Shavuot שבועות is a beautiful and mystical time to get in touch with the Divine by welcoming in the Shekinah שְׁכִינָה or the worldy, feminine aspect of the Divine. As Shavuot has roots in spring harvest festivals of the region, it can be a time to connect back to nature. While this secularized version of the holiday seems pretty harmless, there can be some benefit to adding some extra spiritual context and "fat" to our bread. Why not also dip our feet in some Cabbalistic oil while we are here?
I took on the task of presenting the piyyut Ketubah for Shavout by Yisrael Najara. I always struggled with the text so I wanted to make a challenge for myself and my learning this Tikkun Leil Shavuot 5785. I seemed to pick well because the Divine One sent me some signs of Ketubah. I saw a Ketubah from Aleppo from the 19th century, at Jewish Theological Seminary. Najara spent about half or more of his life in Syria. This is the link to the real ketubah I saw with my own eyes 2 days before Shavuot:
This has been a special year and special time of transformation for me so I felt very open to receive new revelations and read old texts in new ways. I also was taking on the task of Transliterating this document as I have not yet seen it transliterated. I am still working on it as you can see but I am excited to see what it will be at the end.
כתובה לחג השבועות
Ketubah for Shavuot
יָרַד דּוֹדִי לְגַנּוֹ לַעֲרֻגוֹת בָּשְׂמוֹ
My Beloved went down to the garden,
Yarad dodi leganno la’arugot bs’amo,
יָרַד דּוֹדִי לְגַנּוֹ לַעֲרֻגוֹת בָּשְׂמוֹ
His spice-beds,[1] To make love to the noble daughter and
L’hitalles’im bat-nadiv velifros,
עָלֶֽיהָ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמוֹ
spread over her His peace-shelter.
A L’eha sukkat Sholomo.
אַפִּרְי֗וֹן עָ֤שָׂה לוֹ֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה׃
A palanquin King Solomon made for himself.
Appiryon asah'lo ha‘malekh Shelomoh:
(שיר השירים ג:ט)
(Song of Songs 3:9)
(Shir haShirim 3:9)
Shavuot is such an interesting and remarkable holiday for me, I look forward to it every year. Interesting. Remarkable. These are not likely the words most would use to describe a Jewish Holiday, especially one of the lesser known ones. Well for me I guess it is remarkable and interesting to me, given my positionally.
My background as a Black Jewish person from the Sahel has put me very much at the margins of Jewish life. Although I have never been someone who has had a lot of access to Jewish spaces because of how I look, I know that my stance as a pro-Diaspora Jewish person has given me even less of the little Jewish Life I had access to. I know many folks on the Jewish left and Jewish radical left can relate to this as many are losing their jobs, family/friend and other relationships are impacted due to their stance.
While I think the false idol of militarism is one of the greatest theological threats that Judaism as a religion faces now, I think it is one of many. I would love to put militarism in a larger context of this posited false polarization that we are currently seeing. It makes a false dichotomy of a Jewish left that is secular and more conservative elements that are religious.
There are obviously people who are both conservative and secular as well as those who are religious and leftist and everyone in between or various combinations. Despite this, many are being forced to pick a side now. This brings me to the importance of spaces like this Shavuot 5785. Spaces where folks that are spiritual can get some sort of spiritual nourishment without the false idol of militarism that comes with it.
So that is my first reason why I like Shavuot as a holiday. The focus on learning in community and how that easily lends itself to events like this Shavuot 5785 in ways that some of the other holidays may not.
I also love Shavuot because I love the inherent queerness of the Kebutah for Shavuot. The Ketubah for Shavuot is a liturgical poem or piyuut by Yisrael Najara that was written in the 16th century. He was a very interesting person and I encourage you to read more about his life and works. He was a kabbalist originally from Najera in Northern Spain, his grandfather was born in Spain and fled to Damascus in the 15th century after Jews were expelled. R’ Najara the grandson, was born in Damascus and spent his life living between Safed, Damascus and Gaza. Growing up in Safed, (in modern day Syria, formerly apart of the Ottoman Empire), he was heavily influenced by Isaac Luria and the Kabbalah scholars. Najara composed his piyyutim in Aramaic to Arabic and Turkish tunes as a way of turning the Jewish Youth "away from profane songs". He spent his later years as the Chief Rabbi of Gaza.
He is buried in Gaza. Take a moment to think about that as you think of the militarized "Judiasm" and what it is doing in that region right now.
