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High Holiday Ritual Lab 5786: Follow the Light

High Holiday Ritual Lab 5786: Follow the Light. High Holidays are the Burning Man of the Jewish year where the light is not an idolatrous pyre that we gather around in the desert, but the Fire Within. The Mystical Rabbis tell the tale of the “Or HaGanuz” or “Hidden Light” from the first spark of creation; it’s the light in the Biblical imagination of Day One of Creation, and it’s not the light of the sun, or the moon or the stars (that’s Day Four), but the light hidden inside of our Soul and inside the Torah. Our work is to cultivate this light, both within and beyond. It is the Hero’s Journey of High Holidays to turn again to this path as we prepare for an ancestral battle in pursuit of “Knowing our Neshama” (or Knowing Our Soul).
 
Many of us pursue spiritual work in the yoga room or at sound baths; we sign up for pay to play community social clubs and take classes where we are told “to look upon Hebrew letters to become more holy.” All of these pursuits reinforce patterns of behavior that fall short of what a Neshama needs – namely, a call to a moral imperative. Ethical Monotheism is the greatest contribution of the Jewish people to the world; this year, Open Temple looks NOT at the politics, but the origins of this light, this wisdom, this illumination and how the path of a high moral standard is a spiritual practice that elevates all other spiritual practices, rarefying our souls. 
 
As the world transforms in ways that transcends our ability to process all of the information coming our way, as we hold in the palm of our hand more information than our brains can digest, as all of us suddenly have a choice to make in every moment: Are We “In the moment?” or do we “Bifurcate it with the glass in our hand, cutting our soul from the Present?”, Open Temple High Holiday Ritual Lab 5786 challenges us to reclaim our Humanity and Our Moral Compass as we Begin this Journey into the Light towards what nurtures us, cultivating a clear plan of inner alignment as we re-set ourselves on course for the path ahead.

High Holiday Ritual Lab 5786 Animates the Soul: Sound baths of waves wafting into our awakening, Pre-Ritual lab fasts for wellness through Tishrei, Wi Spa Selichot Schvitz, Silent Disco Dancing into the Sunset of a New Year on the Venice Pier, Awoke not Woke Rosh HaShanah where Morality meets Spirituality and Critical Thinking and Unpopular POVs will not be canceled. Believe and Belong. Release the Klipah (Shell) of Self-Consciousness and Move through Radical Jewish Ritual Thresholds of Becoming.

5786: Transform and Belong.

No one who is in financial need is turned away. Email hello@opentemple.org to request financial help to attend High Holidays services.

As the world spins vertigiously around us; as the “Carousel of Truth” bobs up and down; as each day brings a breathless revelation, we must ask ourselves: where am I? The words “Where am I” is a foundational statement of our High Holiday Liturgy. Captured in the “Hineini” prayer, these words are traditionally sung by a grand entrance of a Chazzan (cantor). At Open Temple, we do not pray in proxy. At Open Temple, we are empowered to pray with all of the power that our ancient texts alchemize within. At Open Temple, Hineini, a grand statement of Being “Here I am” – is a return home.

Open Temple’s High Holiday Ritual Lab, now in its 9th year, is a Threshold into the Soul. This year, we explore the High Holidays as a Desert Festival Morality Tale, combining the traditions of the American Western with Desert Festivals – be it Burning Man, Lightning in a Bottle or Nova. “Rosh Requiem” combines elements of traditional liturgy with radical ritual re-imaging in of what High Holidays could and should be. This year, so many who stood before Eternity will not be able to stand before the Holiness of Being and say “Here I am”. This year, it is time for all of us to stand and say “Can you hear me?” And even more importantly, listen for the Voice as it responds. 

In a world where moral assertions defining Good Vs. Evil present as diametric opposites, it is upon us to turn our attention to the true work of the season:: not to stand in judgment of others; but, rather, face our Creator and self-assess our own complicity in this mess.

High Holiday Ritual Lab 5785: Rosh Requiem. Let the Truth Telling Begin.

Please email hello@opentemple.org for financial help to attend this event.

Thank you for taking part in Open Temple’s High Holiday Ritual Lab 5786.

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