…. and RuakhLit. Spirit. Some new versions of blessings call God "Spirit of the World" (Ruakh Ha’olam), rather than "King of the World" (Melekh Ha'olam). Elohim, God’s Spirit, was hovering on the face of the water… Genesis 1:2 Water has traditionally been used as a medium for purification, but some of us are limited in our physical ability to enter into a mikvehThe ritual bath. The waters of the mikveh symbolically purify – they are seen as waters of rebirth. A convert immerses in the mikveh as part of conversion. Many Orthodox married women go to the mikveh following their period and before r ..read more

May you know your bounty enough that your knees buckle and you double over in ecstasy burst into dance in moonlight as you reap the harvest.   May you invite abundance  be grandiose, be oversized  take up vast swaths of space drink rivers in mouthfuls  wade oceans in a stroke.   May you delight in the last dregs of tea where the sugar hides lie mellow between sleep and wake and warm up so cozy to the fire that the ash turns to gold.  The post A Prayer for Self-Celebration first appeared on Ritualwell ..read more

An interpretive translation of Zelda’s poem, “Le’khol Ish Yesh Shem – לכל איש יש שם”   We all have a name given by God and given by our parents   We all have a name given by our height and the way we smile and given by the manner of our dress   We all have a name given by the mountains we climb and given by the walls that surround us   We all have a name given by the stars that guide us and given by those with whom we live   We all have a name given by our sins and given by our desires   We all have a name given by those who hate us and given by our love   We ..read more

The living waters, they take, they give as they roll over me … with only my skin holding me together, The waters support me               Embrace me,               Leave me raw               And               Comfort me.   The water still … has left its imprint               On my skin.   I feel                         &nbs ..read more

This spring I took a class on creating our own rituals with Ammud JOC TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general. Academy led by RRC student May Ye ..read more

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and social distancing remains in effect here in New York City, we are still faced with many rituals we cannot complete in person. One of these rituals is the Beit DinRabbinic court consisting of three rabbis or learned members of the Jewish community./Immersion process for our conversion students, which we usually would convene at the mikvehThe ritual bath. The waters of the mikveh symbolically purify – they are seen as waters of rebirth. A convert immerses in the mikveh as part of conversion. Many Orthodox married women go to the mikveh following their period ..read more

A meditation on Kohelet 3:1–8 לַכֹּל זְמָן וְעֵת לְכָל־חֵפֶץ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם [3:1] To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; עֵת לָלֶדֶת וְעֵת לָמוּת [3:2] A time to be born and a time to die: Death compliments birth, they form the bookends of life. Resting between them is a life filled with an abundance of things to see, to feel, to touch, to taste, to understand, to do . . . עֵת לָטַעַת וְעֵת לַֽעֲקוֹר נָטוּעַ: There is a time to plant – envisioning a future and a time to harvest – seeing one’s dreams fulfilled; עת לַֽהֲרוֹג וְעֵת לִרְפּוֹא [3:3] There is a time ..read more

When recited by one who immersed to accept or to affirm Jewish identity: May these living waters carry me forward As I have now immersed deeper into the stream of Jewish life. May the living waters of TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycl ..read more

what if every word is a well a hand a thunder felt behind the eyes an apple grove a king that caught cold a mother and child thirsting a pit gulping a bush that that burns and a generation crying out to be heard?  The post In Each Word a Generation first appeared on Ritualwell ..read more