Our world is becoming an increasingly scary place.
We need to strengthen our resolve to seek tov, to seek goodness.
One way: seek peace by looking in each other's eyes.
Click here to listen to me preach about this man as I look into his eyes.
Picture this: In rabbinic times, after the destruction of the Temples, Jews lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In order to synchronize the calendars, long before Iphones or satellites, a rabbinic court in Jerusalem waited for two witnesses to come and testify that they had seen the New Moon crescent.
Upon hearing from each witness, the judges scrupulously compared their testimonies to make sure they were identical. Once the New Moon was confirmed, the news had to spread immediately to people living far and wide. How, you ask?
Bonfires. Want in? Click to learn more.
A quick shout out from my body to yours! Are you tired of sitting at your computer and thinking all day? Let’s shake it up and remember that we have legs, necks, bums and toes. The Hebrew word for body is goof. Even the word “goof” brings a smile. Click the video link above to hear more.
As I boarded the plane in Los Angeles to fly to Cape Town for the High Holy Days, I paused, touched the side of the open plane and said to myself, “b’yado afki ruchi,” in Your hand I place my spirit. This line from Adon Olam is my “all aboard” ritual and prayer.
A Rosh Hashana invites us to press reset. When the New Year begins its tempting to feel apathy upon arrival, disillusioned to begin again, fatigued by our futile resolutions made last year. That’s where community, ritual and a good kick in the tush can really count. Hope to hear from you! Where are you this year and where do you want to go?
Shalom, Rabbi, I have a question. Why is it that when I experience true beauty, a mama lion serenely cradling her cub, a cub fully vulnerable and relaxed into her mama’s embrace, do I experience a pain in my heart? I immediately feel a pain and a fear that someone will harm either of them or that bad things will happen to them? What in me needs healing to let go of this fear and despair that beauty is under attack, that vulnerability and love will be destroyed?
Dear Friends of the Moon,
We can run but we can’t hide, especially from our bodies.
I’ve always known that my body is my guide, my friend, my soul’s vehicle. Yet, sometimes, like all of us, I forget to take the best care of her. I over-do, over-committ, over-stretch and then, she chirps, “Yo, girl. Where are you going so darn fast?” Sometimes I listen and get an extra few hours of sleep. Sometimes I keep running.
Recently I made a big move up to LA for the year and wow, did my body have a lot to say. My body shouted, “Hey, honey! Time-out. Stop. Shingles.” Well actually my doctor said the shingles part. Luckily, mine are just the super itchy kind and for this I am very grateful.
And, I’m even more grateful for my precious body and powerful antivirals. Our bodies are so wise, so caring and so resilient. I am grateful my body is loud and clear about what she needs and deserves.
During this Hebrew month of Sivan, we celebrated Shavu’ot the holiday of receiving Torah, insight. In traditional thought the torah is a feminine noun, metaphorically a woman. Like our bodies, torah only reveals her secrets when she is sure she is truly loved.
So here’s to our bodies. Here’s to our listening, our loving and thereby our healing. May She who carries and holds, births and nurtures, be cared for, be savored, be loved. Here’s to our precious, wonder filled, miraculous bodies.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Dear Friends of the Moon,
For something to be born, something often dies. Perhaps the barn burns down and we can finally see the forest, or a love affair ceases and we find ourselves a new friend. Or the daffodils turn from cotton-candy pink to human-like tissue and we remember that a still life actually requires stillness.
What has been dying for you lately? What is in the process of being born? Do you know yet?
From the second night of Pesach, some Jews count. We count the Omer, sheaves of barley being harvested at this time in the Land of Israel, from the night of the second holiday till the holiday of Shavuot, when we receive Instruction, torah.
We count as we walk from the narrow to the wide, from serving Pharaoh to serving Source. Iyar is a bridge from the birth of Exodus to the betrothal of Sinai. In our Shawshank Redemption stumble we number our days, each day polishing our spirit, preparing our hearts for love.
