jewish practice

Planting, Seders and Psalms: Practices for Shevat

February 3, 2015 By Ketzirah

Editors Note: we will be having a Tu B’Shevat themed service on Tuesday, February 3rd at 8PM EST at OneShul.org

When most people think of Shevat, they think of Tu b’Shevat, the “new year” of the trees. Tu b’Shevat is one of the four new years in the Jewish religion. What began thousands of years ago as a tax day on fruit trees, has grown into the Jewish arbor day and/or a spiritual opportunity to explore new growth and our connection to the environment. Like so many of our holidays there are so many layers, so Tu b’Shevat can offer an amazing array of in-roads to exploring Jewish practice.

Tree Planting
It’s no wonder that Jews love Tu b’Shevat, after all we call the Torah the “tree of life.” In ancient Israel we even planted trees when children were born to commemorate their birth and then these trees were used as the chuppah poles at their weddings. That’s just one of many amazing tree-based traditions in Judaism! If you want to plant a tree for Tu b’Shevat, there are lots of organizations that you can donate to that will help you with that, since it’s a lousy time of year to actually plant trees in most parts of the world. If this is what you are looking for, then check out Casey Trees and Jewish National Fund. I’m sure there are tons of other great organizations, and I hope you’ll share your favorite in the comments.

Seders
By now most people have heard of a Tu b’Shevat seder, even if they’ve never been to one. So where do you start? Thankfully, there are many free, and really good, Tu b’Shevat seders available online. Here are few of my favorites to explore:

If you are a more DIY kind of person, check out this Tu B’Shevat Seder Outline, from Kolel. It gives you a bit of a mix and match set up that allows you to easily create your own Tu B’Shevat seder.

Psalms
I learned about the tradition of reciting the fifteen “Psalms of Ascent” (120-134) during the first fifteen days of Shevat from my teacher, RK’Jill Hammer. She has taken this practice further by associating a specific type of tree with each psalm. Since the psalms have become a big part of my daily spiritual practices right now, I’m very excited to explore this concept this year.

You could even create prayer trees by writing or printing out pieces of the psalms of ascent and tying them to trees in your yard. Imagine if you write the psalms on pieces of ribbon or fabric, how pretty the tree would look! You could leave the fabric up just during Shevat, or if you use unbleached cotton or muslin, you could even just leave it to disintegrate naturally over time.

Final thought…

Whatever you do, take some time to appreciate Judaism’s long and complicated history with trees. You might even want to take time to reflect on your own relationship with trees and nature. No matter where you live, take some time to appreciate these amazing partners in life. Without trees, we couldn’t breath, have paper, firewood, and a million other things!

Ketzirah is a Kohenet, Celebrant, and Artist. She works with individuals and groups to explore, discover, and create meaningful rituals and ritual artwork to mark moments in life.

Cheshvan: A month to explore something new

October 30, 2011 By Ketzirah

Photo: Calm Sea by Hans Kylberg, used by CC-A permission

Cheshvan is a month with no holidays, which makes it “Mar Cheshvan,” or bitter Cheshvan to some (there’s also the reading of the Flood — but we’ll save that for another time). For me, I think it’s a great time to breath and take stock after the whirlwind of high holiday season. In Cheshvan we’ve finished with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah and all the days in between!

In thinking about how to best use the “time off” in Cheshvan, I thought it seemed like the perfect month to explore one of the myriad of Jewish practices that we haven’t adopted into our lives. If you’re Orthodox, there’s even room for you to explore some of the more modern adaptations of traditional practices. For the rest of us, I’m guessing there’s plenty of practices we’ve heard about, thought about, and maybe even studied — but really haven’t tried out for ourselves.

To act as a guide to these practices and where to even begin, I highly recommend The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal. I first read this book a couple of years back and decided to read it again a few weeks ago. I find it to be a very good guide to Jewish practice, and especially for how to even get started with many of these practices that can seem like a life commitment or nothing.

