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A retro repost from last year.
Yea! It’s time for Sukkot, or “The Feast Of Booths” or “Tabernacles”.
What the heck does that mean? It means “Go Camping!”
Seriously though, Sukkot is the holiday where we remember when we were traveling in the desert after fleeing Mitzrayim (Egypt), and we had to live in portable, fragile huts, or booths. In the time of the Temple it was one of the biggest pilgrimage holidays where Jews would come from all over to celebrate together as a people.
So why huts? What do they symbolize?
The sukkah, or booth, is a reminder of the booths that our ancestors lived in. We take this time to remember that we left Egypt with almost nothing and with nowhere to live, and we depended on G-d to provide and protect us.
They are also a symbol of the protective clouds, the Clouds of Glory, that hovered over our ancestors after we left Egypt and protected them through the wanderings. The Sages tell us about how the Clouds of Glory disappeared after the first Yom Kippur, and one of the things we celebrate is that the clouds returned on the 15th of Tishrei, symbolizing that G-d had truly forgiven us.
Observing Sukkot is usually done by building a sukkah following some specific Halachic rules, and spending the night and eating your meals there. Here is a fantastic link from a great resource for building a sukkah. While this is a great thing to do, and a really great experience for families, it may not be practical. So I would suggest some alternatives that, while maybe not Halachically “correct”, will allow you to explore and appreciate this wonderful Holy time:
Sukkot is a time when we take a look at what usually makes us happy. We’ve just asked for and (presumably) been forgiven for our transgressions from the past year. Sukkot is one of the agricultural holidays; it takes place during the reaping time where the Israelites would fill their storehouses with their produce grown during the summer. So we sit, forgiven and happy that we have so much. But what is the real source of happiness? Our connection to the Infinite. On Sukkot we take the opportunity to celebrate what was only days before a somber event. We now move outside and leave behind those things that may make us happy on the materialistic level, and bask in the connection to the Essence that was formed over the High Holidays. Seeing how fragile the physical world is, spending time out of doors in nature, and appreciating the basis of our reality is a gift that we are given as Jews, and one that I invite you to partake in.
Tzitzit, used by Creative Commons permission. Photo by 'AngerBoy'
(Originally posted here by our friend Ketzirah)
In the traditional morning prayer service, it is a common practice to gather the fringes (tzitzit) of the prayer shawl into your left hand while saying the Shema — the central statement of faith. This practice came to mind after I read what I felt to be a poorly informed, fear-based blog post about Kohenet on Jewschool. If you read this site, you know that Kohenet is my one of my spiritual homes and I spent 3.5 years in that program earning the right to call myself a Kohenet. Actually, if you read this site you probably know a lot more about the program than the author of that blog post. But, I honestly don’ t wish to put any more energy there.
What I want to do is remind everyone that fringes are sacred in Judaism.
“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them that they should make fringes on the wings of their garments throughout their generations, and they should put upon the fringe of the wing a thread of blue. They will be fringes for you, and you will look at them and remember the desires of the Eternal your God, and you will not turn aside after your hearts or your eyes that you seek to feed. Thus shall your remember my desires and be holy to the Infinite. I, Adonai, am the Infinite who led you out of Egypt to be infinite to you. I, the Infinite, am your God.” (Num 15:38-41, as found in the Kohenet Siddur)
Fringes remind us of what is important in life. What is the fringe also depends on your perspective. To me, someone who is Orthodox is on the fringe. The majority of Jews are not Orthodox. When I see someone who is Orthodox, I feel as though they are my tzitzit. I felt the same when I once attended Yom Kippur services at a Secular Humanist synagogue. They are fringes on the other side. There, I just wanted to feel a little more G!d(dess) in the experience and I was reminded of how much I treasure my own sense of spiritual connection.
Every religion has its fringes. Every movement has its fringes. Every art form has its fringes. Jews don’t, or shouldn’t, cut of their fringes. They are sacred. We gather them in with our left hand (the receptive hand) while we recite our most sacred statement of faith. We gather them in with love because they are us, and they are there to teach us something. They are there to offer us an opportunity. They are there to remind us what is sacred in life.
