As I was packing to move into my new apartment last August, my friend Evelyn told me that I should read a book called Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter. She said that if I were going to be moving my belongings anyway, I might as well move them with intention.
According to the book, if I followed feng shui methods, I would improve my love life, career, and health. I laughed at her suggestion, consumed more at that particular moment by fitting everything I owned into small liquor boxes with taped-up holes on the bottom. I couldn‚t have known then that her words would foreshadow a big spiritual change in my life.
Once my couch, bed, desk, bookshelf and dresser had made it safely into my new apartment and all that remained to unpack were the boxes, I began to wonder, would it really make a difference if I put my candles on the nightstand, as opposed to on the bookshelf? What would happen to me if I placed my objects with intention? Call it intrigue, call it anxiety, but whatever the impetus, I went out and bought the book.
Eight months later, I''m not completely convinced that my career has improved; (I placed objects reminiscent of wealth in my career gua, or zone, but I didn''t get a raise until a week ago); nor do I believe that taking down all art depicting women alone, (which supposedly symbolizes that I don''t need or want a man in my life), has improved my love life (I''m still single). However, I do believe in energy, and that the deliberate placement of objects can be symbolic, uplifting, reassuring, even comical.
For example, just looking at the small stuffed elephant I placed on purpose in my love and relationship gua (to keep me grounded in romance), brings a smile to my face. Each time I look at the elephant I am reminded of my attempt to make a change in my life. Similarly, by deliberately hanging a mezuzah on my doorpost, I feel I am reminding myself of my attempt to bring spirituality into my life.
Though there was a mezuzah hanging on my bedroom doorpost for two years in my previous apartment, I rarely if ever gave much thought to what it symbolized. And, I don''t even remember hanging it.
Once fully educated in the art of basic feng shui, however, I decided to ritualize the hanging of my mezuzah. I hoped that by intentionally hanging it, I would designate my room a sacred place, one of the spots that the Ultimate Being pokes a graceful nod at once in a while.
Ironically, it was two of my non-Jewish friends whom attended my Hanukat HaBayit, or Jewish Housewarming ritual. Even though they didn''t recognize the prayers as I sang them, by having eagerly accepted my invitation, they had enhanced the energy of the moment and made it a highly rewarding experience.
Like at most festive Jewish occasions, we broke bread and drank wine (or, as was the case, nibbled a piece of toast and sipped juice). We said some prayers (the shehechehyanu*, or prayer for special occasions, for one), and blessed the apartment by expressing those things we wished for my home to encompass -- good health, good friends, and happiness.
There are scripted ceremonies one can follow, and designated prayers one can recite while hanging the mezuzah, but there is also plenty of room for improvisation and creativity. Some suggestions: take turns blessing the space; read a poem that you feel captures the energy and essence of your space; light a havdallah candle, the pretty braided one that is normally lit to symbolize the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the rest of the week. Let the flame symbolize the beginning of your life in a space you have intentionally blessed and made sacred.
Each time I look at my mezuzah, or each time I kiss it, because I have begun kissing it as I enter and exit my room, I say a little thank you. Sometimes I''m thankful for my health, (i.e. I didn''t get the flu this year, even after a sick child sneezed practically on me); other times I''m happy that a handsome man smiled at me on the street; and still other times I''m just generally glad to be alive. Whatever I happen to think of, it is this split-second moment of pause, each time I pass it, which defines my spirituality. Though just an object, placing my mezuzah with intention has inspired me to reflect on life''s intangibles.
Recommended ceremony to serve as a guide for your own:
Your Home is Your Sanctuary: A Mezuzah Housewarming Party
By Shammai Engelmayer and Rabbi Charles Simon
Published by the Federation of Jewish Men''s Clubs
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115-100022
212/749-8100
212/316-4271 (fax)
**Don''t let the "Men''s Club" part fool you -- I used this thorough ceremony as research for my ritual, and found it to be inclusive. It contains a Q/A section, tons of blessings, an introduction, and lots of encouragement. It even designates readers for different parts.
One example of a traditional blessing you might choose to include in your ceremony:
A Blessing for the Home
Within these gates
Let there come
No sorrow
Within this dwelling
Let there come
No distress
Through these doors
Let there come
No terror
With this family unit
Let there be
No disagreement
Within this place
Let there be only
Blessing and Peace
*The Shehechehyanu:
Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam,
she''he-cheh-yanu, v''ki''yemanu, v''hig-gi-anu
laz-man ha-zeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of all that is,
for granting us life, for sustaining us, and
for helping us to reach this day.
