Oy Vey Newsletter in the month of Av
Dear Friend,
The Jewish month of Av has now begun. We’re preparing for the 9th day of Av, or Tisha B’Av – the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. It begins tomorrow evening and lasts until sundown on Thursday.
I always found it a bit strange that precisely in summer, when we can finally enjoy a carefree vacation in the sun, this day is nestled into our calendar. Why sorrow while I’m swimming among the fish in the sea? What’s mournful about warm sunlight? But when I zoom out and see that it’s exactly 7 weeks before Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), I understand that this is a special and precise moment in the run-up to these High Holidays.
Rabbi Alan Lew (who wrote the amazing book This is Real and you are Completely Unprepared about the High Holidays – an absolute must-read!) writes about this: “Tisha B’Av has a hot tip for us: Take the suffering. Take the loss. Turn toward it. Embrace it. Let the walls come down. And Tisha B’Av has a few questions for us as well. Where are we? What transition point are we standing at? What is causing sharp feeling in us, disturbing us, knocking us a little off balance? Where is our suffering? What is making us feel bad? What is making us feel at all? How long will we keep the walls up?” (p62).
This summer, while Alan Lew’s questions occupy my mind and preparations for the High Holidays are in full swing, we’re working with a group of volunteers to bring our new living room in the heart of Amsterdam one step further. These past weeks we’ve been working on the back wall (check out those beautiful niches in the photo above..) where we’re going to build our library. Step by step, our dream is taking shape.
By the way, we organize (almost) all activities in our new space, so definitely come by to see it in person. Sometime after summer we’ll really “open” – until then there’s still a lot to do. So if you have energy, time, or money – all help is needed and welcome!
with love
Lievnath
The High Holidays
The High Holidays are approaching! We’re celebrating Rosh Hashana on Saturday evening, September 12 at the Uilenburgersjoel with a ceremony and vegan dinner. We’re keeping the childcare for the kids too, after all the positive feedback 🙂 Sign up as soon as possible, space is limited.
This year we’re celebrating Yom Kippur in its entirety. That means we’ll be spending time together at the Uilenburgersjoel both on Sunday evening, September 20, and on Monday, September 21, during the day and in the evening. Just like last year, you can drop by for a while, take a walk around the neighbourhood, come back, etc. Save the dates in your calendar for now – in the next newsletter we’ll be able to tell you more about it.
A little sneak peek: this Yom Kippur we’re organizing together with Radical Mitsvah from Paris. And we need you! Members of Radical Mitsvah are coming to Amsterdam for Yom Kippur and need places to stay. Would you like to host someone for a few nights? Let us know here.
Our calendar
During Pride Week, Suzan, Grace and Lior are organizing a bit of extra queer jewish joy on Friday, July 31, with a potluck Queer Shabbat. For Jewish queers, their loved ones, friends and allies. Sign up here.
The Oy Vey Reads book club is discussing Here Where We Are is Our Country by Molly Crabapple on August 8 at 15:30 in our new living room in Amsterdam. Send a message if you’d like to join the reading. In Tori’s words: ‘Here Where We Live is Our Country is an epic story of Jewish revolutionaries, the Bund, and the rise of nation states. A must read!‘
The Singing Shtetl with Elly and Grace continues this summer as usual – you can sign up for a session on August 9 or on September 5. We’re also practicing songs that we’ll be able to sing together on Rosh Hashana. So definitely come join in this summer!
The Kaddish Club – a low-threshold space for grief where we say the Kaddish together at the end of the gathering – is back on Tuesday evening, August 11, guided by Lievnath.
As preparation for the High Holidays, we invite you to join us during the month of Elul each morning at 9:00 for about 10 minutes online on zoom to hear sound of the shofar, blown by Lior. We start on Friday, August 14. Sign up here for the zoom link.
On Sunday, August 16, we say goodbye to Grace, who has strengthened our group of volunteers with so much energy and creativity over the past year. We’re marking this with a clothing swap she organized herself, in our Jewish Living Room at Makom.
Starting at the end of August, there will be a monthly program at our space called: Potluck Sunday. This program is put together by Esther and Tori and arose from the need to talk about things together. Not just the food is potluck, but the whole setup of the afternoon: you bring yourself along. The first edition on August 30 is about the values of the Jewish Manifesto.
Even more to experience
July 30 – Aug 2: During WorldPride Amsterdam, the Jewish Museum will spend three days focused on queer connection and celebrating together, with a good dose of Jewish culture and identity. Check out the program here.
🔥Pets of Oy Vey
The duo photo
Jesse writes:
“Oh man, I have two cats, I can’t do a duo with just one of mine. If we’re doing duos, it has to be both of my cats… These are Muffin and Basel!”
We’d love to put your pet in the spotlight here! Just reply to this email with a photo and a bit of info – we’ll take care of the rest. 🐾
Vrede, liefde en solidariteit,
Het Oy Vey-team 💛