I recently decided to dive into a deeper study of Jewish practices and ended up reading two books simultaneously. It’s easier on a Kindle, because I don’t have to lug both books around. I found the experience of reading these two books together brought a very well rounded perspective to Jewish practice. I recommend both, and together if you can. I decided to use God in Your Body as my primary guide and after I would finish a chapter in that, I would choose the appropriate parallel chapter in The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life. Both are fairly progressive with God in Your Body being the more progressive of the two. What both books really bring to life is that Judaism is a religion of action. It’s deed, not creed. That’s why we love to say things like “observant Jews” — a phrase I hate because it really means “orthodox” and it’s a very passive term. What both of these books do is open the doors of “observance” for the un-orthodox. It’s not about being observant, it’s about practice. Practice is a fundamental element of Judaism, and most religions and spiritual paths. “A practice is done “no matter what” not for strictness’s sake, but so that it can be a prism that casts light upon the mind.” — Jay Michaelson, God in Your Body. This concept of practice is what both books are about. How and why to begin in Jewish spiritual practice. The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life does a great job of explaining the traditions, while still offering entry points for those not ready to adopt a custom in the most orthodox-rabbinical fashion. God in Your Body is a great guide to embodied practice, Jewish or otherwise. Its focus is embodied Jewish practice, but I think it would be a great read for anyone willing to read about Jewish practice while learning about embodied practice. If you are looking to begin or deepen your understanding of traditional...
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Before Kohenet I had never really explored what it meant to be a woman. It was something that just was. I never felt oppressed as a woman. I never felt like I was less than a man. I just was a woman. Aspects of being a woman like menstruation, just were. I had no strong feelings one way or the other. Dont’ worry — this isn’t a post about menstruation. Part of my growth through Kohenet was exploring my own relationship to gender and more personally, what it meant for me to be a woman. There were also many aspects of learning about Jewish women’s history that were the small stories in between the big stories. The big stories are history. They are the things that are written about, historically by men, and taught in schools. Until recent times the majority of women’s stories were the little ones — with a few exceptions. But if the big stories are history, then the little stories are life. Life is what happens between the big markers. At one of our training sessions Holly had a new chant for us to learn. She said it was a book of “seyder tekhines” — women’s prayers in yiddish, generally written for women by women. It hadn’t really occurred to me that books like this existed. Wouldn’t someone have taught us about them? I did a little research when I got home, but didn’t really do anything with the information other than add Seyder Tkhines: The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women. to my wish list on Amazon.com. Recently I was looking for a new book to read and went to purchase that one but discovered it wasn’t available on the Kindle. I did find another one called A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book was, so I bought that one. I can’t speak to the first, but I was really happy with A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book. What I didn’t expect in this book was the incredible women’s history...
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I am currently reading The Rosh Hodesh Table: Foods at the New Moon for my Kohenet project. (Thanks for the recommendation, Ashera Batya! More info on my project later!) and I came across a sidebar that mentioned that the fish would have survived the Great Flood. I suppose this should be obvious, but it never occurred to me before. Fish and all animals in the ocean would have survived the Flood. That’s one of the reasons why fish are a symbol of good luck. I guess that dreadful Star Trek movie was right — it is all about the whales. They can follow many lines back before the Flood. We all have to trace our lineage (mythic or otherwise) to Noah and his family. Save the whales, save the world!...
