Hair Cut Holiday

היום שלשים ושלשים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות וחמשה יומים לעמר
Today is the thirty-third day of the omer - four weeks and five days
הוד שבהוד
A day of humility in a week of humility


Today is Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the omer. You can click here for an explanation of the day, which is considered a happy day of celebration in the midst of a period of mourning. Many of the mourning rituals that are followed during these days are lifted for this one day in the period. Orthodox and Hassidic couples have wedding on this day.

But the most obvious way I see this commemorated in my community is by having a hair cut, something that is not done when you're in mourning. I'm sure there are many Talmudic explanations for why we don't cut hair during mourning and why you do on Lag B'Omer, but I don't need their rationalizations. The point is obvious to me.

Changing your hair changes your appearance, renewing yourself in a way. That action as the ability to change the way you feel, about yourself, about how you present yourself in the world. Yesterday I wrote about transitions--this is another way you can transition from one state to another.

I didn't get a hair cut, but I did change the color. It's now a nice red/purple cabernet color--much nicer than my natural mousy brown twinged with a bit of grey. It puts a smile on my face, and I know it will appreciated by those around me. A good way to celebrate the day.

Being in the Moment

היום שנים ושלשים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות וארבעה יומים לעמר
Today is the thirty-second day of the omer - four weeks and four days
נצח שבהוד
A day of endurance in a week of humility


One thing I have come to appreciate in my yoga practice are the transitions. Not just the transitions from pose to pose, but the pauses that are the transitions between the ins and outs of my breath. These transitions that are an integral part of the practice teaches us to be in all moments of our lives--stop rushing from one point to another. And if we pay attention in the transitions, we'll be more aware when we get to our destination.

Jewish prayer services have that same respect for transitions, albeit a bit more formalized. As we go from one part of the service to another, we say different versions of the Kaddish, a prayer in which we take a moment to acknowledge the Transcendent Spirit around us. Another reminder to be in the moment, reflect on where we are, before we move on. We also say Kaddish to honor the dead, who are now apart of the Spirit within us.

Meditation practice is all about transitions. Because the main focus of the practice is to be in each moment, you're always in transition--there is no destination, just new moments.

The whole world is in transition as we enter the 21st century. We need to look at where we are, not run away from it or even towards what will come next. We need to live these moments, build upon them to get to the next.

היום אכד ושלשים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות ושלשה יומים לעמר
Today is the thirty-first day of the omer - four weeks and three days
תפרת שבהוד
A day of compassion in a week of humility




The creative juices are just not flowing, so instead of subjecting any of you to incoherant babblings, I give you The Moshav Band with a great rendition of Eliyahu HaNavi---enjoy..

Pope's mixed messages to Jews

היום שלשים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות ושני יומים לעמר
Today is the thirtieth day of the omer - four weeks and two days
גבורה שבהוד
A day of strength in a week of humility



The photo above is from Time Magazine. If you click on the photo, you'll see an article on the seemingly ambiguous relationship the present Pope, Benedict XVI, has with Jews as he embarks on a trip to Israel. It is of some interest not just because of his role as head of the Catholic church, but because he is German who grew up under Nazi rule.

From the article:

" . . . since Benedict's election, his relations with Jews--although similar in broad outline to John Paul's--have been plagued by mixed messages that have caused critics to wonder whether he has botched the opportunity to redress past shortcomings and strengthen the church's ties to the Jewish people. Like John Paul, Benedict came of age in one of the Holocaust's European slaughterhouses, and many expected that the Bavarian, like the Pole, could turn his somber history into a special authority for combatting anti-Semitism and pursuing the pro-Jewish reforms the church enacted at the Second Vatican Council in 1965. But he hasn't done so. Instead, says David Gibson, the (Catholic) author of The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World, 'here's a Pope who grew up under the Nazis, who witnessed this whole thing, a man with such an acute and vivid sense of language and experiences--and yet for whom one of the great dramas of the 20th century is somehow invisible in what he communicates.'"

For instance, Pope Benedict reversed the 1988 excommunication of four bishops of an ultra-traditionalist Catholic group called the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a group that denies the existence of the Nazi gas chambers. Again, from the article:

"Then an unlikely figure entered the fray: Angela Merkel. German Chancellors don't usually weigh in on church matters, she said. But when the Vatican gave "the impression that it could be possible to deny that the Holocaust happened," she felt compelled to demand that the Pope repudiate the idea, lest it affect relations with "the Jewish people as a whole." In essence, Merkel (a Protestant) was tutoring the German Pope on his responsibilities to the Jews."

