A Night Meditation

by  Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

וּמְסַדֵּר אֶת הַכּוֹכָבִים בְּמִשְׁמְרוֹתֵיהֶם בָּרָקִֽיעַ כִּרְצוֹנוֹ.

[G!d] arranges the stars in their heavenly courses according to Divine will.

Evening liturgy

 וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם 
G!d took him outside and said,
"Look out at the sky and count the stars,
if you can count them."

Genesis 15:5

Let G!d take you outside
at night.

Gaze outward at the sky
gaze 
and gaze.
Experience the stars
flecks of light against the dark night.

Breathe in
breathe out
and let yourself be.

Pick a star
any star
focus your gaze
on a single point of sky.

Reach deeper
beyond that star
beyond that point
far into the distance
to the next 2000 galaxies
outside our own.

Breathe in
breathe out
and let yourself be.

As you can
allow your heart 
and your soul 
to sense that vastness.

Breathe in
breathe out
and let yourself be.

Maintain your focus
hold that pinpoint in the sky
and those 2000 galaxies.

Hold the space.
Hold the place.
Hold the time.

Breathe in 
deeply, 
breathe out
allow your heart 
to hold it all
for a quiet 
moment.

When you are ready
take a risk.
Widen your vision
to the neighboring stars,
then to their neighbors,
and theirs,
slowly
very slowly
and then to their neighbors,
gradually
until you hold 
the entire sky 
in your gaze.

Breathe in
breathe out
let yourself be.

Gently
star by star
absorb awareness
of the Universe,
its hundreds 
of billions (1) 
of galaxies
all filled with stars.
Slowly
star by star
allow yourself
to begin to fathom
the significance 
of perhaps
70 thousand 
million 
million 
million 
stars. (2)  

Breathe in
breathe out
let yourself be.

Each morning we say
מָה אֲנַֽחְנוּ
What are we?

The Psalmist asks
מָֽה־אֱ֭נוֹשׁ כִּֽי־תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ
What are mortals 
that you are mindful of them? (Ps. 8:4)

Take it slowly.

Breathe in
breathe out
let yourself be.

Consider.
What are YOU
in this
Universe?

Breathe in
breathe out
let yourself be.

(1) http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/06/500-billion-a-universe-of-galaxies-some-older-than-milky-way.html
(2) http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/galaxies


Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in 2005. 

Blessing: To You

by Judith Felsen

To you who have not known the velvet blackness of a moonless starry night,

who have not tasted wild water and quenched your thirst in the brooks of our wildernesses,

who have not heard the profundity of windless silence in the woods and on the meadows,

who have not sought shelter under the canopy only of our forests,

who have not played in the gardens of our wildflowers growing madly in impoverished  soils,

who have scoffed our culture and denied our values,

who have scolded our schools and demeaned our institutes of greater learning,

who have bemoaned our loneliness and screamed at our alienation,

who have combated our negligence and cried out for our abuses,

who have cradled our animals and protected our innocents,

who have wandered lost and aimlessly through years that might otherwise have been abundant.

To you I wish that the magic of nature soothe your mind as the rains water your soul,

that the madness of ferocious lightning illuminates your essence and kindles your heart,

that the wisdom of the equine kingdom penetrates your senses,

that the hills support you, the trails guide you and the moon, sun and stars light your path.

May you be blessed in the presence of wildness, free, and released in the spirit of the natural world.

May you find your wise woman in the call of the world around you.

May you bring her home and keep her with you forever, always to journey in joy, light and peace.

May the forest enter your heart and never leave.

Copyright 2015  Judith Felsen, Ph.D.

Judith Felsen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, certificates in hypnotherapy, NLP, Eriksonian Hypnosis, and Sacred Plant Medicine. She is a dancer of sacred circle dance, an AMC kitchen crew, trail information volunteer, trail adopter, and daily student of Torah and Judaism. She is enrolled in Rabbinical Seminary International. She has studied Buddhism, A Course in Miracles, and other mystical traditions. She is a hiker, walker, runner, and lives in the White Mountains with her husband and two large dogs. Her life centers around her Jewish studies and daily application.

Asher Yatzar - A Meditation

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Often we want to focus on how we are connected to everything else in the Universe, and I write about that frequently, for we are just one tiny part of G!d’s infinite Creation. The Asher Yatzar blessing, however, with its focus on our physical being, offers the opportunity to explore the boundaries and the differences between us and all that is beyond our skin, which can, paradoxically, bring us to greater understanding of our connections. 

