Tearing Up
by Dr. David Sanders “Tears are the evidence of our inner life overflowing its boundaries, spilling over into consciousness. Wordless and spontaneous, they release us to the possibility of realignment, reunion, catharsis, intractable resistance short-circuited.” The quote is from a photograph book of tears taken by Rose-Lynn Fisher (The Topography of Tears). It is […]
Time flies.
by Melanie Gruenwald At Kabbalah Experience’s Time and When are you? classes, we explore the concept of time as a construct. We agree we’ll meet at 3:30pm. Three-thirty of what? Mountain Time? Eastern time? It’s like saying, “I’ll meet you at the corner of Amsterdam and 189th.” Those streets were given names that way (by […]
It’s About Time
by Dr. David Sanders It’s about time. (For the first time, in a long time, I am teaching the course on the Kabbalah of Time. When I revisit a course, I want to update it). The last time I taught Time, Stephen Hawking was alive and his Brief History of Time was the classic in […]
Omer Reflections
by Melanie Gruenwald The period between Passover’s Second Seder and Shavuot is an auspicious time of counting for the Jewish people. We call this seven-week period, ‘Counting the Omer’ Kabbalists have connected this journey to a journey through the bottom seven sefirot- seven weeks, seven days in each week– seven sefirot informing each step of […]
Languages of Freedom
by Dr. David Sanders It surprises me whenever I ask a couple if they know their “love language” and I am met with a blank stare. It becomes a welcome opportunity for me to enumerate the languages, and for them, to share with each other what is their preferred way of showing and receiving love. […]
Nisan reflections
On March 22 at sunset, with the new moon, we mark the beginning of the Jewish month of Nisan. Rosh Hodesh Nisan Reflections A Poem by Melanie Gruenwald While we are planting seeds and sweeping corners liberation taunts the narrow thoughts that hold me back Burning the chametz that weighs me down […]
Pre-Tending
by Dr. David Sanders In her article, Many Masks, Many Selves, Professor Wendy Doniger relates the following: “When Ronald Reagan auditioned for the role of the President of the United States in the 1960 Broadway production of Gore Vidal’s play, The Best Man, about the presidential election, Vidal turned him down because he didn’t think […]
Celebrating our differences: Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM)
In February, we celebrate Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. (JDAIM). As the Executive Director of a forward-thinking organization, and having had a son with disabilities, I often feel like I know of what I speak. However, a well-meaning student highlighted ‘ableist’ language in a curriculum I shared, and it gave me pause. First, […]
Planting Hope
by Dr. David Sanders Carob is an acquired taste especially for a child. Every year, in the winter, on the holiday of Tu b’Shevat (Festival of New Trees) we were treated to raw carob. Most of my classmates after one bite promptly spit it out. After years of doing the same, I started to like […]
Kabbalah Experience Tu B’Shevat Seder
This Tu B’Shevat Seder, created by Dr. David Sanders, guides the reader with poetry, song, food, and reflections on the mystical four worlds, and how we traverse them. Tu B’Shevat is one of the four new years on the Jewish calendar, celebrating the birthday of the trees. It often falls in Jan/ Feb, when the […]