All you've got to do is bring the light, cause the new light shine, cause the new light shine. Shalom, shalom, everyone. Welcome back to the light lab podcast. It's our 24th episode. And I just want to say as I like to do, thank you to you for listening. Thank you for supporting our show, for being part of this together as the light lab grows and changes and expands. We want to be here with you, sharing the wisdom of our liturgy, holding it up to the light and seeing what shines through. I really do think T'fillah can be a vessel into which we pour the joy and the love and the grief and the sadness that we experience in this world. How do we see both? How do we hold on to both? I hope that we can be a bit of a salve for that and to provide some inspiration and learning as you continue on your own to be T'fillah journey. Just as a reminder, you can read our show notes at Elianalight.com/podcast. They are linked wherever you're listening to this now. Everything we talk about is going to be in there. We also appreciate your support whether at Ko-fi, that's k-o dash f-i.com, ko-fi.com, as a member of the light lab to support us ongoing or with a tax deductible donation all of that is linked wherever you are listening to this now, but the main thing is, if you have other people in your life who you think would enjoy a podcast of this nature, please share it with them. I'm really excited to present today's interview which I did with Rabbi Emily Aronson because it connects very well to what we were talking about in the last episode in our Amidah series when we came to the blessing on healing. Rabbi Emily Aronson was ordained from HUC, Jr, in 2021. And I know her because we were both in the Glean Start program together, it was a spiritual entrepreneurship incubator. And her project which she has now brought to life and has brought so much learning and meaning and wisdom to so many people is called Chronic Congregation. You can find her on Instagram @chronic_congregation, we'll have that linked below as well. A project focused on the intersection of Judaism, disability, and chronic illness. And we get into all of that, in our show. Rabbi Aronson is really on a mission to help congregations and Jewish communities of all sorts, be inclusive, not just in the way the building is laid out, and the way the books are laid out, but to be inclusive in theology and practice as well, which is a really incredible idea. She's the incoming Reform campus Rabbi at the Bronfman Center for Jewish student life at New York University, and has just completed her term as the interim dean of students at each HUCs New York Campus. In rabbinical school, Rabbi Aronson served in all different sorts of synagogues, pastoral care settings, and Israel organizations. And she has a BA in Jewish thought, and a BA in ethnicity and race studies from her time at JTS college at Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her fiance and their rescue dog. And I'm so so grateful to bring this conversation to you. So please take a listen to my interview with Rabbi Emily Aronson.
Welcome, Emily, it's so good to have you.
Thanks so much for having me.
Oh, my gosh, so glad you're here. So glad we were able to connect now like we like to do on this podcast. I want to take it way, way back to your childhood. What was T'fillah for you, when you were a kid? What was your relationship to T'fillah?
Some of my favorite memories are on Sunday mornings at my home synagogue, where we would start religious school with, like an all school assembly of T'fillah. At the time, it was probably not my favorite thing. However, thinking back, I have really clear images of our music director and our clergy team up at the front having fun with prayer. And they set a model of using movement and song and humor and that was really my first experience of what communal prayer looked like. And it was also done as a Family. And so to be law has always been a communal experience early on for me, and that was really the the foundation.
That's beautiful. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and my home synagogue was Temple Micah in Washington, D.C., and I'm still honored to call that my, my spiritual home still.
Oh, that's wonderful. I'm wondering what you thought g?d was when you were a kid. This clergy team, your family, was anybody talking about g?d? How did you come up with your g?d conception? If you can remember having one from a young age.
I'm actually not sure, I would imagine that I had kind of the typical childlike image of g?d in the sky who watches over us. I'm not sure that I thought that g?d was responsible for us or for our for our everyday actions, but that g?d was there as this larger than life, big picture, guardian of our lives. The only time that I really clearly remember g?d being discussed was around the High Holidays and these images of g?d as determining life or death each year. And that's it's pretty scary image for a child, thinking about our lives being in someone else's or something else's hands, metaphorically, and being afraid of that image of g?d. And then kind of rejecting that image. And then because that was really the only image that I had, going through a period of rejecting g?d as a whole and not believing in God at all.
Yeah, a lot of what you're saying is resonating with me, I'm wondering what that kind of period of rejection looked like. Because on the one hand, we have a communal vision of prayer and T'fillah, on the other hand, we have an idea of God making personal decisions in our life that we don't believe with. So, as we like to say, that g?d gap What was that like for you?
