Dear Lab/Shul,

Welcome to a new week. Today, I want to share the poem Snowdrops by Louise Gluck with you:

Snowdrops

Do you know what I was, how I lived?  You know
what despair is; then
winter should have meaning for you.
I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn’t expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring–
afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy
in the raw wind of the new world.
~Loiuse Gluck

Louise Gluck, a most gifted and important contemporary poet of our time, captures a sense of (collective) grief through the journey of a special flower. At the start of the year, and with all going on in the world, many of us may be experiencing that exact feeling: that against all odds we open ourselves up, piercing through the frozen earth exposing us to the elements, come what may. She – like all of us – may be trying to risk joy.

What a year we have left behind us, as we watch 2023 grow more distant in the rear view mirror. I’m so grateful to one of our Kaddish Club circle holders, Lori Roth Gale, for sharing this poem with me and to our virtual kaddish participants.

We’re entering the season of Tu B’shvat, the full moon of the month of Sh’vat – the holiday celebrating the birthday of the trees – ironically in the dead of winter. With so much loss, and so much continuing to put pressure on our hearts, I ask us: Do we risk joy? Do we allow ourselves to pierce through it, come up to the surface for air, even if the winds are chilly? Do we envision what the fruit will taste like even before it grows?

As the calendar pages continue to turn, we don’t need to leave the grief behind – there are places we can come together collectively to let it breathe. Because Lab/Shul understands the nuance, complexities and impact of current events as well individual losses at this time, we offer a special seasonal ritual: ReCollect. ReCollect is our seasonal Kaddish Gathering (in person and online) where we will taste the sweet fruits of Tu B’shvat together with our salty tears.

We will also be offering a variety of ways to gather, connect and risk joy together.

Stay tuned for our:

  • Monthly Experiential Learning Labs for Lab/Shul Partners with the Lab/Shul staff (Song Circles, TheaterLabs, Storahtelling Study Salons, Meditation & more)

  • Monthly FamilyLabs: Home-Based Shabbat and Holiday gatherings for families with young children ages 0-8, centered around the family table

  • “Raising the Bar” B Mitzvah teen cohort and family programming

AND come what may, might we risk joy as well? We have plenty of opportunities to do so:

At the turn of the year, I was reminded of Anderson Cooper’s New Year’s Eve message from 2020. It brings to mind this beautiful message he shared just this month with CBS Sunday Morning on freeing yourself from the burden of grief. As a Co-Founder & Ritual Leader along with being the staff member honored to hold space with our Kaddish Club community here at Lab/Shul, I invite you to lean into any grief you may be experiencing, with us…remember our loved ones, share stories, lift memory, and say Kaddish – the ancient memorial prayer – together.

May we remember after so long how to open again in the cold light of earliest spring–together, and soon.

With deep love,

Naomi Less
Co-Founder, Associate Director, Ritual Leader and Raising the Bar Director of Ritual