Judaism
« Previous EntriesTu B’Shevat - New Year of the Trees
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Last night at sunset the Jewish New Year of the Trees began, one of the four Jewish new years. It ends today at nightfall.
The date originated as a kind of fiscal convenience, counting the birthday of trees for tithing purposes, and only really gained religious significance in the 1600s.
On this day, Jews will eat fruit […]
Sacrifice
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
Photograph by Troy Mason
As I watched the red sun rise over icy fields this morning, I thought of the hot sunrise thousands of years ago upon which our ancestor Abraham awoke to the knowledge that he must kill his beloved son.
You know the story: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt […]
The Eighth Candle
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
On December 4th I wrote about light: for the first Sunday of Advent and for the first day of Hanukkah.
Today the Festival of Hanukkah comes full circle and the eighth and last candle on the Hanukkah menorah is lit.
I say the eighth and last candle, but we must not forget the shammash, the ninth, servant […]
The gathering light
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
The 2 December was the first Sunday of Advent, marking the beginning of the liturgical year for most Western Christian Churches.
Like Lent, Advent marks a period of preparation for us, this time as we wait for Christmas Day, which marks symbolically the birth of Jesus Christ.
Light is an important part of the symbolism. On an […]
The circle becomes whole again
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007I’ve been thinking about circles today. The symbol of perfect wholeness, of no beginning and no ending, and of constant beginning and constant ending.
Tonight marks Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Challah is baked round, to symbolise the […]
Present imperfect
Monday, September 3rd, 2007I’m borrowing shamelessly from The Velveteen Rabbi today. She wrote a wonderfully moving post recently about listening to the shofar
In talking about brokenness, she shares some lines by, as she calls him, the great rebbe Leonard Cohen:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets […]
Growing in religion
Thursday, August 16th, 2007The wonderful Rabbi Lionel Blue often speaks on Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, and did so earlier this week.
He spoke so well on the need to grow in religion that I’m quoting the greater part of what he said below:
My flatmate at Oxford was a gentleman, who only lost his cool after I caught […]
Still singing and dancing
Friday, June 29th, 2007Found on Towanda’s Window, I reproduce here the quote she uses from a documentary on Simon Wiesenthal:
“A soldier stays on the battlefield” was Wiesenthal’s explanation for staying in inhospitable postwar Vienna. To illustrate his point, Wiesenthal threw a 90th birthday party for himself at the city’s Imperial Hotel, where Hitler wined and dined his friends […]