The blessing begins with these words:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה, וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים, חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים.

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'olam, asher yatzar et ha'adam be'chochma, u'vara vo ne'kavim ve'kavim, chalulim chalulim.

Blessed are You, Hashem/Adonai/Holy One/Mysterious One, our G!d, King/Ruler/Sovereign/Amazing One/Source of All of the universe, Who fashioned humans with wisdom and created within humans many openings - for each physical opening a spiritual opening - and many hollows - for each physical hollow a spiritual hollow.

It is traditional to recite these words and the remainder of this blessing after washing our hands after using the bathroom. The idea is to stop. To take a moment to acknowledge our physicality. To take a moment to let G!d into our lives, into our very physical beings. To acknowledge the wonder and blessing of our functioning bodies.

I offer this meditation to be used together with these words; sometimes there is more than one option of how to translate a word - I invite you to take your pick.

Meditation on First Line of Asher Yatzar

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'olam... 

Blessed are You, 

Hashem / Adonai / Holy One/Mysterious One, 

our G!d, 

King / Ruler / Sovereign / Amazing One / Source of All 

of the universe...

As you recite these words, envision the entire Earth, the entire Cosmos, and feel the energy that surrounds it and flows through it.

...אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה...

...Asher yatzar et ha'adam be'chochma...

...Who fashioned humans with wisdom...

With your eyes open, focus on what is before you. You may gaze out the window at the more-than-human world or to focus on some item, any thing, that appears in front of you. As you fix your eyes upon the view before you, feel in your heart how you are different from this object or group of items.

...וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים, חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. 

...u'vara vo ne'kavim ve'kavim, chalulim chalulim. 

...and created within him / her 

many openings, 

for each physical opening a spiritual opening, 

and many hollows, 

for each physical hollow a spiritual hollow.

As you recite these words, focus first on your lower body and legs and feel the flow - of blood, of energy, of life - that flows thorough the openings and hollows of your body; then focus on your upper body and arms and again notice and feel and be aware of all that flows in rhythm and well-being through your body.

When you are ready, continue on with your day.


May we grow healthier in body and spirit with each blessing; may we grow in understanding of the special gifts we each hold within us; may we recognize our connections to all the Universe, may we understand our responsibilities to ourselves and to all that surrounds us.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in 2005.  

In Memory of a Very Special Family Feline

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

My mother's last cat - of many, many cats throughout her life - was named Octavio Paws. Yes, you read correctly. This black cat was named after Octavio Paz, the Nobel-prize-winning Mexican poet.

Octavio Paws entered our mother's life while she was still living in her own home and while she also still had a dog. The dog and cat became good friends, and Paws and Ginger and Mary would settle in together on the couch in the evenings and on cold winter nights, keeping each other company. Paws enjoyed wandering in the garden and beyond, through the small town in Southwestern Wisconsin where they all lived together. 

Paws and Ginger were very solicitous of Mary, and gave her extra attention and love and comfort when she was ill and when she was laid up with a bad leg. They were mainstays in her life, providing emotional and spiritual support to her as she aged.

And then one day, Mary had to leave her home and move into an apartment in elderly housing in Madison. A new home was found for Ginger, but Paws was able to come along to the new home.

Paws spent the first 24 hours or more in his new, and much smaller, abode yowling. He was not happy.

But with time, Paws adjusted to being an indoor cat. He settled in. And over the years, as our mother's health and mental status declined, the importance of Paws in her life grew. The two had very real conversations together. Paws was our mother's confidante, her go-to "person" for questions both large and small - especially in the middle of the night, and he was her constant companion. They discussed what to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and all the other details of daily living, as well as the more profound philosophical questions of life and death and aging and everything else.

This was not, I assure you, an abrupt change for our mother - and no one in the family batted an eyelash. Every cat and dog that lived with my mother held an important place in her heart and in her life. She talked to all of them as equals. They were part of her life and her family.

As our mother aged, I worried. What would happen if Paws died before she did? I couldn't bear the thought.

But it didn't happen that way. Our mother died in her bed at night, and Paws was found curled up beside her in the morning.

At first, my brothers and I didn't know what to do with Paws. A friend, who had cared for Paws when Mary had been in the hospital,was a likely person.

But then my teenage nephew arrived for the memorial service, and in no uncertain terms he told his parents that they were taking Paws back to New Hampshire to live with them.

And bless them, they did.