I guess, and like the every day or weekly basis that I was experiencing communal prayer throughout the year, it was more about the people in the room than it was about g?d. And so prayer to me, was not invalidated, as having a purpose because it connected me to the other people in the room, I was connected through the music, when I had no idea what the words actually meant. And I think part of the part of my period of rejecting the notion of g?d was based on my, my peers, it was unpopular, to believe in g?d because we couldn't see it. And as children and early teens, we were navigating and exploring the world in new ways. But if we couldn't see something, why would we believe in it. And so I fell into that trap a little bit. And it took a little while for me to kind of crawl out of that space and realize that I was allowed to have my own opinions, and that I was allowed to form my own notions of g?d, and that that finding my own way of understanding g?d was actually more important to me than what my friends were thinking about and how my friends were going through this journey themselves, realizing that I was the one responsible for my own relationship to Judaism.
That's really beautiful. Again, seeing that resonate, working with some middle schoolers right now. And I'm like, Yeah, you it's a
It's a tough age.
It's a tough age, and you hit the nail on the head there. As you grew, what were some experiences that you had of g?d or of T'fillah that brought you into a new understanding experience you had or teachers that you had along the way that showed you a new way of being
When I was in sixth grade, a new Rabbi joined our synagogue Rabbi Tobi Manewith, and she formed a a group for young women and the community it was called, it's a girl thing. And we had a space as teen girls to explore Judaism and explore what Judaism had to say about the rest of our lives. And through that group, and through her example, I saw a lot of joy in Judaism, and joy in prayer. And that's something that helped me reconnect through my but mitzvah learning experience working with the senior rabbi as well. And finding that this had something to do with my own life. This was not some ancient distant tradition, but something that had and could add meaning to my own life today. And that's really where I started exploring. Why do we say the words that we say what does it mean to pray to g?d if we don't believe in g?d? What does this have to actually do with anything? And so that kind of that space to start exploring and asking these questions was important in my continued formation and being able to ask those question shins might be taken seriously, as a young person. That was a big part of my spiritual formation.
That's really beautiful having a space to ask questions. And to feel like making it personally meaningful is part of the journey. That's really beautiful. So let's jump ahead a bunch because the way that I got connected with you was through a wonderful program called Glean which we can link to in the show notes. And your initiative called Chronic Congregation. I would love for you to share with us what is the genesis of Chronic Congregation? What is the goal of it? And how did it come to be in the world? What was your inspiration?
Sure. So this, I'll pick up a little later in my life, but kind of start with a with a personal story. I was in college the summer before my senior year when I started having health issues and was hospitalized and went to lots of different types of doctors, and was eventually diagnosed with migraine that became diagnosis chronic migraine, and then over a year later, after many, many more doctor's visits being diagnosed with an autonomic disorder. And through this entire process, I was very isolated. There were very few people that I told about my health, and my struggles, because I didn't see anybody else sharing their stories. So I figured that anything that had to do with my body was meant to be private. The one exception was my Hillel at the Columbia Barnard Hillel, where when the senior rabbi found out that I had been hospitalized, he picked up the phone and gave me a call and said, How are you? And so I knew that the Hillel was a safe place for me to share a little bit and to participate in the ways that I could. So finding that Jewish space to be held was kind of the first step of me coming to terms with what I was going through. So fast forward a little bit. And I had a really negative experience and a different space, where we were expected to stand as community. And where it was said that we were not going to continue with our prayers until everyone was standing. And here I was the youngest person in the room. And unable to stand for more than about a minute, I figured nobody wanted me to faint in the middle of this. But as a young person with an invisible illness, no one could see that no one knew I looked healthy on the outside. And so I left the space in tears. And that, to me, was probably the worst experience that I've had. But I knew that if I had that experience, other people were having that experience. When I started rabbinical school, I kind of reverted back into that place of shame of not fitting in and being afraid of not fitting in with a whole new group of classmates and friends. And so I kept quiet again until the February of that first year, which is Jewish disability awareness, acceptance and inclusion month, where I shared my story during services. So again, finding T'fillah as a space that I could connect and find self expression. And from there, this really grew because I could see that by speaking out, I was connecting with other people who had also been keeping to themselves due to fear of being Other, and to shame and because of shame. As rabbinical school went on, I became very good friends with my classmate, Rachel Pass, who's also passionate around illness and mental health. And we started a kind of mini project, thanks to entrepreneurship grant at Hebrew Union College. And we started a project around ritual and invisible illness. And we would hold online gatherings to start exploring what the relationship is between ritual and invisible illness. Okay, so after the project lasted for about a year, I felt that I couldn't just leave this alone. It was something that kept calling to me and coming back to me and so I use my rabbinic thesis as an opportunity to actually really dig into this. With thanks to a class at Union Theological Seminary, I took a class on disability theology. And this really opened up worlds to me, I was reading Christian disability theology, Muslim disability theology, secular theology, which is a strange phrase, and secular theory and putting it all together. And I ended up developing an understanding of God who sits with people with chronic illness or dwells with people with chronic illness in a way that I hadn't seen elsewhere.
