designed to get users into the contemplative mood of the High Holidays. Participants submitted their responses, and in a year from now these responses will be emailed back to everyone to show them just how far they have (or haven’t) come over the past year.Â
Whether you went to synagogue or the movies on Yom Kippur, ate apples & honey or chugged appletinis, 10Q was designed to be meaningful to everyone who participated, regardless of how else they may have celebrated.
“Sure,” you may say to yourself. “Sounds fun, but how ‘thought-provoking’ could it really be?“
Answers to questions ranged from “pithy” to “profound”, but it’s clear that people took the opportunity to reflect on their lives over the past year.  Most answers were deeply personal, and refreshingly thoughtful. Day after day, people demonstrated how friends and family, world events such as the 2008 U.S. elections, and personal connections to the State of Israel helped shape who they were.
On day 3, 10Q asked:
Think about a major milestone that happened with your family from 2009. How has this affected you?
-My brother was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident when he was 18 years old. He met me in NYC for the first time and took a ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty. He also went to Jewish services and wore talit. I have never seen him so happy…
On day 5, 10Q asked:
Have you had any particularly spiritual experiences this past year?
-I want to be more religious or spiritual but I feel alone. My parents don’t support it and I think the only way I will keep Judaism around in my life is if I find someone Jewish to date/marry.”
-I began wearing my grandma’s jewelry and feel a desire to visit her grave. I am hoping to make this possible in the near future and connect with her again.
-I lost God, and I couldn’t be happier.
This round of 10Q is over, and like the High Holidays themselves, the question shifts from “”What has brought you to this point in your life?” to “What are you going to do over the next year?” Understandably, a lot of the momentum we build during the High Holidays tends to slip away as we reenter our every day lives. Fortunately, there’s a great new initiative that helps keep the introspection, the thoughtfulness, and the significance of the last 10 days fresh, as we head into a new Jewish year, and toward the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. Birthright Israel NEXT’s “Harvest to Harvest” helps connect anyone with volunteer opportunities right in their own community. Know you want to do something to help out, but aren’t sure what you can do? Let Harvest to Harvest help you find the right opportunity near you. Harvest to Harvest even lets you and your friends sign up as a team, so all of you (and your friends) can start the new year by making a difference, together.
We’d love to hear what you thought of 10Q, and how you plan to start the Jewish year of 5770. Post your ideas, thoughts, and stories below!
From all of us at Alef: have a happy and healthy 5770. Shanah tovah!
Image provided by Striatic, in accordance with Creative Commons licensing.
10Q for 10 days
We’re currently in the midst of the ten days between the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Like many of you, we at Alef know how easy it can be to slip back into default-mode during the High Holiday lull.  Whether it’s work, school, friends, or life in general, it’s really f’ing hard to stay focused on what’s important during these ten days between the two most significant days of the Jewish religious calendar!
Enter Reboot and their latest initiative: 10Q.
Consisting of short, thought-provoking prompts, delivered to your inbox every day, 10Q poses the sort of “big picture” questions befitting this time of year. And, here’s the brilliant part: once you’ve answered the daily question emailed to you, all of your answers are saved for a full year, and emailed back to you during the next high holiday season, so you can see just how things have changed since you jotted down your responses; It’s sort of like a spiritual time capsule. And, what sort of questions does 10Q ask? Well, believe it or not, for a High Holiday program, there’s actually nothing specifically “Jewish” about any of the prompts.  Here are just a few of the questions that have already been asked:
- Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you?
- Is there something that you wish you had done differently this past year? How would you have done it differently? And how can you learn from it to improve how things turn out in the future?
These are the sort of questions designed to start you thinking about just what makes you who you are, and just what’s happened to you to get you to where you are, today.  Deep stuff, definitely, but what better time than now, between the High Holidays, to be thinking about these big questions?  Even the New York Times has noticed what 10Q is asking.  If the High Holidays are, at their core, a time to reflect on what makes you “you”, then perhaps the best place to start is simply by asking yourself the right questions.
-Alef
To learn more about 10q, visit www.birthrightisrael.com/10q, and to learn more about our friends at reboot, check out www.rebooters.net.
American Idols, Pentecostal Preachers, The High Holidays, and Me
Guest blogger (and Birthright Israel NEXT executive director) Daniel Brenner shares his thoughts on saying “I”m Sorry” and what it means for him.
“This is My Sorry for 2004…and maybe more”
The rest of the Rosh Hashannahs in my life will be plagued by this falsetto line from the chorus of Ruben Studdard’s one hit wonder. And now that I’ve done gone and youtubed it, I’m stuck with the Chipmunks version as well.
So what is my sorry for 5769? (and what do I want to rhyme that with?) And what is with this whole Jewish season of saying I’m sorry anyway?
I had a friend who was studying to be a preacher in a Pentecostal Church who called repentance “gettin’ right with God” I’m not sure if I understand what that means exactly, but I do get it on an emotional level. If you are in relationship with this higher power that wants you to be righteous, then you have to re-focus your prayer energy on being righteous. But in Jewish circles, we use very different words to talk about repentance.
Here’s a quick Hebrew etymology factoid: The Hebrew word for repentance, Teshuvah, comes from the word la’shuv – to return. And while some of the classic Jewish scholars talk about returning to God, I also learned that the 12th century sage Maimonides added a more practical and earth-bound teaching – Teshuvah means that you have to return to the situation where you messed up and you have to act differently.
So where did I mess up? That’s the question of Rosh Hashanah. But the process of entering the new year is not simply about dwelling on the past (or on the self) but about preparing for a new year in which you will face the same feelings or the same context or the same relationship tension. But next year, the thought goes, you will have learned not to mess up.
We here at Birthright Israel NEXT have a two-part project that we hope will capture the spirit of the season. First off we partnered with the good folks over at Reboot to promote 10Q. 10Q is all about the self-reflection and “returning” that happens during the days of awe. Second, we launched a project of our own that connects to the holiday right after Yom Kippur, the harvest festival of Sukkot. Harvest to Harvest is a project that is based on the premise that the promises we make to do better in the High Holiday season need to be actualized in a tangible way. Instead of feeding our own egos, we channel energy into actual feeding of others.
Wishing you a sweet and healthy New Year.
-Daniel
Thumbnail provided by Spud Murphy under Creative Commons licensing.
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