It's hard to for me to fathom that someone in such a position in this day and age can still be so clueless as to what it means to even hint at denying the Holocaust--especially someone who lived through that time, involved in the action. And especially someone who's words can make a big difference in healing the rifts that still exist. Maybe on his trip to Israel this week he will find those words.

Chag Sameach Pesach Sheni

היום תשעה ועשרים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות ויום אחד לעמר
Today is the twenty-ninth day of the omer - four weeks and one day
חסד שבהוד
A day of loving kindness in a week of humility

Today is Pesach Sheni, a day for those unable to celebrate Passover at its proscribed time of the 15th of Nissan. It is written in Numbers, verses 9 - 12:

(9) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: (10) Speak to the Israelite people, saying: When any of you or of your posterity who are defiled by a corpse or are on a long journey would offer a passover sacrifice to the Lord, (11) they shall offer it in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, (12) and they shall not leave any of it over until morning. They shall not break a bone of it. They shall offer it in strict accord with the law of the passover sacrifice.

So what does this mean for us today? We no longer offer any sacrifices, and the only custom for this day is to eat matzah and not offer any prayers of supplication during daily services. Chabad.org offers a teaching from the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, which says:

"it is never too late to rectify a past failing. Even if a person has failed to fulfill a certain aspect of his or her mission in life because s/he has been 'contaminated by death' (i.e., in a state of disconnection from the divine source of life) or "on a distant road" from his people and G-d, there is always a Second Passover in which s/he can make good on what s/he has missed out."

I appreciate the teaching, but I do wonder, why just a Passover Sheni? It would be too much for every holiday to have a second commemoration, but why Passover over any other? Wouldn't it be more important to have a second chance at Yom Kippur?

Something to think about as look you for some matzah to munch on.....

From Blossom to Rashi

היום חמשה ועשרים יומים שהם ארבעה שבועות לעמר
Today is the twenty-eight day of the omer - four weeks
מלכת שבנצח
A day of majesty in a week of endurance


Maggie Anton posted on her Facebook page that Rashi's Daughters has been optioned for a movie or TV series by Mayim Bialik.

Who is Mayim Bialik? Well, she starred in the 1980s sitcom Blossom. She'd like to get back into acting, although her life has taken some interesting turns in the time from her early fame to now. Reading this post on Jewcy, I found out:

"She's earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and has undertaken cutting-edge studies at UCLA as one of the top researchers of Prader-Willi Syndrome in the field. (Read more about the disorder here, or sift through Bialik's blog to find out about her work.) She's also testing the waters of going back into acting, with recent appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bones. And she's also in the middle of another big revival: she's experimenting with being an observant Jew."

The full post has an interview with Ms. Bialik. It's a good interview and I can appreciate her turn towards Jewish learning and practice. What makes me a bit sad is that she talks about davening:

"I haven't done that for about 2 years. It's in conflict with some of what I've been learning, but it's also in line with a lot of what I do as a performer. It's a great honor to daven, and to daven on behalf of a community. My grandfather was a chazzan in San Diego and the Bronx, and I inherited his voice. It takes a lot of learning, and it takes a lot of kavanah [concentration], but it's complicated, as anyone in this line knows.

And there's a reason that, in traditional Jewish circles, women don't lead services. I've been pregnant twice in the past three years. Going to shul has been incredibly different after having one child, and then having, thank God, two children, it's been even more different, and Judaism kind of knows that."

I hope she can find her way back to leading services--it seems like something that called to her. I just don't get the leap from women caring for small children not being able to lead services to no women being able to lead services. And I want to be supportive of women like Bialik's mentor, Allison Josephs, who (from her website, Jew in the City):

"has begun a campaign to change the public perception of Orthodox Jews and traditional Judaism through her videos and blogs. She's also editing an anthology debunking the most common myths and misconceptions people have about Orthodox Jews."

I respect these people, I respect their practice, but it's hard for me to accept a Judaism that won't allow me to participate fully just because of my gender. I don't take it personally and I know it's just a different way of practice---but it still doesn't feel right.

