As I abide in the shade of Shaddai, I feel Your sheltering Presence. There is a chant in psalm 91 for walking to the grave where El Shaddai provides a canopy of protection, but there is no joy here in the fire of Av in the narrows of constriction. I can barely breathe. But I can hear Hashkiveinu as a lullaby softening my existential cries. Listen with curiosity and awe listen as if a new organ of hearing had been planted inside this spiral of flesh gifting me with song, manna for my soul....

How good it is to see the light of a new day To witness the separation of darkness from light To give thanks every morning for all the wonders of Bereshit the Infinite One has stretched forth the earth upon the waters, brought order out of chaos. we acknowledge every act of creation as miraculous. Uttered by the lips of one sent to curse us, we sing mah tovu as part of our morning blessings “How goodly are your tents” Yes, our encampment is a place of holiness inside ourselves and within our...

We prepared for Pesach by searching for the chametz and purifying ourselves of all that does not serve us. But now we engage in a singular ritual of counting the omer. There is nothing else like it in the Hebrew calendar. Each day of counting is the dawn of a new pairing of the Sephirot, the divine emanations. We immerse ourselves in that fresh conjunction of qualities at every sundown, trusting what unfolds. We say Hineni in our opening blessing and then the brucha for counting the omer....