Prayer and Preparation
Last week, I had the honor and privilege of participating in a Women’s Sedar—Miriam Cup—held at the Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. This is my second women’s Sedar and each year it becomes more powerful for me.
We gathered as women- not to do the Passover Sedar, but a preparation Sedar celebrating Miriam. We omitted some of prayers that would only be appropriate on Passover, but submitted powerful stories and prayers of the struggle of justice and liberation for Jewish women.
The evening began:
We have come here together to build something holy.
A Makom Kadosh, separate and apart.
We have come to rest, to sing, and tell stories.
We have come to learn, to teach, and to grow.
We bless this time with our presence.
We welcome G-d’s Presence into our midst.
Then after the traditional blessing of the light and lighting the Shabbat candles we proceeded with the “burning of the chametz”. Chametz is the Hebrew word for “leven.”
The Torah requires that chametz neither be eaten, nor seen, not even located in one’s house during Pesach/Passover (Exodus 13:3, 7,15). All yeast-based baked goods must be removed from the premise (Exodus 12:5) The burning of the chametz marks the symbolic division between chametz and matza, winter and spring, the evil inclination and the desire for purity.
The rabbi talked to us not only about physical leven, but other ways in which we are “puffed up” or living beyond our limitations…those things we need to rid ourselves of, relinquish, let go of, so that we might celebrate a kosher Pesach---or perhaps for us Christians—a holy Holy Week.
In what ways do you and I need to prepare for the journey to Jerusalem? How do we separate ourselves from our daily spiritual journey, Lenten journey into this holiest of weeks? What must we let go of and how can we be open to what God would do in us as we open to God’s amazing work?
We wrote down those things on a piece of paper along with leftover chametz. As the smoke rose we recited the ancient Hebrew prayer of preparation..
All chametz in my possession, whether I have seen it or
not and whether I removed it or not, shall be nullified
and be ownerless as the dust of the earth.
Let us use this week to prayerfully prepare. To clean our homes, our schedules and our hearts that we might enter next week ready to receive the mitzahs—blessings that G-d wishes to give us.
Julie
We gathered as women- not to do the Passover Sedar, but a preparation Sedar celebrating Miriam. We omitted some of prayers that would only be appropriate on Passover, but submitted powerful stories and prayers of the struggle of justice and liberation for Jewish women.
The evening began:
We have come here together to build something holy.
A Makom Kadosh, separate and apart.
We have come to rest, to sing, and tell stories.
We have come to learn, to teach, and to grow.
We bless this time with our presence.
We welcome G-d’s Presence into our midst.
Then after the traditional blessing of the light and lighting the Shabbat candles we proceeded with the “burning of the chametz”. Chametz is the Hebrew word for “leven.”
The Torah requires that chametz neither be eaten, nor seen, not even located in one’s house during Pesach/Passover (Exodus 13:3, 7,15). All yeast-based baked goods must be removed from the premise (Exodus 12:5) The burning of the chametz marks the symbolic division between chametz and matza, winter and spring, the evil inclination and the desire for purity.
The rabbi talked to us not only about physical leven, but other ways in which we are “puffed up” or living beyond our limitations…those things we need to rid ourselves of, relinquish, let go of, so that we might celebrate a kosher Pesach---or perhaps for us Christians—a holy Holy Week.
In what ways do you and I need to prepare for the journey to Jerusalem? How do we separate ourselves from our daily spiritual journey, Lenten journey into this holiest of weeks? What must we let go of and how can we be open to what God would do in us as we open to God’s amazing work?
We wrote down those things on a piece of paper along with leftover chametz. As the smoke rose we recited the ancient Hebrew prayer of preparation..
All chametz in my possession, whether I have seen it or
not and whether I removed it or not, shall be nullified
and be ownerless as the dust of the earth.
Let us use this week to prayerfully prepare. To clean our homes, our schedules and our hearts that we might enter next week ready to receive the mitzahs—blessings that G-d wishes to give us.
Julie
posted by Rick at 5:47 PM
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