Tag: Laments and Incantations
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New online talk with the Workers Circle
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…
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Feldmestn – Cemetery measuring by Morris Rosenfeld
A poem about cemetery measuring by Morris Rosenfeld, the “sweatshop bard” best known for his poems describing the hardships of Jewish immigrants in the US. The original Yiddish can be found here. Feld-mestn – Cemetery measuring Walking through the stones, old Mina, And behind her, Fesye-Tsveytl Mina cries and says the tkhine And Fesye lays the…
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Petitioning the ancestors
In Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, people would visit the graves of deceased relatives not only as an act of remembrance, but to talk to them, ask them for blessings and present them with requests which they could take to God on behalf of the living. The practice, known in Yiddish as “geyn af keyver-oves”…
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Inviting the dead to our parties
In the summer of 2018, my little sister Viv got married. Our mother died when she was 2 and I was 4, and I was incredibly honoured when Viv asked me to take mum’s place under the khupe – the wedding canopy. It was only when we were all ready to walk her down the aisle that I suddenly…
Pulling at Threads 