After a three year hiatus, Rebekah Erev and Jonah Aline Daniel are offering the Soul Candles Workshop this fall in Seattle, WA. With joyous hearts we invite you to join in this work.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
There are vast and diverse teachings and uses of candles in Judaism. Every where that candles have been used, they have also been made. In this workshop we will draw from Russian and other Eastern European traditions of making "Soul Candles" during the Days of Awe (the Jewish High Holy Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.) We invite you to come co-create in our own holy queer tent of prayer. Soul candles are made to both honor ancestors and protect the living. Burned during Yom Kippur and throughout the year, their lighting awakens the souls of ancestors and calls on them to pray for the wellbeing of the living. This candle making tradition has been passed down through "tkhines," Yiddish collections of prayers by and for women. Obscured historically by Patriarchy and Christian Dominance, we bring the tkhines of Jewish women into our lives and hold them up to shine brightly.
Date: October 5th 2019, Seattle, WA
Cost: $150- $250 sliding scale, with partial scholarships available for low income, people with disabilities and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). No BIPOC will be turned away for lack of funds.
Co-sponsor: Kadima Reconstrutionst Community
Accessibility: ASL interpreted, wheelchair accessible, low fragrance. Please come fragrance free to make the space accessible to all participants. Information about fragrance free here.
Once you are registered you will receive information about the pre-Saturday afternoon outing to the cemetery. We will also create a googledoc you will get access to for people traveling for the workshop from out of town to coordinate rides and places to stay in Seattle for the weekend. We can’t guarantee anything but will do our best to help people connect with one another.
There will be several events connected with this event to make this a weekend Shabbat Shuva Shabbaton.
Free events:
There will be a Queer Mikveh at Madrona Beach 5-6pm on Friday October 4th. This event includes intention setting for the weekend. Immersing in the water is optional, a metaphorical mikveh and mikveh through drinking water will also be included in the facilitation of this ritual. Accessibility details forthcoming.
Shabbat dinner 7:30pm, details forthcoming for this free event.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is hosting their annual tashlich on Sunday October 6th from 12-2pm at Madrona Park. More information here.
For those registered for the Saturday workshop:
Saturday October 5th from 10-12pm we will be visiting a Jewish cemetery in Seattle to do the traditional wrapping of wicks around tombstones as directed from the original tkhines.
