(יד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
(14) And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for year."
"Otot are 'signs,' unpredictable events like eclipses and meteor showers, that occur outside of the regular cycling of the planets... they call us to wake up to life's wonders and make meaning out of moments.
Moadim are seasons. The round of seasons is nature's clock. Every seasons has its own unique qualities of light, scent, taste, and color. Each calls for particular activities from growth to exuberance to fullness to [dormancy]. Each reflects a specific aspect of the life cycle: birth, development, maturity, and death.
Yamim are days. The days bring to mind a kind of deep time that began eons ago and stretches on and on into the future and around again to the beginning -- an ocean, yamim, of days, yamim. This is eternal time: it goes on forever and our lifetimes make up a mere microsecond of it.
Shanim are years; shana also means change. Shanim refers to the changes that compose a life. This is linear, measurable time: time on a human scale.
Time has depth and integrity; it is whole and full. It has boundaries, just like space."
-Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (56)
1. What ways do you notice the "orot birkia hashamayim"- lights in the expanse of the heavens- serve as otot, signs, in your modern day life? How do you notice them marking seasons and days? Do you notice some more frequently than others?
(יט) וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ (פ)
(19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Dawn and dusk are common times for prayer in all traditions. Many people experience a sublime sense of life's mystery and a deep peace at sunrise or sunset when earth is changing from light to dark or dark to light. We see more clearly when the light is not overhead but when we are losing it or gaining it, when it is balanced with a touch of darkness. These transition times provide a window to holiness and an opportunity for seeing more deeply.
Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (67-8)
2. What rhythm does the Jewish calendar beginning days at nightfall bring to your life? How does this rhythm compare with our secular day?
(2) By the seventh day, God finished the work which God had been doing,
and on the seventh day God ceased from all the work which God had done.
"The seventh day, like the first and the fourth, is concerned with time. God created day, on the first day, calendrical time on the fourth day, and rest, the release from ordinary time, on the seventh day. The seventh day also marks the creation of the first week.
Many theologians claim that the week is the only unit of time that has no special relationship to the natural world. They argue that while 'day' is determined by the earth's rotation, 'month' by the moon's cycle around the sun, and 'year' by the earth's cycle around the sun, the 'week' find its origin in the biblical creation story. This position seems to overlook the fact that the week marks one quarter of the moon's monthly cycle. The week is a fundamental expression of nature's cycles and the Sabbath honors this elemental connection."
Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (126)
"Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to the holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world."
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath (10)
3. Do you agree that the week is a reflection of natural rhythms, or does 1/4 of a month still feel like an arbitrary division? What meaning might it bring to our understanding of z'manim- seasons and times- to have the day and the year be direct reflections of natural cycles and the week a reflection of Torah cycles?
4. When you look at the sun, moon, and stars, what are some emotions you feel? How might these contribute to a sensation of hod, splendor?
Psalms 8, A Mizmor of David translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi
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יְהֹוָ֤ה אֲדֹנֵ֗ינוּ |
YaH, our Master! |
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מִפִּ֤י עוֹלְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ |
Your strength is founded |
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כִּֽי־אֶרְאֶ֣ה שָׁ֭מֶיךָ |
I am awed when I see Your skies, |
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יָרֵ֥חַ וְ֝כוֹכָבִ֗ים |
The Moon and Stars |
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מָה־אֱנ֥וֹשׁ |
What are we who must die, |
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וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ מְּ֭עַט מֵאֱלֹהִ֑ים |
Yet we are only a touch less than divine. |
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תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ |
You set us to manage |
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יְהֹוָ֥ה אֲדֹנֵ֑ינוּ |
YaH, our Master! |
1. What might the psalmist mean that "Your strength is founded in babes' and toddlers' first speech"?
2. Jewish tradition holds that God has no body, yet the Psalms and biblical poetries frequently make use of God's fingers, hand, feet, etc as imagery. What impact does the image of God's fingerprints and the work of God's hands have on the psalm?
3. Do you agree that humans are made "only a touch less than divine"? What does this mean?
4. Take a look at the words used to characterize the psalm- hod- glory, k'vod- glory/dignity, hadar- splendor, adir- splendid/mighty. What impact do these words have on the content of the psalm? If the psalm spoke of children's words, the skies, humankind's place in the world, and the creations God has placed us to guard over, but used different adjectives, how might the message or mood of the psalm shift?
Art Creation Prompts for Hod
1. Create an artwork of the natural sights and wonders that fill you with a sensation of hod, splendor/glory.
2. Write a poetic resetting of the Psalm, using images that bring splendor to mind for you.
3. Consider how a sensation of splendor interacts with the rhythms of our lives. Illustrate your personal rhythms.
4. Where do you see God's "fingerprints" in the world? Create an artwork that illustrates this.