Sunday, Oct. 6 at Santa Monica Beach at 10 AM
Along the Water at Lifeguard Tower 26
Please bring along any flowers you might have had out for the holiday that have passed their prime as we’ll make use of them in our temporary art (mandala).
Enter the ten contemplative days of Yom Kippur preparation with our annual gathering at the ocean. Find lots of your TBA friends down at the seashore as circle up with song and stories for the whole family. In the spirit of a fresh start to the year, join in the creation of a collective piece of sand art for the express purpose of letting go. For more information about this and other HHD events visit tbala.org/hhd.
1)
מִי־אֵ֣ל כָּמ֗וֹךָ נֹשֵׂ֤א עָוֺן֙ וְעֹבֵ֣ר עַל־פֶּ֔שַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִ֖ית נַחֲלָת֑וֹ לֹֽא־הֶחֱזִ֤יק לָעַד֙ אַפּ֔וֹ כִּֽי־חָפֵ֥ץ חֶ֖סֶד הֽוּא
יָשׁ֣וּב יְרַחֲמֵ֔נוּ יִכְבֹּ֖שׁ עֲוֺנֹתֵ֑ינוּ וְתַשְׁלִ֛יךְ בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת יָ֖ם כׇּל־חַטֹּאותָֽם׃
My vort is this: Nothing lasts forever. Not the feeling of guilt. Not God’s anger, as the prophet Micah notes. Not even things of beauty, like this art. Not even hope, like counting the days until someone comes home (ugh I choked up writing that). Not heartache. Not hunger. Nothing lasts forever. The New Year comes and with it the opportunity to toss away baggage of regret. Tashlikh is an invitation to let go and give in to the impermanence of mortality. To let a fresh slate and a fresh start invite us forward to 5785.
2) Casting Away Our Mistakes & Sins
Some years, we’ve thrown bread into the water. We watched it dissolve and decompose, losing its shape until it is no more, as if the things we regret are also no more.
A mandala is our own rendering – of mistakes, of beauty, of hope, of sins – a purposeful making that we intend to completely let go of. We will watch it disappear, naturally. A new kind of casting away.