So let's let's pick up this thread a little bit actually, because I'm hearing a couple of goals and purposes for Chronic Congregation, one of them being how do we welcome support and raise up those who have both seen and unseen disabilities in our communities. That's kind of one bucket. But the other bucket is what do we do with the theology and the liturgy that we have been handed that, at least at first glance says something in particular about why there is illness in the world, and how it is healed. So I would love for you to talk a little bit about what you learned in this class. And the how you came to this conception of g?d, how is that bridged?
Yes, thank you for helping me focus in here a little bit, I think in terms of how do we actually welcome and lift up people with disabilities and chronic illness. There are some really great organizations who do this work. Respect Ability is one of them. They do advocacy, they have resources for Jewish communities and other faith communities. So there are some there are some really great organizations doing that kind of physical accessibility work. What I noticed was lacking was this theological accessibility. And that's really where Chronic Congregation comes in. So I really struggled with the mi shebeirach, the prayer for healing. That was probably the first prayer that I remember struggling with, when I first understood that my illnesses were chronic. And then when I came to terms that I also had that this was a disability, and overcoming the internalized ableism. To come to terms with that I had this understanding that the mi shebeirach was asking g?d to cure people to intervene and cure. What this disability theology class really helped me realize was that there's a difference between healing and cure. And parsing out that cure is a restoration of the body to a prior state. But healing has to do with body and spirit together. That has to do with finding meaning in life, that it's as much a bigger picture concept, that's really a journey, that there's not necessarily a state of being healed. And so looking at the mi shebeirach from that lens, I was able to find some different meaning in it. And at the same time, it still left me with this feeling of like, okay, like, I can read my way into this prayer, but I don't actually see myself reflected in that prayer. So how can I change language or write new prayers that are going to reflect my experience and my body and this world, and the experiences of other people with chronic illness and disability?
I love that. And I want to stay on the mi shebeirach for a minute, the mi shebeirach, l'cholim, the prayer on behalf of those who are sick. I have my own theories about this. But I'd like to know, in kind of what you've seen in the Jewish communities you've been in and your own experience, what makes this such a powerful and important moment in so many Jewish communities? What about this and not other T'fillot and not other prayers that we do, even with the difficulties that we don't always acknowledge? What draws people to this prayer.
So this is a conversation that I really love having with different communities. And what I have really learned from congregants is that there's the text of the prayer, and then there's the experience of the prayer. And mi shebeirach is a prayer, mi shebeirach is often done in communities and a very interactive way, in a very experiential way. It is not a frontal prayer. And so the ability for people to share names of loved ones that they're thinking of and feel, seen and heard in their community, as somebody who is caring for someone who is ill, who may be ill themselves, hearing names of loved ones, or read aloud by the service leader comes back to this idea of community that I experienced as a child, that it's about connection to other people just as much as connection to the divine. And so it's this kind of bridge between the horizontal connection to the people in the room, and the vertical or kind of larger picture, depending on where you think of g?d dwelling.
It's such an interesting thing and it sounds like and you can elaborate on this that when you slash chronic congregation do learning with people that you put a focus on the mi shebeirach asked people to think what is actually happening. When I say this, what do I hope is happening and what is happening for me, what are some of the conversations you've had you had around that.
this is a prayer where I think music also plays a significant role. Many reformed congregations especially use Debbie Friedman's version that has a couple of verses of English. And the the main word that people associate that I found that people associate with mi shebeirach is comfort. And so it's not that that people think that g?d is going to, you know, send out a hand and cure someone, it's that it helps people feel like they're not alone in a way that other prayers don't. Because it's a time where we pause. It's really a break in the service where we say, we know that there are people in our community who are going through something really challenging. We know that there are people in our community who may not be here right now in our space, because they're going through something. And we know that there are people in this space, who are caring for others who are the caregivers for others. And so having that, that space really to reflect on our lives outside of the sanctuary or the Zoom Room and make that connection between our real lived experiences and our prayer community,
What you're bringing up for me, which I'm not sure I've thought about in this way before, which is why I love having these conversations is that in many services, it really is only the prayer for healing and the mourners Kaddish where we raise up names and also ask people to vocalize in English, what or who their prayers for prayer in English, spontaneous prayer in English, I find this very difficult for Jews, partially because it asks us to think about what the prayer is doing and where it's going and what we think it might accomplish. It's not like, unless you're working with kids, or in a very flexible prayer space, that we stop, for example, at the Ahavah Rabbah and say, This is a prayer about love. Everybody speak out loud, the name of someone you love, right? It's not in the rest of it. We might expect community members to be having an internal experience. But we're not asking them to externalize it.
Right. It's that vocalization that that really invites that reflection, because you're right, when we just go from prayer to prayer, if you're not actually noticing what the words mean, if you're not fluent in Hebrew, and you're not necessarily reading along, because you're trying to say the words, then you may not actually be connecting as much to the meaning of the prayers. It may be the music that's really carrying you. And this is a point where, where, where the meaning really steps through.
Yes, and now the on the other hand, when you do ask people to slow down and think of what it means it can be very painful. So what might you say kind of to a prayer leader, who wants to do this moment in a way that is comforting and meaningful for the congregation, while also also not being alienating to folks who themselves have chronic illness or who know loved ones who aren't going to be cured?
A lot of this has to do with sensitivity to transitions. I think about that also with the mourners Kaddish when, Okay, we're done with Kaddish. All right now time for announcements like that. That's not a smooth transition. The same goes with mi shebeirach, the language that we use to introduce it can also be really helpful, that we can differentiate healing from cure, we can say that we're inviting g?d's healing presence into our space, can use language like, we ask for comfort for those in our lives, who are in pain. So it's not just okay that the name mi shebeiraches the prayer, but it's easing us into that moment, and then easing us back into the next prayer
transitions are so important. translations are so important. How we bring these ideas across. One of the ways I've been thinking about prayer recently is as an acknowledgment that there's so much we don't have control over. And so much we do have control over. And that often that changes on the individual and on the societal level. Like we can't control disease, right, basically, like disease exists in the world and illness exists in the world. I think one of the reasons that we connect the most to mi shebeirach is that we feel so powerless in the face of disease and illness and need some way to express that. On the other hand, there actually is on a societal level so much that we could actually do to take care of more people and to bring care to more people, right COVID did not have to kill as many people because it did that was a human choice. And I'm wondering how you thought of this kind of on a larger theological basis? What does Judaism have to tell us? Or what do you see chronic congregations role in the balance between the powerlessness we feel in the face of individual illness, and the power that we actually might have collectively, to care for more people.
Thank you, you gave us another part of our mission. I think that Visibility and Education is a huge part of what I hope Chronic Congregation can do is that there are so many people who just don't realize that this is something that affects so many people. And I hope that it helps other people feel empowered, when you know, if there's somebody else who gets a new diagnosis, and they feel alone in the world, that this can help them find connection and meaning and community in a way that I didn't have, when I first started going through this. And I think that through education that could also lead to advocacy, that there are parts of our healthcare system that just don't work for so many people, especially from people of marginalized identities. And so I'm hoping that, you know, by bringing this into conversation and modeling this in our communities, we can demonstrate that there are more effective ways to move through this world, in ways that are compassionate and looking out for other people. And that when somebody comes into our our spaces that we greet them and welcome them just as they are that we don't expect them to change how they move, how they speak, how they communicate with us, for our sake, but we honor and lift up people and honor that they're made it and tell B’tselem Elohim
in the in the image of g?d.
