Passages

Rosh Chodesh Adar I we are incorporating a female life passage ceremony,
and celebrating the feminine power of one of our group.
By celebrating with her, we connect with that energy within ourselves.

Debby- her name, Deborah, is derived from the Hebrew root word,
dee-bor= WORD.
Through the spoken WORD, inner wisdom is revealed, is expressed, and
becomes palpable.

We can understand the concept WORD
by referring to the first words ever spoken
as it is related in the first words of Genesis:
“God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was unformed.
Darkness was over the deep.”
God said: "Let there be light."
And there was light.
God saw that the light was good.
God called the light: "Day."
God called the darkness: "Night."
There was evening, There was morning. Day one.”

On the surface, we could read this passage and think simply that
everything was dark until God made light.
But if we probe beneath the surface we will perceive that
darkness was an intrinsic part of the first step in creation.
Light was the first modification.
Darkness is more than nothingness.
It is potential. Just as the darkness of the new moon
is the seed of all that will be.
(Therefore Jewish days begin at night, and the Jewish calendar counts time
from sundown rather than sunrise.)

We've been conditioned to think about the dawn of a new day.
We think of twilight as the beginning of the end.
For us, mornings seem to be beginnings and evenings are endings.

But we see from the account of creation in the Bible that the darkness is the
beginning of the light. That is why the Bible says, "There was evening" before
it say "There was morning."
The moon speaks at night, the wisdom before the spoken word.
How fitting that eh formation of this circle begins with
Deborah, whose name means Word

To begin our Rosh Chodesh ceremony, we will light candles.
Before the calendar was formulated, the rabbis would announce the new moon
according to witnesses’ testimony.
A witness would light a torch on a mountain,
usually in the Hills of Galilee.
Another witness on a distant mountain would see the torch, and light a torch
for the next witness to see,
and so forth until the chain of light reached Jerusalem.
There, the rabbis would proclaim the beginning of the month.

In the Book of Judges, we can read about a great Jewish leader:
Deborah the prophetess.
Deborah was the nation’s leader.

She chosen by G*d to lead her generation because their spiritual state could
only be rectified by the deep inner feminine energy which she possessed.

She is referred to as AISHET LAPIDOT. Woman of Torches.

A true multi-tasker, in addition to leading the nation,
counseling and guiding her generation,
and leading the army in the defense against invasion,
Deborah supplied torches for the Holy Temple,
which served as beacons of light for the entire world.
The needs of her generation required feminine energy,
lighting the darkness, nurturing the spark within.
From the darkness she made light,
weaving wicks, and passing the torch.

I call upon a Deborah of our generation,
to begin the Rosh Chodesh candle-lighting.
By lighting candles we acknowledge the sanctity of this day,
and create holy space.
After Deborah lights the central candle,
our 4 sister will welcome our holy Matriarchs.
From the four directions, we will pass the flame,
lighting our individual candles
counterclockwise as the moon travels,
and place them on the central table.
When we finish we can circle the room, counterclockwise, and introduce
ourselves, by our first names, the names of our mothers and grandmothers,
as far back as we each know.

Candlelighting Ceremony
Reader:
Blessed are You, Merciful One, who makes us holy by giving us directives
and who gives womankind the New Moon as a sign of eternal beginnings.
Blessed are You, who guides us to renew ourselves like the moon.

All Together:
We welcome Rosh Chodesh Adar
We welcome our ancestors, the Matriarchs
Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel.