On the Loss of Pets

I awoke this morning to find my beloved pet rabbit, Derby, had left this world.  I was up before the sun, which is normal, came down to do yoga and found him.  I am not one to call a pet my “baby” and I don’t consider them “people.”   But, this precious creature is one of several rabbits that have been entrusted to my care and enriched my life.  The first thing to escape my lips when I saw him and realized what had happened, was “Baruch Dayan Emet” – blessed is the true judge.

Continue reading “On the Loss of Pets”

Yarzheit of Rachel Imeinu

Today is the 11 of Cheshvan, and it is the historical Yahrzteit of Rachel Imeinu (Rachel the Matriarch). I don’t have a new ritual for this year, so forgive the reposting of the one I posted a couple of years ago. This ritual can be used to honor Rachel Imeinu or any ancestor. This is a simple solitary ritual, which can easily be adapted for a group. If you are interested in exploring a ritual specifically developed for a group, see Ceremony for the 11th of Cheshvan by Rabbi Jill Hammer.

Pomegranate Star of David
Photo Credit: New Jewish fruit in Kibbutz Matzuva
Copyrights: Max Nathans 2007

Ritual for Remembering Rachel Imeinu

Originally posted on 11.05.2005 / 9th of Cheshvan 5766

May the blessings of our mother be carried through to each generation.

Needs:
1 Pomegranate
1 Tea Light
Small stones to represent specific ancestors
Small dish (big enough to hold all items listed above)

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.

Place your tealight in the dish and pour the pomegranate seeds around it. I often use only half of the seeds. Place your stones either along the edge of the dish or inside it against the tealight, whatever works for you. Place the dish on the altar and light your candle. The seeds are for the generations of ancestors, the stones for those you wish to specifically honor.

Recite Kaddish and poems or prayers that speak to the spirit of Rachel Imeinu.
Here are several poems, prayers, and resources you might like to use:

When the ritual is over be sure to dispose of the pomegranate seed properly. Burn them in the fire or throw them to the earth. Do not eat them casually. If you choose to dispose of them by ingesting them, it should be a deliberate act by which you share yourself with the generations.

Kaddish

I have been wanting to write a mourner’s kaddish that would serve myself and other earth-based magickal Jews. I’ve found it difficult because I wanted to keep the core theology of the traditional, rabbinical Judaic prayer. That one is a prayer for the living. It focuses on praising God. It doesn’t really ever touch on loss or death. When I first discovered this, I found it disturbing. But, if you look at almost all the Jewish rituals surrounding death, they are to support the living. They are to help the living move on with their lives.

It seems that it took the loss of Rosemary Kooiman to give me the words.

Send me on

Send me on with love in your heart
Cry tears of joy for the life I have lived
Praise the Source of Life for connecting our lives
Send me on to the next life

Send me on the way I lived
Embrace what I was, not the space that I leave
Praise the Source of Life for allowing us to love
Send me on to the next life

Send me on without fear
Do not curse or rend your garments
Praise the Source of Life for granting us time
Send me on to the next life

Send me on with praise
Sing songs of joy for all Creation
Praise the Source of Life giving us life
Send me on to the next life

Send me on with libations and toasts
Drink to your health and drink to life
Praise the Source of Life for giving us words to share
Send me on to the next life

Send me on with stones not flowers
Do not add death to death
Praise the Source of Life for all creation
Send me on to the next life

© Carly Lesser – 2006
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike2.5 License.

 

The Parallels of Faith

As I’ve briefly mentioned before, I’m co-officiating a wedding next October for a couple of friends who are getting married. While this may not seem like a very odd thing to you — the fact that neither are Jewish or Pagan may start the wheels turning. Actually, the groom is Hindu and the bride is a spiritual person — but very private and non-religious or dogmatic in her beliefs.

What I’ve been finding fascinating is how misunderstood Hinduism is by most of the West. Ask five people on the street and they will probably all say that Hindus are polytheistic. This actually isn’t the case at the heart of it. Hindus have the same concept of “Ein Sof” that Jews have. They practice a very old form of aspected monotheism. Now the rituals and practices are so old that many people focus more on the aspects than the monotheism portion. But at its heart, Hinduism seems to be a monotheistic religion.

After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare. There are others whose discrimination is misled by many desires. Following their own nature, they worship lower gods, practicing various rites.

-Bhagavad Gita 7:19-20

The “idol worship” has been an interesting thing to explore as well. On my recent trip to a Hindu temple with my friends, I experienced a variety of emotions. The first is that I saw why Jews don’t allow this. I get the same feeling walking into many Catholic churches. Such reverence is paid to statues. I understand that for many the statue is just a tool to help them focus, but for so many the statue just is. It is a manifestation of the Divine for them — which for me in incomprehensible. But — Catholics do the same thing. Every time my husband genuflects in front of a crucifix at a church, I’m startled by it.

All that being said, many synagogues and Jewish practices seem to idolize the Torah — that parallel was what struck me at the Hindu temple. We dance with them. We kiss them. We decorate them. We give them beautiful homes. You can tell me all you want about the symbolism — but most people just go through the motions and have no real idea what the point is other than reaching out with a prayer book to kiss the Torah.

The experience of exploring Hinduism has given me new insight into the practices of my own people. Learning and discussing the practices of Hinduism with my friend has opened my eyes. Reading passages from the Hindu texts expands my horizons daily.

As a man in the arms of his beloved is not aware of what is without and what is within, so a person in union with the Self is not aware of what is without and what is within, for in that unitive state all desires find their perfect fulfillment. There is no other desire that needs to be fulfilled, and one goes beyond sorrow.

-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

I am so grateful that my friends have entrusted me with this task. Working with them to create their ceremony is a wonderful spiritual adventure for me. On so many levels I am growing spiritually because of this adventure. I am learning about the connections between two old faiths. I am challenging my own perseptions and misperseptions. I am seeing the ways of my people through new light. I am seeing my own actions in new ways. I am growing closer to two good friends and learning more and more about them.

Be happy!
For you are joy, unbounded joy.

You are awareness itself.

Just as a coil of rope
Is mistaken for a snake,
So you are mistaken for the world.

-Ashtavakra Gita 1:10

[tags]hinduism, comparative religion, judaism, interfaith weddings, religion[/tags]

Yartzeit Rachel Imeinu

A ritual for honoring Rachel Imeinu and other ancestors.

May the blessings of our mother be carried through to each generation.

Needs:
1 Pomegranate
1 Tea Light
Small stones to represent specific ancestors
Small dish (big enough to hold all items listed above)

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.

Place your tealight in the dish and pour the pomegranate seeds around it. I often use only half of the seeds. Place your stones either along the edge of the dish or inside it against the tealight, whatever works for you. Place the dish on the altar and light your candle. The seeds are for the generations of ancestors, the stones for those you wish to specifically honor.

When the ritual is over be sure to dispose of the pomegranate seed properly. Burn them in the fire or throw them to the earth. Do not eat them casually. If you choose to dispose of them by ingesting them, it should be a deliberate act by which you share yourself with the generations.