S.5 #18 | Jewish Embodiment

In this episode, I recount my experience of Havdalah with PJ Library. I enjoyed this restorative evening designed for mothers to explore Jewish embodiment, which would help us to more fully align our actions with our intentions, better understand ourselves and others, and build communities of wholeness and belonging. The movement program was led by the creator of the Mitsui method, who explained to us that Jewish Embodiment is both rooted in and an expression of Jewish wisdom, identity, spirituality, culture, and values. Following the physical exercises, the restorative practice included breathwork, songs, prayers and the actual ritual of Havdalah that includes lighting candles, drinking wine and smelling spices to symbolically uplift our spirits and transition from the sanctity of Shabbat to the workweek.

Mentions:

PJ Library -  https://pjlibrary.org/home\

Mitsui Collective - https://www.mitsuicollective.org/

Poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Transcript

I don’t know if you are familiar with PJ Library. It’s an organization that helps people connect to Jewish values, traditions, and culture, and at the same time they help build stronger Jewish communities. They send free books to families with kids ages birth to twelve, so when my first child was born, I signed up and we have been receiving books for seven years now. The books are truly outstanding. They always carry deep Jewish messages and important life lessons, and they help spark conversations that inspire our family to explore and celebrate what we love about Jewish life. Besides the free books, the local chapter of PJLibrary provides many opportunities for families to experience Jewish customs and traditions, such as community celebrations of holidays, innovative programs for kids and adults, and they even sponsor families to organize shabbat dinners at home with friends. We’ve attended a few of these events with our kids, but last month I received an invitation for a mom’s night out, which sounded really wonderful. This is only the second time that PJ Library organized something in our region that’s for adults and specifically for moms. The event was titled “Havdalah Unplugged: A restorative evening with PJ Library”. In case you are not familiar with Havdalah, it is a Jewish ritual performed on Saturday night to mark the end of Shabbat and the transition to the new week. The event was scheduled for 7pm on a Saturday, and besides that there was not a whole lot of information on what to expect, except for to dress comfortably for light movement and that there would be snacks and wine. I didn’t want to go alone, I can be shy sometimes, so I invited a friend of mine. When we got there, and were greeted by the organizers, I immediately recognized one of the moms because her daughters go to the same preschool as my daughter, at our synagogue. I had no idea that she was involved with PJLibrary, so that was a pleasant surprise. There was a table set up full of healthy snacks like veggies and hummus and also wine. There were candles lit to create a relaxing evening ambience and some pleasant music playing in the background. The first thing that we were asked to do was to make a little sachet with the provided spices. The reason we include spices in the Havdalah ceremony is to symbolically uplift our spirits and transition from the sanctity of Shabbat to the workweek. The spices, known as "besamim" in Hebrew, are believed to help us appreciate the "extra soul"  that we received during Shabbat. This act of smelling spices is seen as a way to "restore the soul" and prepare for the responsibilities of the upcoming week. If you’re curious to see what the spices look like and what we do with them, check out my photo and video report of the event on Instagram or TikTok. So there was a variety of spices that included cloves, cinnamon,  and cardamom, and we could pick and choose what we put in our sachets to smell throughout the evening. 

After that we were ready to begin the movement part of the program. To lead the following exercises, PJ Library invited Yoshi Silverstein - Creator of the Mitsui Method system of Jewish embodiment. Yoshi is a multidisciplinary practitioner of embodied creative and spiritual expression, and he introduced us to the concept of Jewish embodiment, which was completely new to me. He explained that embodiment is our way of being.  It’s how we are formed, how we move through the world, and what we express through our actions and behaviors. Jewish Embodiment is both rooted in and an expression of Jewish wisdom, identity, spirituality, culture, and values. The work of Jewish Embodiment helps us to more fully align our actions with our intentions, to better understand ourselves and others, and to build communities of wholeness and belonging. When I heard that, I thought to myself, this is absolutely perfect for me and I couldn’t wait to see what he had in store for us. I must admit, when I first saw Yoshi, I was a bit confused as to his nationality and relation to Judaism. I know I shouldn’t think in stereotypes, but he didn’t look Jewish at all! As soon as we did introductions, though, he clarified that he is a Chinese-Ashkenazi-American Jew, and that it all made sense. To be honest, I am not used to seeing Jews of different skin colors and face features. This is because throughout my life I have been mostly surrounded by Ashkenazi jews that are fair-skinned and have curly hairy. So yes, it was surprising to see Yoshi with his darker skin complexion, straight black hair and slightly slanted eyes. 

