The Hebrew month of Sivan is here and very soon we celebrate Shavuot which commemorates the Giving of the Torah. Customs include going to synagogue, reading Megillat Ruth, staying up all night learning Torah, and eating cheesecake and other dairy foods.
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This is a packed month of Jewish events. It’s a rollercoaster ride of moving from the memory of the Holocaust and Israel’s fallen soldiers to the highlight of the creation of the State of Israel, reflecting our ability to be a free people in a free land. 2018 is, of course, the 70th year since Israel’s founding so this will be a special celebration.
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On Seder night we make the powerful declaration, “Let all who are hungry, come and eat!” This statement of radical inclusivity and welcoming is a particularly important value for Pesach, and so we are dedicating this month’s newsletter to the value of inclusivity – welcoming people all backgrounds and abilities to our Jewish communities.
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This month we celebrate the most happy and fun of all the festivals – Purim! (which starts on Wednesday night February 28th). But you don’t have to wait until Purim for the fun and games to begin! A Jewish teaching states “When [the Jewish month of] Adar starts, happiness increases”. So start thinking about happiness right now for you and your colleagues!
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This month we are inspired by that diversity to reflect on the diversity of people, personalities and opinions that we often deal with in our work in Jewish communities. Working with all kinds of people and ideas can sometimes be challenging, especially when people disagree. The Jewish concept of Elu v’Elu (“both these and those”) helps us thrive in a world where not everyone has the same opinion.
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As the New Year approaches, and many people are making New Year’s resolutions, at Yesod we are thinking more about the Jewish value of questions. Whereas resolutions fix actions in a particular direction, questions open us to multiple and new ways of thinking. Since G-d’s first question to humankind, “Ayeka – Where are you?” relating t Adan and Eve (see below), Jews have thought critically about the choices they make and the life they lead. Asking questions does not mean we find all the answers, but it does mean we will be on the path to becoming wiser.
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As Kislev begins our thoughts turn to Chanukah: the Festival of Lights. While Chanukah is probably best known for its twinkling candles in the Chanukiah, the name of the holiday itself has nothing to say about candles, the miracle of the oil or the menorah!
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The last few weeks have been a perfect time to see Jews functioning as a People; gathering together to pray, to celebrate, and to be together as families and communities. Some came for the spiritual dimension, others in order to feel belonging and connection, and yet others for the food, the singing and the cultural traditions. This is really Jewish Peoplehood in action!
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The central symbol of Rosh Hashanah is definitely the shofar – the ram’s horn that we blow during the prayers on both days of Rosh Hashanah. The loud, haunting cries of the shofar gather us together as a community and encourage us to reflect on the past and the future.
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The Jewish year is drawing to a close again and with Rosh Chodesh we enter the month of Elul, the month of preparation for the holiday period of the High Holy days and Sukkot. Elul is traditionally considered the month of “teshuva”, which in English we often translate as “repentance”. The concept of “teshuva” reflects the idea that people can change. Jewish tradition offers us the opportunity to reflect on our lives and not be limited by our current situation. On the contrary, we have the option to look at ourselves in the mirror and make change. How does this process happen?
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This month we are inspired by the little-known minor festival in the month of Av known as “Tu B’Av”, or literally, the 15th day of Av. Tu B’Av is usually overshadowed by the much more familiar day Tisha B’Av (see more resources below), so this month we thought we’d concentrate on Tu B’Av, and the idea of Love.
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As Jewish community professionals and educators, we tend to be focused on the future. We plan programmes that will have impact in the future, we teach our young people so that they will take over from us when they grow up, and we think about what might be next. If we are lucky we see some results immediately, but often the most important results will be further off in the future, and we may never see them.
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Last month we focused on the holiday of Shavuot, which falls on the 6th and 7th Sivan (this year, 31st May-1st June), and discussed the idea that within the Torah (which, traditionally, we celebrate receiving on Shavuot) are always multiple opinions and approaches, which we call machloket.
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Welcome to the month of Iyar! After all the excitement of Pesach, Iyar is traditionally a month of transitions; it is a month of counting. During Iyar we literally count our way through the period known as the Omer, marking the 49 days from the Exodus from Egypt to the Giving of the Torah. Every evening we say a blessing and declare which day we have reached. For more information on Counting the Omer and its meanings, see the resources below.
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It’s Spring! This means that Pesach (Passover) is just around the corner! One of the names for Pesach is “Chag HaAviv”, “The Festival of Spring” and it makes sense that we celebrate our rebirth as a free nation at the same time as we experience rebirth in the natural world (at least in the northern hemisphere).
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Welcome to the month of Adar and one of the busiest and most exciting periods of the Jewish year. Not only will be celebrating Purim soon (this year on March 12th), with all the food, noisy celebration and partying that goes with that holiday, but as soon as it is over we will have Passover (Pesach) – just four more weeks after that. And that brings lots of action – cleaning, learning, and preparing for the Seder and more.
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Chodesh Tov! Even in the depths of winter, there is the promise of Spring. According to one opinion in Jewish tradition, we celebrate the New Year for the Trees – Tu B’shevat – on the 15th day of Shevat because that is when, deep inside the trees, the new life begins.
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Winter is… here. We have arrived at the darkest part of the year, and the Chanukah candles have burnt brightly, illuminating the darkness. Welcome to the month of Tevet, and the year 2017. Happy New Year!
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For Kislev we offer you a brand new podcast, “Chanukah: The Tofu of Jewish Holidays – the multiple meanings of the festival” by Rabbi David Levin-Kruss, with suggestions for how to use the ideas in your work.
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One of the things we most appreciate about the Jewish calendar is the way that the cycle of the holidays captures and drives our energy on a collective and individual level. Over the course of the year the calendar creates a flow of reflection, celebration, mourning and renewal.
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