Tag: Chanuka

Worlds, Souls, Divinity–Inspired by the Komarna Rebbe

This is a teaching about prayer as conveyed by the Komarna Rebbe (R. Yitzchak Eisik Safrin, 1806 – 1874). It is only tangentially related to Purim, though it does appear in his commentary on Megillat Esther. Furthermore, since Purim is a most propitious time for prayer, it is an appropriate teaching for the occasion. But mostly, it is a subject I wanted to broach, and this concurrence of commentary and prayer focus provides an opportunity to do so.

SHADOWS AND LIGHT–CHANUKKA 5783/2022

There’s an elephant in the room, though I think most readers are unaware of its shadowed presence. It’s the portion of the Chanukka story that occurs after the victorious restoration of the Temple that we celebrate with our chanukiyot.

Paradox — A Hanukkah Dilemma

Hanukkah teaches us how to survive exile and how to accomplish the purpose

Chanukka through the years

Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.

“This Opposite This” HaShem Made the World

This tug-of-war stripped down to its basics is really about “who eats who?” And, really, the whole drama of geopolitics comes down to exactly that: In the end, whose narrative, whose scripture, whose ideology, whose story of why we are here and where we’re headed and what G d wants from us…whose narrative is going to prevail, and absorb everyone else into its story line. “Who will eat who?”

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women–2

We are Inviting women from around the world to join the actual Jerusalem-based event via zoom (enabled by Shifra Hendrie who has offered her expanded zoom link for the occasion). And… Sharing the nusach/script of the ceremony so you can prepare for the event and, if you are unable to join our Jerusalem ceremony, you can create your own High Council, either on your own or with friends.

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women

Our Fruit Tree and Vegetable Kingdom Role Models

On Tu B’Shvat we celebrate our generous and magnificent fruit trees that selflessly nourish the world for no other reason than that it’s what they are designed to do. May we honor them back by preserving their habitat, mulching their soil, protecting their pollinators, providing fresh water, repelling their pests and (on their new year’s day) praying for them to enjoy a healthy, lush and fruitful year.

The Chinukh of Chanukka

Since Chanukka and Purim reference toward the future, R. Luria associates them with Mashiach ben David, and the 7th marriage blessing when “the woman of valor becomes the crown to her husband.” R. Luria brings fascinating evidence of the gender shifts that weave through the messianic lineage and narrative.

A Short Tribute to Etrog for Tu B’Shvat

The word for etrog (אתרוג) relates to the Hebrew root, רגג, which means, “to long and desire.” For this reason etrog corresponds to to the heart area, the center of conscious emotion and desire.

Chanukka—Harbinger of Messianic Gender Shifts to Come

Chanukka through the years

Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.

ZOT CHANUKKA–A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEKHINA

The kabbalists read into Chanukka’s eight days, a journey of progressive tikun down through the sefirot from Binah to Malchut. Curiously, Binah associates with the higher Shekhina called Ima (literally, Mother) and Malchut associates with the lower Shekhina called Nukba (literally, Woman). Chanukka thus begins and ends on a feminine note. The first candle (of Binah) accompanies all the subsequent lights, and its last candle (of Malchut) gets honored with a name of its own—Zot Chanukka—(in part) because it enacts the last frame of the Shekhina’s moonlike odyssey (as we shall see).