Going to Pieces

Dear Friends,

There is so much to be fearful of right now. What my friends are gazing upon in California, uncontrollable fires which may only be the beginning of the climate havoc that approaches. Political engines running on lies and hatred. I don’t want to stir the fear in you, but I don’t want to ignore it either. And we’re all running low on resources. It’s taken all of our strength and patience, compassion and kindness to wade through the suspension of life that we’ve found ourselves in.

How much have we’ve been through? That’s why I decided to lead High Holiday services this year. We have so much within us that needs to be given language, talked through, talked out. So that in the words shared in the presence of community we’ll be able to digest and transmute the experiences that have transpired in the months past. If we skip over that essential piece -- the telling of the story -- making it explicit, conscious, and shared, then we risk refusing the unpleasant wisdoms that have been offered us. And we can’t go back. We cannot suffer that unconsciousness. 

And maybe more than words we will need music and quiet, spaciousness and poetry shared. Those humble arts of life and her ineffable truths.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking we can rest ourselves through something, ease our way over troubled times. Actually the mental, emotional, and spiritual turmoil is an invitation to deepen in our practices and skill sets. The person we were last year simply could not overcome the challenges that lie ahead, we must make ourselves anew.

So in this last week of the year, I’m letting myself go to pieces. In the spirit of the ancient gods and goddesses of the harvest whose bodies were cut and dismembered -- and through that process the crops of the new year renewed -- I’m undoing the person I was, for the sake of all that I’m becoming. The new year begins inside each of us, our hearts, our families, our work, our communities.

My prayers are in California, and with all those who are suffering. May the divine forces hear your cries and turn toward your pain. 

Sending my love to you. Wishing you a Shabbat of peace.

Rabbi Zach Fredman

PS -- If you need some spiritual homework to prepare for the holidays, here it is. Part One: In a regular holiday season, what’s your favorite moment?  I don’t want to skip over it.  

Second. Compose one of the prayer/poems to be offered in the service. We’re going to focus on some of the essential postures of spiritual life -- GENEROSITY, LONELINESS, GRIEF/MOURNING, GRATITUDE, HUMILITY, LOVE, HEALING, PEACE. Choose one, and write a story/poem/prayer. Our dear friend Coco Karol is going to weave the words into a performance, and I may ask you to offer them as a prayer.