Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Some takeaways from my Kol Nidrey sermon.
Do you want to take on a deeper spiritual practice of Judaism? Consider these 7 tips for building your âspiritual workout.â Video coming soon đŞ
#highholidays #yomkippur #spirituality #spiritualpractice #judaism #jewish
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Five days after 10/7, I uploaded this video. I filmed it on the basis of a FB post I had written about bereavement and trauma. A year on, itâs poignant and difficult to revisit it - you see the grief, pain and exhaustion etched on my face - and while many things have changed this past year, much of its core wisdom stands.
So if it is helpful to rewatch this video, I offer it to you with all my heart (YouTube link shared below). It talks you through how to mourn, hold space for yourself, and process such immense loss and heartache. A year one, we ache in different and more complex ways - but that is for each one of us to articulate in our own hearts.
One year on. The first yartzeit.
The sadness, shock and horror remains. May we continue to walk each other through it with grace and compassion.
(Also sharing this beautiful poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt).
https://youtu.be/L2NEZy-g_nU?si=JuNku...
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Shalom, mishpachah!
Iâve been dealing with illness so my recording and uploading schedule is delayed as my body and voice recover. Stay tuned for the next episode about âJewish belongingâ though!
Shalom uvârachah, peace and blessing,
Rabbi Esther
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I set out to achieve my goal of 500 subscribers by Hanukkah⌠and: it took me a few days longer, but we did it! â¨
It might not seem much by the standards of the âbig dealâ, âmainstreamâ YouTubers, but Iâm proud of having hit this first milestone for such a niche channel.
Iâm a first and foremost a full time rabbi and mom of three and new to this platform. Iâm just delighted that I get to share my Torah here among my many other commitments.
All this to say: THANK YOU. Iâm so appreciative of each and every one of you for joining me on this journey. If you would like me to do a Q&A or have thoughts on what kind of content you like best on the channel, drop me a comment below đ
Now off to work on my next milestone: 1K! đ
And, as usual, shalom uvârachah, with peace & blessing,
Rabbi Esther
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Shalom, mishpachah!
Wishing all my followers and subscribers a peaceful and blessed winter season and a very happy and blessed Christmas to those who celebrate!
Wishing you rest, renewal and hope rebornâ¨
With peace & blessing,
Rabbi Esther
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Shalom, mishpachah! Hi fam!
Letâs get started on a Q&AâŚ
Believe it or not - I am LESS THAN 20 subscribers away from reaching my 500 subs Hanukkah goal! â¨
WHO is going to help me hit that benchmark? Will YOU be my special new subscriber?
Iâm so grateful to those of you have have joined me on this âSmall Sanctuaryâ journey. Some of you have been with me since day one. Others have found me recently. As I wrestle with the monstrosity known as the YouTube algorithm to get reliable, accurate, inclusive and compassionate Jewish content online, join me for the good fight â
Iâm thinking of doing a Q&A once I hit 500⌠and then march on steadily to â¨1Kâ¨
If you have Q&A questions, leave a lilâ somethinâ in the comments below đ
With âŽď¸ peace & đblessing, from my đ bayit to your đď¸bayit.
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Coming close to 500 subscribers on YouTube đ
â¨Happy Hanukkah for my lovely friends, followers & subscribersâ¨
Hereâs to bringing more Jewish light into our world! âĄď¸
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Coming to a YouTube channel near you soonâŚ
Travel with me through the cycle of the Jewish year and unlock the secrets of the Hebrew calendar. Can we map our own lifeâs journey onto the cycle of the year? How can each festival transform our understanding of our own self and our own Jewishness? And what is the special message for Hanukkah this year? HintâŚ. âResilience and light.â
#jewishcalendar #jewishyear #hebrewcalendar #metonic_cycle #rabbi #torah #hanukkah #particularism #universalism #jewishjoy #jewishpride
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Today is Shloshim, the 30 day period of our mourning. Our grief is still fresh. It is also complicated, complex, unresolved; without closure or knowing what comes next. It is only normal to be in the thick of it.
In that light, I am sharing again my video which I made 3 weeks ago. I thought about recording a new one but the fact is that much of this still applies to where we find ourselves now. I hope it brings you a small amount of comfort and compassion.
https://youtu.be/L2NEZy-g_nU?si=zYC3v...
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The House of Israel Weeps: rabbinic thoughts on our mourning.
I am not a clinician or an expert on mourning, but I am a rabbi with a decade of experience who has been a mourner multiple times in my own life and who has guided others through grief. I welcome you to check and test my words: both against the verifiable wisdom of experts and against your own lived experiences. But meanwhile, with loving intention, I offer you this.
1. Grief is not rational. We may feel animated one moment and numb the next. We do not have to analyze our emotions; we just sit with them. That is what âShivahâ is for.
2. Grief is not linear. We may experience setbacks and loops in our grief journey. This is normal.
3. Grief is pain; it is not ideology or analysis. Each of us is allowed to grieve on our own terms. We do not have to justify our feelings to to others.
4. Grief manifests in different ways. For some Jews, leaning into the safe space of our particularism is how we process grief. For other Jews, leaning into the open space of our universalism is how we process grief. Let us treat each other with grace.
5. We do not have to do all things or be all things at once. The magnitude of what we are going through does not require immediate analysis or action. We are in mourning. There are no perfect words to be said; there arenât even adequate ones.
6. Immediacy prompts its own responses. Be aware of the fluidity of your own emotions. We may feel or think one thing one minute and then contradict ourselves. Thatâs okay.
7. This is not the time for theology. This is not the time to ask how âGod could make this happenâ. Nor does it need to be a time for politics. The purpose of healthy spirituality is not to explain away but to hold space. God can hold space; we do not need to search for an existential or political explanation yet.
8. Those outside of the circles of grief will not understand. Grief is a solitary journey. We are hearing and will hear comments that will hurt us by those who are not in our circle of grief. We will yearn for validation that others are not able to conceive of giving. We are allowed to be angry about that - it is the nature of our grief journey.
9. Social media will almost certainly make everything worse. Designed for impulsive action and addictive dopamine hits, social media will amplify our deepest hurts and worst impulses. Be cognizant of this and step away. Put your phone down. Take care of yourself.
10. Unlike some forms of grief, what is happening right now in Israel and beyond has no foreseeable closure. This makes the grief more open-ended and more complicated. We are in it for the long haul.
11. This type of grief is a moving target. Depending on how the war develops, we may be grieving differently tomorrow than we are today. We have witnessed the slaughter of innocents. We will witness more slaughter of innocents. It is going to get worse before it gets better. We need each other.
12. Moral injury and survivor guilt are real. We are here and we are not âthereâ. We are seeing the transfer of explicit information (and misinformation) unprecedented in human history. We are bombarded with heartbreaking and gut wrenching images. This will traumatize and re-traumatize us. None of this is normal and none of this is okay.
So: what to do, brothers and sisters?
1. Lean into ancestral wisdom. Our human cultures - including our Jewish culture - has developed very sophisticated ways to help us mourn. Turn to them. Say Kaddish; light a candle, pray, give tzedakah, sit in silence, sing.
2. Take care of your needs and self. You are not a âbadâ mourner for laughing, feeling odd moments of joy, having sex, enjoying the sun, physical activity or other life-affirming activities. This is part of the human coping mechanism.
3. In Jewish mourning customs, the Shivah, we sit in silence (sometimes), we eat, pray, share and just be together. Do not hesitate to reach out to your local synagogue and your local rabbi. That is what we are here for. â¤ď¸
There are countless other things to say but I will close with this. We are all teetering on the edge of a knife as we live through a heavily-politicized and publicized form of collective trauma and grief. Things are not normal. You are allowed to feel what you feel. You are you and you are loved. You donât have to offer opinions or analysis; you can shut your device and shut away the news. You can cry, scream or just be quiet. You can work for justice. But do it on your terms.
As for me, I have been sitting Shiva most of the day, in silence and sometimes in numbness. Often I take my own advice and sometimes I donât. But I hold fast to Elohei Yisrael, to Godâs mercy for all Godâs human creatures. I stand true with the suffering of Am Yisrael, my beloved Jewish people. And I seek wisdom and grounding in Torat Yisrael, the collective body of Jewish wisdom which has so much to say about trauma, persecution, loss, covenant, compassion and the human family.
I love you all, my Jewish people. And I love you all, my human family. May the slaughter of innocents cease quickly and decisively. May we hold onto each other and our humanity. It is what we have got. â¤ď¸
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Shalom mishpachah! Hi, fam!
Iâm Rabbi Esther and when Iâm not rabbiâing, wrangling my small tribe of 3 kiddos, & creating (while sipping industrial amounts of Earl Grey), Iâm casting vision for a passionate, inclusive, transformative Jewish future.
The mission of âA Small Sanctuaryâ is to empower Jews & the Jew-curious to take Jewish wisdom into the âsmall sanctuariesâ of their home with beauty, purpose and joy. Judaismâs audacious claim is that we can make every aspect of our lives holy, ethical & beautiful.
Prompted by our egalitarian values, âA Small Sanctuaryâ is an affirming, inclusive space for gender & LGBTQ equality. The âSmall Sanctuaryâ community is a bold, non-fundamentalist place where we are passionate Jews, fall in love with God and drink from the deep wells of the tradition.
Shalom uvârachah, with peace and blessings⌠from my âbayitâ (house) to your âbayitâ.
The opinions expressed here are entirely my own and not reflective of my congregation.