As we enter the Days of Awe, I invite you to look more kindly on the fringes you encounter. See them as the “thread of blue.” Bless them for being the tzitzit of life and helping you connect more fully to the Infinite — however you experience it.
Folky post-Biblical riot grrl pop and Sephardic seasoned multi-genre indie rock: that’s what you get when Girls In Trouble and DeLeon, two of the great bands on JDub Records, take over your town for the night.
Less talk, more rock. Watch this!
I met Russell Gottschalk at the Limmud Southeast Festival last year. One of the few indie dudes at the family fun fest, I was instantly impressed by his love of the Jewish people, his taste in music, and the fact that I had a wing-man to help me with the ladies that weekend.
Russell told me he wanted to start an Atlanta Jewish Music Festival and I was totally into it. I have been watching the progress of the festival (of which I have not been nearly involved as I wish I would have been) and was really excited that Russell wanted to talk with me about the festival. What I learned is that the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival is not just a music festival, it’s a mission.
“I think it’s important to celebrate Judaism culturally. I’ve worked for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival for the past four years [and] unfortunately it hasn’t done the best job of engaging the younger demographic.”
It made me wonder: why hasn’t Atlanta had a Jewish music festival, when cities like Houston, which aren’t exactly Jewish hot spots, are having them? The answer to Russell is not about Jews, but about Southern history:
“The South has a history of delayed social change…it takes chutzpah (courage) to get something started. It’s difficult to start something new, particularly in the South [and] people are going to wonder what this is about.”
This education of the masses is something Russell is engaged in all the time, not just about the festival itself, but the idea of Jewish music all together.
“The biggest issue we’ve had is ‘what does a contemporary Jewish music festival look like’? It’s not what your accustomed to hearing. There are Jewish musicians who are creating music….. that people should know about.”
Russell and the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival have approached this question of “what is Jewish music” by taking a very open policy. “We define Jewish music as artistic expressions that come out of someone’s Jewish identity. [Your music is Jewish] if you’re artistic expression is an extension of your Jewish identity.”
Russell represents the cultural Jew…the Jew-ish person. And in that way, he also represents an entire generation of Jewish youth. “Our identities are very complex…other generations didn’t have that option. That Jewish piece of the pie has gotten a lot smaller. Our peers don’t need to promote [their jewishness].”
This makes the need for things like the Jewish music festival so important. “This is going to be a cool Jewish event and we don’t have enough cool Jewish events in our community. Our demographic … wants to have cool Jewish programming”.
The music festival is going to highlight some awesome artists including Moshav, Deleon, Girls In Trouble and Atlanta’s own Atlanta Afro Klezmer Orchestra. The Jewish south shall rise again, June 5th at the Apache Cafe.
www.atlantajewishmusicfestival.org
Come taste what’s been improving for over five thousand years…
PunkTorah invites you to Nibble and NoshFest at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, GA, Sunday, May 30th and Monday May 31st.
Local restaurants will be serving amazing tapas style snacks ranging from $1.00 – $3.00 including your favorite Middle Eastern and Jewish deli treats. And we’re thrilled to hear that HeBrew Beer will have some liquid courage on-tap.
There’s also going to be a ton of great vendors selling Jewish themed gifts and art, some awesome music including local celebs Shabbat Rocks and an open-mic for anyone who wants to show off their talent.
The great thing about this event (other than the awesome PunkTorah booth) is the spirit. This isn’t just a “Jewish” event…it’s a community event. As our friend Lesley Litt (the fundraising VP for Temple Kol Emeth told us), “This event will put Judaism out there [into the community]. We sent out letters to all the churches in Cobb county with a letter from our rabbi saying ‘Hello, we want you to be our guest…and to experience our culture.’”
For more info check out www.noshfest.com
Located in the Temple Kol Emeth parking lot at the corner of Old Canton and Sewell Mill Rd. Marietta, GA 30062
(Originally Posted Here)
By Heshy Fried
One of my status updates on facebook yesterday was that I was wondering what to write about for Shavuos. One of the people responded that I should write about how wonderful it was to come to shul to see everyone learning and that I should write something good about Jews once in a while. I do write good things but in all honesty, I am a cynic and a humorist who likes to poke fun at things. These are usually negative things because let’s face it – there is nothing inspiring or interesting about walking into a room full of people yapping about how late they are going to stay up and how their wives make the best cheesecake in town.