According to the book, if I followed feng shui methods, I would improve my love life, career, and health. I laughed at her suggestion, consumed more at that particular moment by fitting everything I owned into small liquor boxes with taped-up holes on the bottom. I couldn‚t have known then that her words would foreshadow a big spiritual change in my life.
Once my couch, bed, desk, bookshelf and dresser had made it safely into my new apartment and all that remained to unpack were the boxes, I began to wonder, would it really make a difference if I put my candles on the nightstand, as opposed to on the bookshelf? What would happen to me if I placed my objects with intention? Call it intrigue, call it anxiety, but whatever the impetus, I went out and bought the book.
Eight months later, I''m not completely convinced that my career has improved; (I placed objects reminiscent of wealth in my career gua, or zone, but I didn''t get a raise until a week ago); nor do I believe that taking down all art depicting women alone, (which supposedly symbolizes that I don''t need or want a man in my life), has improved my love life (I''m still single). However, I do believe in energy, and that the deliberate placement of objects can be symbolic, uplifting, reassuring, even comical.
For example, just looking at the small stuffed elephant I placed on purpose in my love and relationship gua (to keep me grounded in romance), brings a smile to my face. Each time I look at the elephant I am reminded of my attempt to make a change in my life. Similarly, by deliberately hanging a mezuzah on my doorpost, I feel I am reminding myself of my attempt to bring spirituality into my life.
Though there was a mezuzah hanging on my bedroom doorpost for two years in my previous apartment, I rarely if ever gave much thought to what it symbolized. And, I don''t even remember hanging it.
Once fully educated in the art of basic feng shui, however, I decided to ritualize the hanging of my mezuzah. I hoped that by intentionally hanging it, I would designate my room a sacred place, one of the spots that the Ultimate Being pokes a graceful nod at once in a while.
Ironically, it was two of my non-Jewish friends whom attended my Hanukat HaBayit, or Jewish Housewarming ritual. Even though they didn''t recognize the prayers as I sang them, by having eagerly accepted my invitation, they had enhanced the energy of the moment and made it a highly rewarding experience.
Like at most festive Jewish occasions, we broke bread and drank wine (or, as was the case, nibbled a piece of toast and sipped juice). We said some prayers (the shehechehyanu*, or prayer for special occasions, for one), and blessed the apartment by expressing those things we wished for my home to encompass -- good health, good friends, and happiness.
There are scripted ceremonies one can follow, and designated prayers one can recite while hanging the mezuzah, but there is also plenty of room for improvisation and creativity. Some suggestions: take turns blessing the space; read a poem that you feel captures the energy and essence of your space; light a havdallah candle, the pretty braided one that is normally lit to symbolize the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the rest of the week. Let the flame symbolize the beginning of your life in a space you have intentionally blessed and made sacred.
Each time I look at my mezuzah, or each time I kiss it, because I have begun kissing it as I enter and exit my room, I say a little thank you. Sometimes I''m thankful for my health, (i.e. I didn''t get the flu this year, even after a sick child sneezed practically on me); other times I''m happy that a handsome man smiled at me on the street; and still other times I''m just generally glad to be alive. Whatever I happen to think of, it is this split-second moment of pause, each time I pass it, which defines my spirituality. Though just an object, placing my mezuzah with intention has inspired me to reflect on life''s intangibles.
Recommended ceremony to serve as a guide for your own:
Your Home is Your Sanctuary: A Mezuzah Housewarming Party
By Shammai Engelmayer and Rabbi Charles Simon
Published by the Federation of Jewish Men''s Clubs
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115-100022
212/749-8100
212/316-4271 (fax)
**Don''t let the "Men''s Club" part fool you -- I used this thorough ceremony as research for my ritual, and found it to be inclusive. It contains a Q/A section, tons of blessings, an introduction, and lots of encouragement. It even designates readers for different parts.
One example of a traditional blessing you might choose to include in your ceremony:
A Blessing for the Home
Within these gates
Let there come
No sorrow
Within this dwelling
Let there come
No distress
Through these doors
Let there come
No terror
With this family unit
Let there be
No disagreement
Within this place
Let there be only
Blessing and Peace
*The Shehechehyanu:
Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam,
she''he-cheh-yanu, v''ki''yemanu, v''hig-gi-anu
laz-man ha-zeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of all that is,
for granting us life, for sustaining us, and
for helping us to reach this day.
Jodi Werner is editor of GenerationJ.com and the project director for a new Jewish rituals website www.RitualWell.org
Directions to Aidekman Campus
Copyright © 2010 The Jewish Federations of North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved