Thank you for choosing to join me and artist Jacqueline Nicholls on this 40 day journey into a new year. I hope these reflections on the ripples of our being inspire private introspection and public conversation. Here’s today’s post:
Deprive: A fast day following four days of feasts is not a terrible idea. Not just for our bodies but also, and more so, for our mind and soul. Today’s Tzom Gedalia is as minor as Jewish fast days come, but perfectly placed for a proper cleanse and also – for practice. Yom Kippur, seven days away, is the fasting marathon and to truly take advantage of this embodied exercise of deprivation of body for the sake of soul, this training wheel has been added.
Fasting is about discipline, willpower, resolve. Mind over matter. So much of our health and so many of our diseases are nutrition based. I fast today to curb my appetite, more vigilant, more diligent about dietary attention. I fast to slow down the process for the sake of appreciation, balance, nourishing my body and challenging my mind with less mindless intake. I fast today for a much more present, grateful, graceful, healthier and toned self. This new day, kicking off the first week of this delicious new year.
– Rabbi Amichai
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Very excited for Lab/Shul’s fifth season of High Holy Days, back in Tribeca. We invite all ages to return to center, recharge soul, reclaim community and co-create our widening circles of care, compassion and justice.