Paws lived out his years in the country, learning again to be an outdoor cat but to come in at night when the coyotes might be out. He stayed close to home, but loved to wander near by, and he came in when called.

More than once reports from my brother sounded as though Paws' life was coming to a close. But this little black cat kept on going and going.

He kept going until two nights ago when that familiar yowl was unexpectedly heard, the yowl that also meant, "I've brought you something to see," after catching a mouse or other small animal.

But this was Paws' last time to yowl. Soon after, held by my brother and sister-in-law and nephew, Octavio Paws breathed his last breathe and went to join his mother in the place where cats and their owners meet again.

Paws will never be forgotten. He will be remembered for his yowl, and he will be remembered for being a people-loving cat. He will be remembered for his gentle spirit. He will be remembered for accompanying our mother through her declining years. And he will be remembered for modeling resiliency, for adapting - after a few yowls - to all that life dealt him. He will be remembered because he was loved, so deeply and so unconditionally, by so many people, most of all, by our mother.

Thank you Paws, for being part of her life, and part of ours.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in 2005. 

With All Your Heart

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

After reciting the Shema - the statement of G!d's onenesss - in the morning and in the evening, we continue with additional verses, beginning with:

 וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת ה' אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָֽבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ:

V’ahavta et Adonai elohecha b’chol l’vav’cha uv’chol naf’sh’cha uv’chol m’odecha. 

This verse (Deut. 6:5) is commonly translated as: And you shall love the Lord your G!d  with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

What does this really mean? I invite you to journey with me, as we look a little more closely at some potential meanings of the key words here.

L'vav'cha – This is the word layvav with the suffix meaning “your” (which each of the three key words here have). In the Biblical dictionary (Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament), layvav can mean: inner person, mind, will, heart, soul, memory, determination of the will, conscience, and seat of emotions and passions, as well as seat of courage.

Nefesh – This word also has numerous meanings, including: that which breathes (due to G!d breathing into the nostrils), breathing being, soul, inner being of human, a living being whose life resides in the blood, human self, self, seat of the appetites, seat of emotions and passions, and breath.

Me'od – This word connotes muchness or abundance, and can mean force, might, exceedingly, greatly, or very.

Clearly, many possible options exist as to how to translate this verse, and scholars attribute certain meanings to the context here.

But let's go a bit further and consider some of the meanings the ancient sages deciphered from this verse:

Onkolos, who translated the Torah into Aramaic in Roman times, provides this meaning: 

And you shall love YHVH your G!d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your wealth.

From the Babylonian Talmud (Pesachim 25a) we learn: 

Rabbi Eliezer says: "Since it is said (Deuteronomy 6:5) [You shall love your G!d] with all your soul, why is added, With all thy wealth? And since it is said, With all your wealth, why is also added, With all your soul? This is to teach us that in case there is a person who loves himself more than his wealth, for him it is said, With all your soul. And if there is a person who loves his wealth more than himself, for him it is said, With all your wealth.

And in Berachot 54a of the Talmud we learn: 

..."with all your heart," i.e. with your two impulses, with the good and the evil impulse...

..."with all your soul," i.e. even if He takes your soul; "with all your might," i.e. with all your wealth.... 

..."with all your might [meodeka]" — with whatever measure [middah] He metes out to you, you return to Him thanks [modeh].

And from the Medieval period, we learn more, the first two from commentaries on the Torah, and the third from a code of law.

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachmanides (Ramban): 

Bechol levavcha....is the force that desires...bechol nafshecha...is [the organ that] reasons...

Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir (Rashbam): 

While alive you are to love G!d with all your heart, if your faith and love for G!d is put to the test of your having to choose it over your very survival, you must choose the former.

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides (Rambam): 

What is the appropriate Love? It is that a person should love G!d with a great and very excessive love, until his soul is bound up in love of G!d and he focuses on it constantly as if he were lovesick ...love of G!d should be in their hearts constantly... (Mishneh Torah, Repentance 10:3)

We could go still further of course. But based on all of this, I would like to suggest the following meditation:

V'ahav'ta et Adonai elohecha - You shall love the Mysterious One your G!d...

B'chol l'vav'cha - with all your heart; with all your love, your desire, your compassion, cleave to G!d. 

Close your eyes and focus your attention on your heart. Bring all of your senses, bring all of your body and your mind into focusing on your heart. Feel your heart growing and filling a larger space. Maintain your focus on your heart and a sense of G!d's presence in your heart.

U'v'chol nafshecha – with all your soul, your breath, your physicality. 