His works were influential and his piyyutim heavily influenced both the Jews of Aleppo (and larger Syria) and the Baqashot traditions of Morocco and the Maftirim Tradition of Turkey. According to wikipedia, his "poetic innovations regarding the marriage between the Divine One and [Eretz Yisrael]" were violently criticized by one of his contemporaries Menahem Lonzano, another by Hayyim Vital mentioned an unnamed poet (widely believed to be Najara) who was a homosexual. However, despite these accusations, Isaac Luria, the teacher of Vital and the leader of the Kabbalistic movement at the time, declared that Najara’s hymns were “listened to with delight in heaven”. So I put this here just so that you know the references to queer theory on my part are not just things I am making up and grabbing out of nowhere.
From a Kabbalist perspective, Shavuot is an interesting time especially right now because some folks view this time as when the Shekinah enters space with us while we gather, stay up all night, study and become more embodied and correct the mistakes of the false idol that Adam Harishon worshipped by eating the tree in the garden of Eden which may be represented by Asherah. This is a certainly a different perspective and I do enjoy the interpretations of Jewish theology that include gender expansive and queer types of readings that undermine the fascist readings of the omnipotent “strong man”, “extreme patriarch” representation of the Divine One that is so commonly perpetrated now. I also love to point out that the Kabbalists were heavily influenced by Sufi Islam which is that branch of Islam focused on the mystical. For context, these poems were written during the Golden Age of Islam when many Jewish theologians were trying to mimic the richness of the poetry and refined culture of Islam. It also important to remember that folks like Najara and Luria lived in places like Safed, Syria or Gaza, Palestine which were part of the Ottoman empire, so they lived under the rule of a Muslim Nation.
What is the connection between the Kabbalah of Shavuot and this image of marriage between Eretz Israel and the Divine One and Jewish Mutual Aid and the Radical Left? To explain this I think we have to first go back to this idea of False Idols and the Asherah tree that Adam Harison ate of. I would consider militarism and the “Judiasm lite” ™ that it is packaged with as modern day false idols. I ALSO would consider some of the hypocrisies of the left such as these “virtue signaling”, selfish mutual aid practices, the overemphasis on the secular and rational and the lack of real diversity and solidarity on the left.
I agree with Luria that Tzedakah or justice in giving as a concept from the RamBam and the Tzedakah ladder are of central importance to receiving the blessings of Shavuot. Luria and others that they suggest we are supposed to do before Shavuot. There is grain set aside during the Shmita for the less fortunate but this is part of a in grained sense of giving not a giving out of obligation or virtue signaling:
(ד) וּבַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗ת שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַיהֹוָ֑ה שָֽׂדְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תִזְרָ֔ע וְכַרְמְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תִזְמֹֽר׃ (ה) אֵ֣ת סְפִ֤יחַ קְצִֽירְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תִקְצ֔וֹר וְאֶת־עִנְּבֵ֥י נְזִירֶ֖ךָ לֹ֣א תִבְצֹ֑ר שְׁנַ֥ת שַׁבָּת֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֥ה לָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ו) וְ֠הָיְתָ֠ה שַׁבַּ֨ת הָאָ֤רֶץ לָכֶם֙ לְאׇכְלָ֔ה לְךָ֖ וּלְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וְלַאֲמָתֶ֑ךָ וְלִשְׂכִֽירְךָ֙ וּלְתוֹשָׁ֣בְךָ֔ הַגָּרִ֖ים עִמָּֽךְ׃
(4) But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of יהוה: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. (5) You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines; it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. (6) But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce—you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you,
The other things that are mentioned to do before Shavuot is bringing Shekinah in through communal gathering, study or prayer that is called Tikkun or the repair. You may be familiar with Tikkun like repair the world but in the context of Kabbalah it is trying to repair that original mistake that Adam Harishon made. So I am proposing that we consider the framework given by Luria, Najara and other kabbalists in the Ketubah for Shavuot that Mutual Aid, Tzedakah and Gathering in Community are two of the essential parts of the Ketaubah for Shavuot or “marriage contract”:
וִיהִֽיבְנָא לֵֽיכִי מֹֽהַר בְּתוּלַֽיְכִי
תּוֹרַת חָכָם מְקוֹר חַיִּים תִּחְיִי אַתְּ וּבָנַֽיְכִי
הָ֝רֹפֵ֗א לְכׇל־תַּחֲלוּאָֽיְכִי הַגּוֹאֵ֣ל מִשַּׁ֣חַת חַיָּ֑יְכִי׃ (תהלים קג:ג-ד חלק)
And I give to you the dowry of your virginity —
The wise Teaching, source of life. You will live, as will your sons.
He heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the Pit.
