Last month I had the honor of being invited to help confer smikhah (rabbinic ordination) on my dear friend and colleague, the amazing Rabbi Irwin Keller. Irwin had spent several years studying in the ALEPH rabbinic program and many, many years before that serving as the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom in Cotati, California. He also happens to be a lawyer, an amazing singer/musician, and a beautiful writer--see his blog!--and for years he toured the world as a member of the comedic and politically trenchant drag quartet, The Kinsey Sicks. I wanted to offer Irwin a blessing on the day of his ordination that would honor the work he has done in the world, uplifting, cheering, educating and comforting so many souls, and to offer him strength and courage for the continuing work of holding both his local and his extended communities. What emerged was a blessing that invokes the qualities of each of the Four Worlds of Kabbalah: Assiyah, the world of Doing and physicality; Yetzirah, the world of Formation and emotional flow; Bri'ah, the world of Thought and imagination; and Atzilut, the world of Spiritual Presence. In our current covid-driven reality, ordination happened on zoom, with all ordinees and witnesses in our own homes, connecting electronically across the globe. Prior to the ceremony, I was invited into a zoom breakout room, where I offered Irwin this blessing. He has encouraged me to share it more broadly, so here it is. May it support us all in the various ways that we serve and heal in this complex world.
A Blessing in Four Worlds
for Rabbi Irwin Keller, on the occasion of his smikhah
10 January 2021 ~ 26 Tevet 5781
Assiyah
May the strong sunlight of love
always energize your body,
shining into fingers and wrists,
spine and shoulder blades, urging you
to dig toes into wet sand, fingers into
moist earth, to cherish each muscular
twinge that reminds you, I’m alive!
May you bring the kinetic vigor of this love
to each word you write and speak and sing,
each hand you clasp, each soul you comfort.
Yetzirah
May you remember, when the day
falls upon you like a rock,
the ocean of love out of which your
dear cells swam, that fluid matrix
ever birthing form, caressing you
from within, like the rivers
gushing forth from Eden,
rishrush of Mother-love, melting granite,
carrying you, spilling into sacred moments shared with
every seeker, sufferer, playmate, and beloved.
Bri’ah
May you delight in the vast expanse
of mind, God’s playground spread out
like a shimmering curtain, breathing
you into and out of being, inspiring
thought before word, dream beyond thought,
blessing effort with great gusts of
spaciousness, the white fire—you don't even
need a match! May cosmic winds
ignite your own creative spark,
your love, a brilliant flame amidst the dark.
Atzilut
My dear, please know that I am near.
You are a channel, empty, clear.
This awesomeness dissolves all fear.
You vibrate in the now, the here.
Impediments must disappear.
No need to strive, to press, to try,
where all is All, not land or sky,
not dark or light, not low or high.
So know that when each day is done,
you are enfolded in the One.
A Blessing in Four Worlds
for Rabbi Irwin Keller, on the occasion of his smikhah
10 January 2021 ~ 26 Tevet 5781
Assiyah
May the strong sunlight of love
always energize your body,
shining into fingers and wrists,
spine and shoulder blades, urging you
to dig toes into wet sand, fingers into
moist earth, to cherish each muscular
twinge that reminds you, I’m alive!
May you bring the kinetic vigor of this love
to each word you write and speak and sing,
each hand you clasp, each soul you comfort.
Yetzirah
May you remember, when the day
falls upon you like a rock,
the ocean of love out of which your
dear cells swam, that fluid matrix
ever birthing form, caressing you
from within, like the rivers
gushing forth from Eden,
rishrush of Mother-love, melting granite,
carrying you, spilling into sacred moments shared with
every seeker, sufferer, playmate, and beloved.
Bri’ah
May you delight in the vast expanse
of mind, God’s playground spread out
like a shimmering curtain, breathing
you into and out of being, inspiring
thought before word, dream beyond thought,
blessing effort with great gusts of
spaciousness, the white fire—you don't even
need a match! May cosmic winds
ignite your own creative spark,
your love, a brilliant flame amidst the dark.
Atzilut
My dear, please know that I am near.
You are a channel, empty, clear.
This awesomeness dissolves all fear.
You vibrate in the now, the here.
Impediments must disappear.
No need to strive, to press, to try,
where all is All, not land or sky,
not dark or light, not low or high.
So know that when each day is done,
you are enfolded in the One.
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