Minyan Replay with Rabbi Lizzi — Rosh Chodesh Iyar: Omer 15

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Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Transcript

All right.

Today as it turns out, is also Rosh Hodesh. Today is the beginning of a new Hebrew month. So that means if the sky is clear tonight, you can look up into it and you will not see you might see stars but you won't see much of a moon because of course, the Jewish month renews itself when the moon physically disappears and then when it begins to come back, the new moon begins and in two weeks on the full moon, you're halfway through the month and we're we're marching we're moving toward Shavuos on the second night of Passover we started counting and here we are the number of days into the Oh mare that we will read momentarily that we will say out loud momentarily. I want to take us down here to the O mer.

T shirt

all right.

And we'll do the beautiful tune

that we learned last week for the counting of the Omer praying that our intention arriving here this morning

arriving to Jewish prayer spirituality trying to reconnect with tradition with community also with God

unite something broken in the world.

Yeah.

So here we go.

There Hashem you Hemi?

Good Shabri who? Ooh, Shireen Tae

Hee Nene more Han Olmos uma le Kagan meats VAT us say ah sweet sfeer

oh man asked me that. Oh man.

Is here Oh man. Is fi router. Oh man afghan.

Sheva Shabbat

Timmy mochi?

Shabbat Shabbat

Timmy Moti yay.

For the sake of unifying the disparate parts of God and the universe Behold, I am ready and prepared to fulfill the mitzvah of counting the Omer, as it is written in the Torah. You shall count from the eve of the second day of pesah when an owner of grain shall be brought as an offering seven complete weeks. Sheva Shabba tote to me most tahina over seven weeks you will purify yourselves.

And the day after the seventh week you will count 50 days

baharu ta

ello Hain masala a share Keith shine hooba Mitsuko ta

it's Yvonne

smear ha oh man is here.

Oh man

is here. Oh man asked me around. Oh, man.

All right, we just said the blessing.

And now we can say

hi, yum, Kimmy Shah sorry, yum, Sham che shabu Oat, the yum et had lo mer tried an English today is 15 days, which is two weeks and one day of the O mer, which means that we are beginning a new spiritual meditation, a new insight practice into the quality of Tiferet. So Tiferet is considered the integration point like the heart center, if you have hesed over here, which is loving kindness, and that was the focus of our first week. You have Google rat over here. And for people who are listening on the podcast later and can't see me I have like my right hand up and my left hand up describing the sort of right side of the body and the left side of the body has been loving kindness, guvera being strength, boundaries, rigidity.

You know, the things that give our world structure. So Tiferet

The Heart Center is the beginning of integrating loving kindness and boundaries. That mushy sort of Mercy love stuff, and discipline, and hard edges. And Tiferet is a kind of harmonious radiance and integration. And so fecit should be Tiferet loving kindness inside of that integrated space.

And I cannot think of a better way to launch ourselves into the energy of integration, but specifically from the angle of loving kindness, then

it is it is Rosh Hodesh. Today it is the beginning of the new Hebrew month, which means we do Hallo Hallo is that is a joy practice. And it includes a bunch of Psalms, the rabbi, the rabbi has all like threw together into a recipe for basically singing and dancing, and trying to harness joy at the beginning of a new month or at any at any joyful occasion throughout the Hebrew calendar.

So here we are, beginning high level.

And usually this is done after saying the schema. But what we're doing is we're kind of going back and injecting this into the section of davening. That happens before the schema. The way that the Jewish prayer service in the morning is structured is there like all kinds of yummy, gentle blessings getting you out of bed. And then there's what's called pursue qk to Zimra, which means verses of praise, which by the way, at draw heavily from some of the same psalms that we're gonna see in Harlow. But essentially, it's it's like, you know, waking up joy and praise in the morning, before then going into the boho and shmatte and the rest of the davening

which we do every day. And so today, instead of doing two different sections of joy over here, and joy over here, I'm just pulling from the joy over here, and it's gonna sustain us for the duration of our very short minion.

So here we are, we must we must risk delight we can do without pleasure. Well, can we? Okay, Jack Gilbert, he says we can do without pleasure, but not delight, not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice, the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil.

To make injustice, the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil says Jack Gilbert. So I invite you to take this opportunity in the chat to share

what else you can direct attention to it is so very easy to have our minds completely consumed by the brokenness and injustice in the world. The news makes it very easy because the news you know, they know that's what sales they know. That's what attracts our attention. So as we're going through hell, some of that, like there are a lot of words or a lot of Hebrew words and Hello, and if and if you're not familiar with them, they can come fast and furious. You're invited to sing along with me, please. But you can also take this time to think about where's another measure of your attention?

That is that is not just the brokenness and injustice, we know that will be there for us but Hallel is about calling our attention to sources of joy and sources of hope. So here we go.

By rule ha don't die. Hello. Hey, no malice. Hi. Oh Allah. I share kitchen who begged me to tab it's Yvonne Whitley CRO at ha ha Allah.

And the customers you can repeat that if anybody wants to unmute and actually say that blessing that would be fun. Anyone anyone?

Baraka Tada Milo Hey novella LFO llama shirt for Paul shivali CRO at ha Hello. I'm name thank you Eric.

I want to start down here someone 14

bit safety Sara. Me Amy. It's rajeem Bates Jaco. I'm low AES Hayti Yehuda leg. Gotcha. Oh, yes.

Ma'am, should I

buy? Yeah, no.

I got dead.

So

Jerry Moran do a really

key name on

key time tying our day to so layer four Hey hot tend to do a really good

he man's own nearly I don't fully

believe

he had gamma i lumpy Slimane on my

pay

I love this one that question like mountains dance like rams and hills like young sheep dancing what's happening to you? Oh see that you are fleeing what's happening to you? Oh mountains that you're dancing like rams and hills like young sheep. And I always feel like what's happening to you writer of the Psalms What are you smoking?

Cuz you know mountains don't exactly dance like rams, but imagine looking at the world as if they were alive as if they danced and the truth is you look at a mountain long enough you know from God's perspective it does dance

and I'm talking millions of years

but that's just because our limited perspective and so here we are trying to be able to have a little moment of divine perspective

here we are how to Nizar honor Yuvaraj

Hello Nice to meet

you virus at bay disrupt

your virus

I heard

that Ray is here Yuri I don't know

I could tell I need him her good god you're sapphire don't

bear

don't know.

I will say Shama.

Shama imagine

that sadly

though Hometeam yeah hallelujah.

The boy day

ha they owe

less the house of Israel bless the house of our own. Bless anyone who stands in awe before the divine had beaten him him hugging Julian great and small ones are like I feel like as I was trying to follow the chat, while while singing I saw so many of your your moments of joyful attention being brought to things having to do with children, young children at the beach for the first time expressing joy and discovery.

Wow, looking forward to my son's graduation from Loyola law school this weekend graph watching with delight delight watching my child see a street sweeper for the first time. It's like seeing like the big the kind of looks like a Zamboni. So I'm thinking like,

I love that. It's like mom look the biggest Roomba ever for the city. And I'll read some of these other ones. My attention is being directed toward healing from my own generational trauma, so I don't perpetuate it on others. Bless you. May we all may we all follow in that example. Yesterday, a neighbor left a bouquet of lilac blooms at my door reminding me that I live in a community and that spring in Chicago has arrived. That's so beautiful. That you all have heard me and heard us talk about Celia Straus, May her memory be a blessing, really beloved member of the community who also sat on the

davening team and was diagnosed right at the beginning of the pandemic with kind of terminal ovarian cancer. And she outlasted every prognosis for for her, you know, survival by years. But finally, in at the, you know, at the beginning of 2023, her doctor told her she had no more treatment options. And so what she told me she thought to herself was, you know, I just want to get to see the crocus's come out of the dirt in March. And she did. And then she thought to herself, if I could see the lilacs bloom on the trees in late April, early May. That would be enough, Diana. And she did. And one by one, she marked her survival, you know, in her next milestone, by what set of natural unfoldings what natural process she might see around her. And one by one by one, she made it through the summer. She made it through the first snowfall, and she ended up dying in early December. But every time I see lilacs and your little story, Susan reminded me of cilia and, and even in the cycle Oh, my lilacs are dead. Now. I have a tree right outside. They bloomed a couple of weeks ago, and they're already these sad little brown Nubbins you know? But that's like, that's it that cycle that community that joy, that expectation, that beauty and then that falling away? Well, there you go. There's there's life right there. And in the midst of it all. Singing Hello, finding joy.

I'm gonna read a couple more of these. I've been coping with the brokenness of the world at large and in my life, specifically through art and creativity. Putting my focus there bring some necessary peace and joy. Yes. And then Susanna, who of course is in Florida, so watching for manatees and dolphins letting our yard go to flowering weeds for pollinators. Yeah. Delayed let's see, catching our bees who swarmed starting a new hive love I'm directing my attention to time with loved ones and fostering community and a to end connection with the people around me. And

and now we can go on let's keep singing

let's keep singing

Hallelujah.

And don't

go

shopping Oh god. Me too ke Guevara

Joe

McDonough

whoa whoa do that or Nike Ito

key

oh two larger Nike 20000 Your mind

key

Nike

key there

you're

wrong key let's

do that or Nike

young

lad or Nike?

Key

you noticed we go in these concentric circles of awareness from our own house, the house of our own and then to the wider house of all people who have a relationship with the divine. The Lessing first, you know Yuvaraj Fitbits isa l Yuvaraj. Had beta Coronavirus. You read on it. We saw that above and now yo Munna yum Runa. And they will say, the house of Israel will say and the house of our own will say and the house of all who have a sense of magnificence our relationship with the divine will say key little lamb has dough. Yes, yes, we find magnificence in this world.

Repeat after me we're gonna go through like a back and forth type of thing. Don't come off mute though. Because I think that'll get messy.

P two li SHA rate set EQ. I have a bomb all day. Yeah, be totally shy right Cedric ah, whoa whoa dang Yeah. Zaha Shah lado nine Sadie akiem Yes. Oh, Zed ha sha Allah don't die. Sadie Kim yava Oh, Odessa Kia Nittany Vita Healy Elise Xu y o Defra Kia Nittany Vita Healy leash you ever had my su have boned me Hi, Tyler Roche P na m and my su have phoneme Hi, Tyler Roshi nah man I don't know how you tell zoekt he lives in a new act i don't i

He lived by a name no Sahaj Yo my sadhu nine na de la misma

Sahaj yo, my sad oh nine Nagi loving me Smith love all. This is the day that God has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

If you're not standing, this is a moment when we

when we focus, like our entire being on a prayer. And I have to tell you something this past this past time we were saying hello. At the beginning of Passover, I went to er, the show in Los Angeles where I learned how to be a rabbi. And I think I've told you this when I go back there. It's like they're so nice to me, I get a hero's welcome. And they're like, get up here Rabbi Lizzi come dive in with us. And they asked me to lead holo and I got to this part.

And oh my god, it's gonna happen again. I got to this part. And the custom is you go under your tireless like this.

And you say, you scream I mean, these are words of abject yearning. I'm not I don't I hope she enough, God, save us. I'm not I don't know how to sleep enough. God make us successful. And you have to think for a moment about all of the people all of the Jews over the centuries over the millennia, who have said these words, not knowing if they would be okay not knowing if they would survive, not knowing what tomorrow would bring. And we in this moment are holding so much pain and heartbreak. We don't know what tomorrow will bring not for us not for the people with whom we are locked, you know, in whom we are locked into this. It's not really an eternal conflict. It's a conflict of the last 100 years you know, in this space

where there is so much pain conflict and heartbreak, but also so much reason to be to be optimistic. You have to be otherwise my God, what are we praying for? And so I just burst into tears. I you know, and who knows, as we say this again now, as you focus and I focus on envisioning a healed world, envisioning what we are praying for as we say, God make us successful.

So I just want to invite you to go into that place of actual yearning

of heartbreak whatever it is that you're praying for

you can come off mute if you want as we do this back and forth

Ah, nice Hoshi

I'm

gonna die hope she Jana

I don't I hardly

know Ana Adonai Hasley fine now

more room

Amina

by rule hubbub a shame. I don't lie. Baris. New fam me bed

Hi

there

my

new use through fog Bhavati my car not Tommy's

new you through Kochba I kind of Tommy's

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Oh DACA ello

America

Oh O L or IR M Emeka

Kito he lays

down Nike toe he let Allah

I had a nice night hi

I said hi i ai by ruhakana High management who

by teach backhoe oh am me

and what we have time for this morning is simply this

so I invite you to gather the four corners of your seat seat

we close our eyes

and affirm and connect

first inside of ourselves and then inside of this Minion and then expanding concentric circles

to encompass all of creation

from our hearts outward

calling it all one naming it calling it in affirming that it is one

that we are one

Shema

Yes

Don't

say

hello at all

don't know

promotion

and you will love and you will love and that is

that is our takeaway this morning. And you will love

before we make our transition and welcome our guests.

I know for people who do need to leave, I want to make sure we do Khadi Chateau mourners Scottish and so I'm going to turn to the air right now.

Where is our borders Scottish?

So

as I'm flying out there, there it is.

Is there anyone first of all who's remembering someone this morning? And you want to say their name bring them bring their memory into the room.

I'm saying how to share my mother Muriel kornblut.

Anyone else

saying Kaddish for my father David Rose.

st cottage for my mother Phyllis Podolski.

Hmm

And I think we will do this again, at the end of

at the end of our program,

but also just remembering and saying Kaddish for all of the people who have died before their time because of violence

and lack of understanding.

Is there anyone who would like to lead cottage this morning?

I'm happy to lead. All right, Glenn. Take it away.

You've got the Kadosh ma Raja

ma de bras you retain the unreleased model J the high yield phone the Omega phone with a failure to heartbeat Israel, by the love of his mind carried the mural on

yay, may Rob

I'm about Rasul Allah ball. I'm a

youth bearer we used to bath the pot our vitro mom VENA say, you to Dar Vita la vita la she made two pretty sharp or if

the a La Nina called purify tava Shirota to spell flattop and FMI ta Iran br Marvine ru I mean,

your Haitian Lama. Raba means Shamaya Valium, Elena, they'll call you sir al the Maru Amin, Musa Shalom de Rome, who Yasser shalom, Elena, they'll call you Surah. Al, they'll call us today to veil being rude on a I mean, hazy for an unbeliever. May their memories be blessings.

Hello, hello, everyone.

Oh, and Eric, thank you for the kind words in the chat there.

Now know, I think I think what Jack Gilbert said on the front end there is right? Like, we've got to find the ways in spaces that are asking for us to be joyful in this world.

And how well you know, at least once a month to just like rock out singing songs in community. I think it's a good practice. I think Jewish tradition might have something there.

So

here's the thing.

I am not seeing our guests here. And so I sent them the link rabbit. Let's see. Okay, great. Hi. Yeah, thank you. You know, we sent it sent it before, but maybe it didn't make its way to where it needs to be.

Like a code, they said, so I just sent them the invite link directly from this meeting. So hopefully I'll be here soon. Okay, great. Great. Good.

Wonderful. All right. So I'll wait to say it's very nice to see the faces of people who don't usually see in the minion Hello, James and Dana. Hello, Bruce and Vicki.

And everybody else seems like your minion regulars, which is very nice.

This little vamping part that I'm doing is not going to be on the podcast. I'm going to ask Keith to cut it out.

And then we'll welcome Leila and Amir or ofera in just a moment.

Just a moment. And if anybody wants to share, reflect on anything out loud, as long as we're just vamping here, feel free to unmute.

I have a question. I was I don't know if I heard or read or somewhere got the idea that

in the end of Hillel the nod and I hope she and I has the sense of the save us rescue us and Huxley Kenai has more of a sense of things are already Okay, let's make them even better.

Foundation for that although it looks like our guests will be

I mean, I that's a great Drash

Oh, fair is here. And Leila. Are you here as well?

Yes, I'm here. Oh, wonderful. Hi. Hi. Hi. Are you

and and ofera Are you? You're up? There you are. There you are. I'm here. Welcome. Welcome. Do you want to be here?

What time is it where you both are?

434 30

Okay, I am going to wait you have just joined us at 830 in the morning Chicago time. I'm we're still we're recording here. So I'll just keep talking.

You're joining us right on the heels of morning prayer. And so it's almost like you know you've walked into our our beit knesset or something, but we're all over the country. So I'm in Chicago, but we have people here who are from Boston, and people who are from Florida and people who are sitting in

Yeah, like Tennessee so like people will be listening to this all over the country.

The last time I saw Leila was actually here in Chicago last summer went yes and Europe to and upstate New York thank you I'm sorry. I did not mean to I didn't mean to forget all of the people all over the country and world.

Leila when you came through with Roby and, and spoke in a church downtown in downtown Chicago, you did a couple of stops throughout Chicago. And

and I was

I'm shocked and sad that the church wasn't full. No, it was like one of those churches that's just an enormous like an enormous downtown church that was built 100 years ago. And

maybe it's full on Christmas, but I felt it should have been full to listen to you and Roby speak and tell your stories.

And so, Gail, you're there, you had just moved to Chicago.

So we right now, this moment,