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Nisan, Passover, and the Ties that Bind

March 11, 2013 By Ketzirah

atlantainterfaithpassover

My teacher, Jill Hammer, posits that Passover is an initiation ritual. A ritual where we, as individuals are initiated into a tribe year after year, century after century, millennia after millenia. Really Passover is part of an extremely long initiation ritual that begins the night before Passover and ends at Shavuot — where we are transformed by accepting the Mitzvot and the relationship with the Holy One.

This long transformative period begins at the first of Nisan, which is know as the New Year of Kings. This is one of the four new years known on the Jewish calendar. It is the marker in time where we turn our thoughts to recommitting ourselves to the Holy One individually, but more importantly as a nation of people. To be a “king” you cannot just have an individual bound to you, but a full nation of people.

Most Passover seders are fun, family events that [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Passover Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, earth based judaism, initiation, Jewish, Judaism, ketzirah, kohenet, online conversion, Passover, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Pesach, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, ritual

Shabbat Shirah: Feed the Birds

January 14, 2013 By Ketzirah

Feed-Birds-Winter-Decorations-Edible-Decor-Birds-Will-Love-4176

During the month of Shevat, we have a special Shabbat — Shabbat Shirah, which the Shabbat where we read Parsha Beshalach (Ex 13:17-17:16). There are many named Shabbatot during the year, Shabbat Gadol, Shabbat Shuvah, etc. etc. Shabbat Shirah is more than just a Shabbat where we read a “special” Torah portion, I mean — aren’t all Parshot special? Ostensibly, Shabbat Shirah, Sabbath of Song, is called this because we read the “Song at the Sea” (Exodus 15). But like in so much of Jewish life, we’ve built and built on that.

It’s an Ashkenazi tradition to feed the birds on Shabbat Shirah. On the Sabbath of Song, we provide sustenance for the singers of the natural world. Right now I’m studying the Perek Shirah, a text that teaches us to learn Torah from the natural world, which is making this practice very present for me.

“The soul [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief Tagged With: birds, convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, feed the birds, Jewish, Judaism, nature, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, perek shirah, prayer, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sabbath, shabbat shirah, shevat, Torah

Cheshvan: Shinui Ma’aseh Challenge

October 17, 2012 By Ketzirah

Cheshvan, which starts at sundown October 16, 2012, is a month free of holidays. Because of this, Judaism often sees this as a sad or barren month. However, there is another school of thought that I want to embrace and share with the PunkTorah community. This school of thought says that Cheshvan is a month to take on new practices because there are no holidays to do.

I propose that we, the PunkTorah community, take on a Cheshvan challenge. What if we, together, use this month to make our lives and the world a better place? What if we pull forward a concept from the Days of Awe: Shinui Ma’aseh (שי

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief Tagged With: challenge, Cheshvan, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, Judaism, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, spirituality

A Rosh Hashanah Appeal From Patrick Aleph of PunkTorah

September 14, 2012 By punktorah

 

Please support independent Jewish spirituality, life and community by giving a $20.00 or larger donation safely and securely by clicking here.

You can also donate via check to:

PunkTorah
3530 Piedmont Rd NE
#2B
Atlanta, GA 30305

Questions, comments or concerns? Email us by clicking here.

Thank you for your generous support. Have a wonderful, sweet Jewish new year. L’Shana Tovah!

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, donate, Jewish, Judaism, online conversion, online jewish, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rosh hashanah, Yom Kippur

Lili Kalish Gersch: Traditionally Jewish vs. Being Affiliated

July 25, 2012 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6l6_3SNjS8

Lili Kalish Gersch, Director of Literary, Music, and Dance Programming at Washington DC JCC, talks about how she identifies as a Jew and what Jewish affiliations mean to her.

Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: affliated, belief, creation, faith, god project, hashem, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish god, jewish identity, jewish learning, Judaism, Lili Kalish Gersch, orthodox, punk torah, punktorah, spirituality, the g-d project, the god project, theg-dproject, traditional, Washington DC JCC

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