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Program Format 1. As participants enter the program room they receive a hand stamp or black ribbon for Time Servants and red ribbon for Task Masters of Time. 2. Then drummers create a rhythm to slow down the room. 3. Two hazzanim on each side of stage. One who rips out Readers Kaddish mega rapidly. Then on to one who does it languorously. Could be the same hazzan who does this. 4. Then introduce the subject. Tell the story of how everyone has two angels traveling with them. One angel says: "Hurry up you're going to miss something! (There are mitzvot to be done, rallies to organize, vigils to attend, plays to see, concerts to attend, workshops to go to....)" The other angel says: "If you don't slow down you're going to miss something!" (a child's first step, a key comment by a spouse, etc.) You might orchestrate this as a story or a brief skit. Here's the brief talk I gave when we did this program at the Kallah: "The art of living in shared sacred time has atrophied in modernity. Lately I've been writing a book for Simon & Schuster, Reclaiming Judaism, and this has helped me to become aware that methods for the conscious shaping of time are some of Judaism's greatest spiritual practices. Our hazzanim for the evening just chanted different forms of the kaddish, a prayer found woven throughout all of our worship services. In the book Time Shifting, Stephan Reftschaffen suggests that we can learn how to be appropriate with time, to do time shifting. There are times for express train kaddishes and times for languorous kaddishes. We live in a time when the culture is so overwhelmingly doing the express train kaddish that we find ourselves drawn to the langorous kaddish, because we are becoming aware of the need to slow down, that we are missing something. Our lives. While no kaddish ever mentions death or loss, we feel the resonance of this in the prayer. Kaddish is actually a prayer poem about the oneness of all existence in all its manifestations. Kaddish reminds us of how finite time is on earth and the eternal time line of souls and creation. Kaddish is essentially a Jewish definition and affirmation of God as the big picture we will never be able to back up far enough to comprehend. So, instead, kaddish helps us to hold onto the mystery and awe of the big Picture even in the midst of individual pain. The root word of kaddish is kadosh, holiness. While we seek to lay claim to the hours of our lives, Judaism asks us to remember to shape time toward particular ends. In the kiddush over the wine on Passover we read, z'man heyruteynu, mikrah kodesh. At a time when we are free, holiness happens. Jews seek freedom and we learn to craft within it behavior that leads to holiness. It might seem that the greatest goal is to move from slavery to freedom. But, as one of the world's oldest wisdom traditions, Judaism points out there are varieties of freedom. Freedom can include chaos, self-centered living and destructive anarchy. Freedom, like spirit, requires carefully developed social vessels and guidelines, so that the greater goal, holiness can be achieved. 5. Here is a verse from the Passover Kiddush which is an appropriate chant for meditation during such a workshop. Part I: z'man khey-ru-tay-nu mee-krah koe-desh. At the time when we are free holiness happens. Part II: z'man akher Some other time. z'man! Time! Mah-heyr! Hurry! Rotate the main verse first for the time servants, and the refrain (another time, time! Hurry!) for the time masters. At the end you can switch roles with the parts of the chant. 6. This is a good time to offer a guided visualization about how slowing down at one time in your life you saw something so precious - or didn't and missed something so important....and a long meditation sit with it based on the chant. 7. Then people share in groups of 5 servants to l master. 8. Now another Hazzan interlude of hatzi kaddish 9. Dr. Barry Bub, hubbatzin, physician and gestalt therapist, teaches: "Good mental health depends on having a clear image of what stands out as important or urgent and being able to act on that awareness. Experiential Learning: Find a partner and compare what is in your foreground with what you desire to focus your time on today, or at this event, or at this time in your life. 11. Another hatzi kaddish 12. What follows is an example of how Jewish approaches to time can lead to social change, you might have workshop participants discuss the inherent dilemmas or write their own for sharing about feelings and social action approaches for publication in your newsletter or committee building. Time Manifesto
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