SINCE 2007

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Tell the bees. They require

news of the house;

they must know,

lest they sicken

from the gap

between their ignorance

and our grief.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

ALL

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

ALL

Blessing for Pursuing Justice

​

בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ שְכִינָה בְּתוֹכֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר

קִדְשָתְנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ וְצִוָתְנוּ לִרְדֹף צֶדֶק

B’rucha at Shekhinah, b’tocheynu, ruach ha’olam, asher kidshatnu b’mitzvoteha v’tzivatnu lirdof tzedek

​

Blessed are you, Shekhinah, who is within us, spirit of

the world, who infuses our lives with holiness

and commands us to pursue justice

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

שׁיר חָדָשׁ/ Blessing for New Songs

Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group

​

Bruchah At Yah, Simchat Ha-olam, בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ שִׂמְחַת הָעוֹלָם

asher m’oreret אֲשֶׁר מְאוֹרֶרֶת

rucheinu la-shir shir chadash רוּחֵינוּ לַשִׁיר שִׁיר חָדָשׁ.

​

Blessed are You, Yah, Joy of the Universe,

who awakens our spirits

that we may sing a new song.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

נְקָבִים חַלוּלִים / Openings and Vessels

​

נְבָרֵך אֶת עֵן הַחַיִים אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חַלוּלִים חַלוּלִים. גָלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֵך שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אוֹ יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְקַיֵם וְלַעַמוֹד לְפָנֶיךָ.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעַשׂוֹת.

​

N’varech et ein hachayim asher yatzar et ha’adam bechochmah uvara vo nekavim nekavim chalulim chalulim. Galuwi veyadu’a lifney chisey chevodeich she’im yipate’ach echad mehem o yisatem echad mehem i efshar lehitkayem vela’amod lefanecha.

Baruch ata Yah rofey chol basar umafli la’asot.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Elliott batTzedek & *Miriam Geronimus

Let us bless how from the earth these bodies of wisdom were created, alive as they are, all open openings and holy holes.

​

Unconcealed, revealed, we face the fate of our dignity:

if wrongly opened one would be, or wrongly closed another,

we know not how we could withstand.

Broken though this flesh can be,

broken though this world can be,*

still we love this life while we last.

​

Blessed and blessing, we bow to both the healing of sleep

and the daily miraculous of awakening.

all

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Feeding the Worms

​

Danusha Laméris

Ever since I found out that earth worms have taste buds

all over the delicate pink strings of their bodies,

I pause dropping apple peels into the compost bin, imagine

the dark, writhing ecstasy, the sweetness of apples

permeating their pores. I offer beets and parsley,

avocado, and melon, the feathery tops of carrots.

​

I’d always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden,

almost vulgar—though now, it seems, they bear a pleasure

so sublime, so decadent, I want to contribute however I can,

forgetting, a moment, my place on the menu.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Morning Blessings

Opening Phrase by Andrew Shaw

New Blessings by Elliott batTzedek

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, הַמַּעֲבִירָה שֵׁנָה מֵעֵינַי וּתְנוּמָה מֵעַפְעַפָּי.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, hama’avirah shenah mey’eynai ut’numah me’afapay

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who removes sleep from my eyes, slumber from my eyelids.

​

​

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשֶּׂכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יוֹם וּבֵין לָיְלָה.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, asher natan l’shech’vi vinah l’hav’chin beyn yom uveyn laylah

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who has given the rooster understanding to distinguish day from night.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הַעוֹלָמִים, שְהִקְדִישָה אֶת כָּל הִיצוּרִים

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, shehik’dishah et kol hitzurim

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who made all beings holy

​

​

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, שְׁנָתְנָה לִי אֶת הַרָצוֹן לִצְעֹד מְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, sh’nat’nah li et haratzon litzod m’eretz mitzrayim

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who has placed in me the desire to march out of my oppression

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים,

שפָתְחָה אֶת הַמַחְשָׁבָה

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, sh’pat’chah et hamach’shavah

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who opens the mind.

​

​

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים,

מַלְבִּישָׁה עֲרֻמִּים.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, mal’bishah adumim

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who clothes the naked.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, מַתִּירָה אֲסוּרִים.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim,

matir asurim

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who releases the bound.

