
Contributor(s): David Seidenberg, neohasid.org and Noam Sienna
Shared on ט״ו בתשרי ה׳תשע״ג (2012-09-30) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Art & Craft, Sukkot
Tags: Ancestors, archetypes, sefirot, קבלה kabbalah, spirits, North America, אושפיזין ushpizin, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, Avot and Imahot, in the merit of our ancestors, אושפיזתא Ushpizata, Prayers inside sukkot
The essential idea of the liturgy of Ushpizin is to invoke the energies of the seven lower Sefirot in the proper order, so that Shefa, blessing and sustenance, can be drawn down into the world. This is the essence of Kabbalistic liturgy, and a liturgy of the imahot would only make sense if it were to follow that pattern. That means we have the playfully serious task of finding a stable order for the imahot where no clear order exists. . . .
A litany of mythical guests and creatures presenting at the Passover seder. . . .

Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Shared on י״ב בתשרי ה׳תשע״ח (2017-10-02) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International free-culture license
Categories: Sukkot
Tags: סליחות seliḥot, North America, Imahot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., in the merit of our ancestors, Divine Presence, שכינה Shekhinah, Biblical Women, Mi She’anah, Tishrei Zman, אושפיזתא Ushpizata
There is a famous Seliḥot prayer where each of its lines has this structure: “May He who answered ___________, may he answer us.” The blank refers to assorted Biblical figures who faced great challenges, ranging from Avraham the Patriarch to Ezra the Scribe. The traditional list is also VERY male-focused, with the standard text only listing Esther from all the great Biblical women. This is a shame, and many have tried to remedy this. I have found myself under the opinion that all these remedies have a fault – they attempt to combine the original text with the new text. This means either the original text is shortened, or the full text is far too long. As well, the structure is very male-oriented as well, appealing to God’s male side and only using grammatically male language. . . .
This is one of my favourite Sukkot piyyutim, not least because of the wonderful and easily singable call-and-response melody! The seven verses each highlight one of the seven traditional ushpizin [mythic guests], and a few years ago I wrote an additional seven verses for the seven female ushpizata according to the order of Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org). . . .
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