Jewish Magic, Healing, & Art, Part 1
Course Description:
A self-paced, online opportunity to tap into a community of makers, healers, artists, activists, queers and our friends as we explore ancient and modern magic, healing and art of diasporic Judaism. Patriarchy has obscured many ancient Jewish rites associated with the occult and the magic of the everyday. Practices of the home and those kept by women and nonbinary people have often been forgotten or concealed because of violence, assimilation and white supremacy.
But our practices of resistance and earth reverence live in the altar of the Shabbat table and in the light reflected in our friend’s eyes. They are inscribed in the clay of our doorway mezuzah and our precious hands touching them. They live in the spices we smell during havdalah, the scent taking us back to the earth our ancestors stepped on while harvesting these sacred plants. In this cohort, we will illuminate what has been hidden and celebrate a revived Jewish practice through song, chants, lectures, guided meditations, medicine-making, the crafting of magical objects and, the building of community.
This space affirms that your life is Jewish magic, and the ways we collaborate with the energy of life has potential to heal our world. Magic manifests in many ways including through our art, work with plants, organizing for social change, and the ways we intend for our life to be a ritual.
Some of the ancient Jewish teachings we will explore in this cohort include water rites and mikveh, amulets, mirror magic, Jewish time and the moon, incantation bowls, the Sefer Yetzirah (Jewish mystical text that predates the kabbalah), magical practices working with plants and animals, Jewish astrology, angels and demons.
We will also learn from amazing guest teachers who are queer Jewish magic practitioners, artists, healers, community organizers and change-makers. These teachers center ritual, magic, and social change within their art practices and will guide us in doing hands-on activities together. In addition to our study of ancient Jewish teachings, we’ll receive inspiration from these contemporary artists, community organizers, and ritualists who are innovating work for the healing of all beings. Together we become the living dream of our ancestors.
This is Part 1 of a three-part series. In Parts 2 & 3, we will cover Jewish Astrology, Plant Magic, Liberation Magic, the Sefer Yetzirah and the Hebrew letters in greater depth. You are welcome to attend either one, two or all three sections.
You can order an amazing Ritual Box of magical tools that are used throughout the series.
Your Teachers and their session descriptions:
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo (They/them/Lukaza) is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who lives/works between Ohlone Land [Oakland, CA] and Powhatan Land [Richmond,VA]. They invite the viewer to recall and share their own lived narratives, offering power and weight to the creation of a larger dialogue around the telling of B.I.Q.T.P.O.C. stories. Learn more at: www.lukazabranfmanverissimo.com
Lukaza will be offering time and space to come together and make collectively built rituals. Through writing exercises, every day altar making, mail-art and space to come together, what are the rituals that feed us? What are the rituals that liberate, resist and love? Let's all light a candle together.
Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt is an artist and cultural worker engaging in place-based art and research projects. Her recent work in textiles, ceramics, video, and print reflects studies of cultural and land-based practices of her Jewish and Filipino ancestors. She received her MFA from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in Honolulu in 2020 and is pursuing her doctoral studies in Sculpture as a MEXT Scholar at Hiroshima City University in Japan. Learn more at: www.rrrebecca.com
Let's talk about the animate-ness of vessels, from shells to chatsubo, Japanese tea storage jars! Rebecca will share her research from Hiroshima around Philippines ceramic history, ancient Jewish inscribed pots, and the role of jars as animate beings: communicators, wombs, multipliers, and contact points to the ancestral world.
Mazal Masoud Etedgi
Mazal Masoud Etedgi (they/them/theirs) is a trans/non-binary artist, arab/mizrahi/amazigh jew, first-gen, spoonie/chronically ill person, herbalist, Drama Therapist, clown, and cultural organizer. Maz utilizes imagination, play, and ritual as tools for liberation, healing and connection. You can find their herbal medicine apothecary at www.bsamimapothecary.com @bsamim.apothecary
In this workshop, Maz will share about plants in the Torah and in SWANA traditional herbal medicine that are supportive for individual and collective protection, as well as connection to the Divine. For the experiential portion of the class, we will co-create an amulet made with cloth, herbs and string. This amulet is known by many names in the Sephardic, Amazigh and North African practices (respectively): bulsika, za’aboula, choukara and tsherot.