If even this seems overwhelming, then pick one of these two:

Weekly Shabbat
Daily Prayer

Both of those are really a cornerstone to Jewish spiritual life. I also put them in this order for a reason. I really believe that a weekly Shabbat practice is the true gateway to enhancing Jewish spiritual life. Don’t make it complicated. Don’t put barriers in your way. Just make it happen. Find a bakery to buy your challah — that’s the biggest challenge. Then every week get to that bakery and buy your challah. Then when you get home — whenever that is. Set up your candles, kiddush cup, and challah — and say the prayers. If you already do that, then consider adding additional blessings or Torah study. If you can do it for a month consistently, you’ll be amazed at how it can change your worldview.

Daily prayer is a second place to start. Thanks to Jewish prayer being three times a day, you have several choices. You can start by waking up with a single prayer from the Shacarit, or morning prayers. Pick just one to start, and consider the prayer for gratitude — Modah Ani/Modeh Ani. If you’re comfy in Hebrew, rock it! If you aren’t, then pray in English. What matters is committing to the act and seeing it through. I’d also recommend adding the Sh’ma in, because it’s the cornerstone of Jewish prayer.

If mornings aren’t your thing, then try Mincha (afternoon) or Maariv (evening) prayers. For Mincha, pick out a prayer from the prayerbook — or just take a moment and say the Sh’ma. For Maariv, again — you can just say the Sh’ma, but there’s also a host of other great bedtime prayers to choose from, or you could go crazy and do the whole thing! Needless to say, Ahava Rabbah: The OneShul Community Siddur 5772

has plenty of great options to help you along.

Whatever you do, use this break we find in Cheshvan to explore a new practice, and then tell us about your experience!

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Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and purchases provide a few pennies to Ketzirah. For any purchases made directly from links on PunkTorah posts, Ketzirah will make a $1 donation back to PunkTorah.

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Carly Lesser (a.k.a. Ketzirah – קצירה) is Kohenet, Celebrant and Artist whose passion is helping Jews who are unaffiliated, earth-based or in interfaith / inter-denominational relationships connect more deeply with Judaism and make it relevant in their every day lives. She is an active blogger and prayer leader on OneShul.org andPeelaPom.com.

Psalm 27: A Daily Practice in Elul

September 13, 2011 By Ketzirah

It’s a traditional practice to read Psalm 27 each day during the month of Elul. Once that may have meant reading the same words the same way as every other Jew. Now, we have a plethora of translations and interpretations to choose from along with the original Hebrew. To really bring this practice to life, try using four different translations/interpretations and speak the words aloud each day. Each week use a different one, and record your thoughts and feelings each day to see how your response changes to each daily, and over the course of the month. Even if Shacharit (morning prayers) aren’t currently part of your spiritual practice, give this a try for the month.

Questions to think about:

Mouth: How does it feel to say the words differently? What phrases, if any, did you trip over? What phrases did you relish more? Which did you enjoy speaking and which didn’t you?
Mind: What thoughts does the translation trigger? Did any points cause your inner censor to try and stop you? Did any points cause your inner voice to cry out with joy?
Spirit / Heart: How did the translation make you feel? Did you experience any unexpected emotions while reading it?
Body: Did you notice any physical physical responses? Did you feel heavier or lighter in your heart? Did your shoulders or neck tense or release? Did you find a desire to move with the words? If so, what movements were you inspired to do?

For a listing of different versions of Psalm 27, see the posting on Ketzirah’s website, www.peelapom.com.

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Carly Lesser (a.k.a. Ketzirah – קצירה

) is Kohenet, Celebrant and Artist whose passion is helping Jews who are unaffiliated, earth-based or in interfaith / inter-denominational relationships connect more deeply with Judaism and make it relevant in their every day lives. She is an active blogger and prayer leader on OneShul.org and PeelaPom.com.

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