Muse

How is Yom Kippur like Purim?

A midrash* compares and contrasts Yom Kippur and Purim by noting that the most solemn Fast Day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, is similar to Purim: the day of feasting, laughter and sending packages of goodies to  friends and to the poor. This comparison/contrast takes place via one  letter: the Hebrew letter "kaf", which in this case, is used in the name of the Fast Day: "k"  setting up a comparison of  "almost" opposites.

* Midrash: a Rabbinic legend used to explain a text

Teshuvah/Returning 

c. Yael Fischman, 2024

But I don't want

to return

to repeat the pattern

the circular staircase*

ruin and recrimination.

I want- oh how I want-

to start again, fresh and fantastic

first taste of food after the fast

( To see more click the link below)

https://renaissancewomankippot.org › blogs › muse › return

* I am indebted to Linda Pastan's  work,  The Five Stages of Grief for this concept.

Did you know that the Hebrew word for the morning service comes from the word for "dawn"?

Here's a poem I wrote as a Shacharit prayer...

Shacharit on a Massachusetts Mountain 

Morning mist makes its presence known

Crickets pause their exuberant song

Tendrils of heavenly rays penetrate the lower spheres

This Godly manifestation we call home.

I, an interloper, observe 

Light Primordial

~Yael Fischman, August 2025 , Lee, Massachusetts

To see more of this or more of my writings or wire work, please click here

"Line by line, here a little, there a little, " the poet/ess  prophet/ess or priest/ess makes connections for those who can hear, only hinting and leaving breadcrumb trails for those who are seeking to find...

Parshat Behaalotekha  stayed with me, so I am writing about it even as we enter into the next parsha, Shelakh-Lekha. These are the connections that came to mind: let's see how interconnected it all is...

B'midbar, the Torah portion read this year just before Shavuot, means "in the wilderness". That is different from the modern day translation of the word "midbar", which renders it as "desert". A desert is often perceived as being barren, lacking life, while in the wilderness,

Jewish mysticism assigns a color, a name and certain attributes to each sefirah, or manifestation of God energy in the universe in general, and the human body in particular. As part of a group made up of spiritual seekers, I wrote a poem in response to the evening's prompt...

We studied together, the B Mitzvah and I, about Tallit and Tefillin. Still wearing them, we sat down to write abut the experience.  What they wrote is private; this is what came to me, in words  at least. Someday, I shall  translate the words and the feeling into a wire kippah or wall hanging. 'Til then sweet readers, enjoy these words which I  share today:

Legacy inherited

Unquestioned access

to treasure most ancient.

To transmit:

To move though the generations 

from desert to shtetl

to an America which WAS the goldene medine

To ask the questions...

We studied together, the B Mitzvah and I, about Tallit and Tefillin. Still wearing them, we sat down to write abut the experience.  What they wrote is private; this is what came to me, in words  at least. Someday, I shall  translate the words and the feeling into a wire kippah or wall hanging. 'Til then sweet readers, enjoy these words which I  share today:

Legacy inherited

Unquestioned access

to treasure most ancient.

To transmit:

To move though the generations 

from desert to shtetl

to an America which WAS the goldene medine

To ask the questions...

Parshat/Torah Portion Bo (Come to Pharaoh) talks about crying out to the Lord: "a loud cry in all Mitzrayim". A couple of parshiyot /Torah portions before that, when the Divine calls out to Moses from the Burning Bush, the Voice says, among other life  and world changing statements, "I have heard their outcry". The  word used for both instances of crying out due to  suffering is the same: tzaakah. I thought to myself, "There must be a hint here; why else use the same word?"

Shemot/Names 

When naming our two cats, our daughters chose from names they had picked out in anticipation, should the time come to adopt our next furry family. How were the names assigned?