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Home » Virtual Shabbat Box » Virtual Shabbat Box Archives: August 2020

Virtual Shabbat Box Archives: August 2020

Phone screen with a green box and the words "Virtual Shabbat Box: Resources for you in these uncertain times"

Your Virtual Shabbat Box holds many ways to celebrate the day. Choose what nurtures you: listen, watch or read.

Looking for Shabbat services? Check out Recon Connect for virtual Shabbat services and other live, online programs throughout the week.

 


Aug. 28-29

Watch: Yes and No 

Join in with a series of simple, gentle neck stretches to work through your tension and find another way to care for yourself. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here

Yes and No

 

Read: Taking the Shofar Into the Streets for 5781

Unable to hear the shofar this year in person, Aviva L. Brown took matters into her own hands and found a way because “the shofar must go on!” Sourced from Ritualwell 

Photo of Aviva Brown

 

Listen: Vanderning (For a Walk) 

Logan Schulman and Benjamin Behrend created this experimental immersive theater piece that uses music, stage directions and pointed narration to craft a soundscape that engages the listener’s heart and mind. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here

person walking on beach with cityscape in distance

 

Read: The Challenges and Unexpected Rewards of Teshuvah

Professor Louis Newman helps to launch us into the spirit of the month of Elul and the High Holy Days that follow. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations 

women embracing

 

Watch: A House Is Not a Home, but Can a Sukkah Be a Temple?

Using tools from literary criticism, Rabbi Alan LaPayover explores the period between Tisha B’Av and Sukkot, and suggests a way to look at, understand, and live in this chunk of Jewish time. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash 

Bet Midrash - A House is not a Home, but can a Sukkah be a Temple - Lapayover

 


Aug. 21-22

Listen: May He Bloom in His Time 

May He Bloom in His Time by Reset: Jewish Practice for Activists

Listen or join Rabbi Vivie Mayer in this joyous Hasidic niggunSourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here. 

 

Read: What Was I Even Thinking? 

Figure viewed from the back dressed in black, looking out over a lake and mountains

In her poem, Julia Knobloch reflects on the passing of summer and her expectations of what she had thought it might be in the face of what it was becoming. Sourced from Ritualwell 

 

Read: The Shabbat Tent 

tent glowing brightly from lantern hung within, by a wooded lake under a starry night sky

The tent is a physical reminder for us to take time to be close to our loved ones and to ourselves. Hila Ratzabi’s blogpost describes her ritual of Shabbat as a special place to experience the peace of the day. Sourced from Ritualwell 

 

Watch: On God Language 

God Language Toba Deborah

Rabbis Deborah Waxman and Toba Spitzer reflect on talking about God, and the relationship between how we do so and Jewish practice. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org 

 

Watch: Lillian Wald: An Inspiration for Our Time 

Lillian Wald Beit Midrash

Lillian Wald, best known for her pioneering work in the public health field, was also an advocate for immigrant rights and racial justice in America. Dr. Reena Friedman discusses Wald’s many contributions and reads excerpts from her writings on these critical issues that remain very much with us today. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash 

 


Aug. 14-15

Watch: Deep Belly Breathing

These days of high anxiety are a perfect time for getting back in touch with our breath, using it to become more rooted and relaxed. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here.

Watch: Deep Belly Breathing

 

Read: ‘Hitoreri, Hitoreri’

In her poem, Suzanne Sabransky reimagines the verse from the Shabbat evening hymn, Lecha Dodi, that calls us to arise and pour forth our song, bathed in the dawning of a new light. Sourced from Ritualwell

Person sitting in the Yoga Lotus position alongside a dog

 

Listen: Halleluyah: Fueling Our Social Activism Through Gratitude and Praise

Rabbi Alex Weissman discusses with Rabbi Deborah Waxman how deeply felt experiences of gratitude and blessing can move us towards empathetic action. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience

Man holding a baby in front of a rising sun

Listen: The Jewish Studio Project

Rabbi Adina Allen, co-founder of the Jewish Studio Project, makes the case that engaging in a creative process is something that adults not only can do, but should do. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations

Person presenting information to other people

 

Watch: Tu B’Av: Do We Actually Need a Jewish Valentine’s Day?

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman explores the roots of this little-known day on the Jewish calendar to see if there is anything that we can make of a day dedicated to love and romance. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash

Watch: Tu B’Av: Do We Actually Need a Jewish Valentine’s Day?

 


Aug. 7-8

Watch: Standing Forward Bend 

Loosen up and surrender with a standing forward bend. Sourced from Reset, Providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here. 

Standing Forward Bend

 

Read: Zoomed Out, or What to Do When Everyone You Know, Love and Dream of a Better World With Is a One-Inch Talking Head in a Pixelated Box

This poem by Adam Horowitz speaks volumes to the condition of relating to each other during a pandemic. Sourced from Ritualwell

Laptop displaying multi-party video conference call

 

Listen: Midrash

Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D. and Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. discuss Midrash — the way ancient rabbis read scripture in new and creative ways, giving old words new life, meaning and relevance. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience 

Hebrew text in a book

 

Read: Lessons Learned From the Pandemic of Our Lives

Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb explains that our goal is not to “get back to normal.” It is to emerge more sustainable, more just and more connected than before. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations 

Adult fitting a protective mask on a child's face

 

Watch: ‘Layehudim’ for Havdalah

This joyous song by Noam Katz is part of the introduction to the Havdalah ceremony. It says, “The Jews of old had light and happiness and joy and love — may it be so for us!” Sourced from Ritualwell 

La-yehudim for Havdalah

 


 

July 31-Aug. 1

In lieu of this week’s Virtual Shabbat Box, we offer you a Virtual Tisha B’Av Box.

 


These resources were drawn from:

 

Previous Virtual Shabbat Boxes by month: 

The Reconstructionist Network