I'm thinking now about kind of the physicality of our prayer spaces in our synagogue spaces. If you were going to design your dream sanctuary, what might it include, that you just don't find a lot of places are including now that would up the level of welcoming for more people like your dream sanctuary, what does it look like?
Well, this is fun, it would definitely have movable seating, that would be number one priority, they would have large print and Braille prayer books available and readily available. Something that you don't have to ask for. Something that I appreciate that Temple Micah does is that they have an assistive listening system, where anyone can pick up a set of headphones that are already clued into the sound system. And another piece, you can see why this community is still my home. The podium is actually motorized, so it can be raised and lowered to accommodate people of different heights have different needs. My ideal sanctuary would also have signage, telling people where there is an accessible restroom, where they can ask for help, or who they should ask for help. So identifiable ushers in the space, or community leaders in some way. And they would also have some sort of signage around what the service looks like some sort of visual cue for folks who who prefer to have visual rather than auditory processing. So that could be something with page numbers on it, that's available, I think there are a lot of things that are really little. So it's, of course, you know, the Bema should be accessible with a ramp with the handrail, the Ark should be able to be opened by anyone, the Mezuzah on the door should be at a height that anyone can reach. And then a lot of the things are in the details.
That sounds like a wonderful place to be big shout outs to Temple Micah, we'll link to them in the show notes. I'm also thinking of a congregation, I've done some work with BZBI in Philadelphia. One of the things they realized after going on Zoom for the year was that people really liked having the page number there. So now there's still a screen in the sanctuary. But instead of showing people's faces, it says the name of the prayer there on the page in big numbers, and whether it's a stand up or sit down, maybe that couldn't be more of a suggestion. But that is still there. And going off of that to the year that we have been mostly on Zoom. Now we're moving out of that back into the real world. What are some things that you have noticed, from our Year of Living, zooming year of a year of living virtually, that you want to leave in the past? And what are some things that you think would serve congregations to keep in mind and maybe even continue to do?
I think another part of sanctuary design would would be advanced technology for communities that use technology on Shabbat and then and for the rest of the week as well for communities that that use the sanctuary during the week. I think what I'm seeing is that we're now navigating this hybrid world where we want to maintain and value people who continue to use our online access, and that we're learning that hybrid is really hard to do well. So I think that that's that's definitely an area for growth and continued exploration is how we create equally good content for folks online, and that they're not just accessing the in person thing through like a little tiny camera where they feel distant. How do we include people through multi access use, and I hope that this is a time for innovation larger than that thinking about the structure of our services and the way that we do things like the mi shebeirach, now's the time to change them up, because we're already in a period of change. So really thinking big about what works in art flow, what is not serving us, well, what are people here for? Why are they coming? What are they finding meaning in and how do we elevate that to meet their needs? And then to push them a little bit further?
Yes, yes. And yes. So let's keep that thread for a moment. We talked about the mi shebeirach l'cholim, as one of these, I would say, kind of pressure points, this point of tension between what the words say, and how we could take them poetically in in a different way. At the beginning of our conversation, you brought up the High Holidays, let's like get into that pressure point, what would you say then, four ways that we could experience in a more meaningful and human way the Unetaneh tokef. For example, who shall live in who shall die who by this and who by that? I happen to love the Unetaneh tokef. But it took me a long time to get there. So I'm wondering, like, how would we use the chronic congregation lens to see that particular piece of the high holiday liturgy, if there or if there's another piece that you're thinking of,
if I had my way, I would rewrite a lot of high holiday liturgy. I think the biggest thing with Unetaneh tokef is thinking about the way that we think of divine punishment, and sin. I think those are kind of big themes that come up in the High Holidays at large. So thinking about not necessarily that g?d is or the way that I would think about this is that g?d is not necessarily the one who causes illness or death disability. But thinking about how do we live our lives to honor the ways in which we're made in g?d's image? So thinking about rather than things happening to us? How do we choose to act in the world? And how do we make our lives count? And how do we find meaning in our lives, knowing that our lives are fragile, and that death and illness are part of life for everyone at some point? So flipping the focus a little bit about how do we connect to g?d through our actions.
I love that. And I'd be interested to read the Emily Aronson slash Chronic Congregation Unetaneh tokef. Seriously, because something that opened my mind to it was that Oh, like, this isn't even a prayer per se. It's someone's, it's a poetic vision. It's a mini play, it is one person using words, which is the main thing that we have. One of the main things that we have to try to explain how the world is the way that it is or why the world is the way that it is. And it's so interesting to me what we take literally in what we take figuratively, in our Siddur like, we look at something like that, and we're like, or, you know, my example is that in the in the Kabbalat Shabbat times we see, Ya’aloz Sadai V’kol Asher Bo- Az Yeranenu Kol Atzei Ya’ar, like the trees in the field are having a dance party. And we understand that that's not literal, and it's something about nature and being in touch with nature. And then the next time we see Adonai Malach Tagel Ha'aretz, g?d is king over all the earth. And we're like, no, g?d's not. Like, why is one of those things we take? We realize it's poetry. And the other thing we take literally?
Hmmm, That's an interesting question. I think I mean, I think that's my challenge largely with my holiday liturgy, is that it? Well, it's, it's very male, kingship focused. And so many American Jews go to prayer on the High Holidays, and not very often during the year and so that's the main theology that so many American Jews are exposed to, and it's no wonder that they don't want to come back.
That's what I always say! If that's all you're getting, if all you're getting is Yom Kippur at a surface level, I wouldn't want to go back either!
It's scary, it's that like inner child. And if the last time that you really deeply thought about g?d was as a child, when g?d is this kind of like, Man in the sky, or All you're hearing every year is g?d is King who determines if you live and die. No wonder you don't want to engage in theology because it's, it's stated as matter of fact, it doesn't necessarily invite you into a conversation with g?d, because you're being judged by g?d, it's this very, one way kind of transaction, transactional relationship with g?d rather than being in dialogue with and about g?d
100%. You know, I've found so much value in my holiday liturgy, but it's because I've given myself the time I have the luxury of, of time, and reading and looking and doing my research, we don't always have the ability to do that. Plus, everybody likes the melodies that they know. And so, yeah, also, because like prayer is an experience in that way. It's not just the words, but I think something that's important that you are really bringing through in your work is reminding us that there are words and that the words that are there matter, and that the people who are coming to our congregations are reading the words, and that just as you can feel welcomed or not, by the Usher, who happens to be on that day, or if someone says, a nasty or dismissive comment to you, as you come in the door, or if they're really nice, and they welcome you and give you a hug, you can feel another way, you can be welcomed or unwelcomed, by the words in the book, also.
Yeah, I think that's a huge piece of it. And I'm glad that you mentioned the way that that people are greeted by other community members, because it's not just the people who are leading who are setting the tone for a service, the way that community members interact with each other is huge, because they're likely having more actual interaction with each other than the service leader is. And so that really, you know that that's a big responsibility that communal leaders can really focus in on. And that's something that they should also be thanked for, for setting that up, hopefully a positive tone.
Tell me a bit about the work that you're doing with Chronic Congregation now and how you envision your work moving through the future.
So I decided that I would start in the social media realm, much to my chagrin, that was not where I was actually hoping to start. But I realized that that's where particularly young Jews are hanging out. So I should meet people where they are. And it's a platform that I'm using to share, new or reimagine prayers and rituals that I'm writing, and to introduce little bits of text study, which is hard and an Instagram post, but I am working on it. I've been doing some teaching in in congregations, especially for the month of February for Jewish disability awareness and inclusion month. And what I really hope to do is build out a few different curricula. So one for use, specifically on college campuses, so that young people have an outlet to explore these ideas, another for lay leaders to be able to start small groups in their communities, for people to explore their relationship to their to their body, and chronic illness and disability in relation to Judaism, and then hopefully, also some resources for clergy and community members so that if somebody comes to them and says, This is what I'm struggling with, they have some language and tools to be able to respond compassionately, and effectively to those that seek them out at all
sounds really beautiful and important work. And we've been talking about the prayers that are a little spicy and difficult. I'm wondering if there's a piece of liturgy that you have found particularly comforting or meaningful for you on these issues. And if you could share with us a piece of liturgy that you've written, also everybody follow chronic congregation on Instagram. We'll definitely link to that in the show notes. But I'd love to know what are the pieces of liturgy and you can take that very broadly that are speaking to you these days.
So a prayer that I often personally reflect on in place of a traditional mi sheberach is hashkiveinu, which asked g?d to spread over us a shelter of peace. And to me that is actually what I am looking for when I am looking for comfort from g?d is that that feeling of like being wrapped in a talit of being surrounded and enveloped by Divine Light and Divine Love. And for me, hashkiveinu embodies that message that we know that when we lie down, and when we wake up that that's a gift. And that's beautiful, and that it's also scary to face the unknown. But having that shelter of peace over and around us can be a huge comfort. And then in terms of prayers that I've written, there's one that really came out of like, severe anger, which was a prayer for handling frustration with the American Health System health insurance system. So I can, I can share that because I think the goal for me and writing prayers that don't come from traditional liturgy is to add ritual into everyday things and to sanctify moments that are not considered holy usually. So I've written a prayer for taking medication for starting a new medication, things like that. And this is one that really like I sat down and it just kind of poured out of me. So I'll share this prayer for handling frustration with American health insurance, g?d of the fire within, I seek you out as anger makes my body shake, as tears well, in my eyes, as fear build in my heart, because I cannot get the care I need. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, this is the promise of America, the promise of hope. I sit before you tired of fighting, tired of paying, tired of being tossed aside yearning to breathe in the promise of collective care, g?d of the fire within the fire within me believes not for destruction, as yours has so often done. But for progress, justice and change helped me find my voice to fight for my needs, and the needs of others. Support us in building a world where affordable quality health care and insurance is the norm, and not the exception. May these be the principles that flow across the land, from sea to shining sea,
Amen. A million times, amen, I was telling you before we started that I cried in the doctor's office today like this is, I feel this so hard. And what I also think is incredibly beautiful. This is the way our liturgy began is that somebody prayed from their heart about something that they needed or wanted or saw or felt in the world, they were responding to life prayer as a response to life. And it was repeated so often that we forget that somebody wrote that, inspired by Re mixing words of Tanakh. But somebody wrote it. And we don't live the same lives as those people, but we can see ourselves in it. And you have written a prayer, like you said, poured out of your own heart that is incredibly personal. And yet, as prayer often does, universal, because we can see ourselves in it. And friends, I would challenge you to listen that if you don't see yourself in that prayer, is there someone else that you see a family member or a friend, or maybe someone you don't know, that you can pull into that prayer with your empathy, or let the prayer help you stretch your own empathy, and bring them into your field of consciousness. And I really liked the phrase, the promise of collective care. That's what's sitting with me from that, you
you know, and I also hope that by sharing new prayers that I have written is that it, it helps give people permission to write to write their own prayers, that if you don't see yourself in a prayer, think about, you know, you can start with just changing one word if you want to start with an existing prayer. And then think about the moments in your life where you feel some sort of transition where an emotion becomes present. And using prayer as a way to mark those, those moments to really give them the attention and care that they deserve. Because there are things that we go through every day, that we kind of overlook, and that we may not honor and give that space to think this this theme of like giving space keeps coming up. Because we deserve to give ourselves that space, to feel what we're feeling to connect that to our Jewish life. And just to honor ourselves,
Amen. And by honoring ourselves so often, we are honoring others because to take this back to the genesis of Chronic Congregation. When you say these prayers from your heart, about your own experience, people will realize they're not alone. Because the personal is becoming communal. And we can all add our voices to that. And I would love I know you just read us a prayer but I'm going to put you on the spot. Talking about transitions. We are coming to the end of our time together and I'd love for you to give a closing prayer for us and our listeners, what can we take with us out of this podcast space,
I'm coming back to this, this notion of creation and space since the views the word Genesis. So I'll, I'll use those kinds of as, as inspiration g?d of creation, who created us each in your image. With holy sparks help us to uncover the divinity within ourselves, to find our own value, and to see the value and others give us the space to explore and question and help us draw nearer to those around us,
Amen. amen, thank you so much, Emily, for joining us today.
Thanks so much for having this conversation. And thank you so
much for listening. Our podcast is edited by Kristy Dodge. This week's show notes were done by Melissa Keinan, the light labs new Program Director we are so so excited to have Melissa onboard. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram at thelight.lab and we also hope you follow Rabbi Emily Aronson @chroniccongregation please share rate subscribe all of those wonderful things and we will see you next time Shalom everybody.
