Held during the month of Elul, this workshop offers a reflective and restorative space for members of the Jewish community to pause, reconnect, and gently process the personal and collective experiences many of us have been carrying.

Elul is traditionally a time of slowing down, turning inward, and preparing for the High Holidays. It invites us to reflect on where we are, reconnect with what matters most, and create space for renewal. In the context of recent events and their ongoing impact on Jewish communities around the world, Elul provides a meaningful framework to acknowledge the effects of both recent and intergenerational Jewish trauma, while gently moving towards greater steadiness, connection, and hope.

Co-facilitated by psychotherapist Dafna Kronental and music therapist Rodney Pollak, this workshop combines trauma-informed psychological understanding with experiential sound and music-based practices. Through guided reflection, grounding exercises, and an immersive live sound journey, participants will be supported to regulate the nervous system, process difficult experiences, and reconnect with themselves and their community.

This is a therapeutically informed community gathering, not a therapy group. It is designed to be inclusive, welcoming, and accessible to people from across the Jewish community, regardless of background or level of observance. No prior experience is needed. 

About the facilitators: 

Dafna Kronental is a registered psychotherapist, university educator, and yoga teacher with a deep interest in the intersection of psychology, contemplative practice, somatic healing, Jewish thought and wisdom traditions. She lectures in counselling and psychotherapy, works in private practice, facilitates inpatient addiction therapy groups at a private hospital in Melbourne, and is a co-therapist on clinical research trials at Monash University’s Clinical Psychedelic Lab.

Her work with individuals, couples, and groups draws on interpersonal, psychodynamic, somatic, and mindfulness-based approaches. She is inspired by what emerges when we move beyond an individual self and into greater connection—with ourselves, one another, the natural world, our ancestral heritage, and sense of the sacred. Whether explored through therapy, relationship, contemplative practice, altered states, or Jewish learning, she is endlessly curious about the ideas and experiences that help us make meaning, cultivate compassion, and build more interconnected communities. She has loved studying at Beit Midrash Oz and hopes this contribution will go a small way towards giving back to a community that has been so personally enriching.

Rodney Pollak (aka Poj) is a Registered Music Therapist and sound practitioner based in Melbourne. He works across community, healthcare, mental health, and palliative care settings, supporting individuals and groups through music and sound-based therapeutic approaches that foster emotional wellbeing, nervous system regulation, and connection.

Alongside his clinical work, Rodney facilitates sound journeys, workshops, and retreats, creating grounded and inclusive spaces where people can slow down, reflect, and reconnect with themselves and others. His approach brings together evidence-informed music therapy with immersive sound experiences, recognising the profound role that music, vibration, and shared experience can play in supporting resilience, emotional processing, and healing.

Drawing on both his professional experience and his connection to the Jewish community, Rodney is passionate about creating spaces that honour the complexity of what people are carrying while gently fostering connection, belonging, and renewal.

Photo credit:
Sophie Komorebii
https://www.instagram.com/sophiekomorebii?igsh=OG1yaXh1eDduNmV0