Vidui, the spiritual center of the Yom Kippur liturgy, is a confessional prayer at the boundary of personal and communal responsibility. It is an alphabetical inventory of misdeeds, recited in the first-person plural: We have sinned. We have transgressed. We have stolen. It describes a brokenhearted world, desperate for atonement. These words have become soContinue reading “The Witness Quilt: Positive Vidui”
Tag Archives: wisdom
G@ds & Holy Cows in India
Alters & shrines adorned with flowers, incense, and other offerings are everywhere. It’s like the impromptu memorials we create along the roadside for loved ones, but much more elaborate, permanent, and in this case, dedicated to deities. This one in our hotel, honors Krishna, the embodiment of divine love & joy, destroyer of all painContinue reading “G@ds & Holy Cows in India”
Report from Kolkata
I experienced the perfect Kolkata destination wedding site for you- RAAJKUTIR, KOLKATA, run by SeleQtions hotels, is a magical oasis inspired by the traditions of Bengal’s heritage. Never imagining it could be built on an old garbage dump, but it was, we felt the exquisite blend of timeless elegance and luxury transformed into opulence andContinue reading “Report from Kolkata”
Witnessing
Creating The Witness Quilt hinged on my unwavering faith in the creative process. I would not see the quilt in its totality until six months into the exhibition. My studio wall did not accommodate its massive size. Time limitations required both the veiled kittel under-layer and the concealing add-on patchworks to be built simultaneously. AContinue reading “Witnessing”
The Application of AI to Me
There is a program this Thursday at The Heinz History Center where the request was for me to speak about “art, history, and activism from a Jewish perspective”. This request put me into a panic- what do I have to say about art, history and activism in my work????? I turned to my husband, asContinue reading “The Application of AI to Me”
THE BLESSING CORD
To celebrate the UNMAKING of THE WITNESS QUILT, as part of Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life, I offer the ritual of the RED STRING. The Red String offers protection. Red attracts and impedes negative forces, converting the darkness of judgement into the mercy of light. This creates a forcefield that diverts the evil eye. InContinue reading “THE BLESSING CORD”
The Witness Quilt: Positive Vidui
From Vol. 5, No. 40, October 6, 2024, the RAUH JEWISH HISTORY PROGRAM & ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER: Vidui, the spiritual center of the Yom Kippur liturgy, is a confessional prayer at the boundary of personal and communal responsibility. It is an alphabetical inventory of misdeeds, recited in the first-person plural: We have sinned. We have transgressed.Continue reading “The Witness Quilt: Positive Vidui”
Fast of Gedaliah: Day of Divine Goodwill
Today, along with the first anniversary of October 7th, we observe The Fast of Gedaliah. This year, both occur during the Ten Days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I used the occasion of this fast day, some twenty-four years ago to enact: Moving Through Loss: A Wise Woman Ritual. This day advocates The ThirteenContinue reading “Fast of Gedaliah: Day of Divine Goodwill”
Loom
My mother says when she is anxious she finds a seam,finds stitches on her clothes, on furniture she’s near, alwaysa verge has that feel, birch joints, wrinkles. It’s a reliefto think with the hands. Not with what years do,not with rings or someone else’s sadness. With the repairin a sheet her sister tore, breeze-fretted inContinue reading “Loom”
Yichus Part I
Searching for wisdom, I have spent considerable effort exploring each of my relatives. There is a beautiful video put together by the JCBA Pittsburgh that shows my family’s cemetery, among many others, maintained by JCBA. The cemetery is one way to sit with the souls of the Shapiro family in the quiet of their gravesites,Continue reading “Yichus Part I”
BubbeWisdom 