You're invited to explore this source sheet however you want. Maybe it's looking at the three sources and discussing as a group or spending time individually with the journal prompts. Maybe you brainstorm daily rituals together, or spend time talking about the moments in your lives that feel like they need to be marked. This time, and this practice gets to be yours to explore.
What are a few (1-3) moments in your life that you're curious about playing with your relationship to, or increasing your presence for? This could be walking your dog or setting a kiddo up for Zoom school. It could be your first sip of coffee in the morning or the moment where you finally switch off Zoom for the last time that day. It could be driving to a job or picking up groceries -- any moment in your day/week, as big or as small as you want.
What is it like to take part in those activities right now? Take a moment to write a word or a sentence or two for each. There's no judgement, and no right or wrong answer. "Exhilarating" is just as legitimate as "exhausting" and "excruciating".
What is a ritual in your life you have that you like? Maybe it's Shabbat, or maybe it's singing in the shower. Take a moment to write a little bit about how that ritual feels, what are its qualities? What do you like about it? What is challenging about it?
When you have a little list, spend a few minutes taking a look at the following sources with your group. What can they add to your understanding of the rituals you already love? What can they tell us about moments we want to mark with ritual?
What is it like to take part in those activities right now? Take a moment to write a word or a sentence or two for each. There's no judgement, and no right or wrong answer. "Exhilarating" is just as legitimate as "exhausting" and "excruciating".
What is a ritual in your life you have that you like? Maybe it's Shabbat, or maybe it's singing in the shower. Take a moment to write a little bit about how that ritual feels, what are its qualities? What do you like about it? What is challenging about it?
When you have a little list, spend a few minutes taking a look at the following sources with your group. What can they add to your understanding of the rituals you already love? What can they tell us about moments we want to mark with ritual?
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מִצְוַת חֲנוּכָּה, נֵר אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ. וְהַמְהַדְּרִין, נֵר לְכׇל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד. וְהַמְהַדְּרִין מִן הַמְהַדְּרִין, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק שְׁמֹנָה, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ פּוֹחֵת וְהוֹלֵךְ. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק אַחַת, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ מוֹסִיף וְהוֹלֵךְ.
Our Rabbis taught that the mitzvah of Hanukkah is for each person to light the candles in their own home... Beit Shammai maintains: On the first day (of Hannukah) eight lights are lit and thereafter they are gradually reduced; but Beit Hillel say: On the first day one is lit and thereafter they are progressively increased. [Adapted from the Soncino Translation of the Babylonian Talmud]
- How does a small change impact the kavanah of your Chanukah practice?
- How does the kavanah you bring impact your experience of a moment or holiday?
Who Is Man? - Abraham Joshua Heschel (1965), p. 116-117
Celebration is an act of expressing respect or reverence for that which one needs or honors. In modern usage, the term suggests demonstrations, often public demonstrations, of joy and festivity, such as singing, shouting, speechmaking, feasting, and the like. Yet what I mean is not outward ceremony and public demonstration, but rather inward appreciation, lending spiritual form to everyday acts. Its essence is to call attention to the sublime or solemn aspects of living, to rise above the confines of consumption.
To celebrate is to share in a greater joy, to participate in an eternal drama. In acts of consumption the intention is to please our own selves; in acts of celebration the intention is to extol God, the spirit, the source of blessing.
Celebration is an act of expressing respect or reverence for that which one needs or honors. In modern usage, the term suggests demonstrations, often public demonstrations, of joy and festivity, such as singing, shouting, speechmaking, feasting, and the like. Yet what I mean is not outward ceremony and public demonstration, but rather inward appreciation, lending spiritual form to everyday acts. Its essence is to call attention to the sublime or solemn aspects of living, to rise above the confines of consumption.
To celebrate is to share in a greater joy, to participate in an eternal drama. In acts of consumption the intention is to please our own selves; in acts of celebration the intention is to extol God, the spirit, the source of blessing.
- What does it mean to celebrate moments in our life according to Heschel's definition of celebrate?
- How do we decide what to celebrate?
- How does celebration show up, or not show up, in your daily life?
From The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time...
Jewish ritual may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as architecture of time. Most of its observances–the Sabbath, the New Moon, the festivals, the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year–depend on a certain hour of the day or season of the year. It is, for example, the evening, morning, or afternoon that brings with it the call to prayer. The main themes of faith lie in the realm of time...
One of the most distinguished words in the Bible is the word kadosh, holy; a word which more than any other is representative of the mystery and majesty of the divine. Now what was the first holy object in the history of the world? Was it a mountain? Was it an altar?
It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word kadosh is used for the first time: in the Book of Genesis at the end of the story of creation. How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness.
Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time...
Jewish ritual may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as architecture of time. Most of its observances–the Sabbath, the New Moon, the festivals, the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year–depend on a certain hour of the day or season of the year. It is, for example, the evening, morning, or afternoon that brings with it the call to prayer. The main themes of faith lie in the realm of time...
One of the most distinguished words in the Bible is the word kadosh, holy; a word which more than any other is representative of the mystery and majesty of the divine. Now what was the first holy object in the history of the world? Was it a mountain? Was it an altar?
It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word kadosh is used for the first time: in the Book of Genesis at the end of the story of creation. How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness.
- What does it mean to sanctify time?
- How does sanctification happen? What do we do to acknowledge kadosh, holiness?
When it comes to ritual though, there are no rules!
Maybe it's three deep breaths after signing off your laptop for the night. Maybe it's a glass of water after your morning walk. Maybe it's a full body stretch before you sit down for that next meeting. This is a place to be creative, to experiment. There is no right or wrong answer.
Feel free to use this as a template to prompt and nourish exploration and curiosity as you explore your own rituals:
- What's one moment you want to mark?
- When does it happen in your day/week?
- What's one feeling or sensation you associate with that moment?
- What's a kavanah (intention) you would like to bring into that practice?
- What helps you access that kind of intention in other moments in your life?
- Choose one ritual practice to do in relationship to that action - some examples (these are just ideas to help your own creativity) might include:
- Writing a one sentence prayer to say when you do it (you can make this up yourself!)
- Taking a set number of breaths when you do that
- Washing your hands before/after with intention
- Moving your body in some kind of way
- Singing a song
- Being quiet for a moment
- Connecting with a friend or loved one
- Try it out for a day or a week or a month - whatever feels right for you.
- Return and reflect, how did it change your experience? How did it not? What would you do differently? How can you continue to grow or evolve that practice?