During this Hebrew month of Iyar there is the unique possibility of detox, purification and refinement - HEALING. Iyar’s name, four tiny Hebrew letters, is found in the tail of a verse, Exodus 15:26, said on the other side of the Red Sea. May this verse, inspiring our Iyar prayer below, guide us in our walk towards love.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Dear Friends of the Moon,
Nisan, not the car, the Hebrew month is here. All around us Spring is propelling us outside. Bunnies are hopping; I have seen them and their fluffy tails. Trees are beginning to bud and burst, opening their leaves to petals of potential. In this new month, we Jews awaken to honor the holiday of Pesach or Passover.
Pesach, is about returning to our essence. Our unembellished, unmasked, raw, flattened sense of what is. Just like matzah we strip off the bling and the excess. We eliminate the fluff and come home to what is.
As a gift and a guide for Pesach and the evenings of Spring, I’ve created my first downloadable meditation offering called Rest & Expand.
To experience this 10 minute meditation, I suggest finding a comfortable place to sit or lie down and listen/watch here. Enjoy the sunset, the occasional pup bark or beach walker. Such are the sounds of beach life.
A few other Pesach resources and tools just for you.
As always, I’m grateful to those of you who share these RAS Notes with your friends, inviting folks to subscribe to receive their own salty-torah vlogs. Now folks who subscribe will receive this new meditation.
I’m loving working with you: some on upcoming spring Sacred-Making for a wedding in Marin and a special ritual for a baby girl in San Diego. To those of you in the process of Energy Packs with me, near and far, I’m honored to witness your zip increase. For those who I’ve had the privilege to pray and write a Blessing or Prayer for you, let me know about your practice. How are your blessings unfolding?
If you need something, even if it's not one of my current offerings, please reach out. I’d love to be of service and support on your path.
With Blessings for a Pesach of liberation,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Dear Friends of the Moon,
The Hebrew month of Tevet arrives December 9. In Tevet we experience the tail end of Hanukkah and the brightest of lights, glowing from our Hanukkiah. Over the eight days of Hanukkah we will have lite 36 candles (not counting the shamash, helper candle). 18 (chai) x 2 = 36. Double chai, double life. So what can we create with our one, powerful life?
The tikkun, access for healing this month, comes from anger. What is anger to you? We know anger can destroy and hurt, ourselves and others. With attention and practice can anger clarify, refine, power? For years I was terrified by anger, especially if it occurred like it was coming at me, exposing me to danger. These days, I try to feel it in me, let it surface with awareness and see if it just might illuminate a dark place ready to be transformed into light, heat or nothing. Nothing is the best.
Let me know if you'd like to schedule a complementary light-up call. These are 18-minute spiritual kindling calls to spark something bright in your life.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Dear Friends of the Moon,
Lately our Jewish people, and our world's people, have felt the onset of darkness: hate, violence and cruelty. But, darkness can also be creative, healing and frisky. What role does darkness play in your life, in your home, in your world?
In the Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 8a, our rabbis imagine the first earthling ever created, Adam. The identity of Adam is ungendered, plural, and stems organically from the Hebrew word for earth, adamah.
Adam, the only human in the world at the time, sits as the world grows darker and darker, colder and colder. Adam sits for what turns out to be eight days and fasts and mourns, implicated by the dark sky and hushed world.
At the end of these eight long, treacherous nights, there is solstice. Light dawns and the days become more luminous rather than looming. As the light increases, Adam celebrates with joy and dancing, eating latkes (oh wait, that came later) and for eight days Adam revels in the fresh light.
Adam, portrayed here in the Talmud, is organically connected with the cosmos. Adam’s experience is theurgic, connected like a pulse to the rhythm of light/the Divine in the world, turning or like a blossom turning towards the light, retreating in the night.
Can you imagine being so connected with the cosmos, like the pull of the moon on the tides? Especially when our world can feel armored and harsh, imagine for a moment being aligned with a deeper pulse, that your heart is tethered to the Heart of the Universe.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas about Kislev, which begins at sunset on November 9th. A reminder for all of us - Kislev contains the darkest days but also hints towards Spring fresh light.
Below you'll find tools to support you during Kislev.
Wishing you and yours, cozy nights and vivid days.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Dear Friends of the Moon,
We made it to the other side! After the soul turning, heart opening, mind bending calisthenics of the Jewish High Holidays, we met the month of Cheshvan, at sunset on October 9th. Cheshvan is empty of formal holidays. Whew.
To me, Cheshvan is a perfect time to simmer. We get to simmer in the gleanings of transformation - to integrate the growth from Rosh Hashana, the forgiveness of Yom Kippur, the gratitude of Sukkot.
What are you discovering? Tashlich, for me this year was profound. The personal/community pilgrimage to throw crumbs in the ocean is a ritual I'm still cultivating. These crumbs symbolize our regrets, mistakes, grievances and disappointments of the year behind us.
Since tashlich I'm still asking: How much can I let go of? What else can I shed to live lighter, softer, with more ease. When I take out the trash, do the dishes or smooth cream on my cheeks I bring my mind to this practice of tashlich, letting go. I'd love to hear a gleaning from the High Holidays that's still with (working on) you.
Blessings in the Sauce,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Video: Bigger Than Us. Not About Us. Get Off It. Lo Lanu Psalm 115
This Tishrei moon is actually one of our FOUR Jewish New Years. You thought eight nights of Hanukkah was a big deal, well, just imagine: we get four new beginnings! According to the Mishnah (1:1 Rosh Hashana), an early collection of Jewish law, we have four New Years:
The month of Tishrei (Sept.-Oct.) celebrates the creation of the world
The month of Shevat (Jan.-Feb.) is when we count the birthday cycle of the trees
The month of Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) marks our historic coming out from Egypt
And the month of Elul (Aug.-Sept.) is when we tithe our animals and anoint our kings.
Tishrei, beginning at sunset on Sept. 9 is about creation: we turn our Jewish calendar and connect with the rebirth of our world, both around us and within us.
Beginnings take courage. In Hebrew the word for courage is ometz - אומץ -sometimes called ometz lev or ometz ruach - אֹמֶץ לֵב or אֹמֶץ רוּחַ - a courageous heart or a courageous spirit. The same is familiar, the new is unknown, and unnatural. To start anew requires strength and courage. What gives me ometz lev אֹמֶץ לֵב a courageous heart is hope. I hope, as many of you know, that this year will be one in which my beloved finds me, I move closer to my heart’s path and my family stay healthy and connected.
Courage for me comes from hope, Tikvah.
Tikvah - תקווה The root of the tikvah is the same root as the word for mikvah, ritual bath, living waters. So, to bolster our spirits, I’ve invited my dear friend, mentor and health wizard, Dr. Petra Caruso, to teach us a hydrating tonic for Tishrei (check it out below!).
As we begin this New Year I join you in the project of mustering courage to begin anew and offer the practice of hope. Not passive hope in a sort of daydream/one day/someday sorta type of hope, but a getter-done, calendar in what matters most, dip into the pool type of hope and commitment to live into what’s possibile from hope.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Video: Preparing Our Hearts to Return - Soul Renewal for the New Year
Soon we will look to the sky and see an eyelash of a moon. The crescent that's coming belongs to the Hebrew month of Elul, beginning sundown Friday, August 10. An acrostic play of the famous phrase, often declared under a wedding canopy, ani l'dodi v'dodi li -
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:3).
Elul is the month of soul preparation in advance of the Jewish New Year, which starts with Rosh Hashana on September 10th. Rosh means head and Shana in Hebrew means cycle or repetition. One of the greatest of cycles is the flow, the river of learning and inspiration.
This Elul is dedicated to teachers and students. One cannot exist or expand without the other. Which are you? When are you?
May this Elul be one of preparing our hearts, opening them to learn and offering them to teach. Recognizing ourselves as students of teachers and teachers of students. May the cycle of this Elul moon be one of turning and returning - to study, to insight, to vision.
With Blessings,
Rabbi Alyson Solomon
Our world is becoming an increasingly scary place.
We need to strengthen our resolve to seek tov, to seek goodness.
One way: seek peace by looking in each other's eyes.
Click here to listen to me preach about this man as I look into his eyes.