Maybe in the process of making the Rashi's Daughters movie, Bialik will see that the barriers that Orthodox Jews put up to deny women's role in some rituals are not Jewish Law but are custom, albeit custom so deep-rooted that it is considered law. Maybe once again she receive that honor of leading her community in prayer.

Seasonal Fruits

היום שבעה ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות וששה יומים לעמר
Today is the twenty-seventh day of the omer - three weeks and six days
יסוד שבנצח
A day of foundation in a week of endurance

My Jewish practice makes me very aware of the cycles of the day, month, and year. Because the origins of the Jewish people have roots within an agriculturally-based society, I'm also aware of the growing seasons. The Shelosh Regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals of the Jewish sacred calendar, are tied to the different harvests: Pesach, the barley; Shavuot, the first fruits; Sukkot, the fall harvest.

Since I've become a farmer's market regular I have another way to mark the seasons--the appearance of the locally grown fruit and vegetables of the season. I've shared my joy at finding the first persimmons of the year. And last year I reveled in eating the first stone fruit of the season.

That time came again this morning, with my first sighting of apricots and cherries at the farmer's market. They may not be the sweetest fruit I'll have this year, but eating them after a long absence is a special treat. It was one of those Shehechiyanu moments, as I recited the blessing for experiencing something new, appreciating the small wonders of the world.

American Idol in Hebrew

היום ששה ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות חמשה יומים לעמר
Today is the twenty-sixth day of the omer - three weeks and five days
הוד שבנצח
A day of humility in a week of endurance



I will admit it---I do follow American Idol, especially in the last couple months of each series. And in my opinion, this year's group is the most talented I've heard. My favorite, like so many, is Adam Lambert. The week he performed "Mad World" was the clincher for me. You can hear his rendition here.

Today on Facebook my friend Rebekah posted this link from Haaretz with a duet Adam sang with the Cantor of Temple of the Arts in LA. I then did some of my own clicking around and found this video from a Tribute to Rabin concert held at University of Judaism on November 29, 2005.

There's some discussion on this Haaretz page of whether or not he's Jewish---but there's no doubt he can sing.....

Hebrew (elementary) School

היום חמשה ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות ארבעה יומים לעמר
Today is the twenty-fifth day of the omer - three weeks and four days
נצח שבנצח
A day of endurance in a week of endurance



This is the third year that I've "blogged the omer." In the two prior years, I titled each post by its day number, and noted the sephirot combination in the first line. While it was easier to not have to create a title each day, it makes it harder to find a particular post when I want use it for reference.

This year I decided to make up a title so that I can easily tell what I wrote about that day. I put the count and sephirot combo at the beginning of each post, with one more new addition--I've added the Hebrew. It's easy enough to do on my Mac-I just change the keyboard when I want to type in Hebrew. Not only the letters change--it also changes the typing to start on the right and continue left. And while I can have the keyboard set up as I assume it is used in Israel, I choose the QWERTY option, which has the keys for the Hebrew letters correspond to what is a "similar" letter in English, i.e. the Hebrew letter raish - ר - is on the R key. They don't all work as well as that, but I've learned where the anomalies are so that I can type the Hebrew without thinking too much.

The bigger issue is the spelling. Although I know the words I'm typing and they are words I see each day in the siddur (prayerbook), I don't always remember the correct letters. So when I'm not sure of the Hebrew spell, I go for a phonetic version and hope for the best. Yes, I could look them up in the dictionary, and I have done that at times. But some days I just go for it. I do go back and correct some errors, and will probably clean them all up by the end of this year's omer. I do want the archive versions to be correct :)

My struggles with Hebrew transport me back to elementary school (not that I remember that much about that time sooo long ago). It brings back the experience of learning something that has to be visually decoded first before you can even get to the level of understanding. Dealing with that comes with a certain amount of frustration as part of the process. I guess I need to find the right keys to unlock the gate to understanding, or find the right teacher--the gatekeeper who can unlock the gate for me.

A Minyan Moment

היום ארבעה ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות ושלשה יומים לעמר
Today is the twenty-fourth day of the omer - three weeks and three days
תפרת שבנצח
A day of compassion in a week of endurance



This morning, as is often the case, Jackie brought her two little boys, Aaron and Joshua, to minyan. We (the minyan) first met Jackie when she came to say kaddish for her father about 6 years ago. Her father died a couple of weeks before Aaron was born, and he became a minyan regular as Jackie brought him with her during that year. The whole family, including Craig, Jackie's husband, and of course Joshua when he arrived 3(or is it 4?) years ago, have become an integral part of our Beth Sholom community. Jackie lost her mother 11 months ago, and has been saying kaddish once again, this time often with both boys in tow.