(Psalms 103:3-4 part)
I interpret this as those commandments and teachings are the treasurers we put in our marriage chests but also we have to keep up with this commitment, it is not just a one time or one night thing. I think we have to continue to gather and continue to do Tzedakah. I think we have to make these parts of our institutions just like people in long term relationships such as marriage have to integrate into each other’s lives and make commitments in order to keep the relationship going. I think we could be doing a better job of fostering community, keeping up with our teachings and mitzvot as well as Tzedakah in the right ways. I am going to give a few examples that I think are particularly relevant to this moment:
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הָכִי אָמַר, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּמִתְכַּנְשֵׁי חַבְרַיָּיא בְּהַאי לֵילְיָא לְגַבֵּיהּ, נֵיתֵי לְתַקְּנָא תַּכְשִׁיטֵי כַּלָּה, בְּגִין דְּתִשְׁתְּכַח לְמָחָר בְּתַכְשִׁיטָהָא, וְתִקוּנָהָא, לְגַבֵּי מַלְכָּא כַּדְקָא יָאוּת. זַכָּאָה חוּלָקֵיהוֹן דְּחַבְרַיָּיא, כַּד יִתְבַּע מַלְכָּא לְמַטְרוֹנִיתָא, מַאן תַּקִּין תַּכְשִׁיטָהָא, וְאַנְהִיר עִטְרָהָא, וְשַׁוִּי תִּקּוּנָהָא. וְלֵית לָךָ בְּעָלְמָא, מַאן דְּיָדַע לְתַקְּנָא תַּכְשִׁיטֵי כַּלָּה, אֶלָּא חַבְרַיָּיא, זַכָּאָה חוּלָקֵיהוֹן בְּעָלְמָא דֵּין וּבְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי.
When the Companions gathered round him on this night, R. Simeon used to say: ‘Let us go and prepare the ornaments of the Bride, that to-morrow she may appear before the King fitly adorned and bedecked. Happy the portion of the Companions when the King shall inquire of the Matrona who has arranged her adornments and illumined her crowns. For there is none in the world who knows how to arrange the jewels of the Bride like the Companions, happy is their portion in this world and in the world to come!
תָּא חֲזֵי, חַבְרַיָּיא מְתַקְּנֵי בְּהַאי לֵילְיָא תַּכְשִׁיטָהָא לְכַלָּה, וּמְעַטְּרֵי לָהּ בְּעִטְרָהָא, לְגַבֵּי מַלְכָּא. וּמַאן מַתְקִין לֵיהּ לְמַלְכָּא, בְּהַאי לֵילְיָא, לְאִשְׁתַּכְּחָא בָּהּ בְּכַלָּה, לְאִזְדַּוְּוגָא בָּהּ בְּמַטְרוֹנִיתָא. נַהֲרָא קַדִּישָׁא עֲמִיקָא דְּכָל נַהֲרִין, אִימָּא עִלָּאָה. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (שיר השירים ג׳:י״א) צְאֶינָה וּרְאֶינָה בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן בַּמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וְגוֹ'. לְבָתַר דְּאַתְקִינַת לֵיהּ לְמַלְכָּא, וְאַעְטְּרַת לֵיהּ, אַתְיַית לְדַכְּאָה לָהּ לְמַטְרוֹנִיתָא, וּלְאִינּוּן דְּמִשְׁתַּכְּחֵי גַּבָּהּ.
Now the Companions adorn the Bride, but who prepares the King on this night for his visit to the Matrona? It is the Holy Stream, the deepest of all streams, the Supernal Mother, as it says, “Go forth, ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon in the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him in the day of his espousals” (S.S. 3, 11). After she has prepared the King and crowned him, she goes to purify the Matrona and those that are with he.
(Zohar Emor 34: 169- 170)
- There is an overemphasis on direct action and electoral politics as a theory of change as opposed to the balance of mutual aid, direct action, electoral politics and community organizing that used to define the radical left. I think that in the age of social media it is easier to build a platform, get funding as a non profit in the Non profit industrial complex and accumulate wealth from actions and investment in electoral politics than community organizing or mutual aid. This is ironic because although the saying "direct action gets the goods" is there for a reason, I also believe that this can sometimes only occur when the soil is fertile for those seeds of direct action to be able to take root. Imagine the impact if more people sent time talking to their militaristic family and friends about Christian militarism, its impact on the Middle East, its capitalist/imperalists underpinnings and how both Jewish and Palestinian lives are being used as expendable chess pieces to serve its ends. Imagine what sort of impact this sort of person to person work would have on the funding and influence of the military apparatus? But this work is hard, invisible and often rife with familial and generational trauma that is hard to think about and even harder to talk about
- One of the core commandments and one even mentioned in the Shema is
(יט) וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥ם אֹתָ֛ם אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְדַבֵּ֣ר בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃
(19) and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up;
"to teach these things to your children", the radical Jewish left is notoriously centered on adult spaces. I believe a focus on intergenerational spaces is not only important for keeping our movements going but also provides accessibility for parents. How are we going to fight against fascism in the long haul without the next generation to fight when we are gone? Parenthood is one of the easiest ways for people to be conscripted into liberalism/conservative militarism because those spaces simply tend to be better at accommodating parents as they tend to focus on families. This of course brings us back to the lack of disability justice in so many Jewish left spaces and now it is hard to “gather” as we are instructed to when folks do not have access.
