Temple Beth Israel

Jewish Tradition has an amazing inner spiritual structure that can help us reach a place of wholeness and balance in life. In the winter in very darkest time of the year we light the lights of Hanukah to remind us of the inner spiritual light of G!D that is always with us. Then in the summer, when light is all around us in the longest days of the year, we are called to get in touch with our experience of darkness and exile in our lives, especially during the period from the 17^th of Tamuz till the 9^th of Av (this year from July 9 till July 30). In Jewish history this period marks the period leading up to the destruction of both of our Temples in Jerusalem and of many other calamities including the expulsion of all Jews from Spain.

For many this period has also become a time to commemorate not only all the losses in Jewish history, but also a time to get in touch with the very experience of loss, darkness, and exile/alienation affecting everyone in the world. The spiritual trajectory of this period is that precisely by getting in touch with our places of loss and darkness, we can allow G!D’s healing love and light to help us begin the process towards healing and renewal. The key here is that if we don’t get in touch with our places of darkness and pain, those places remain hidden from our efforts at healing.

In a parallel fashion the 9^th of Av commemorates not only the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, but also is said to be the time of the birth of the Messiah. We also conclude the chanting of the Book of Lamentations with the refrain “Hashiveinu/ Help us return to you O G!D and renew our days as at the beginning.” Then after the passage of a day, at the end of the 10^th of Av, we begin a 7 week process of preparing for the renewal of Rosh HaShanah, our spiritual New Year.

This year especially it seems we could use a good dose of such healing. To start, right here at Temple Beth Israel, we’ve recently lost to death some of our most dear and esteemed members. Alienation and darkness also spreads in high measure this year from our local community to all over our country and all over the world, in this year of me-first induced economic crisis, bankruptcy, layoffs and foreclosures, as well as continued violence and discord. If we’re ever to get out of this mess, we need to start by feeling each other’s pain, and being able to pull together by opening ourselves to the One Who is the Source of healing, love, and our higher wisdom.

As one step towards beginning this process of healing and renewal, I’ll be offering a free introductory session of Jewish meditation focused on releasing our dark and constricted places. This will be held on Tuesday July 2 at 7:30PM. Then for four Tuesdays in July at 7:30PM, July 7, 14, 21, and 28, Yocheved Sheila Katz, an incredibly gifted teacher of Jewish meditation, will be leading us in a “Summer Meditative Journey Towards Renewal: Healing the Places of Darkness and Exile.” These sessions are being co-sponsored by our Reisheet Chochmah Jewish Spirituality Institute, and the Nishmat Chayyim consortium for Jewish meditative practice. Registration details for these sessions will be in a separate write-up.

Our observance of 17 Tammuz will be held at 7AM on Thursday July 9, and our observance of 9Av (Tisha B’Av) will be held at 8PM on Wednesday evening July 29 plus 7AM Thursday morning July 30.

Wishing everyone an expansive enjoyable summer that also includes space for expanded awareness, healing, and renewal!