Language & perception
vocabulary of a particular human's first person point of view
Thirteen short chapters on Ein HaLev — the eye of the heart. The title is not a title. It is a sentence taken apart, and each word is a door.
Elie Schulman · Writer & Educator
The words we use shape what we can see.
We use the same word and assume we mean the same thing. My writing begins where that assumption breaks down — in a text, a relationship, or a conversation with ourselves.
Essays, Torah, and books on language, judgment, and learning.
A place to beginvocabulary of a particular human's first person point of viewRead the book, free →Available to read now
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Weekly Torah
Shoftim
Judges and officers you shall appoint. Available as a free EPUB and WhatsApp-formatted PDF download.
Writing
Follow a question.
Explore the themes that connect the essays, manuscripts, and work in progress.
01When explaining becomes defendingWhat changes when I need you to agree before I can believe you understood me?02The apology before the disagreementWhat are we apologizing for when we have not yet said what we think?03What happens when nobody fills the silenceThe quiet may be shared. What each person experiences in it may be very different.04The Written and Spoken WordThe need to establish a common vocabulary. The limitations of words and language to describe phenomenon and lived experience.05The Nounification of EnglishHow English turns processes into things. The trouble began when we turned an adjective into a noun.06Turning Toward the PainChavivin Yisurin — beloved suffering. The cannon's call. The unconventional attitude of moving toward the problem.07Names, Soul, and SelfMaimonides on equivocal names. Be careful with the names for the soul, because it is easy to get confused. What is even meant by self.08One Soul to AnotherThe word is the only way for one soul to contact another. Every relationship is first a language problem.09Learning VehiclesThe two practices through which all the writing was learned. Not content, but method.10Emes: Translation Not TruthAccess the preserved earlier public excerpt of Emes: Translation Not Truth by Elie Schulman, with its current manuscript status clearly identified.
Maimonides Library
Maimonides, one question at a time.
An ongoing inquiry into language, knowing, and the words we use for God. Explore the books, the Yesodei HaTorah sequence, and the essays that connect them.
From reading to conversation
What happens when someone reads it differently?
That question also lives in my work with groups. At Cohort Learning Labs, we explore how we respond to one another when our understandings differ.
Explore the four-session cohort →From reading to individual practice
Before prayer, what is already appearing?
YishHeh is my contemporary invitation to pause before tefillah, inspired by the Mishnah’s account of the early pietists. Begin by noticing what brought you there, then explore description before explanation. The practice promises no particular outcome.
Begin with motivation at YishHeh →Continue reading
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