Maintain your focus on your heart, but now, feel your heart breathing. Keep your breaths even and regular, but feel how they begin and end in your heart. Keep breathing gently, in and out, to and from your heart. Be aware of the significance of your breaths.

U'v'chol me'odecha – with your full being, with all that you are and all that you can be.

Continuing to breath regularly, now consider something or someone or some activity you love very much, an image that fills you with a sense of well-being; allow this feeling to fill and overflow your heart. Feel the sense of abundance expanding outward from your heart.

V’ahavta et Adonai elohecha b’chol l’vav’cha uv’chol naf’sh’cha uv’chol m’odecha. 

These words...shall be upon your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall speak of them when you are sitting in your house, and when are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deut. 6:6-7)

May it be that all that you have experienced here shall remain in your heart, and that you will spread these good and powerful feelings with diligence to your children and to all those around you, at all times, whether you are at home or at work or with friends, when you retire for the night, and when you arise again the next day, may your heart focus, your heart breathing, and our heart feeling never depart from your heart.

*This meditation is adapted from the Quick Coherence® Technique for Adults developed by the HeartMath Institute, which I first read about in Teaching as if Life Matters, by Christopher Uhl.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in 2005. 

What Did YOU Do?

I offer here the oral testimony I gave today at the Massachusetts State House on Sen. Barrett’s carbon pricing bill, S. 1747, An Act combating climate change before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy. --KZA

The time is 50 years hence,

and this story is told –-

you are old and your hair is gray .

Children gather at your feet.

They ask,

Wise One, Ancient One –

we have heard of a time

when the inhabitants of the Earth

became aware

that time was limited,

that little time remained

to save the Earth,

to save the people

and the plants

and the animals.

Wise One, Ancient One,

we have heard it said that the Earth cried out,

and people heard that cry,

they heard it from the oceans

and from the mountaintops and the glaciers,

from the rivers and the lakes,

the trees and the coral reefs;

they heard it from the butterflies and the bees,

from the babies and the children,

the poor and the orphans,

and the widows and the strangers.

People heard the Earth crying out,

saying:

The time is short,

the danger is real.

Save us now.

Save us now.

Wise One, Ancient One,

we have heard of this time long ago

and we want to know –

What did you do?

How did YOU help to save our world?

Tell us, please tell us.

How did YOU help to save our world?

And you will fall silent and look at their eager questioning faces, and you will answer them.

And so today, I ask you,

What will YOU say to those young people?

Jewish tradition teaches us to love G!d with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might. To paraphrase we can understand this to mean that we are to love all of Creation will all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might.

You, our leaders, can support carbon pricing because it makes economic sense.

You can support carbon pricing to continue our state’s leadership in moving our country away from fossil fuels.

You can support carbon pricing because it will provide economic justice.

AND

You can support carbon pricing because it is the right and the moral thing to do.

You can support carbon pricing so that 50 years from now, when you are old and gray, when children yet to be born ask about the time when the Earth cried out, you will be able to say:

Listen, and I will tell you a story – this is how I showed that I love the Earth and all it contains with all my heart, and all my soul, and all my might. Listen, and I will tell you, this is what I did to help save the Earth.

© 2015 Katy Z. Allen All rights reserved.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion. 

Melech Ha'Olam - King of the Universe

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

I've been thinking a lot about the word melech, so common in our Jewish prayers. G!d is described in our blessing formula as melech ha'olam, literally, as “King of the World” or of the Universe.

I have long found the concept of King to have little meaning for me in terms of my prayer life, and I know many others who feel the same way. Often translations try to soften the negative impact while maintaining the true meaning of the word by using English words such as “Ruler” or “Sovereign”. These, too, do not mean a lot to me. Especially not in the context of prayer.

Recently I decided to confront my smoldering discomfort head on. I began to search. I looked up melech in one dictionary, and then in another and another. I checked multiple dictionaries from different time periods in the development of the Hebrew language. I checked Biblical, post-Biblical, and modern dictionaries, as well as in an etymological dictionary. I also looked in an English dictionary, learning more about the specific meaning of Sovereign.

My research proved instructive.

The word melech has the connotation of supreme power. A melech rules alone, and the role is inherited. There is no democratic procedure involved.

From the etymological dictionary I learned that there are two different 3-letter Hebrew roots for melech. One has the meanings so far discussed. The other has the meaning of “counselor.”

Taken all together, these various meanings began to make sense of the word melech for me.

