Passover Village 2016 Kavannah: “The Elements in the Psalms”
Ruach (Wind/Spirit/Air) - Mayim (Water) - Aish (Fire)
These are the first 3 sefirot of the Tree of Life described in the ancient mystical Hebrew text, Sefer Yetzirah, written in an age well before the understandings of Keter, Hochman, Binah we now carry. We were once a tribal, earth-based people living with an intimate understanding of our connection to Earth, the primal Elementals, and Spirit that we would likely not recognize today.
Still, to this day our ancient ways of connection with the elements and nature are accessible to us, permeating all of Jewish scripture, including the Book of Psalms.
Members of Passover Village have been digging into Psalms during the past year to learn what it says about nature, what we can learn of our relation to Air, Water, Fire, Earth, nature and of their relation to us.
To the Psalmist, every aspect of nature is a path to holiness. Psalm 104, for example can open doorways when it speaks about:
light, sky, water, cloud, wind, fire, earth, ocean,
mountain, thunder, valley, spring, beast, fowl, tree,
fruit, grass, cattle, herb, nest, goat, rock, moon,
sun, season, night, sea creature, smoke, breath, dust.
On Passover we retell the story of the exodus of our Hebrew ancestors from Egypt, Mitzrayim, the “narrow place”. Egypt was the Big City of its era. Our lives there were regulated by big government and the predictable flow of a big river. Leaving its relative comfort and security to enter the wilderness, we were forced to become more attuned to nature. Perhaps that is why the Passover Seder is replete with stories and symbols of nature such as greens, herbs, wine, water, fire, darkness, animals, blood and plagues.
Join us for this year's Passover Village seder, which will be informed by what the psalms say about nature and about our connection to the most basic of life forces. Perhaps in our current age of uncertainty, reconnecting to the basic elements of our existence will offer a path to new, and old, understandings that will help guide us through the wildernesses we now face.
The Leadership Council is considering videotaping portions of this year's gathering, including community activities and some of the ritual time.
While the purposes of the project is evolving, our goal is to share what we do with others who might want to create their own community exploration of their heritage, culture or faith.
This will be an experiment in sharing the wisdom and magic of our community and spiritual retreats.
We are taking steps to assure that the filming is as unobtrusive as practical and with assurances that personal and private shares and activities are kept confidential. The Leadership Council will retain editorial and distribution authority so that nothing personal is disclosed without approval and nothing is presented insensitively or inappropriately. This includes the possibility that none of the footage will be distributed.
In the past the presence of a camera, particularly during community or ritual sessions, has been consciously limited or restricted to prevent intrusion and distraction. In actively inviting a videographer to document representative proceedings we risk spontaneity, self-consciousness, and more.
Yet with awareness and planning we hope to minimize any intrusion or distraction and safeguard privacy while gathering the sights, sounds, and words of our community and sacred space.
While it will be a challenge, we hope it will result in an even more inspiring Passover Village experience.
If we do decide to proceed, registration for this event will include a Release for Videotaping.
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