Shabbat Gathering: Happy Shevat!
Dear Chevra, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:
Zoom
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799
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Thanks to The Jewish Planner for inspiring this edition of the newsletter.
Here we go.
On January 23 this year, we marked the beginning of the month of Shevat. Shevat is the turning point that marks the gradual change from Winter to Spring. Snow may still be on the ground, but underneath, tree roots are beginning to wake up. The days are getting longer. And it's only about 15 days until pitchers and catchers show up for baseball's Spring training. Yay!
Some of us may still be hibernating (I'm looking in the mirror), but there’s growth happening on the inside. Seeds planted in Shevat bloom in the month of Nissan. When snow is still on the ground and it is hard to imagine trees with flowering buds, the month of Shevat invites us to go inward and consider seeds we are planting in our own lives.
CSS Tu B'Shevat Seder.
Shevat is when we celebrate Tu B’Shevat, sometimes called the new year of the trees. Our congregation will host a Tu B’Shevat seder on Sunday, February 5, at 5.30pm at FUS. From Happenings: “The seder incorporates song, meditation, and mindful eating that symbolizes the four worlds of Jewish mystical thought. Please register to let us know you're coming, and sign up to bring fruits, nuts and wine and juices to share. We will have a potluck dinner: please bring a vegetarian dish to pass. In the spirit of ecology and honoring the trees, we ask that participants bring their own silverware and plates.” I’ve been to a Tu B’Shevat seder hosted by CSS and can highly recommend it.
More than just a Jewish Arbor Day.
Tu B’Shevat is a deep, kabbalistic holiday that helps us notice the four different areas of personal growth that are mapped to the four different types of food that grow on trees.
- Action, represented by fruit with an inedible outside and edible inside, like citrus.
- Formation, represented by an edible outside and inedible inside, like a date or a peach.
- Thought, represented by a wholly edible fruit like a fig.
- Spirit, represented by aromatics like cinnamon.
This is a good time of year to make sure your roots are strong and deep. It’s a good time to check in with family and friends who you’ve known a long time while also reaching your tender leaves out to new connections. That is how we continue to grow and reach new heights.
As the Jewish Planner asks, “What seeds of intention might you be planting in your heart and in your life this month? Whether you’re preparing for an upcoming life transition or feeling stuck, ready for a change, now is the time to go inward and plant those seeds. What do those seeds need to bloom and blossom this spring?”
And may it be for all of us a blessing.
See you tonight!
Gut Shabbes!
All my love,
brian.
PS
There’s a new horror film out called The Offering that takes place in a Jewish funeral home and, based on the reviews I’ve read, does a good job of capturing some of our death rituals and superstitions. I don't have the constitution for horror movies, but I might give this one a try as I'm fascinated by Jewish death rituals and once worked in a Jewish funeral home. But one of my all time favorite representations of Jewish death rituals in popular culture was on the X-Files. Hey Alma recently rediscovered it.
‘The X-Files’ Nailed Orthodox Jewish Representation Way Back in the ’90s
1997's "Kaddish" respectfully portrayed ultra-Orthodox Jews in a way most modern shows fail to do.
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