The month of Elul has arrived, and with it the season of feldmestn (cemetery measuring), geyn af keyver oves (visiting ancestral graves) and raysn kvorim (lamenting over graves). I have a few new materials to share this month, as well as my first guest post and two new ritual guides. For now, if you are interested in learning more about grave and cemetery measuring, you can join me at a free online talk with the Workers Circle on 22nd September, at 1pm EDT (10am PDT, 6pm London, 7pm Paris.)

Event description:

“They were like the witches from Macbeth, but a Yiddish, folksy version” – the forgotten Yom Kippur rituals of Ashkenazi Jewish women.

In the month of Elul, and particularly in the week running up to Rosh Hashone Jewish women in Eastern Europe used to measure the cemetery with thread in a ritual known in Yiddish as feldmestn. In between Rosh Hashone and Yom Kippur, the thread from these measurements would be used to make candle wick for huge candles known as neshome likht  – soul candles. Lit on the eve of Yom Kippur, these candles were believed to create a special connection with the dead, who could advocate with God on behalf of the living, to help them receive a good divine judgement on the Day of Atonement.

In this online talk, Annabel Gottfried Cohen, a Yiddish teacher with the Workers Circle, historian and researcher of these women’s practices will talk about the history of these very popular rituals, as well as the efforts being made to revive them today.

Click here to register.

Video of last year’s in person cemetery measuring workshop with Shamir Collective, The Workers’ Circle and Shomer Collective. Featuring Annabel Gottfried Cohen, Sarah Chandler, and Eléonore Weill, with tkhines set to music by Rabbi Noam Lerman. Directed and produced by Sarah Chandler, film and editing by Toney Brown.