Art by Betsy Platkin Teutsch
Sometimes, at moments in our lives when we seek ritual, it is right there: We open the prayer book or consult a Jewish source and find the very thing we are looking for. At other times, the tradition holds no words for us.
Although it is true that many new rituals have been created since the 1970’s, it is not the case that Judaism has been static for the last 2000 years. Throughout Jewish history, Jews have responded to both personal and national events by creating new prayers and rituals. The Passover seder as we know it was created by Rabban Gamliel in the 1st century in response to the destruction of the Temple, at which time the sacrifice of the Passover lamb was no longer possible. The prayer book as we know it existed only in outline form throughout the first millennium; the subjects of blessings were given, and individuals filled in the words. Only with the advent of the printing press did prayer become standardized. Throughout Jewish history, women wrote techinot, prayers of supplication, to become pregnant, for the months of pregnancy, for a healthy delivery, upon lighting Shabbat candles, etc. Holidays such as Israel Independence Day or Jerusalem Day have entered the calendar only in the last century.
Nevertheless, the convergence of the havurah and feminist movements in the 1970s triggered an explosion of new rituals. The havurah movement encouraged Jews to form small communities, often outside of the framework of the synagogue, in which the members took responsibility for all aspects of communal life. Jews were empowered to become their own rabbis and create the rituals they needed for their lives. At the same time, Jewish women noted women’s and girls’ exclusion from traditional Jewish rituals – brit milah, bar mitzvah – and sought to rectify what they perceived as injustice. As women noted these absences, however, it quickly became clear that many important events in a woman’s life – childbirth, miscarriage, menstruation, menopause – lacked Jewish ritual. And as women began to create rituals for these events, men and women took cognizance of the many events in their lives for which ritual was lacking – everything from starting kindergarten, to going off to college, to buying a new house, to beginning or retiring from a job. Judaism was being revitalized for our time.
What Makes a Ritual Jewish?
What is a Jewish ritual? What makes a ritual Jewish? These are interesting questions. Some would say that a Jewish ritual is one prescribed by tradition—a seder, a brit milah, a funeral—and that is the end of the list.
For those of us who seek to create new ritual and who imagine a more expansive list, what makes a ritual Jewish? If Jews do it, is it Jewish? Or if it uses Hebrew words? Or is it something else that makes a ritual Jewish?
Although the answer to these questions is ultimately subjective, we think that a successful Jewish ritual resonates with Judaism in some way. It takes Jewish symbols, Jewish concepts, or Jewish words and uses them in a new context consistent with their symbolism.
An example of using a Jewish symbol in a new context while at the same time retaining its traditional meaning is the use of a Havdalah candle at a leave-taking ceremony. A Havdalah candle is generally used at the end of Shabbat to demarcate Shabbat from the rest of the week. (Havdalah means separation.) While there is no traditional Jewish ritual for leaving home to go to college, such a ceremony would be enhanced and given Jewish meaning through the use of a Havdalahcandle to symbolize this separation.
Another innovative use of candles is the ner neshama (a soul candle) at a baby-naming ceremony. This idea of lighting a candle as part of a bab ynaming is new, but the symbolism is traditional, as it alludes to the yahrzeit, candle which recalls the deceased for whom the child is being named, as well as the general idea that a candle represents the soul.
Authority
Although most Jews invest authority in ancient texts – biblical or talmudic – and in the rabbis who interpret those texts, a careful reading of Jewish history reveals that authority always lay in the hands of the Jewish people. To the extent that a given rabbi had a following, his words gained authority. To the extent that he succeeded in promulgating a behavioral norm, that law gained authority. Of course, every rabbi looked to the tradition to guide him in his decisions, but the collective will of the Jewish people over time has always been decisive; some traditions find a place in the Jewish canon, others fall by the wayside.
In that sense, neither Ritualwell nor the rituals on the site themselves are fundamentally different than what has come before. We are privileged to live in a time of great experimentation, and many people are creating new rituals, prayers, songs, and ceremonies. All of the rituals on the site are informed by Jewish tradition and are vetted by rabbis and scholars who are deeply immersed in that tradition. We believe that some of these rituals will find their way into the Jewish canon and will be practiced by our children and grandchildren. Others will flourish for a time but not ultimately pass the test of eternity.
What makes Ritualwell unique in the history of Judaism is the Internet. The Internet makes information accessible as never before and is, by its very nature, utterly democratic. For us, this quality holds great promise. With the advent of the printing press and the publication of the Shulhan Aruch in the 15th century, Judaism, in some important ways, became frozen. We believe that the Internet can have a defrosting effect on Jewish tradition. As women and men create new rituals, Jewish tradition will change to accommodate their vision of the holy.
While change is, and always has been, scary, we believe that Judaism has always changed and that its continued growth will only serve to enrich Jewish tradition. In every generation, it has been incumbent upon the rabbis to interpret the eternal words of Torah to apply to the situation in which they found themselves. That is the task that confronts us anew.
A story is told:
When Moses stood at Sinai, he watched God tying crowns onto the letters of the Torah. He asked, "Why are you doing this?" God said, "One day there will be a man so great that he will be able to interpret even the crowns of the letters." Moses said, "I want to see this man."