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Anyone who has been on the Jewitchery Yahoo Group in the past two years knewthis book, Magickal Judaism, was coming. Jennifer Hunter is one of our own, and put great trust in her community by sharing what she was working on with us. Needless to say, this built up great anticipation in the community. People were excited that there was going to be about Jewitches, as a unique nitch in both the Jewish and Pagan communities. The fact that someone was going to tell our story — that was exciting. The book is a mixture of narrative and interviews with a variety of flavors of Jewitches. There are thirteen featured contributors to this book. I find that number funny as hell, since that’s the traditional number of people in a Wiccan coven. Oh, and let me say up front — I don’t think there’s a Wiccan in the bunch, except maybe Jen. Each of the feature contributors, including myself, were interviewed by Jennifer either by phone or email about a variety of topics. Our answers are used as illustrations throughout the book, as Jennifer brings up various issues about the world of Jewitchery. Jennifer does a great job of explaining both the Pagan and Jewish elements, without being pedantic. In reality, most readers will have a stronger foundation in one than the other and need explanations of different terms and ideas. I’m really impressed by how well Jen was able to show the variety and diversity in our small community. The age range and paths of the people interviewed is far and wide. I think one thing that will surprise people is how old we all are. I’m one of the youngest at 32. Many of the people interviewed are in their 40s and up. I am also glad that Jen was able to include Elisheva. While Elisheva would never call herself a Jewitch, she is a hugely important part of the Magickal Judaism community. Also as a native Israeli, she brings a unique...
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I’m currently reading Sisters at Sinai, by Jill Hammer and it’s so good I have to share it. I originally added it to my library queue (yes, I have a queue) because I was really impressed with Jill’s website, www.telshemesh.org. What’s interesting is that I’ve gotten to know her a little, and the book arrived the same day as the application for the Kohenet: Hebrew Priestess Training. It was an interesting moment of synchronicity. The book is one of women’s midrash. In the book, Rabbi Jill explores familiar stories from the Bible and Talmud filling in more details and re-envisioning familiar stories — in the finest tradition of midrash writing. Not only are the stories moving as stories, but also they add new illuminations to the study of Torah and women’s place in Judaism. I’ve now read through the book once and am on a second read. R. Jill put extensive notes about each story at the end of the book. I decided to read the whole thing through once, without reading the notes and then read it again with the commentary. I’m finding it quite interesting. With some stories I had enough context to pick up on some of the subtleties. In others, I missed the threads completely and have learned valuable new information by reading the notes. I think my favorite story is the first, Havdalah, which is a story of Adam, Eve, and Lilith. I won’t tell you too much about it, because I don’t want to ruin the story for you. I really loved the majority of them, but this was the first — so it created the initial impression. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. [tags]books, midrash, telshemsh, sisters at sinai, women’s stories, women in the bibile, recommended reading, jewitch, earth-based...
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Most of the traffic to this site this time of year is people looking for instructions on how to peel pomegranates or things to do with them. Peeling a pomegranate is a metaphor for a spiritual way of interacting with the world which respects and embraces the many ways people can approach the same thing and the way that one person can embrace something on many levels at once. It seems appropriate then to share Pomegranates by Ann Kleinberb, an amazing book about pomegranates that revels in them from historical, cultural, beautifying, and eadible perspectives. The cover photo alone, shows the inherent natural beauty of this fruit. In the book are 70 fabulous recipes using pomegranates and pomegranate juice as well as tips on buying them, using them, and interesting tidbits about them. Author Ann Kleinberg, an Israeli author, has created the ultimate ode to the pomegranate in its many forms. If you are looking for historical or cultural information about the pomegranate it’s a great book. If you are looking for recipes, it’s a great book. If you just want advice on how to buy and peel it — it’s a great book! And for those who just would like to see instructions on how to peel this phenomenal fruit — here you go. How to Peel a Pomegranate Take the pomegranate and cut of the crown, being careful to not cut into seeds. Score the rind from crown to base into 6 sections. Place pomegranate in large bowl filled with cold water. The pomegranate should float upright. If you like, spin the pomegranate in the water and focus on it while meditating. Leave the pomegranate in the water for 5-10 minutes. Then peel of the rind and let the seed drop to the bottom. You can then skim the rind off the top and drain the water, leaving just the seeds. [tags]pomegranates, cook books, reading list,...
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Culture: I am fascinated by culture on most levels. I mostly focus on American culture and what makes us who we are as a country, but I'm also intrigued by sub-cultures in the USA and the growing global cultural trends.