3. The overemphasis on secularism on the radical left I believe has come at a tremendous cost. Although the rationalist movements that came out of Europe were very useful frameworks for several things and the labor organizing that happened through the secular Bund was vary admirable, this overemphasis on European rationalism and secularism erases many communities on the Jewish left that may be seeking spirituality. Again, the liberalists/liberal miliatarists/conservative miliatrists are also able to offer “Jewish” spirituality and identity that secular spaces may struggle to offer which will again attract folks to these false idols. Furthermore, when we keep our Mitzvot like observing Jewish Holidays (like Shavuot) or the weekly Shabbat we are accessing communal spaces where we can be off our phones and away from imperial surveillance. We recite prayers in ancient languages and access ancient customs that help us step back in time in ways that may be protective and helpful.
There are many other examples. We are fighting against these new idols of imperialism, capitalism all the isms externally but internally we also are facing some false idols of gatekeeping, racism, colorism, transphobia, homophobia, inaccessibility, over emphasis on secularization and rationalism (there is a space for this in Judiasm) and individualism over collectivism, lack of mutual aid and lack of embodied practices and community building. I used to really struggle with this idea of the Ketubah of Shavuot and an idea of a marriage contract, it used to come off as very patriarchal and old fashioned to me. I also just did not think it was realistic. People change. Worlds change in 3000 years since Moishe first received the Revealation in 2441. It is now more than 3000+ years later, surely this contract framework just would not hold up anymore. But I think putting fresh eyes and study on it from the perspective of the marriage contract being about that it self - keeping our Judiasm up to date with the times in the way that folks will keep up with any long term relationship. We are facing new false idols, it is no longer Asherah and the trees at the temple. The way the Shekinah is described in this piyyut reminds me of that embodied spirituality that I believe the Kabbalists are encouraging us to engage with:
(א) עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי֙ בַּלֵּיל֔וֹת בִּקַּ֕שְׁתִּי אֵ֥ת שֶֽׁאָהֲבָ֖ה נַפְשִׁ֑י בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֖יו וְלֹ֥א מְצָאתִֽיו׃ (ב) אָק֨וּמָה נָּ֜א וַאֲסוֹבְבָ֣ה בָעִ֗יר בַּשְּׁוָקִים֙ וּבָ֣רְחֹב֔וֹת אֲבַקְשָׁ֕ה אֵ֥ת שֶֽׁאָהֲבָ֖ה נַפְשִׁ֑י בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֖יו וְלֹ֥א מְצָאתִֽיו׃ (ג) מְצָא֙וּנִי֙ הַשֹּׁ֣מְרִ֔ים הַסֹּבְבִ֖ים בָּעִ֑יר אֵ֛ת שֶֽׁאָהֲבָ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י רְאִיתֶֽם׃ (ד) כִּמְעַט֙ שֶׁעָבַ֣רְתִּי מֵהֶ֔ם עַ֣ד שֶׁמָּצָ֔אתִי אֵ֥ת שֶֽׁאָהֲבָ֖ה נַפְשִׁ֑י אֲחַזְתִּיו֙ וְלֹ֣א אַרְפֶּ֔נּוּ עַד־שֶׁ֤הֲבֵיאתִיו֙ אֶל־בֵּ֣ית אִמִּ֔י וְאֶל־חֶ֖דֶר הוֹרָתִֽי׃ (ה) הִשְׁבַּ֨עְתִּי אֶתְכֶ֜ם בְּנ֤וֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ בִּצְבָא֔וֹת א֖וֹ בְּאַיְל֣וֹת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה אִם־תָּעִ֧ירוּ ׀ וְֽאִם־תְּע֥וֹרְר֛וּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָ֖ה עַ֥ד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּֽץ׃ {ס} (ו) מִ֣י זֹ֗את עֹלָה֙ מִן־הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר כְּתִֽימְר֖וֹת עָשָׁ֑ן מְקֻטֶּ֤רֶת מֹר֙ וּלְבוֹנָ֔ה מִכֹּ֖ל אַבְקַ֥ת רוֹכֵֽל׃ (ז) הִנֵּ֗ה מִטָּתוֹ֙ שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹ֔ה שִׁשִּׁ֥ים גִּבֹּרִ֖ים סָבִ֣יב לָ֑הּ מִגִּבֹּרֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (ח) כֻּלָּם֙ אֲחֻ֣זֵי חֶ֔רֶב מְלֻמְּדֵ֖י מִלְחָמָ֑ה אִ֤ישׁ חַרְבּוֹ֙ עַל־יְרֵכ֔וֹ מִפַּ֖חַד בַּלֵּילֽוֹת׃ {ס} (ט) אַפִּרְי֗וֹן עָ֤שָׂה לוֹ֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה מֵעֲצֵ֖י הַלְּבָנֽוֹן׃ (י) עַמּוּדָיו֙ עָ֣שָׂה כֶ֔סֶף רְפִידָת֣וֹ זָהָ֔ב מֶרְכָּב֖וֹ אַרְגָּמָ֑ן תּוֹכוֹ֙ רָצ֣וּף אַהֲבָ֔ה מִבְּנ֖וֹת יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃ (יא) צְאֶ֧נָה ׀ וּֽרְאֶ֛ינָה בְּנ֥וֹת צִיּ֖וֹן בַּמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה בָּעֲטָרָ֗ה שֶׁעִטְּרָה־לּ֤וֹ אִמּוֹ֙ בְּי֣וֹם חֲתֻנָּת֔וֹ וּבְי֖וֹם שִׂמְחַ֥ת לִבּֽוֹ׃ {ס}
(1) Upon my couch at night I sought the one I love— I sought, but found him not. (2) “I must rise and roam the town, Through the streets and through the squares; I must seek the one I love.” I sought but found him not. (3) I met the watchmen Who patrol the town. “Have you seen the one I love?” (4) Scarcely had I passed them When I found the one I love. I held him fast, I would not let him go Till I brought him to my mother’s house, To the chamber of her who conceived me (5) I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, By gazelles or by hinds of the field: Do not wake or rouse Love until it please! (6) Who is she that comes up from the desert Like columns of smoke, In clouds of myrrh and frankincense, Of all the powders of the merchant? (7) There is Solomon’s couch, Encircled by sixty warriors Of the warriors of Israel, (8) All of them trained in warfare, Skilled in battle, Each with sword on thigh Because of terror by night. (9) King Solomon made him a palanquin Of wood from Lebanon. (10) He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold, Its seat of purple wool. Within, it was decked with love By the maidens of Jerusalem. (11) O maidens of Zion, go forth And gaze upon King Solomon Wearing the crown that his mother Gave him on his wedding day, On his day of bliss.
These are very physical words that give you a sense of smell of the spices, the earth between ones fingers in the garden, the peace shelter of the palaquin. All of these are a Judiasm that is embodied and in this world, not just a lofty rationalist set of ideals. I think it is important now more than ever that we think of ways to embody our Judiasm.
Why is there a need to be more embodied? I believe that as we fight both external and internal metaphysical and ideological foes, we need to have the strength, kindness and protection of the Shekinah with us.
(ה) וְהוּכַ֤ן בַּחֶ֙סֶד֙ כִּסֵּ֔א וְיָשַׁ֥ב עָלָ֛יו בֶּאֱמֶ֖ת בְּאֹ֣הֶל דָּוִ֑ד שֹׁפֵ֛ט וְדֹרֵ֥שׁ מִשְׁפָּ֖ט וּמְהִ֥ר צֶֽדֶק׃
(5) And a throne shall be established in goodness In the tent of David, And on it shall sit in faithfulness A ruler devoted to justice And zealous for equity.
(An alternative translation from OpenSiddur)
וַאֲנָא אוֹקִיר וְאֵזוּן יָתִיכִי וַאֲכַסֶּה
כִּי־אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ לְמִסְתּוֹר וּלְמַחֲסֶה וְלִמְכַסֶּה
וְהוּכַ֤ן בַּחֶ֙סֶד֙ כִּסֵּ֔א׃ (ישעיה טז:ה)
And I will honor and support you and cover you,
Dor I will be with You as a shelter, refuge, and coverage,
And a throne is established in kindness.
(Isaiah 16:5)