A Blessing for the New Moon of Tevet

Dear RUACH Community,

This winter solstice, in the blankness of the landscape and darkness of the night, what does your intuition tell you is true?

The pursuit of truth, stubbornly, relentlessly, is a character trait associated with Capricorn, or G’di, the celestial Goat. To be honest, I find myself agnostic, leaning towards skeptical, about the power of the Zodiac to determine personality traits. (At the same time, I should confess a heavy identification with my own sign; to tag Walt Whitman into this contradiction, #ContainingMultitudes.)

The question of determinative power aside, there is nevertheless undeniable beauty in the poetics of the goat for this season. Goats are independent thinkers, naturally hard-willed and literally hard-headed (both males and females have horns) in their intuitive convictions. As winter sets in and we find ourselves hunkering down, we can draw inspiration from the stubborn life-force of the goat to push us through towards spring.

We can also turn to the goat for help with challenges to our internal landscapes. Cold weather, long nights, and more time alone indoors is a recipe for surfacing the memories and longings we can more easily avoid in warmer climes. In Jewish culture, it’s no coincidence that the goat is the animal who nobly carries our sins away into the wilderness each year during the High Holidays. There is a thick associative constellation here — truth-seeking, Capricorn, judgment, guilt, and, ultimately, the release of, and relief from, whatever is weighing us down. Even this new Hebrew month associated with Capricorn, the month of Tevet, is linked to the Israelite tribe of Dan, whose very name comes from the root term meaning judgment, discernment, clarity.

Ultimately, the celestial Goat brings an invitation to face whatever winter forces us to face, and then to stubbornly head-butt our way through to freedom. Towards springs both internal and seasonal. To life.

Along the way, a little community bolstering and connection might be just what the stars have in mind. Whether you’re looking for a heat-building, all-levels Jewish bodyweight strength training hour or a cozy meditation gathering, RUACH is here to make the winter more meaningful, manageable, even magic. (By the way, if you’re looking for a way to bring in Shabbat this Friday night 12/19 — I hope you’ll come join us for a free meditation in partnership with Temple Israel of Boston, followed by a lovely Kabbalat Shabbat service!)  We’ll be continuing to add new RUACH winter events in the days ahead, so please do keep your eyes on the calendar as well as the stars.

At the end of the poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” Walt Whitman writes, “I wander’d off by myself, / In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.” As we continue lighting our Chanukah candles and these candles light up our homes in return, we now carry ourselves across the threshold of months, moons, and seasons. Winter was coming; now winter is here. So too are the stars and, thankfully, the spirit of resilient hope, bold determination, and sheer play that has already brought us this (very) far.

When we find ourselves gazing up this season at the heavenly bodies, may they bless us — may they bless you and yours — with truth, discernment, and inspiration to keep moving insistently forward towards ever greater, freer life.

With best wishes always,

Yaakov Ginsberg-Schreck

Executive Director

Let’s Connect! yaakovgs@thisisruach.org