Milchigs:
I am especially excited for Shavuos this year because of milchigs. Last year I went to some real frummies for Shavuos and if you’re a real frummy you don’t have milchigs. Sure there are many frum folks that rock the milk meals on Shavuos but, based on my vast experience, you can pretty much spot a meat eating Shavuos type in a second. I think the whole reasoning behind eating meat on Shavuos is because it’s just a minhag based on that chick who brought that dude cheese and we don’t want to give the ladies too much credit. What many frummies like to do is to eat cheesecake for Kiddush and than have a meat meal and that really blows.
I love milchigs and being that closest real milchig restaurant is 350 miles away. I miss it dearly. Last year it wasn’t such a big deal: I spent it on my friends farm and we had lamb, beef and chicken but I was living in New York at the time and milchigs were close by. Nowadays the only time I get to eat milchigs is when I show up at some folks house where they happen to be more progressive and willing to eat milchigs on Shabbos. In the frum community this rarely happens.
Receiving the Torah:
I wonder if many Jews secretly wish the Torah was never received. It seems to have caused a lot of trouble and practically everyone complains about this and that — so do we love the Torah or not? Maybe it’s a love/hate relationship, like water challah or prepackaged underwear: it has its good points and bad points but in the end we have grown to love it.
Are you ready to receive it? I’m ready for some flower covered bimahs, I’ll tell you that much! Unless flowers have become too untznius to be put on the bimah.
Ruth:
Why feminist Jews love Ruth so much? I don’t even think we read it in yeshiva but go to your average modern orthodox shul or event and they are ranting and raving about Ruth. I understand why the converts like it — it’s like their national symbol, the mother of moshiach was Ruth – does that mean Ruth was Chabad?
So why do the feminists love Ruth? Does it have to do with bribing the old guy to marry her by lying down next to him? That doesn’t sound to feminist to me. Does it just have to do with the fact that since it’s a minhag, orthodox folks don’t really care if women get together and have megillah readings? I even know of some right wing modern orthodox shuls that allow the ladies to do a megillah reading of Ruth. It’s a shame they just don’t tell them the truth about the minhag and it not being a chiyuv and all.
All night learning:
Originally I was going to hit up Berkeley for Shavuos. I had heard that the entire community gets together for an all night learning session at the JCC. That sounded a little extreme to me. Berkeley has a bunch of Chabad guys, a modern shul, some weird renewal space age stuff and a smattering of all your generic hippie conservative and reform stuff. I think it only works because the folks who run Chabad of Berkeley are ex-hippies. Still, that sounds like some major achdus to me and I wanted to be a part of it.
Of course, I then admitted to myself that what I really needed on Shavuos was some good yeshivish style learning. I needed some right wing mussarniks rebuking me and I needed some good wine to go with my cheese, so I decided to go to San Jose instead. I have visited all of the Jewish communities in the Bay Area, other than random Chabad houses and I am still drawn back to San Jose for the people, the rabbi and the food. It is also the friendliest community in the area and has the most characters of any shul.
I used to love Shavuos in yeshiva because the rabbis would never wake you up for minyan the next day. The only thing that sucked was the meal. No one ever knows what time to have a meal on the first day of Shavuos. I also used to love the all night learning because instead of hanging out in yeshiva we would go to the modern orthodox shul to look at girls and eat donuts from the donut shop that the yeshiva said was treife. The modern shul also had cool shiurim and classes. I don’t remember ever learning much on Shavuos and I think most folks tend to use the time to catch up with friends and mainly just socialize.
Cheesecake:
One of the best things about living in the Bay Area is that a lot of stuff has to be homemade. I assume the cheesecake will not be that store bought crustless, New York style cheesecake that everyone favors. I am super pumped — since it’s strawberry season I may get my fantasy cheesecake too.
I also hope people have good cheese in general. California has definitely rubbed off on me in that way. I have grown to love good cheese and good wine, kind of weird for someone as redneck as myself.
Have a wonderful shavuos or shavuot, I will see you on the other side.
On Passover, we celebrate G-d taking us out of slavery: the birth of our Peoplehood.
We are a diverse people. Different nationalities, races, gender and sexual identities, family backgrounds and ways of expressing our Judaism.
Every month, thousands of people come to PunkTorah.com to invigorate their life with relevant Jewish education, culture and spirituality. We work tirelessly to create a place where Jews and non-Jews alike can grow in the spirit of the Jewish tradition.
The full time staff at PunkTorah works every day to create a place where our diversity is celebrated; where Jewish spirituality is NOT about MAKING YOU become something. Instead, we help to include all people in this great, spiritual family.
With join us in creating the future of Judaism by contributing generously to our Passover fund raising drive.
Thank you, and have a wonderful, Happy Passover!
Hurry and clean the bread out of your homes! Quick! Those bagels are about to become the very link to your own personal disconnect with Hashem. What? No bagels? That’s fine, a breakfast burrito or some pancakes will do. Yeah, right! Welcome to Passover! Carbohydrates in some of their best forms become sinful thoughts for eight days.
For two nights (the two seders), we find ourselves surrounded by family and friends. For some, it’s a joy. For many, it’s a challenge. For few, it may be the only Jewish experience we have all year. The way we handle our Judaism can also be compared to the four sons mentioned in the Haggadah. The four sons are: the wise (“Chacham” in Hebrew) , the simple (or lazy, “Tam” in Hebrew), the wicked (“Rasha” in Hebrew) and the silent (“She’aino Yodea Lishol” in Hebrew, meaning “The Son who Doesn’t Know Enough to Ask”).
Many people focus on the one who does not know how to ask. Ironically, however, many of us at the table are actually the wicked son. I mean, if you’re at the table, you probably have the idea you’re Jewish right? It is exactly this that keeps sites like our very own Punktorah.com alive. For many Jews, you have sat year after year at a shabbos table or a Passover seder and thought “Why am I here?” You know at least the most basic of laws and you might even attend young adult events or have hit a Hillel in college or a BBYO event in your teen years of punk rock rebellion.
What is crucial to understand about all these sons (or daughters… I mean, I am a YENTApunker… not a MENCHEpunker) is that each has a place at the table. What Jewish person wouldn’t have enough food for one more extra person anyway? Yet, it is the wicked son that seems to be embraced by many of us though. The wicked thinks the laws apply to other Jews, but not themselves.
Situation: It’s a Monday morning and after a long night of punk rock craziness you ignored your alarm. You’re now totally screwed and cannot make it to work on time. You throw on a shirt that is only moderately wrinkled, hop in your economy vehicle, and speed to work.
Now, it is highly possible that a police officer never catches you on the way to work. However, Hashem sees everything. He knows that you’re aware you’re breaking laws and putting yourself or others at risk. If you continue to speed, knowing the legal limit, you too fit in the wicked category.
Why would I want to label many of my loved ones as wicked and not the wise or the simple? Well… it seems so much nicer to realize we all have an ability to grow. The wise son almost implies we have nothing left to learn. However, our neshamas have much to learn and can always learn more. Many of us are not simple. We are not lazy, we are functioning in the secular and the Jewish community. The long hours of Tikkun Olam have to count for something right? But wicked, many of us proudly are, despite the connotation.
Wicked sounds so unpleasant, but I implore you challenge the connotation and see its beauty. Embrace the idea that you might learn something at the table or that you might have it in you to learn something this year. Being wicked doesn’t have to be looked upon as bad. Acknowledge and embrace your wickedness. Enjoy it, but use it to identify where you can grow spiritually.
Overall, the laws do apply to us all. This Pesach try and find one law to learn. Hell, pick up some Leviticus and read. It won’t hurt you anymore than those commercials for Viagra do. I mean, if it’s from Hashem it’s perfect right? So nourish your spiritual roots in four glasses of wine and remember, it’s punk rock to be wicked.
L’Chaim and Chag Sameach!
You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.
-Golda Meir
