#ExploreElul 17: Ask

Today’s topic is Ask and today’s post is from Hannah Elbaum, Jewish Learning Guide and 4th Grade Curriculum Coach at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, MA.

When I was in elementary school, we learned how to write descriptive sentences that answered the 5 W questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why. This was very helpful to my younger self, and is still something I think about each time I sit down to write. And yet, this left out my personal favorite question word: How? 

To me, how is an even bigger ask of the world, and of ourselves: not just what can computers do, but how can we build computers to do what we need? Not only do we wonder: where could other life live in our universe, I ask: how can we understand what life needs to exist and thrive? How can we understand more about the universe?

This Elul, I am asking myself, not just what I am reflecting on, where I want to shift my intentions, and why feel the need to make these changes, but how can I do so in a way that sparks lasting impact? ​