This morning, while Aaron was in the meeting room, probably telling Addison, one of our facility caretakers, some of his newly learned and/or created jokes, Joshua came in to the chapel. He stood on the bench in the back next to his mom and began to focus on the stained glass windows that form the wall in that part of the chapel. There are two vertical banners with some sort of letters, possibly some version of Cyrillic text. (If you click on the photo on the right--taken this past February--you'll see that pane on the right side of the frame.)

Joshua recognized the "squiggles" as letters, and when we were at the part of the service where we pray quietly to ourselves, he began to sing the alphabet song in his sweet, little boy voice.

It was one of those classic minyan moments that will live in the annuls of Beth Sholom history. We all smiled, and before we finished up, I shared with the group the Hasidic story of the child who comes to synagogue with his dad. He wants to join in the prayers, but doesn't know the words. All he knows of Hebrew is the Aleph-Bet, and so he recites that. His father is embarrassed, apologizes to the rabbi for his son's ignorance. But the rabbi, understanding what was coming from the young boy's soul, reassured the parent: "Don't worry, God will take the letters and arrange them into to the prayers that come from your boy's heart."

Many of us felt that Joshua was doing his own davening, saying his prayers, and we were glad he could share them with us. And we need to remember that we all have the capacity to say our prayers, have those conversations with God, with the Transcendent, with that Universal Spirit. As long as the words come from our hearts, they will be heard.

Letting Go

היום שלשה ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות ושני יומים לעמר
Today is the twenty-third day of the omer - three weeks and two days
גבורה שבנצך
A day of strength in a week of endurance

During the omer count of 5767 (2007) I wrote about the insight I had about Gevurah--the quality of strength. It was something that I learned while counting in 2002 while going through chemotherapy. I wrote:

It was Gevurah-the sephirot of strength-that resonated most deeply with me that year. So often the symbol of strength is a closed fist. But that year I learned how much strength there is in an outstretched, open palm. It is very difficult for many otherwise self-sufficient cancer patients to rely on others for help. But there are so many people around you at that time who want to help. The ability to ask for and accept the help you need represents a strength as great, if not greater, than any boxer's punch.

This year, I'm learning another seemingly counter-intuitive aspect of Gevurah. Within the symbolic icon of the closed fist is the connotation of holding tight, holding strong. But it often takes an equal amount of strength, if not more, to be able to let go. The longer a fist remains clenched the more effort it takes to release. The longer I remain in a rut, the more I hold on to the weights that keep me there.

I need to find my gevurah, my strength to let go of those constraints that are keeping me down. Once I release that heavy load, I will be able to more clearly see the path ahead.

Random Thoughts

היום שנים ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות ויום אחד לעמר
Today is the twenty-second day of the omer - three weeks and one day
חסד שבנצך
A day of loving kindness in a week of endurance


Some random thoughts on a rainy day......

From Maggie Anton to Aviva Zornberg to a great kick-off session of a newly formed Torah study group--I am filled with inspiration and great teachings. May I continue to process these new thoughts and insights and use them to move forward.

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Although I realize that any translation will add it's own meaning to text, I'm finding that I prefer the Artscroll Tanach to the JPS versions. As I use it in study sessions, I find that it is closer to the Pshat (literal) level of study.

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More support for my "the 21st century starts now" theory, courtesy of the LA Times:
Last big VHS supplier abandons the business

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Reading Maggie Anton's Rashi's Daughters, Books 1 & 2, I'm learning that Talmud students of that time--11th/12th centuries--would memorize the text--Mishnah and Gemara--in order to be able to then discuss them. It makes sense, I'm sure written copies were few and not easily obtained. But in the jumble of my brain, this brought to mind Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a novel set in a future time when books are being burned. A group of activists determined to save the words recruit people to memorize the books. Although I loved the theory of that solution, I never felt that mankind could pull it off, that we wouldn't be able to keep those writings alive. Little did I know, although with different motivation, in the Middle Ages there were people--dare I say "my people"-- who did just that.

Shabbat Shalom