Elul is the Hebrew month that precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and is traditionally treated as a pre-repentance period, during which Jews become aware, through special prayers and study, that the High Holidays are coming.
Which makes it the perfect time to indulge your curiosity about certain things…like John McCain’s policy on hope… or what’s in Alan Dershowitz’s dreams…or what Obama thinks about…well, something to be determined.
Over at Jewels of Elul, the indefatigable Jewish musician and community initiative organizer Craig Taubman hosts his latest project, luminaries from many fields waxing poetic and personal in contemplation of the themes of the season.

As the Forward reported,Taubman […] thought of the idea four years ago, after being commissioned to compose a song set to Psalm 27, which is recited in the month prior to Rosh Hashanah and during the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah known as the Days of Awe.
The collection of 29 short essays correspond with the 29 days of Elul and will be released as a booklet and one new essay will appear every day on the website until it ends on Rosh Hashanah. Obama is scheduled to appear in the next few days, as is CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Jeffrey Katzenberg, among others.