As printed in the Tradition, 2017
I. Jewish Time
Jewish time is a paradox.
“בראשית ברא אלוקים …”
In the beginning, G-d created…
A beginning.
Natural, steady, predictable, rhythmic time
The sun rises, the sun sets… a day.
How we fill our days is another matter
The ultimate expression of our free choice.
To be Jewish is to live this paradox.
To not be confined to the laws of nature.
To be above
And yet within it.
A G-dly people
Internally connected to He that created time
In the beginning
Riding through
Carrying the secret of Divinity.
II. Cycles of the Moon
Jewish time is ever ascending spirals
Aspiring upwards
Through the twelve months of the year
Each month its own character and essence
We move in and out of the energies of time
As the moon waxes to its peak intensity of its month’s quality
And wanes
Transitioning to the following cycle
Light appearing
Disappearing
We visit each month
Each month visits us
Finds us exactly where we need to be
In the next step of our growth
Our lives
Orchestrated by a Divine Hand
We cycle through
Deeper
And deeper.
Higher.
And higher.
~
Each month parallels a tribe of Israel
And together we are one
Standing around Yaakov our father
Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.
Distinct and separate
Yet we are connected
Each inter-included in the other.
So too the months, with its tone and hue
Of
Bursting joy
Or loss, realized
Finding open revelation of Divine light
Or nurturing a hidden flame
Each month containing aspects of them all
Yet scintillating its unique radiance
Colours through a prism
Vibrations enter our consciousness
In its time
Transforming our hearts
Jewish time.
Part III –Tishrei
Tishrei
The seventh month from Nissan
Yet, Rosh HaShana.
The head of the Jewish year
Everything unfolding from its inception
The genetic code of all that is to follow
Sublime in its potential
Awesome in its power
Seminal in its meaning
A day of judgement
That is two days.
The first of ten
Corresponding to the first two utterances at Sinai
“I am Hashem your G-d”
“You shall not have other gods”.
The shofar blows
Coronations of Kingship
Blasts from Sinai
The arrival of Moshiach
Breath of Adam
Yovel-like freedom of the soul
As it returns to G-d
Relieved of its heavy burden
Returning to Hashem
While alive and breathing and present on earth
Teshuva
Rediscovering a purity of heart
While in the land of the confused
Uncovering a clarity of mind
Amid the perplexed
A soul fully committed
To being the best it could be
Its shiniest self
Truest essence
Finding G-d in that place
Why did she travel so far?
How good is it to come home.
Part IV – Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
The last of the ten
A gift from Hashem
Wrapped in kittels and aspirations of pure white
All that is physical and that can lead us astray
Temporality is asked to exit the day
We encounter
The part that wants only what is good
For the Jewish people
For G-d
For the world
The part that is willing to serve
G-d’s love
Our love
Mingle amid the self-affliction of the fast
Not a permanent solution
But a window in time
The holiest of times
The unsulliable spark
Is now calling
Echoing the shofar
From deep within
It is that Self
Of knowing
Of love
Our desire to carry that sound into the unseen future
That we offer to Hashem
That is our return
To Him.
~
