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Av: Strength to Heal

July 18, 2012 by Ketzirah

The Month of Av begins at sundown on July 19, 2012, and ends at sundown on August 18, 2012.

What happens when the worlds seems to crumble? How are we able to carry on after total disaster? These are questions that Jews have had to ask far to many times in our history. In some ways it has transformed the tribe into permanent victims, but it has also made us the ultimate survivors. The month of Av is a celebration of survival, if we choose to embrace it this way. Av asks us the question: are you a victim or a survivor?

Rosh Chodesh Av falls in the three-week period of time traditionally known as bein ha-metzarim (בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים), which means “between the straits.” This is the time when tradition tells us that both the first and second Temples fell. The holiday of Tisha B’Av (9th of [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief Tagged With: av, children, convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, disasters, healing, ketzirah, kohenet, maiden, movement, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, strength, tarot, Tisha B' Av, Tu B'Av, wheel of the year

Ruby Red Seeds – A Collection of Poetry, Prayer, and Midrash

June 19, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

 

Our Kohenet friend and fearless OneShul Shabbat/Rosh Chodesh leader Ketzirah has just published her first book, and we want the world to know about it! A beautiful collection of poems, stories, and playful drawings, Ruby Red Seeds is a must have for your Jewish book collection. Prepare to be inspired and blessed.

 

You can check out all of Ketzirah’s work in the links below. Not familiar with Ketzirah? Check out her inspiring prayer services from the OneShul archive.

 

 

  • http://www.amazon.com/author/carlylesser
  • http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Red-Seeds-Collection-Midrash/dp/1466450177/ref=la_B0088JF72G_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339765974&sr=1-1
  • http://www.peelapom.com/news-announcements/ruby-red-seeds-book-announcement (with a few audio tracks)

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Media Reviews Tagged With: carly lesser, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, ketzirah, kohenet, midrash, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rosh chodesh, ruby red seeds

Iyyar: Counting the Omer

April 26, 2012 by Ketzirah

Counting the Omer, which starts on the second day of Passover, is the primary religious activity of the month of Iyyar. When you start reading about the practice of Counting the Omer, it seems super esoteric and ethereal. This means for a lot of people — time to tune out — which is too bad because it can be a simple, interactive, engaging way to do some serious self-reflection and personal growth.

With that in mind we’re going to focus here not on the details of the practice, but rather on the innovative and awesome Omer Calendars people have created to help take this practice out of the ethereal and intellectual and move it to the physical and embodied realm!

Counting the Omer: Quick Primer
The practice began as a 49 period of counting the barley harvest: an omer is a measure of barley.  Over the centuries it has transformed into a 49 day period of introspection, which uses the kabbalistic “sephirot” or emanations of G!d/dess as daily and weekly spiritual themes.

For those that want more on the practice first, here’s some links to great primers on Counting the Omer.

  • Ritual Well: Counting the Omer
  • NeoChasid: Counting the Omer
  • My Jewish Learning: How to Count the Omer
  • Chabad: Counting the Omer
  • Wikipedia: Counting the Omer

Omer Calendar Styles
Just like everything else in Judaism there are Omer Calendars for every possible affinity and style.  Omer calendars mostly fall into one of three categories (abacus, page a day, workbook) and over on Pinterest I’ve created a PinBoard of tons of different ones you can explore.

Think about each style and how they might best fit your spiritual needs for counting the omer.  Matching the right kind of calendar to your style can make all the difference in adopting a new practice like this.

Style 1: Abacus
The abacus style of omer calendars really work just like an abacus.  They allow you to tick of the days and see both the theme of the day, and also the past and the future.  Some are very literally like an abacus, like this stunning Omer Calendar created by artist Susan Duhan Felix. This is probably one of the clearest examples of the abacus style.  Others fall into a more subtle reference to an abacus like this “perpetual calendar” from the Museum of Tolerance. To assure you that not all Omer Calendars have to cost a fortune, check out this kid-friendly DIY abacus style one from Amy Meltzer.

Style 2: Page-a-Day
To understand the page-a-day style, just think of a page-a-day calendar.  You only see the day you are on, and when that day is over you rip off the page to reveal the next day.  I can see this being super satisfying for a lot of people. A lot of digital Omer Calendars follow this style.  Take the Omer Calendar Widget from NeoChasid.org as a good example. With this widget you only ever see today.  Some just tell you what day you are on, and others will include a daily meditation.  This very traditional olive wood calendar, is a great example of this style that is not confined to the digital realm.

Style 3: Workbook
The third style, could be seen as an aspect of the “page-a-day,” but what differentiates it is that it’s really more of a workbook for spiritual growth.  It’s intended to be engaged and interacted with, not just read or observed.  The “A Spiritual Guide To Counting The Omer” by Rabbi Simon Jacobson is probably one of the best known examples.  I’ve even made an attempt at creating my own version of an Omer Workbook. These workbook styles offer information, and above all ask questions for the reader to engage with.

Within these three basic styles are thematic Omer calendars to fit every possible taste and style; from RK’Jill Hammer’s Omer Calendar of Biblical Women to the Homer Calendar. There is even a whole website dedicated to Omer Calendars and creativity around them.

 

Questions for You!
So, what style appeals to you?  What is your favorite thematic calendar?  I hope you’ll share your favorites in the comments for the whole community!

 

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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.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, embodied judaism, iyyar, ketzirah, kohenet, omer calendar, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, ritual, ritual objects, Spiritual Practices

Nisan and Chametz

March 26, 2012 by Ketzirah

Let’s talk chametz.

Chametz (חמץ) is one of two reasons we don’t eat bread during Passover.  There’s a couple of reasons for eating unleavened bread given in the Torah, but beyond eating Matzah there is also this thing called chametz  If it were just bread there wouldn’t be all these other prohibitions on food during Passover.

I’m not going to go all technical about the laws of Pesach or chametz — there’s plenty of other sites you can find that on. Personally, what I love is how Passover practices so closely align the spiritual and the physical.  So let’s do a little more thinking about the symbolism of chametz and why it’s so important.

The simplest definition of chametz is food made from five different grains that has been allow to ferment.  Generally these grains are defined as wheat, barley, oat, spelt or rye. I have found a couple of articles that point out that spelt, rye and oats didn’t grow in biblical Israel — so they really can’t be what the Torah intended.  But we are a people who build and build on tradition, so these grains may have been substituted for Middle Eastern grains during the Diaspora.  But I digress….

What I find interesting here is the correlation between chametz and the “hamotzei” prayer over bread. Two food types have special blessings, wine and bread. With wine we say, “the fruit of the vine,” but there are lots of foods that grow on vines that we don’t use that prayer for: only grape wine and sometimes juice.  The other special food is leavened bread.

What do these two things have in common?  Divine Intervention.

Both foods are created through a partnership between G!d(dess) and humanity that goes way beyond basic cooking. If you’ve ever tried to bake bread or make wine, you totally know this to be true.  There is magick — Divine Essence made manifest — in the act of fermentation.  Why Jews picked these two types of fermentation to acknowledge — who knows?

Even the letters that make up the word chametz are a clue: חמץ.  The letter Chet (ח) is the first letter of the word Chaya — life!  The form of the letter chet, according to Inner.org,  means: “The union of God’s immanence, transcendence, and the Jewish People.”  So let’s look at the second letter, the Mem (מ). Here we have the letter that begins “mayim” — water.  Inner.org puts it very poetically by saying, it “symbolizes the fountain of the Divine Wisdom.”  Lastly we have the Tsadi Sofit (ץ).  Inner.org mostly deals with the Tzadik in its regular, not final form — I found this to be quite revelant, “the consciousness of Atzilut uniting with the source of wisdom and descending to teach Creation.”  Chametz is a substance that transforms and creates new life (ח) through contact to water (מ) and connects G!d(dess) and humanity.

This brings me to chametz and why we don’t eat it during Passover.  During Passover we fast.  Not like the fast of Yom Kippur or other fasting holidays.  We fast, we refrain from creating or ingesting food that can only be created through this incredible partnership.  We remove all traces of the Divine catalyst from our homes so we are sure it is not infected from the twelve plagues as we relive them each year.  We break the final chains from slavery by insisting on self-reliance for a week and eating only foods that can be crafted without this Divine catalyst.

So this Passover, look at that Matzah differently.  Look at the rules around clearing out the chametz differently.  When Pesach ends and you take the first bite of delicious bread — or first sip of beer — think about it.  Say the blessing.  Know that this is evidence of G!d(dess) working in our world.

————

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.

 

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Passover Tagged With: bread, chametz, chometz, convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, embodied judaism, food, ketzirah, kohenet, leaven, nisan, Passover, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Pesach, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Kohenet Priestess Ketzirah: God Is…?

January 3, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUD1kLY9XaE

Kohenet priestess Ketzirah sees the idea that “God is change” in the writings of Octavia Butler, even though Butler is not a Jewish writer. God’s interaction with people and humanity’s interaction with God is all about change.

Filmed at Washington, DC JCC. Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: "DC JCC", convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, ketzirah, kohenet, Octavia Butler, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, the g-d project, the god project

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