Elul offers us a moment to reflect on where we are in our relationships and to try to make amends in the relationships in which we are feeling stuck. In this session, we'll begin by studying several key verses from the book of Job, using Job and God’s relationship as a window into our own. Then we’ll turn to a modern feminist midrash—an interpretation of those verses—that explores the ways in which we find ourselves stuck in particular relationships or in our lives in general, caught up listening to a certain harmful voice that holds us back. With God as our model, we’ll use these texts as an opportunity to reflect on our own relationships.

Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Senior Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and is based in Washington, DC. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she has written several theatre pieces inspired by the Torah and maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog.