Netivot Prayer Beads

At the Becoming 2010 Membership Retreat we made prayer beads. Thankfully, I knew we were doing this in advance, so I had time to think about what I wanted to do. I’ve thought about doing prayer beads before, but never actually done it. I’ve considered making prayer beads of the whole morning prayer service, or to represent specific prayers like the Amidah or Birchot haShachar. I’ve also thought about doing prayer beads to represent the Netivot.

I decided the most realistic choice, of the many I was considering, was to do the Netivot of Kohenet. This only required me to find 13 perfect beads out of the selection offered. Not that I thought that would be particularly easy.

It took a while during the activity — but I found ones that I’m really happy with. The order of the beads is in the order of the Netivot in the “Song of the Netivot” as found in the Kohenet prayer book. I also wanted beads that would represent not only the essence of each Netivah as presented in that prayer, but also leave room for a fuller understanding, too. Each Netivah is described in only two short lines in the prayer, which is a beginning only.

Most of the beads, I think are self explanatory. If you are curious about specific choices — just ask!

Left to Right:
Spiral: Oreget – Weaver
Flower: N’arah – Maiden
Leaf/Tree: Eim – Mother
Ornamented: Gevirah – Matriarch
Red Ball: Mayeledet – Midwife
Intricate: Chochamah – Wise Woman
Tear Drops: Mekonenet – Mourning Woman
Spiral (Drum): Neviah – Prophetess
Bronze piece: Tzovah – Shrinekeeper
Iridescent (Scrying Mirror): Baalot Ov – Shamaness
Green Arrow: Doreshet – Seeker:
4 Red/Pink: Ohevet – Lover
Multi-color: Kesilah – Fool
Spiral: Oreget – Weaver

It’s also not lost on me that I did this on the 1-year anniversary of my smicha as a Kohenet .  I missed last year’s Becoming retreat because they were on the same day.

Tags: Kohenet, netivah, netivot, prayer beads