kaddish in two-part harmony
A conversation between an anthropologist and a musician along with a growing virtual minyan, on themes of death and dying, grief, ritual, and the interplay between music and words.about
Tag Archives: life cycle
a kaddish for sigrid syltetøy vang, b. 2006, d. 27 February 2018
Sigrid was sweet, fun, goofy, curious; all the usual cat things. Silky and beautiful. By far the most beautiful cat I have ever known. Continue reading
killing you loudly—a kaddish
This is the sound of me wailing. Again. Kaddish project’s over, but death does not just up and disappear. So. Here we are again. Only this time it’s a bit different. They’re killing you as we speak. They’re cutting you … Continue reading
the end of memory
It’s a very simple proposition: what if we forget? What if we forget the details? What if we forget their faces? What if they become reductionist cartoons, selective memory, fixed inside our stories, unverified by outside confirmation? What if they … Continue reading
Posted in essays, kaddish in two-part harmony
Tagged death and dying, grief, life cycle, memory, yizkor
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a yizkor for Hy Glantz — guest post from Alana Glantz Zussman and Michael Jacob Zussman
Here is the speech we read at Grandpa Hy’s funeral. Hy (his full name was Herman) Glantz was born February 22, 1924 and died July 2, 2011 of mesothelioma. Most likely due to asbestos exposure while working in the Brooklyn … Continue reading
Posted in guest essays, kaddish in two-part harmony
Tagged grandfather, grief, Hy Glantz, life cycle, mesothelioma
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a kaddish for hindy nobler
The funeral was so fast! Her brother was leading people off to head for a gathering at the house, one last time. One of the chapel people, said “Stop — we haven’t said a kaddish!” Some of us had been … Continue reading
next lifetime: on the origins of religious experience
I don’t believe any of this stuff, right? So how come I can see it all so clearly? Maybe I’ve just got no imagination at all. I can see the house vividly. Every detail, from ceilings to secret balconies and … Continue reading
Posted in essays
Tagged afterlife, life, life cycle, metaphysics, Paradise, science and religion, shared visions
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a kaddish for miss pants
Candy Pants was my dad’s hunting dog, retired to California, endured four dogs’ worth of veterinary crises, and healed me—not exactly in that order. Continue reading
Posted in essays, kaddish in two-part harmony
Tagged black lab, cancer, chocolate lab, death and dying, dogs, embouchure, healing, labrador retrievers, life cycle, musicians, rebirth, rosacea, Rottweiler, trauma, yizkor
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daily kaddish: for a lump of clay
Mira’s beautiful post from this morning about winter struck a nerve with me.
I marvel at her ability to celebrate rebirth, welcome surprises, and plan to keep molding her lump of clay. I usually feel that way myself—I’m having a great life, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of it plays out. But today I find myself wanting to bake my lump of clay hard, in this lovely shape it has today not wanting surprises.
I know she’s right. That’s not how this lifetime works, and I need to go on molding and rolling with the surprises.
So this is a kaddish for a lump of clay. Continue reading
Posted in kaddish in two-part harmony, podcasts
Tagged death and dying, life cycle, prayer, rebirth
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a kaddish for winter
I’ve been thinking about rebirth a lot, lately and wondering why. All that rebirth stuff — I’ve always thought of it as merely wishful thinking, codified into religious precepts, to ease the mind regarding inescapable misery. Rebirth, opiate of the … Continue reading
Posted in essays, kaddish in two-part harmony
Tagged death and dying, life cycle, nature, Neter, prayer, rebirth
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rudolf steiner in seven-part harmony
It’s your seven-year cycle,” she said. “You’re coming up on the next seven, so that’s why you feel that something’s about to change.” And I thought, well what a load of crap. And then I thought about it. And then … Continue reading
Posted in essays, kaddish in two-part harmony
Tagged crossroads, death and dying, life cycle, rebirth, Rudolf Steiner, science and religion
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