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Where Hanukkah, which starts tomorrow night, usually focuses on dreidel games and gifts, the "Jewish Meditation and Painting"
workshop sponsored by the Lubavitch of Center City was more about finding the light within. The hope, the group leaders said, was
to appreciate and balance both sides of the fire - the beauty and the burn.
On Sunday, 25 women from their 20s to "senior" came to the Old City Jewish Arts Center to prepare themselves for the
holiday.
Leah Goldman, who heads the women's group at Congregation B'nai Abraham (her husband is the rabbi), helped organize the
gathering. For the last five years, she's held women's workshops on sushi, pottery and blintzes.
This year she decided to focus on three blessings, or mitzvot, that are solely for women.
"That's candlelighting, separating the dough when baking challah, and immersing in the mikvah," a ritual bath used for
cleansing, she said.
Neria Cohen, who led the seminar, said her goal is both to inspire and to educate. A Brooklyn-based speaker, she travels
around the globe for her talks, changing the focus a little each time to reflect the current Jewish calendar and events.
So on Sunday, Cohen spoke of the purity of oil and shedding light on the soul. She also explained the symbolism of the number
"eight" in Hebrew - a number beyond nature (seven days in a week, seven colors in the rainbow) and literally a symbol of
infinity.
Surrounded by professional Jewish artwork, including braided candles and burning bush images, Cohen led the women through the
guided meditation.
She began by asking them to imagine moving through a courtyard, with music playing, as they climbed 15 steps into a sanctuary.
As the scent of burning candles wafted in the background, Cohen walked them through their imaginary temples, until they created a
place of tranquillity, the "Holy of Holies."
Then she placed paint, glitter, feathers and stones before the amateur artists, and let them go. There was one caveat.
"You can't say something is beautiful," Cohen said. "You have to be specific and say what you like or what you feel."
For Colbert and her menorah, the feeling was anger.
For Marnie Greenberg, it was rebirth. The real estate lawyer's painting of a red nebula exploding in a glittery purple sky
received rave reviews from the crowd.
"It's the light in the darkness, a kind of controlled explosion," said Cohen, who explained that in Judaism, purple symbolizes
endurance and red is anger or power.
Others found meaning only after finishing their work.
"I just didn't get that much into it," said Iris Zimmerman, also a lawyer. "I just felt free and grounded."
Her multicolored streaks reminded others of a sun breaking through the clouds, and a small turquoise butterfly was a symbol of
transformation.
"I wanted the butterfly because it was something real but could float away," said Zimmerman.
After the seminar, Greenberg said she found the experience cathartic. She's hung her nebula painting across from her bed as a
reminder.
"If I get stressed, I can look at it, and it reminds me to get rid of the anger," she said. "Now I really want to go around
the corner and buy some more paints."
Cohen, who has a degree in drama, said she's given the seminar to more than 2,000 women across the country, and the images
have become like a big quilt in her mind.
But she's never done the exercise herself.
"I can't do the meditation, unless I got someone to read it for me," she said. "But it's so interactive; I love seeing the
paintings and sharing in the process, and I take satisfaction from that."
Meditating Painters :)
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