The first partner exercise he had us do was to drop a tennis ball and have the other person catch it. It started out simple but as we progressed, Yoshi would have us add different elements of surprise to the exercise that tested our concentration and hand and eye coordination. This practice was meant to aid in the exploration of the physical sensations of our bodies through movement and in order to cultivate awareness. My friend and I had a ton of fun with this exercise, laughing and joking and being silly. It’s to let your inner child out sometimes, you know. In this safe, judgement -free zone we were encouraged to let go of our roles as caretakers and spend this hour or two letting loose and doing something meaningful for our physical, emotional and spiritual health. The next exercise was a sort of dance practice. When Yoshi asked everyone who in the room is a dancer, I quickly raised my hand nice and tall because I am a professional dancer and I thought “I’ve got this in the bag”! But I soon learned that this exercise was not as easy as it seemed. At this point, we switched partners and we took turns telling each other which part of the body we were to move. For example, we could tell our partner to move the arms but keep everything else still, or move the spine including the head, or we could move just the legs. There was some music playing in the background and my partner started giving me these commands, and I realized that I am not used to moving in this way at all. I found myself bent into funny shapes and having to really be present and think about which part of my body was moving and which was staying still. Being a ballroom dancer, I am used to dancing in a very upright position, moving my body in very specific, coordinated movements according to a book, seriously. And in this exercise, I had complete freedom to explore the way my body can move to music. Once we were allowed by Yoshi to move all our body parts at once, I found this exercise to be very freeing. I felt like one of those modern or lyrical dancers, where it seems that there are no rules to moving the body. Again, in ballroom dancing it is all about rules, and while I enjoy ballroom very much, I have to say this type of free movement really helped me explore who I am and what all I can do with my body. This, of course, is symbolic of my letting myself show my true self without having to worry about opinions or criticisms of others. 

Once we finished this exercise, it was time for the actual Havdalah ritual. We sat down on chairs in a semi-circle facing a sort of altar if you will - a low table with candles, wine and a Himalayan Salt lamp. Yoshi started us off with some breathwork. This part really reminded me of yoga practice, especially when he began using a singing bowl to guide us through the exercise. He asked us to close our eyes and try box breathing, also known as square breathing. It’s a breathing technique where you inhale for a certain count, hold for that count, exhale for that count, and hold again for that count, repeating the cycle. This technique can help to regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, and improve focus. Yoshi’s version was slightly different in that he had us start with breathing and holding for one count, after a little while we moved on two two counts, then three, and so on until we reached the count seven. Seven is a very symbolic number in Judaism as it represents the seven days of creation, Sabbath which is observed on the seventh day of the week, the seven-day period of mourning after death, and seven major holidays, just to name a few.

After we finished this mediation of sorts, Yoshi took out a small guitar and led us in several songs and blessings in Hebrew. We were reminded that we are given an extra soul during Shabbat, and at Havdalah we relinquish that extra soul, with the hope that the sweetness and holiness of the day will remain with us throughout the coming week. We took a cup of wine, some spices and a beautiful braided Havdalah candle, and we sang or recited the blessings. By the way, a braided candle, with typically three wicks, symbolizes the diversity of the Jewish people -woven together in unity, strength and love.

The blessings talk about distinctions between the holy and the everyday, between light and darkness, between the people Israel and the other peoples of the earth, and between the seventh day of rest and the six days of work. The blessing over the wine is a symbol of joy. To sanctify the moment, we sniffed the spices to carry the sweet spice of Shabbat into the week. Something that was very new to me was using the light of the candle to make shadows on our hands; we looked at our fingernails and palms in the light with our hands palms-up, making finger-shadows on our hands. This is done to display the distinction between light and darkness. Afterwards, the women that were holding the candles took them and dipped them fire side down into the wine, extinguishing the flames with a rather loud hissing sound that everyone apparently really enjoys. This custom is not Jewish law, not a requirement, but it is widely practiced to add to the meaning and symbolism of the Havdalah ritual. 

And that was it! Everyone really enjoyed the evening and I felt very inspired, as I do after such events. So, If you have kids and are not familiar with PJ LIbrary, I urge you to look them up. The program is available in many communities across North America and in over 40 countries worldwide! If you’re local to Cleveland, I also recommend looking up Mitsui Collective that cultivates pathways to Jewish embodiment. You will find links to both in the description of the episode. 

Thank you for tuning in! I will leave you today with a poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat called  “Distinctions: a poem for Havdalah”. ENjoy and until next time.

In the end we're like children:

we thrive on distinctions

between me and you, us and them.

Made in Your image

we separate light from darkness,

family from stranger, weekday

from that fleeting taste of Paradise.

Wax drips from the braided candle.

Cinnamon tingles the nose

to keep us from fainting

as the extra soul departs.

Stop now. Notice this hinge

between Shabbat

and what's next.

Plunge the candle into the wine

but don't cry: even without a flame

our light still shines. This

is our inheritance, better than rubies.

And now it's Saturday night, the cusp

of a new beginning, another day.

 https://pjlibrary.org/home

https://www.mitsuicollective.org/

Poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat