To live Jewishly means many things but moments of time play a significant role. We look to Shabbats and holidays as containers that hold us and give our lives moments of pause, definition and direction.

But time is ethereal.

The body, on the other hand, is tangible. It’s our vessel, it is mamashiyut, or real-ness.

On this month’s new moon we ask- how can we synchronize our bodies with time? Into mindful presence? Into this particular month and more importantly, this particular moment?

We are entering the month of Tammuz. It’s the first of the summer months, one that leads us into a period of intensity and historically a time of difficulty. To guide us into this time, Jenna Zadaka of Breath and Soul Yoga leads us in a yoga flow from Jerusalem. The heated heart of the holy land.

Bringing our bodies into an encounter with time, we are invited to notice where sadness lives in the body- to release and become unstuck, and to focus on our hearts. Through yoga practice, we embody the month and the season. We face challenges and hold explicit or subtle sadness. We look with tender and caring eyes. And allow a month with potentially heated and destructive (metaphorically) energy, to alchemize into whatever new growth and regeneration that will emerge from this process. Tammuz, as it’s associated letter chet suggests, acts a bridge across brokenness, moving us through one stage to the next.

Chodesh Tov from Bluth & Living Jewishly.

Ps. Join Living Jewishly on June 17th for our Kiddush Levana zoom gathering, to renew under the newish moon. Click here for more info.

Jenna’s Wisdom for this month:

Tammuz is one of the most difficult months in the Jewish calendar. This month contains many of the darkest events in our history, including the sin of the golden calf, the shattering of the luchot/ tablets, the day Moshe struck the rock, the beginning of the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem, and the day when Adam and Chava were expelled from the Garden of Eden. All of these events involve grief, sadness, and loss. Tammuz invites us to feel the intensity of human sadness and open ourselves up to the cosmic pain of exile of the Divine presence in this world.

According to the Zohar, Each month either corresponds to Eisav energy or Yaakov energy. Tammuz is one of the 3 harshest months, connected to the twin of Eisav, who represents forces of chaos, darkness, and difficulty. But the root of Eisav contains a spark of holy positivity. Kabbalah teaches that Eisav comes from the world of Tohu, which is more chaotic, yet higher and more powerful, than the world of Tikkun (connected to Yaakov). During their famous fight, Yaakov bowed to Eisav. This was a recognition that Eisav, in all of his mistakes and difficulty, has the potential to reach an even higher state of being if channelled and harnessed correctly. This yoga class will explore how we can transform the hard emotions in this month of heat, passion, and darkness, into an elevated time of healing and light.

The element of the month is WATER, according to the Sefer Yetzirah. When the month is hot and difficult, we cultivate our inner cooling waters. Through water visualizations, ocean breath, and soft, supple kindness to ourselves, we invite the element of water into our yoga practice.

“In truth, without some familiarity with sorrow, we do not mature as men and women. It is the broken heart, the part that knows sorrow, that is capable of genuine love”.- Francis Weller

Ritual Invitation for Tammuz

According to the mystical work the Sefer Yetzirah, the sense associated with Tammuz is “sight”. This month is about cultivating the ability to see beyond the physical, towards the spiritual essence of something. It’s about seeing the good in those around us. It’s about training ourselves to see what’s behind behaviours to help identify people’s core needs so that we can support each other better. It’s about seeing the Divine essence in the whole world around us.
We invite you in this month to work with your gaze:

• Gaze at beautiful objects. Notice them. Notice how light hits them, the contrast of colours and textures. What hidden beauty do you see?
• Soften your gaze. Sit in meditation, and bring soft eyes, where you do not focus on any particular object.
• Lock eyes on holy or uplifting images, to raise your energy levels.
• Look at things that make you want to turn away, and practice bringing compassion to the suffering of others B’Vracha!