G!d as a supreme power. G!d as the only one with that supreme power. Nobody choosing which god will be G!d – G!d just is. G!d as my counselor, the one who guides me.

All of this fits with my understanding and experience of G!d. I have never liked to say what G!d is. I find that impossible to do, and I tend to feel that trying to explain G!d automatically diminishes G!d, for our words cannot begin to express what is so vast and yet so tiny, both through space and through time. Yet, in my heart and soul, I know that G!d's presence is hovering within me and around me. And with these new understandings of the word melech, I also envision G!d – melech ha'olam, King of the Universe – hovering, encircling, holding the entire Earth, the entire Universe.

Strengthened by new understanding, a deeper meaning now resonates: Melech Ha'Olam – the one and only Source of all that is, encompassing time and space, present because, just because, there for me to tap into in order to find strength and compassion and wisdom and healing and courage.

This description of G!d works for me and has meaning for me. It allows me to open up my heart to formerly problematic words, melech ha'olam, and to embrace them as a rich addition to my prayer life.

I'm glad I took the time to check it all out.

© 2015 Katy Z. Allen All rights reserved.
Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion. 

Reclaiming Morning Blessings

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Prayer is so simple. And prayer is so complicated.

Originally, the Jewish morning blessings were said only at home. In addition, each one was connected to an action. The Talmud outlines for us what morning activity connects to each blessing. For example: 

When opening one's eyes, one should say: 'Blessed is the One who opens the eyes of the blind'. When stretching and sitting up, one should say: 'Blessed is the One who loosens the bound'. When dressing, one should say: 'Blessed is the One who clothes the naked'.

It is all spelled out for us - a ritual of getting up and getting ready for the day that connects each action we take to a specific blessing.

That is not how most of us experience these blessings today. We are more likely to hear them read or chanted, in English or in Hebrew, one after the other with no chance to stop and consider what they really mean. In some services, they may not be included at all.

Prayer is so personal. And we can say very personal prayers, the prayers of our heart, in own words, which can be incredibly powerful and meaningful to us. But we also have a traditional matbeah, or order of service, a fixed liturgy that we recite day in and day out. It can be easy among all these words - which may feel either foreign and unfamiliar or so familiar that we can recite them in our sleep - it can be easy to lose the connection between the prayer and our heart and soul. It can be easy to say words and not really take them in.

Yet these traditional words are powerful. They connect us through space and time to Jews around the world and from generations gone by. The power of saying the same words our ancestors prayed, the same words that Jews from Mexico City to Tel Aviv to Mumbai are reciting holds special meaning. There is also power in the words themselves, when we take the time to slowly let them sink in. When we take the time to open our hearts to them. When we move past the ancient language, with its gender specificity, to the deep meaning in the words.

When we do that, we can have both - both traditional and personal, together in one.

With the morning blessings, I would like to suggest an alternative to the two options described above, an alternative that can bring new meaning to the words and to the act of praying them. I would like to suggest that we reclaim these blessings as a home ritual, a meditative practice for preparing for the day, and that we connect each blessing to our routine at the point that has meaning for us.

I have integrated some, but not all of the blessings into my personal routine. Here are a few of the ones I use, and how I connect them, in the order they are in my day, not the traditional order in the siddur (prayerbook):

Blessed are you Adonai our God, ruler of the universe...

Before taking my pills: ...healer of all flesh and doer of wonders. 

Before acknowledging the Chai on a chain around my neck: ...who made me of the people Israel. 

Before putting on a neck scarf, with its connection to my mother: ...who clothes the naked. 

Before putting on my glasses: ...who makes the blind to see. 

After stepping outside: ...who gives the bird of dawn discernment to distinguish day from night. 

I have found it important to not do anything when I say these words, but to stop and to feel the words move through my body and settle in my heart. When I do this, the words have meaning in my soul. They become a prayer. They change me. They settle me. They are powerful. And I know not just in my head, but also in all of my body and all of my soul, that I am connecting across space and time to other bodies and other souls, and to That Which Is Greater than Any of Us.

I invite you to try it out. Take a look.* See what works for you. Make the morning blessings your own. After all, they are not just mine, or someone else's. They are yours. 
Prayer is so complicated. But prayer is so simple.


© 2015 Katy Z. Allen All rights reserved.

*You can find a Reform siddur with transliterations, here.
*You can find a traditional orthodox siddur with transliterations and translations here. 

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion. 

Diary from Washington DC

We share these notes from Dr. Thea Iberall, reflections on her time in Washington DC during the Pope's visit and over Yom Kippur. -- KZA

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

8:30 AM

It was trying to get to the Logan Express. Last minute things to pack, traffic delays. The most important thing was to figure out goals for the trip. Plus make sure I'll be warm enough, cool enough, covered enough, safe enough. It'll be a magnet for terrorist attacks but I can’t think about that. I'm going to be with peaceful people on the Jewish holiest day of the year and then a peace vigil with monks. My goal is to discover why I was drawn to this gathering. The Pope has distilled a message of moral action at a time when there is no time for anything but. I embrace it.

The sky is gray-streaked. They say this is how it will be for the next 1000 years. Will our great-great-grandchildren curse us for our excesses? I've stood on the ancient ruins of vast civilizations. Did the Romans know they were dying as they raised their glasses of leaded clay? Could they imagine a world without their way of life? Can we?

6:00PM
I am in Washington, DC. I stand in front of the Vietnam war memorial. My generation fought this war, the boys I went to high school with died in it, their names on these walls. Walking here, I passed the US Institute of Peace. Someone tells me it's a new building. In this city, our wars are conceived and plotted out next to this institute of peace while the slain and the distracted look on. It looks a bit ephemeral.

Then I walk to the Lincoln memorial and stand below Daniel Chester French's magnificent statue of Lincoln. I remember the article I read by Garry Wills on "The Words That Remade History", how in the Gettysburg address, Lincoln did a sleight of hand that remade the constitution.

6:30PM
Jews in white clothes gather on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking out over the reflecting pool. The Washington Monument is lit by the setting sun and reflected perfectly in the water. I help hand out prayers and cards to the gathering participants. They are from Washington, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts. A clarinetist plays, he's got a purple tie and purple shirt in. Two women Rabbis lead the service. The sound system doesn’t work but it doesn’t matter. It’s nothing but amazing to be sitting here with 200 Jews from around the country on the holiest day of the year because a Catholic pope is in town and he has something to say about climate justice. The sun sets, the moon tries to be visible. A line of bicyclists goes by.

Rabbi Mordecai gives a sermon, reminding us it's the fall equinox. He has a reading light attached to the portable lectern. He reminds us that the Capitol building was erected on the bones of Native Americans, that this is Piscataway land that our nation stole from them. He talks of other bad things we have done. These are some of the sins we atone for on this holiday. He says we can't give up on democracy even if it has fostered a system with inequality and separateness. He says science and spiritual wisdom teach us connectedness, that everything exists in relationship to something. Atonement is noticing effect on others and not repeating it. To be at one-ment. He quotes Pope Francis about turning the negative things happening in the world into our own suffering. He quotes Thich Nhat Hanh who said we need to hear within ourselves the sounds of the earth crying. Feeling the pain of the world is a measure of our humanity. He offers Joanna Macy's suggestions for not being overwhelmed, and he says hundreds of thousands of groups are working towards the good with 25,000 churches, synagogues, and mosques doing grassroots efforts.

We sing more and then 9 people get up to read what we have written on the cards. "For the harm, the hurt and the damage we have caused by...Not recycling, letting rainforests be cut down," on and on, I can't remember them all. It was powerful. We sing ve-al kulam eloha selichot after each one. For all our sins, forgive us. The moon is hidden at first but then it comes out. Three geese take off over the reflecting pool. After the mourners Kaddish, Rabbi Waskow yells out to look at the moon, it's an egg waiting to hatch. He is the wise sage that brought us together, he leans on a cane with sparking eyes. The leader reads Francis' Prayer for the Earth and we end with oseh shalom in beautiful and spontaneous harmony. May the One who causes peace to reign in the high heavens let peace descent on us. I can't say I've ever done anything as remarkable as tonight.

Wednesday, September 23

7:00 AM
Since I have the time, I walk the 3 miles to the Lincoln Memorial. What once was a canal all polluted noisy and unhealthy as raw materials were unloaded for Georgetown is now a beautiful park where white people jog and bike, and people of color sleep on the benches. I walk a labyrinth asking for direction in my life. I see two birds flying and maple trees clinging to the Earth. Rowing crews travel up the river, a police boat roars past me. I walk past the Watergate Hotel and the Kennedy Center. The Institute of Peace looks like a bird taking off.

10 AM
We are a smaller group today gathered at the Lincoln Memorial steps. Today our sound system works. A helicopter flies over the White House. As our service starts, we can hear the President speaking and then the Pope. Rabbi Malcha says to not worry about the planes. That we should bless the people in them on their way. The Rabbi Waskow says to breathe in while the planes fly overhead as we wait. Since we are not inside a synagogue, we use another word for God – the Hebrew word Yah, the breath of life. But when the planes fly over, I can only think of the polluting jet fuel which doesn't feel like the breath of life.

We read Pope Francis’ Prayer for the Earth. It's like we are reading it directly back to him since he is just beyond the reflecting pool. Rabbi Mordecai gets us up and milling around. The Marine Band is playing, a choir is singing. We stop in front of someone, take their hand and thank them for their choice to come here to Washington. We mill around again and stop again and appreciate this new person. Again and we acknowledge another's courage. Again and we feel someone else's humanity through evolution. The sun clouds over and then comes out. I feel truly blessed bonding with these special souls who have joined together for this experience. I am one with these strangers who are no longer strangers but committed deeply feeling activists for tikkun olam-healing the world. We read Joanna Macy's Beings of Three Times and as I think of the future children, I begin to cry. So do others.

We chant the avinu malkeinu (Barbra Streisand’s rendition always in my mind). We pair up and look at our hands and think of our species and the service we all do. As we chant the adonai el rachum prayer, we read from the Pope’s encyclical. By fasting, we are in touch with our bodies and feelings.

Rabbi Phyllis leads the Torah service. She asks anyone who connects to ancestors to come up for the aliyah (special honor to stand by the Torah). Some of us go up, say the prayer, and listen to Rabbi Judy Weiss chant directly from the Torah scroll on Leviticus about the duties of the high priest. A larger group goes up for the second aliyah for children. For the third aliyah, we all go up to stand for the Earth. Afterwards, Kohenet (high priestess) Shoshana reads a haftarah (extra lesson) that combines words of Martin Luther King, Isaiah, Amos, Heschel, Pope Francis, and Starhawk. I am amazed. It's not anything I've ever heard in a Jewish synagogue, even a reform one.

Rabbi Mordecai brings the service to a close quoting Martin Luther King saying all life is connected, tied to a garment of Destiny. What affects one, affects all. I am looking at the flags, the monument, the water, the geese, the little bugs, the wind blowing the papers, the planes. He speaks of Gaia, the living breathing realm we all live in. We chant the Kaddish (prayer for the dead). We then pair up and finish this sentence: When I think of the world, it breaks my heart because..... We are in tears by the end. We chant the Kaddish again, this time for all species.

5:00 PM
About 40 people meet for the afternoon service. We Jews are fasting for one day but the BXE (beyond extreme energy) people are in their 16th day of fasting, the Franciscan monks in their 10th day. We sing We've Got the Whole World in our Hands. Rabbi Waskow reads the letter that over 400 rabbis has signed. Rabbi Malcha tells the story of Jonah and relates it to our sending out our own messages. She asks what they are. We suggest things like solidarity economy, wake up and keep the oil in the ground, turn off your TV. I see a hawk in the area and it kills a mouse. The crows are cawing loudly. The people of Nineveh heard Jonah's message that they were doomed. They changed their ways, even the king humbled himself. Will Americans change their way? Will its leaders humble themselves?

Rabbi Mordecai asks us to imagine having a magic wand, what would we ask congress to do? People answer things like quadruple EPA budget, end fossil fuel subsidies, think of future generations. He reads Joanna Macy's poem Bestiary. It's like Noah and the ark in reverse, checking off animals, but those who are dying. When we sing We've Got the Whole World in our Hands again, it sounds different, incredibly sad.

The Neilah service starts. By now, the sun is setting. The sky has pink streaks. The crowd has doubled in size as people gather for the all night vigil. When the leader talks of people's fates being sealed on Yom Kippur in the book of life, he lists recent people who have died by fire, by water, by the sword. At the end of the service, it is dark, we bless the bread and share in it.

8:00  PM
We Jews break our fast and eat. The monks as well break their 10 day fast with us. The all night vigil begins: monks talk, reverends speak, a high school student who shook hands with the Pope, some Sikhs as well. It will go on all night but I am too exhausted to stay.

Thursday, September 24

7:30 AM
I am with a friend from 350Massachusetts. We’re confused where to go and accidentally wind up in the ticket holders line. But we are going to the rally which is about a half mile from the Capitol building on the national mall. The sky is pink streaked, the air is cool. It's a beautiful day and we find space right in front of the stage set up by the Moral Action on Climate Justice. Behind us people hold large banners with quotes from the encyclical. In front of us is the Capitol.