Immediately, Moses is transported to the study house of Rabbi Akiba, where he finds himself in the back row. He listens for a while to the debate and finds that he understands nothing of what is being said. He becomes so distressed he grows faint.
Finally, a student asks Rabbi Akiba, "Master, where did you learn this?" Akiba answers, "It is a law given to Moses at Sinai." Moses is comforted. (Talmud Bavli, Menachot 29b)
We, too, are comforted by the knowledge that today’s Jewish inventions also descend from Sinai.
On Blessings and God Language
Because, for the most part, rituals invoke God's presence (however you understand that idea), the naming of God is central to the project of recreating Jewish ritual. On ritualwell.org, wherever possible, we have offered feminine and masculine versions of blessings. In some cases, we have also offered a third alternative, such as the blessings of Jewish-feminist liturgist Marcia Falk. This section explores the meaning of these choices and invites you to consider how to choose appropriate God-language for your ritual.
Jews have always struggled with God; the name Israel. in fact. can be understood to mean God-wrestler. Feminists have also struggled—both with religious tradition and with the nature and uses of power. So it is not surprising that rethinking the way we talk about, imagine, and understand God and God's power are central concerns of many Jewish feminists. The questions that Jewish feminists and feminists of other religious traditions have raised are in some ways very similar to thousand-year-old questions about the nature of Divine Being. At the same time, the attention to issues of gender and hierarchy which are at the forefront of feminist re-visions of the Divine are unique to our era.
Hebrew, the primary language of Jewish prayer, poses particular problems. There is no such thing as gender neutrality in Hebrew. Thus, the speaker is forced to make a choice. For centuries the masculine formulation has been the assumed choice every single time a blessing has been uttered. Although the masculine language did not necessarily imply a male God, its constant and universal use has had the effect of gendering God as male and of reinforcing the equation of maleness and power.
The following table* provides options for God language, the first line in each grouping being masculine, the second feminine, and the third non-gendered.
Alternative Names for God
The following alternative names for God have been suggested and are now used by many seeking alternatives to traditional masculine hierarchical language.
Yah—a very ancient name for God. Yah, which appears in the Bible, is a shortened form of YHWH, the name that signifies God's essence and is therefore traditionally never pronounced. Both names come from the root of the verb "to be." These names suggest a living God, a God that is Being itself. "Yah" offers a very different image and relationship with the speaker than the traditional masculine name for God, Adonai, which corresponds to the English word "Lord," or "my Lord."
Shechina—an ancient name for God meaning "dwelling," with rabbinic and kabbalistic resonances. The Shechina is God's feminine consort, and, in Kabbalah, that part of God closest to earth. In kabbalistic belief, God's feminine and masculine selves have been rent apart; the goal of all of Jewish ritual is their reunification. Many people enjoy using a distinctly feminine name for God, and certainly the healing of the masculine/feminine split in the world is central to the feminist vision. On the other hand, as is often the case with images of the feminine in traditional Jewish sources, the Shechina is not quite God, more like God's lesser half. Her ultimate lack of parity becomes problematic in using Her name to bless.
Alternative Blessings
The alternative berachot (blessings) on this website include a further change. Instead of calling on God as Melech HaOlam, King of the World, we invoke God's sovereignty through the term Ruach Haolam, Spirit of the World. The image of God as a unifying force or spirit carries for us the power that we imagine kingship must have carried for the early Rabbis. This Divine spirit is first described in Genesis, right before the creation of the world; V'ruach Elohim m'rachefet al-p'nei hamayim, "God's spirit hovered over the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:2). The word ruach is conjugated as feminine and is an image associated with primordial creative power. Ruach also means wind and breath, two other images that many people find useful in thinking about God.
Not all feminists choose to retain the traditional blessing formula "Baruch atah adonai..." "Blessed are You. Oh Lord..." even in its feminized version. One prominent liturgist, Marcia Falk, has pioneered a whole new form of blessing. In her book, The Book of Blessings, Falk suggests a number of innovations:
- She seeks to relocate the power of blessing with people, rather than with God.
- She moves away from all anthropomorphic images of the Divine, using, instead, images from the natural world. Ultimately, she moves away from the use of a noun to depict God altogether, preferring to imagine God in the warp and woof of life itself.
So, for instance, instead of the traditional formulation, Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha'olam borei peri hagafen, Blessed are you, O Lord, Our God, King of the World, who creates the fruit of the vine, she offers: N'vareykh et eyn ha hayim matzmihat p'ri hagafen, Let us bless the source of life that ripens fruit on the vine.
Making Choices
Throughout this website, we have included masculine and feminine versions of most blessings as well as alternative texts, when available. In some cases, we have retained the original gender to preserve the integrity of the author's words. We recognize that, for some of you, this may be new and uncomfortable. We encourage you to open up the question for yourself and explore what it would mean to make change in an area which some have perceived as sacrosanct and off limits.
Do you want to use more than one formulation each time a blessing appears in your ritual? Or do you want to alternate? Or is there one option you are most comfortable with that you will use consistently? Take some time to think about it and experiment. Doing something once does not commit you to doing it forever. Whatever decisions you arrive at, it is our hope that engaging in the process of thinking more carefully about how you name God brings you closer to understanding what you mean by "God" and ultimately brings you closer to God's presence.
*From Kol Haneshamah Daily Prayerbook; used by permission of The Reconstructionist Press
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