Elul 5785: Hineni

🌒 Moon of Making Space 🌒 begins at sundown on August 24, 2025 | 🎁 for Subscribers | 18% off in Elul, Unprepared but Hineni

Aug 25, 2025

∙ Paid

Chodesh Tov,

Just a note before you dive in.
Subscribers REALLY should get all the way to the bottom for a 🎁 special gift 🎁.

In this Newsletter
This is Real, and we are Completely Unprepared for It
“Hineni, Betulah, Tzovah”
Elul Correspondences
Out and About + Shop Updates
Discount Code
Support Devotaj Sacred Arts
Gift for Subscribers

Digital collage. Backgroud is a photo ketzirah took in Poland of a long wooden pathway in the middle of a forest. Other images include a lantern with a stylized 6-pointed star in the center -- calling back to the Hermit card of the Tarot. There is an illustration of a dove holding an olive branch in the top center. In the lower right is a copy of George Washington's letter to the Touro Synagogue confirming that all religions will be respected in America. on top of that is snippet from a painted ceiling of an old synagogue in Poland. the image is of a hand embroidering and symbolizes the astrological sign of Virgo. In the top right are the hebrew words "ani l'dodi v'dodi li" meaning I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine, which Elul is said to be an acronym of. — Elul; digital collage by Ketzirah haMa’aglet

This is Real, and We are Completely Unprepared for It*

But…Hineni || הנני

We are the end or the midpoint of the year. Depending on how you count. In the Torah, Elul is the 6th month of the year. In the Rabbinic calendar it is the 12th. I kind of like the idea of Elul being the half-way point of the year, somehow it feels better than the taking stock at the end of the year. It’s not over. We have time, in the year, to think about our choices and take new action before the year is over. It’s kind of wild that it could be the 6th OR 12th month, right? Do you know what the 6th month is on the Rabbinic calendar? ADAR — the month of the FOOL.

Elul 5784 || Elul 5783 || Elul 5782 || Elul 5781

We could use more sacred fools who can and do speak truth to power right now. Who remind the Gilded Emperor that he is human, even if he doesn’t like knowing that. Every breath feels hard right now. It’s hard to laugh. The cognitive dissonance of getting through the day like it’s “normal” is breaking my brain and hurting my heart.

As I write this, I am living under a military occupation of the capital city of the United States of America. DC has been my home for nearly 30 years; I moved here in the fall of 1996.

We're in the middle of a hostile government takeover
I wanna talk about it but I'll be late for work

This is my reality. I see soldiers, now with guns, on my way to work. There was a checkpoint between my Metro stop and house the other day. Checkpoint you ask? Yes. ICE, and whoever all the other militarized police were. A couple of days later they were at my Metro stop hassling people as they came home from work. All real.

Hineni, hineni I'm ready, my Lord

Hineni, Betulah, Tzovah

Betulah (בתולה) Virgo
Tzovah (צבאה) Shrinekeeper /Guardian of Gateways

Virgos are known for known for their exquisite attention to detail. For some this manifests as toxic-perfectionism. But I found this description from the fabulous (Jewish) astrologer Chani Nicholas to be very accurate and relevant to the moment:

Virgo is also known for being fussy, and while this may be how the sign manifests in some, its real aim is the intelligent flow of energy. To streamline is divine. When things are in order, healing happens much more easily. And so does success.
Virgo Season

“The intelligent flow of energy”

The Tzovah is the Shrinekeeper and Guardian of Gateways. She tends sacred space with exquisite attention. She also guards those spaces and thresholds. She guards them for us and from us. Her letter is the yud (י) the holy spark, the letters that fill in for the holy name. Her element, despite reputation, is water. She tends the flow of energy, she guards to create safe places for emotion, and she streamlines to create focus. Her talent is blessing, and her gift is presence.

Her question is: Are you ready?

It’s your choice to answer: Hineni.

Say Thanks

Elul

In Elul … “we become hollow to see what we will create in the space we make. We do tzimtzum, self-contraction, in memory of the first moment of making.”
~Rav Kohenet, Rabbi Jill Hammer via Telshmesh.org

Av: Overview
Moon: Making Space
Netivah: Tzovah (צבאה) Shrinekeeper /Guardian of Gateways
Constellation: Betulah (בתולה) Virgo
Letter: Yud (י)
Tribe: Gad (גד)
Tarot Card: Hermit
Soul Trait: Hineni (הנני) Presence

These correspondences are primarily the ones that I personally have received (aka channeled), with the exception of the Netivah. They have been informed by learning and working with dear friends/collaborators such as Kohenet Bekah Starr, Kohenet Aly Evershine, Rav Kohenet Jill Hammer, and Rav Kohenet Taya Mâ.

» » » Explore More about Elul « « «

Out and About + Shop Updates

18% Off in Elul

Enjoy 18% off everything in the shop throughout Elul with discount code Elul5785. Great time to pick up a copy of the Netivot Wisdom Oracle, if you’ve been waiting. Or anything else that might catch your eye.

Note: code is usable once per customer and minimum $50 purchase is required.