Tu BAv Circle Consciousness

BY CHAYA LESTER

BY CHAYA LESTER

WWW.SHALEVCENTER.ORG

The Bermuda Triangle’d Holiday

It’s TuB’Av...
one seriously long lost holiday.
Tu B’Av is like the Bermuda Triangle’d holiday
that just up and disappeared.
And mind you,
it used to really be
something spectacular.

Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur are called the
two happiest days of the entire year.
Clearly, Yom Kippur stuck around,
but where did his poor forgotten
happy-day sister run off to?

How did we lose touch with
one of the two most essential pieces of
Jewish spiritual technology
for happiness-making?

The Stealthiest Secret Weapon of Geuladik-Redemption Yet

And how do we reconnect to it already?
Because it really is worthy of celebration.
Tu B’Av could very well be the stealthiest
secret weapon of Geuladik-Redemption yet.
It’s an uber fixer-upper of a holy day.

The Jewish Valentine’s Day?
A Yiddishe Sadie Hawkinstein Day?

Now, you may note that a quick Google
will show that it is – in theory at least –
already being fixed up.
It’s been recycled as
the Jewish Valentine’s Day;
a yiddishe Sadie Hawkinstein Day.

Now don’t get me wrong.
I’m not going to argue with schlepping in
a little celebration of romance
into our unarguably less-than-sexy tradition.
Sexiness is great for Jewish continuity and all…
but, I think were missing out on the full
Tu B’Av turbo power when we
boil it all down to romance.

The Ultimate Celebration of the Rise of the Feminine

I much prefer to view this mystery holiday
as the ultimate celebration of the
Rise of the Feminine & the
ushering in of Circle Consciousness.

What is Circle Consciousness?
It is a Kabbalistic model for an enlightened state of mind
that is based on principles of equality, supportiveness,
presence, embodiment.
It is understood to be the Messianic goal
of humanity’s spiritual evolution.

Tu B’Av Just Drips with Circle Consciousness.

It is taught that on this day
women would share their finest
white dresses with each other.
Utterly without competition.

The wealthy would lend to the poor
and vice versa and
they would all go out to the vineyards
and dance in circles.

Now you have to understand that circle dancing
is the Torah mega-symbol for circle consciousness
and the ushering in of the Messianic era.

In a Circle There is No Hierarchy.

First Off, In a Circle There is No Hierarchy.
Everyone is equidistant from the center
and that center is G!d.
Everyone has equal G!d access.

Equal stature.
Equal depth of wisdom.
In a circle, everyone’s an expert.

Everyone is Professor
Doctor
Rabbi
this or that.

Everyone wears the pants,
the badges, the glasses, the expert’s hat.

The World-to-Come Business Suit

The uniform of the World to Come
is actually the white dress borrowed
from someone either richer or poorer than yourself.
This is the World to Come business suit.

The sharing of dresses
takes the old school hegemony of hierarchies
and flattens the heck out of them.
Because our clothes reflect our status,
our socio-economic standing.
It’s a symbolic act of defiance
against the entire corrosive world order
of haves and have-nots.

The rich girls give up their edge
because they know
that in the end the real EDGE –
the place where we all benefit –
is when we all have equal benefits!

The Messianic Circle Dance

And what’s more,
we have this gorgeous teaching in the Gemara
about the Messianic Era.
At the End of Days
the tzadikim, the righteous ones,
will dance in a circle
and in the center will be G!d.

Each tzadik will extend their hand
and point to the middle and pronounce,
“This is the G!d I’ve been waiting for!”

THIS is the G!d I’ve Been Waiting For!

Now tell me friends,
what happens when you dance in a circle
and point at the center?
What do you point at?

Lo and behold –
it’s the person across from you!

Each finger points straight as an arrow
across to another lit up face in the circle.
And then you call out,
“THIS is the G!d I’ve been waiting for!”

What a crowning moment of circle consciousness…
to see the divine countenance
in the person in front of you!
And for them to see yours.
Even the hierarchy of the Divine is leveled.

This is the invitation of Tu B’Av.

This final push of empowerment of the feminine
is a pathway of equality and embodiment for all people…
and animals and plankton and angels and even G!d Him/Herself!

It is imperative to our evolution
as a people and a planet
for folks to just get it together
and GET TOGETHER.

Instate Circles of Witnessing, Acceptance & Flowing Self-expression.

Shatter the heck out of lines of inequality
and rather instate circles of
witnessing,
acceptance and
flowing self-expression.

This Tu B’Av
get together
and support each other.

Get together
and witness the wisdom,
the godliness,
of the people around you…
and the person within you.

Dance in a vineyard if you got one!
Swap some clothes.
Wear something white and shiny and shimmy around.

Or just tell someone else
how beautiful they are
and then tell yourself that too!

Lets Share Our Abundance.

This Tu B’Av,
let us dance unembarrassed
and share our abundance.
And we’ll point incredulous at the Divine Presence
that dances among us.

Note: This is a brilliant and enlightened explanation by Chaya Kaplan-Lester of Tu bAv “as the ultimate celebration of the Rise of the Feminine & the ushering in of Circle Consciousness.” It is so much more kavodik, elevating and in harmony with our collective Jewish neshama as opposed the common attempts of describing this holy day a Jewish Valentine’s Day or Sadie Hawkins Day - Ugh. Your words ring so true to our present transition to geula language and circle consciousness. Wow- this is awesome... “What a crowning moment of circle consciousness…to see the divine countenance in the person in front of you! And for them to see yours. Even the hierarchy of the Divine is leveled.” A heightening of awareness of the authentic feminine and divine aspects of this special day in the Jewish calendar! ... Looking forward to expanding the circle!