Monthly Cycle Program
The world is turning again, as it has for millions of years, an unending cycle in which we have been formed, like water to a fish. There’s a rightness to this rhythm.
This program is an invitation to spiritual development in the context of our being embodied humans held by the more than human world, as mediated through our Jewish tradition.
I will send monthly writings which include a short reading and questions for you to explore on your own, through journaling, discussion, or whatever kind of reflection suits you best, guided by the cycle of the Jewish calendar.
1st part of each reading
— is a (hopefully) lyrical and sensual evocation of what is happening in my backyard and garden in a Continental Climate. I live in the mid-Atlantic, and the timing would be a bit different if I lived in Vermont or in the flat areas of North Carolina, but Continental climates have a certain 4 season rhythm that I attempt to capture. I then raise questions for our spiritual development based on what is happening in the more than human world. For instance, for the month of Tishrei where we are doing a lot of harvesting, I ask what needs to be harvested in your life? I usually ask three or four questions.
2nd part of each reading
— discusses the Jewish holidays that occur during the month, if any (Cheshvan, the month after Tishrei with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot has no holidays). There are a lot of good books about Jewish holidays, and I’ve no desire or expertise to add to the general discussion, though I will reference some of it. My focus is going to be on their agricultural component and their relationship with what is happening in the ecosystem. I will then raise questions for our spiritual development that relate to the holidays. As an example, for Sukkot which is about pleading for life giving rains based on being in alignment with the divine, I’m going to ask where you are in alignment with the divine and more than human world and where are you not. I’m going to ask what kind of blessings you want to rain down on you in the next year. For Tu B’shvat, the new year of the trees, I’m going to ask what is ready to bloom like the Almond tree in Israel (this is what typically blooms then) or witch hazel in Continental climates.
3rd part of each reading
— is an overview of what we are reading in the weekly Torah portion from the five books of Moses, more or less. Readers should be aware that depending upon timing of the holidays in terms of Shabbat and whether it is a leap year or not, we don’t read the same thing if you look at the second shabbat of, say Elul, each year. I will again ask a few questions drawn from the different parshiot (portions) that address our spiritual development and the more than human world.
The themes and questions can be explored through journaling, dream work, prayer, any kind of expressive art or a wide variety of other practices. If you have a community where you can explore them with other like minded people, then know that you are blessed and please pursue them this way. If you are doing it by yourself, that works as well.
I’ve written and taught much more extensively on each parsha. Interested readers can go to the parsha commentary and find much fuller written discussions or join the free weekly class.
Monthly Cycle Writings