Lead Teacher: Rebekah Erev
Rebekah Erev (they/them) is a queer artist, teacher, ritual leader/kohenet, community herbalist, dreamworker, cultural organizer and healer. For over two decades they have practiced and taught a Judaism steeped in the old ways, ancestral and earth reverence and visions of the world to come. They celebrate diaspora with Queer Mikveh Project, a community, advocacy tool and art practice. Learn more here.
Rebekah will be teaching the first, second and last sessions along with teaching a portion of all six sessions. They will teach about mirror magic, healing and magical herbs, the moon, incantation bowls, amulets, the Sefer Yetzirah and the Hebrew letters as portals, Jewish astrology and more. You can expect to do ritual, meditate, have group conversations, create ritual objects and discover many gems of Jewish magic. You will also make meaningful connections to your own life and social justice while working with Rebekah!
Course Includes:
10 Videos from Rebekah including lectures, demos, meditations, writing prompts, creative activities and rituals
3 Videos from guest teachers including ritual activities and unique learnings
6 Lengthy PDF’s with a wealth of knowledge, activities and rituals
2 Resource documents with reference materials and Jewish Magic community connections
Access Information:
The videos in the course are closed captioned. There is a written PDF with image descriptions that accompanies most of the lectures by Rebekah. You are welcome to participate in this course regardless of your spiritual background; if you have beginner or advanced knowledge of Judaism, interest in converting to Judaism, or are a Jew by Choice. No prior knowledge of Judaism or Hebrew is required for participation. Please reach out if you have other access needs and we will do our best to accommodate.
Cost:
$125
There are some scholarships available for raised poor and low income folks without access to financial resources. There are also some available for Indigenous Jews, Black Jews and Jews of Color. Please email Rebekah to request a scholarship. rebekah@rebekaherevstudio.com
As an act of Ger (Guest laws and Land Back), a percentage of proceeds from this class will go to supporting the work of Rose Island Farm.
Enrollment fees for this course are non-refundable.
Ritual Box:
We’ve created a ritual box to accompany this series and to support you in doing magic with us together! Each box contains the materials we will be using during the class activities throughout Parts 1, 2, and 3. It includes: a ritually engraved mirror, herbs and bottle for making your own anointing oil, a set of small tapers from Narrow Bridge Candles, a bag of clay for making an incantation bowl, fabric and string for making herbal amulets, pickling spices, herbs from Rebekah’s garden and beyond (cedar, rose, yarrow, dandelion root and more!) original art by Rebekah and Lukaza, evil eye beads and more. This is not included with the course and needs to be purchased separately. Purchase Here.
Testimonials from Previous Cohort’s:
“Being able to receive a ritual box that had so much of the supplies for this class really helped me be able to be present and not worry about having the right things. I also love that we physically made something with each class. I've never experienced anything like this where the learning was so tactile and experiential yet also virtual. I've learned so much about myself and the possibilities of creating space for myself and community connection for expression of spirit, emotion, and art.”
“This class has felt really nourishing for me in rebuilding a relationship to my identity and ancestors in a way beyond loss. I loved the physical making of objects and medicine as a way of bringing the lessons of this class into my home and life. I love the discussions and stories and reflections each person brings into the space. I’ve never been in such a nourishing Jewish space that felt welcoming of all my political and personal identities.”
“Rebekah Erev shares such a wealth of knowledge and passion. Their commitment to accessibility across disabilities is so clear and important. The class has given me so much. I’m so sad it’s over but I would do anything for more.”
“I loved the variety of focus and learning, with different speakers and activities. … The ritual box gave me a feeling of connection through material objects. … I love that I came away from the group with actual sacred and ritual objects that I made and could use, and/or ideas for the same outside of the group. … I felt that the class learnings and activities sparked artistic connection and inspiration in other areas of my life.”
“I liked how many types of activities we did. As someone with ADHD, I can easily lose focus, but in this class there was so much interesting material presented in so many ways. It was a deeply impactful experience in the growth of my spiritual identity. Our work together brought awareness of so many ideas in Judaism that have been obscured or lost because of patriarchy. Not only did Rebekah as a teacher bring a wealth of knowledge, but they made space for others to share their own. By the end it truly felt like we built a compassionate community of powerful, wise practitioners.”
