A man of seventy-five, a call with no address on it, and a full moon over Tulum run through this whole week.
The story read on Saturday, October 24 is Lech Lecha, the call that sends Abram away from everything he has known. The whole family story of the Bible begins here, with an instruction to set out before a destination is named. If you have been feeling a pull you can't explain yet, this one is for you.
Sunday night, outdoors
The week opens with a full moon on Sunday, October 25. I will spend that night outside in Tulum with the women of my retreat, so I recorded this reading before I flew, to have it waiting for you.
Three circles to walk out of
Abram is asked to leave three things, in a very particular order, from the widest to the nearest. The nearest is the hardest for every one of us.
The two Hebrew words of the call can also be read as a direction inward. Read that way, every border he crosses is one he crosses within himself.
This week the road runs through you.
Out from under the stars
Abram was a reader of the sky, and the sky had already handed him a verdict about his future. What happened when he was taken outside to look up, and why it matters for any woman who has been told what her life will hold, is in the full reading.
One letter
His name changes by a single letter, and so does his wife's. Which letter, and what it says about how a man becomes whole, is in my reading inside the community. So is the story of my own name.
Waiting for the map
There are two ways to miss this week. One is standing still until every step is certain. The other looks exactly like courage from the outside. Both are unpacked in the community.
A practice you walk
This week's practice is done on your feet, moving. The steps, the words to say out loud, and the audio in my voice are in the community.
Sunday night, October 25
In India the autumn full moon is a night people spend outdoors, often until dawn. On Sunday, step outside for a while and look up. I will be under the same moon, and the question I'll be asking it is in the community.
The method is built on the lunar calendar and on years of studying Sefer Yetzirah. I do not teach the tradition. I use its calendar as an instrument, and I translate it into the language a modern woman actually lives in.