Ruach HaYam Teaching at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – September 27, 2018. (Scroll to end for logistics) Banner: “The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron” by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82. Fresco in Sistine Chapel. (Wikimedia Commons) Penina Weinberg leads this study of Parashat Korah, Numbers 16.1-18.32. (note, we usually meet on 3rd Thursdays; this is 4th due to Yom Kippur) Korah dares to question the authority of Moses, whom Korah claims is raising himself above the congregation of YHWH. Does Korah have a point, or is he a rebel with a wish for… This study, led by Penina Weinberg, is about having a different spirit and struggling with(in) the strictures of sacred norms. We will read and study Parashat Sh’lach (Numbers 13.1 – 15:41) Continue reading Ruach HaYam Workshop at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – May 17, 2018. See end of post for logistics. (Scroll to end for logistics) Banner shows two woodcuts by Margaret Adams Parker. In both, Naomi and Ruth and villagers are portrayed as long robed and hard laboring – not the common idyllic scenes. First image shows Naomi entering her old village, drooping, supported by Ruth. Caption “Ruth 1:19 – And the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’” Second image shows Naomi looking up at Ruth. Caption “Ruth 3:16 – And she said, ‘Who are you my daughter?’” Join… Ruach HaYam Workshop at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – April 19, 2018. See end of post for logistics. Join us for a discussion led by Penina Weinberg about Joy Ladin’s Tikkun Magazine article (fall, 2014): “Both Wilderness and Promised Land: How Torah Grows When Read Through LGBTQ Eyes.” (We will have copies at the study session). This is by way of preparing us for Joy’s book, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, due out later in 2018 from Brandeis University Press. We hope to have an opportunity to learn… Join Ruach HaYam on March 17, 2018, for a Saturday morning Shabbat service followed by potluck lunch and learn on the Jews of Ireland – in honor of St Patrick’s Day. Arrive at 9:30am to schmooze and help set up. Service will begin at 10am. For the potluck please bring veggie/dairy food and any experience you have regarding Irish Jews. This lunch and learn will be led by our Ruach HaYam partner and service leader, Marvin Kabakoff. Marvin graduated from Brandeis and received a Ph.D. in history from Washington University-St. Louis. He is recently retired as an archivist with the National Archives… Ruach HaYam Workshop at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – February 15, 2018. See end of post for logistics. Inspired by our reading of Julia Watts Belser and Ezekiel, and coming out of long studies on these matters, Ezra Rose Greenfield, Ruach HaYam member, darshan, and workshop leader, will teach about the multiplicity of different places that angels appear as supports/catalysts for transition. They will present some of the Hechalot literature (early Merkavah mysticism) as well as teachings by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg. Rabbi Ruttenberg has explored a medieval ruling on the transition of Elijah from man to… Breaking the Binary: King David and his Dualities – January 18, 2018 6:45pm – 9:15pm @ Eitz Chayim (See logistics at end) In many ways, bisexuality is binary breaking; it defies the notion that people have to bat for one team. But the word can also carry binary notions of its own. Enter King David: poet, warrior, king, lover of both men and women. What binaries does he break? Which does he enforce? And why does it matter that the man involved is King David, hero of heroes? We’re so excited to have one of our long time members, Sarah… Ruach HaYam Facebook Subscribe to newsletter Ruach HaYam Workshop at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – December 21, 2017. See end of post for logistics. This study is led by Penina Weinberg. Banner for event has a painting of an ecstatic person in red, possibly flaming, dress whirling in a blue wheel chair. Caption is “Ezekiel’s vision split open my own imagination. Hearing those words chanted, I felt a jolt of recognition, an intimate familiarity. I thought: God has wheels!” from “God on Wheels—Disability and Jewish Feminist Theology” by Julia Watts Belser in Tikkun 2014 Illustration from… Ruach HaYam Facebook Subscribe to newsletter Ruach HaYam Workshop at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 136 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA – August 17, 2017. See end of post for logistics. This study is led by Penina Weinberg. In speaking of the creation, the Kabbalists call the first human du-partzufin, a Greek term meaning two visages, ie two faces on one body, not two bodies. They describe the divine and human each as bi-sexual. They say that both genders are present in all humans and that this is the image of the divine. What does that actually mean? How does non-binary fit into… Ruach HaYam Facebook Subscribe to newsletter Ruach HaYam Workshop @ Congregation Eitz Chayim, Cambridge, MA July 31, 2017. See end of post for logistics. This study is led by Jonah P We’re very excited to have guest teacher Jonah P back for a second year! Don’t miss this opportunity! The Talmud was the project of hundreds of male rabbis over many generations. When and where do women’s voices appear? Who are the female characters who elbow their way into the stories and legal cases? What wisdom did they leave us with? In this session, we will listen to these…
Korah: Rebel With (out?) a Cause (September 27, 2018)
Caleb: Ruach Acheret (“Different Spirit”) and Sacred Norms (July 19, 2018)
Ruth and Naomi: Boundary Crossing, Bitter Soul, and Chesed (May 17, 2018)
Reading Torah through LGBTQ Eyes: A study of Joy Ladin’s work (April 19, 2018)
Shabbat ha-Lepre-cohen – Potluck Lunch and Learn: Jews in Ireland (March 17, 2018)
Trans(forming) Angels in Jewish Lore: Gender, Trauma, and More – February 15, 2018
Breaking the Binary: King David and his Dualities – January 18, 2018
Disability and Divine Power: Reading Julia Watts Belser (December 21, 2017)
Gendered in the image of God: The first human (August 17, 2017)
Women’s Voices in the Talmud (July 13, 2017)
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