A parade of speakers come to the stage, one by one. Rev Sally Bingham of the Interfaith Power and Light, Jay Winter Nightwolf of the Echata Cherokee Nation, Kumi Naidoo from Greenpeace. Dolores Huerta, a migrant worker activist talking about GMO labeling. Pax Chisti, Sierra Club, NAACP, Earth Day Foundation. Everyone talks about moral obligations of our political leaders. There are singers, it's a great party. The crowd grows, but it's hard for us to see how many people are behind us. I’m holding the Jewish Climate Action Network sign and people come up to me and ask me about it.

Then the Pope speaks and we sit on the ground and listen and watch on big screens. I like how he uses four Americans to frame his message. I also hear some subtle manipulations which makes the speech very clever, I feel. We all cheer at the same time the congress gives him standing ovations.

When he is done, he comes out on the balcony and we can see him on the big screen and also see his tiny version in the distance. Then he is whisked away and we hear more speeches and singing. I see three people I know. But the crowd disperses quickly and we go sit with the 18-day fasters who are breaking their fast tomorrow at noon at the FERC offices (the federal office that okays gas pipelines).

1:00 PM
We go to our MA senators offices and talk to staffers about FERC. We have temporarily adopted a young man who is one of the fasters and he is amazed how easy it is to go talk to Senator's offices. Since he's from CT, we take him to his Senator's offices and watch him energize.

7:30 PM
We go to the Coming Together in Faith on Climate – an interfaith gathering at the National Cathedral. The emcee quotes a poet, "when you find your place, practice starts." The faith leaders are impressive in their credentials and in their words. The president of the UCC churches talks about peoples of faith uniting. Sister Simone Campbell, leader of the nuns on the bus, talks about anguish leading to hope. The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, talks about breathing and faith doing wonders. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse talks about hearing the voices of the bumblebees. Rabbi Shoshana sings her new song The Tide is Rising with Minister Fred Small. And there was so much more. They have replaced 1500 light bulbs in the Cathedral and that’s just a start (there are more bulbs). The emcee ends it by talking about their 5 initiatives: engage congregations in climate solutions, energize by joining a clean energy group in our faith communities, divest and invest our personal and congregational investments, vote and make climate one of our top 3 issues when we vote, and educate staying informed and educating others.

It is a great low key ending to a phenomenal week, one I'll never forget.

In all, it was a week of talking, of praying, and of atoning for our personal 'missing of the mark' and for the harm we have caused our environment - For the harm we have caused other species, for the harm we have inflicted on native Americans and people of other races and religions. The Hebrew prayers swirl through my head as do Pope Francis' words about a great country- one that defends liberty, stands up for rights, fights for justice, and creates dialogue. Is our America a great country or is it going the way of ancient civilizations, smug in its commercialized capitalism? I'm afraid I know the answer but it won't stop me from helping to wake up people.

Thea Iberall, Ph.D. is the author of The Swallow and the Nightingale - a fable about a 4,000 year old secret brought through time by the birds. A scientist risks her life to help her daughter and heal the world. She is a storyteller, writer, and climate activist.

As We Approach Yom Kippur

Refugees are streaming into Europe from Syria and beyond. Can we, today, imagine what it feels like to flee for our safety? As we enter into the holiest day of the year, seeking to make our way forward into the new year  in a manner at least somewhat better than we did last year, let us keep in mind all those whose plight is less fortunate than ours. Let us acknowledge our privilege. Let us seek to open our hearts and minds to those who fear for their lives. 

Let us open as well, our wallets, and help the refugees. Here are the organizations recommended by American Jewish World Service: 

·         The Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief is collecting donations and will be making quality grants. This is a trusted coalition, and AJWS recommends donating to it without hesitation.

·         HIAS, which is also a member of the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief, is responding both with aid and a call to action to demand that our government do more to welcome refugees here in the United States.

·         Human Rights Watch, who is working with Syrian Refugees in Central Asia and Europe to document efforts to block access to asylum and deprive asylum seekers of rights to a fair hearing of refugee claims, among other important work.

·         International Medical Corps, who is setting up mobile medical units to provide primary healthcare, treat respiratory infections and provide surgical care to refugees in the region and throughout Europe. 

It is the least we can do, an act of humility and compassion, and an acknowledgement of the pain in the world.

G'mar chatimah tovah - May all of us, all the inhabitants of this Earth, both individually and collectively, indeed have a good year, a year that is better, safer, more compassionate, and more aware.

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion.