Wednesday, February 26, 2020. Now that Tu B’Shvat is past, we can visualize the trees awakening for a new season of growth. In Israel, it is a time for planting – vegetables, chickpeas, and millet, in the moist soil, as the rainy season continues. Here in the Great Lakes, the light is returning to the gray woods, and we’re beginning to hear birdsong. It will not be long before the sap rises here as well – in fact the willow twigs are looking distinctly greenish yellow. Spring will emerge.
Adar of course is the month of the upcoming holiday Purim, which will take place in two weeks, just before the full moon. The “Jewish Mardi Gras”, Purim is a celebration of an unlikely victory over arbitrary evil. After wicked Haman drew lots to determine a day for annihilation of the Jews of Shushan, our heroine Esther saved the day by beguiling and telling truth to the king, resulting in Haman’s fall and the elevation of Mordechai. We celebrate the holiday with masks and disguises, jokes and carnivals, stories of the absurd and illogical – as if the world is turned upside down.
Our source Jill Hammer draws a parallel between the rising of sap in the trees and shoots in the ground, and the rising of truth in the story of Esther. She notes that “in the book of Esther…nothing is what it seems to be. Queen Esther, for example, is a Jew pretending not to be a Jew, married to a gentile, King Ahasuerus, who dislikes Jews and then learns to love them. Haman, the villain, seems invulnerable, yet is defeated with a single word. Jew flows into non-Jew, male flows into female, friend flows into enemy…. Purim transforms us into something we thought we weren’t – but it turns out we are!”
Carnival evil, the world turned upside down. I can’t help but think of the current public discourse and the absurdity of “fake news” and invented facts, the denial of events and scientific realities. Denied, the truth is made false, and it seems the world is topsy turvy. However, like shoots that spring from the earth this time of year, the truth must ultimately prevail, and we will find out we are stronger than we thought. In our reflections we noted the resilience of the trees, twigs and birds, and the reassuring rhythm of walking among them. May we all find ways to help the truth emerge, this month – and do so with joy and faith in the good. – Kirby
The next Rosh Chodesh walking meditation will take place on the first day of the month of Nisan, Thursday, March 26, 7:30 am. Rain or snow or shine! Contact us for location.
Rosh Chodesh Cleveland 