​

​

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, זוֹקֶפֶת כְּפוּפִים.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, zokefet k’fufim

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who lifts up the bent.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, מִי בָרְאָה עוֹלָם שֶל עוֹשֶׁר

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, mi bar’ah olam shel osher

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who created an abundant world

​

​

​

כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, הַנּוֹתֶנֶת לַיָּעֵף כֹּחַ.

Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, hanotenet laya’ef ko’ah

All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who gives strength to the weary.

​

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

How Would You Live Then?

​

Mary Oliver

What if a hundred rose-breasted grosbeaks

flew in circles around your head? What if

the mockingbird came into the house with you and

became your advisor? What if

the bees filled your walls with honey and all

you needed to do was ask them and they would fill

the bowl? What if the brook slid downhill just

past your bedroom window so you could listen

to its slow prayers as you fell asleep? What if

the stars began to shout their names, or to run

this way and that way above the clouds? What if

you painted a picture of a tree, and the leaves

began to rustle, and a bird cheerful sang

from its painted branches? What if you suddenly saw

that the silver of water was brighter than the silver

of money? What if you finally saw

that the sunflowers, turning toward the sun all day

and every day—who knows how, but they do it—were

more precious, more meaningful than gold?

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

It’s June, So Let’s

​

Elise Powers

It’s June, so let’s

bare our shoulders to the slow-dripping sun;

feel the days run sticky down our spines;

leave our fingerprints on the sweating

glass of the day; forget how to separate

ourselves from the clover; let the grass write

poems into the backs of our thighs; pull

strawberry red joy straight from the vine—

carry it home by the mouthful, let it trickle

down our elbows, our chins.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

More Than Enough

​

Marge Piercy

The first lily of June opens its red mouth.

All over the sand road where we walk

multiflora rose climbs trees cascading

white or pink blossoms, simple, intense

the scene drifting like colored mist.

​

The arrowhead is spreading its creamy

clumps of flower and the blackberries

are blooming in the thickets. Season of

joy for the bee. The green will never

again be so green, so purely and lushly

​

new, grass lifting its wheaty seedheads

into the wind. Rich fresh wine

of June, we stagger into you smeared

with pollen, overcome as the turtle

laying her eggs in roadside sand.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

I was born

In a soft summer

Rain

I am most

In-season

When the sun is

High

And warm

When the day is

Long

When the peaches

Are ripe

When the soil is

Soft

And forgiving

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Summer Bones

​

Emory Hall & Trevor Hall

My body

Is a house

Of flowers –

I am most fragrant

In June

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

from Last night while I was sleeping

Antonio Machado

​

​

Last night while I was sleeping

I dreamed—a blessed illusion!—

of a beehive working

deep down in my heart,

and from my old bitterness

the golden bees

were straining sweet honey

and white honeycomb.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

all

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

“Nature” is what we see—

The Hill—the Afternoon—

Squirrel—Eclipse—the Bumble bee—

Nay—Nature is Heaven—

Nature is what we hear—

The Bobolink—the Sea—

Thunder—the Cricket—

Nay—Nature is Harmony—

Nature is what we know—

Yet have no art to say—

So impotent Our Wisdom is

To her Simplicity.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Nature is what we see

​

Emily Dickinson

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Tell the bees. They require news of the house;

they must know, lest they sicken

from the gap between their ignorance and our grief.

Speak in a whisper. Tie a black swatch

to a stick and attach the stick to their hive.

From the fortress of casseroles and desserts

built in the kitchen these past few weeks

as though hunger were the enemy, remove

a slice of cake and lay it where they can

slowly draw it in, making a mournful sound.

Tell the Bees

​

Sarah Lindsay

And tell the fly that has knocked on the window all day.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

all

And tell the fly that has knocked on the window all day.

Tell the redbird that rammed the glass from outside

and stands too dazed to go. Tell the grass,

though it's already guessed, and the ground clenched in furrows;

tell the water you spill on the ground,

then all the water will know.

And the last shrunken pearl of snow in its hiding place.

Tell the blighted elms, and the young oaks we plant instead.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

all

Tell the Bees

​

Sarah Lindsay

Tell the blighted elms, and the young oaks we plant instead.

The water bug, while it scribbles

a hundred lines that dissolve behind it.

The lichen, while it etches deeper

its single rune. The boulders, letting their fissures widen,

the pebbles, which have no more to lose,

the hills—they will be slightly smaller, as always,

​

when the bees fly out tomorrow to look for sweetness

and find their way

because nothing else has changed.

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

May the bees fly out tomorrow

And find their way

Because nothing has changed.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

all

Tell the Bees

​

Sarah Lindsay

Tell the bees our losses, our grievings, our news

​

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Art by EffyWild

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

Today I’m sticking a shovel in the ground

and digging up the little green patch

between the hosta and the fringe bleeding heart.

I am going to plant bee balm there

and a few little pansies till the roots take

and the leaves spread out in both directions.

​

This is so the hummingbird will rage

outside my fireplace window; this is so

I can watch him standing in the sun

and hold him a little above my straining back,

so I can reach my own face up to his

and let him drink the sugar from my lips.

​

This is so I can lie down on the couch

beside the sea horse and the glass elephant,

so I can touch the cold wall above me

and let the yellow light go through me,

so I can last the rest of the summer on thought,

so I can live by secrecy and sorrow.

Bee Balm

​

Gerald Stern

2 Tamuz 5781/ 12 June 2021

​

ALL

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee

Emily Dickinson

​

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,

One clover, and a bee,

And revery.

The revery alone will do,

If bees are few.

On a June morning,

any June morning

On Any June Morning I Would Head for Your Scent

Elliott batTzedek

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

ALL

Leafcutter bee

On a June morning,

any June morning,

moving about in my garden

in a breezy time of day,

I keep watch for You,

I follow silver slug lines,

sniffing for Your trail,

I call out “Where are You?”

And a bee

staggers out

of the peony.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Bombus pensylvanicus

There is a dark hum among the roses,

a murmuring of innumerable bees,

and to the murmur of bees—

a witchcraft—

I yield

to my desire for You.

Mason bee

On a June morning,

any June morning

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

ALL

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

If I were a bee and You

a flower,

I would head for Your scent,

oh my beloved,

I would land on Your petals

held wide apart,

flinging myself wildly

onto the wetness

that sends me tumbling

to the bottom of Your cup.

There such sustenance,

You feeding me, because only I

can ripen all this fertile exuberance,

food for those not yet born.

Squash bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

And would You let me go, coated with Your heaviness?

Or would You close Your petals,

keep me fast,

dissolving me slowly

into Your heart?

Sweat bee

Brown-belted bumble bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

On a June morning,

any June morning

ALL

And if You were the bee,

would You come to me,

fill Your small body

from this place, my source,

and moan in happiness?

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Eastern carpenter bee

We are alike, You and I,

each created as the image of the other.

We fly from blossom to sweet

impossible blossom,

bartering pollen for nectar,

so we can make honey from the roses

honey from the rosemary, honey from the clover

honey from the peach blossoms

honey from the red and willing bee balm.

Sculptured Resin Bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

But what honey would You make

from me?

Orange-legged furrow bee

​

What honey could I make of You?

​

Confusing burrow bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Can we make honey from our failures?

Honey from our bitterness,

honey from our loneliness,

honey from the bare fields

of our hearts?

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Cuckoo bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

ALL

Can I make wild honey

from what I have feared

to touch?

​

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Bombus impatiens

Can You make thick honey,

amber and shining,

from this good life?

Modest masked bee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

And who will eat this honey of yearning

and of the harvest

of ten thousand small flights?

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

ALL

Spring beauty miner

And who will eat this honey of yearning

and of the harvest

of ten thousand small flights?

​

How this question gathers, rises,

swarms around me

with a hum both threat and lullaby,

and then departs,

unanswerable.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

And who will eat this honey of yearning

and of the harvest

of ten thousand small flights?

Every June morning

I pause to listen

for what I live to hear.

I watch the bees go honey-hunting

with yellow blur of wings,

and, delirious with desire

dance directions to my heart.

Perplexing bumblebee

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

ALL

Pure green sweat bee

I know that You will come;

it is Your duty

to find things to love

to bind Yourself to this world.

Eastern carpenter bee

I know that You will come;

it is Your duty

to find things to love

to bind Yourself to this world.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

ALL

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

בָּרְכוּ / Bar’khu/ Pool of Blessing

Kohenet liturgy

​

בָּרְכוּ אֶת הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת

Leader: Barchu et haBereichah haMevorechet

Give blessing to the Pool of Blessing

​

בָּרוּכָה הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

Group: Beruchah ha Bereichah haMevorechet le’olam va’ed

Blessing to the Pool of Blessing in all the worlds throughout eternity

​

בָּרוּכָה הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

Leader: Beruchah ha Bereichah haMevorechet le’olam va’ed

Blessing to the Pool of Blessing in all the worlds throughout eternity

call & Response

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

If Not

Rabbi Hillel, Adrienne Rich, Dane Kuttler

​

If I am not for myself

who is for me?

If I am only for myself

what am I?

If not now

then when?

If not with others

then how?

If not here

then where?

call & Response

We are given the wind within us, the breath

to shape into words that steal time, that touch

like hands and pierce like bullets, that waken

truth and deceit, sorrow and pity and joy,

that waste precious air in complaints, in lies,

in floating traps for power on the dirty air

Yet holy breath still stretches our lungs to sing.

from Nishmat

Marge Piercy

We waste precious air in complaints, in lies,

in floating traps for power on the dirty air

Yet holy breath still stretches our lungs to sing.

ALL

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Blessing of Creation / Birkat Y’tzirah בִּרְכַּת יְצִירָה

​

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

It's all I have to bring today—

This, and my heart beside—

This, and my heart, and all the fields—

And all the meadows wide—

Be sure you count— should I forget

Some one the sum could tell—

This, and my heart, and all the Bees

Which in the Clover dwell.

ALL

It's all I have to bring today

​

​

Emily Dickinson

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָה/ Blessing for Revelation of Wisdom

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Gatherings / Elliott batTzedek

​

Gather our strengths

and gather our failures

Gather our kin

and gather our strangers

Gather what we love

and what we fear

Gather what we have lost

and what we are afraid to lose

​

Find the courage to proclaim

“All we gather is sacred”

call & Response

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

שְׁמַע / Sh’ma

Ariadne Joy Lieber

​

שְׁמַע אמִי /יִשְּׂרָאֵל הַשְׁכִינָה בְּקִרְבֵּינוּ הַשְׁכִינָה אַחָת

Sh’ma Ami ha-Shekhinah b’Kirbainu ha-Shekhinah Ahat

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Listen, My People, the Shekhinah is in our inmost being, the Shekhinah is one

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בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

Baruch shem kevod malchuto le’olam va’ed.

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22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

/V’ahav’tוְאָהַבְתְּ

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וְאָהַבְתְּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהַיִךְ, בְּכָל-לְבָבֵךְ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֵׁךְ, וּבְכָל-מְאֹדֵךְ. וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵֽלֶּה,

אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוָּתֵךְ הַיּוֹם, עַל-לְבָבֵךְ. וְשִׁנַּנְתִּים לִבְנֹתַיִךְ וּלְבָנַיִךְ, וְדִבַּרְתְּ בָּם,

בְּשִׁבְתֵּךְ בְּבֵיתֵךְ, וּבְלֶכְתֵךְ בַּדֶּֽרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבֵּךְ וּבְקוּמֵךְ. וּקְשַׁרְתִּים לְאוֹת עַל יָדֵךְ,

וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינַיךְ. וּכְתַבְתִּים עַל מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֵךְ וּבִשְׁעָרַיִךְ.

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Ve’ahav’t et skekhinah elohayich, bechol levavech, uvekol nafshech u-ve’chol me’odech. Vehayu hadevarim ha’eleh, asher anochi metzavatech hayom, al levavech. Veshinantim l’vnotayich ul’vanayich, vedibaret bam beshivtech beveitech u’velechtech baderech, uveshachbech uvekumech. Ukshartim le’ot al yadeych, vehayu letotafot bein einayich. Uchetavtim al mezuzot beitech uvisharayich.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

And you must love The One, your God, with your whole heart, with every breath, with all you have.

Take these words that I command you now to heart. Teach them intently to your children.

Speak them when you sit inside your house or walk upon the road, when you lie down and when you rise.

And bind them as a sign upon your hand, and keep them visible before your eyes.

Inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

ALL

ALL

ALL

Be sure to use AI when making

your next, I don’t know, meal plan,

for example. Definitely do not call

your friend who loves to cook and ask her

for her favorite recipes or tips or ways

to save time making meals,

because you will end

up talking for longer than you had hoped,

hearing, perhaps, about her father’s cancer

diagnosis or how lonely she’s been or even

what she’s planted in her spring

garden and then lost with early frost.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Please Use AI

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Shawn Smucker

טוֹמֶנֶת בְחֻבָהּ הַכָרָה בְהַשּׁלְכוֹת

tomenet bechuvah hakharah behashel’khot

Recognizing the consequences is mandatory

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת Arba Kanfot / Four Corners

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​

The mitzvah of tzitzit lives within our bodies, and as we look upon each other

we remember what this community was formed to do:

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To hold fast to each other’s frayed edges.

To knot those edges into firm hand-holds.

To wrap our dreams around our fears and to display our tzitzit as evidence and witness.

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Together we smooth the world’s sharp corners into the wings of the Shekhinah,

under which we shelter one another.

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Into our tzitzit are woven the ways we’ve known holiness in our world. When we see them we remember, and when we remember, we act — protecting each person, each place, each animal, each river and lake and ocean, each tree, each stone, each wind-blown cloud in each patch of sky that together form the one single body that is this world.

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ALL

ALL

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת Arba Kanfot / Four Corners

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הַצִּיצִית שֶׁאָנוּ מַחְזִיקֵיהָ בְּיָדֵינוּ הִיא יָדֵנוּ

hatzitzitzit she’anu mach’zikeyha b’yadeinu hi yadenu

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וּמִצְּבִּיעָה עַל מָה שֶׁאָנוּ יוֹדְעֵיהָ כִּיְהוּדוֹל

umatzbi’ah al mah she’anu yod’eiha ki’hudol

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- שְׁעָלֵינוּ לִרְאוֹת ולִזְכּוֹר-יֹפִי-תֵּבֵל

she’aleinu lir’ot v’liz’cor-yophi-tevel

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This tzitzit we hold in our hands is our yad,

and points to what we know as Jews -

that it is upon us to see and to remember the beauty of the world

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ALL

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Blessing of Redemption מָקוֹר תּקּוּן עוֹלֶּם

22 Iyyar 5786 / 9 May 2026

Rock Me, Mercy

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Yusef

Komunyakaa

The river stones are listening

because we have something to say.

The trees lean closer today.

The singing in the electrical woods

has gone dumb. It looks like rain

because it is too warm to snow.

Guardian angels, wherever you're hiding,

we know you can't be everywhere at once.

Have you corralled all the pretty wild

horses? The memory of ants asleep

in daylilies, roses, holly, & larkspur.

The magpies gaze at us, still

waiting. River stones are listening.

But all we can say now is,

Mercy, please, rock me.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Amidah / Seven Breath Meditation

Rabbi Jill Hammer/ Kohenet

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Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

2 Sivan 5784 / 8 June 2024

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Blessing Before Reading Torah

Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group

​

בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ עֵין הַחַיִים אַשֵׁר מוֹשָׁה דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה

מִמַיִם-חַיִים בְּרַחַמִים רָבִּים

Bruchah At Yah, ein ha-chayim, asher moshah divrei Torah

mi-mayim chayim b’rachamim rabim.

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Blessed are you, Yah, Source of Life, who with abundant compassion draws words of Torah from living waters.

The Cosmic Mountain

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

The Cosmic Mountain

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Exodus 19:1-20

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On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain…. On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for YHWH had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blare of the shofar grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder. YHWH came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and YHWH called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

The Cosmic Mountain in Ancient Near Eastern Mythology

Based on: Sinai & Zion: An Entry Into the Jewish Bible, Jon D. Levenson

“The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Old Testament,” Richard J. Clifford

“The Mountain and the Tower: Wilderness and City in Symbols of Babylon and Israel,” Evan Eisenberg

​

- The heart/center/navel of the world

- The source of all life – from here, the world and humanity are created

- From the cosmic mountain flows the waters that bring life to the world

These waters are miraculous and can have magical properties

They are proof of divine power – a god becomes King of the cosmos and enables Creation by triumphing over the primal waters of chaos

Now these waters give life to the world rather than flooding it

The waters must continuously be kept at bay by either the god or the mountain

- The dwelling and meeting place of the gods

- The meeting place of heaven, earth, and hell

The base of the mountain lies in the chaotic underworld, and its head reaches into the heavens

On the mountain, messages can be passed from heaven to earth and vice versa. It is the prime place of communication between the transcendent and mundane reality – connection to the gods

- The place where effective decrees are issued

A place involved in the government and stability of the Cosmos

The moral capital of the universe

Where the gods decree the fate of the universe

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Genesis 2:8-14

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YHWH God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the human whom God had formed. And from the ground YHWH God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad. A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli. The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Isaiah 6:1-8

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I beheld [God] seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of Their robe filled the Temple. Seraphs (angels) stood in attendance on Them. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly. And one would call to the other, “kadosh kadosh kadosh Adonai tzeva-ot me’lo kol ha-aretz kevodo – holy, holy, holy! YHWH of Hosts, Whose presence fills all the earth!” The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke…. Then I heard the voice of [God] saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Hineni Here am I, send me.”

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Blessing After Reading Torah

Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group

​

בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לֵב הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר שָׂמַה לֵב אֵלֵינוּ וְשׁוֹמָעַת קוֹל לִבֵּינוּ רַחֲמִי עָלֵינוּ וְיִשָׁמַע קוֹל דְמָמָה דָקָה

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Bruchah At Yah, Eloheinu Lev Ha-olam, asher samah lev eileinu v’shoma’at

kol libeinu; rachami aleinu v’yishama kol d’mamah dakah

​

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Blessed are You, Yah, Heart of the Universe, who attends to us and hears the voice of our hearts; have compassion on us and make audible the still, small voice.

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Aleynu / עָלֵינוּ

We stand in the midst of a burning world

primed to burn with compassionate love and justice,

to turn inward and find holy fire at the core,

to turn outward and see the world that is all

of one flesh with us, see under the trash, through

the smog, the furry bee in the apple blossom,

the trout leaping, the candles our ancestors lit for us.

from Nishmat by Marge Piercy

Fill us as the tide rustles into the reeds in the marsh.

Fill us as the rushing water overflows the pitcher.

Fill us as light fills a room with its dancing.

Let the little quarrels of the bones and the snarling

of the lesser appetites and the whining of the ego cease.

Let silence still us so you may show us your shining

and we can out of that stillness rise and praise.

Someone Forgot to Whisper Your Death to the Bee

​

Ansel Elkins

Someone forgot to whisper your death to the bees �And so all the bees have left �And the fruit trees have died.

ALL

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, Cuba

Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, 42, Honduras

Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz, 68, Honduras

Parady La, 46, Cambodia

Renee Nicole Good, 37, of the United States

Víctor Manuel Díaz, 36, Nicaragua

Heber Sánchez Domínguez, 34, Mexico

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Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, of the United States

Lorth Sim, 59, of Cambodia

Jairo Garcia Hernandez, 27, of Guatemala

Alberto Guiterrez Reyes, 48, of Mexico

​

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Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

January 2026

February 2026

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, 59, of Iran

Emanuel Cleeford Damas, 56, of Haiti

Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, of Afghanistan

Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, of Mexico

José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, 52, of Mexico

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Tuan Van Bui, 55, of Viet Nam

Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, of Mexico

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 27, of Cuba

Denny Adan Gonzalez, 33, of Cuba

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Mamuka Artmeladze, 43, of Republic of Georgia

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April 2026

March 2026

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

June 2026

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Yitgadal veyitkadash shemey raba be’alma divra hiruty veyamlih malhutey behayeyhon uvyomeyhon uvhayey dehol beyt yisra’el ba’agala uvizman kariv ve’imru amen.

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Yehey shemey raba mevarah le’alam ulalmey almaya.

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Yitbarah veyistabah veyitpa’ar veyitromam veyitnasey veyit-hadar veyitaleh veyit-halal shemey dekudsha berih hu le’ela min kol birhata veshirata tushbehata venehemata da’amiran be’alma ve’imru amen.

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Yehey shelama raba min shemaya vehayim Aleynu ve’al kol yisra’el ve’imru amen.

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Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom Aleynu ve’al kol yisra’el ve’al kol yishma’el ve’al kol yoshvey tevel ve’imru amen.

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Mourner’s Kaddish קַדִּישׁ יָתוֹם

22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

Mourner’s Kaddish / Elliott batTzedek

So often am I lost,

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yet through the pall, yet through the tarnish, show me the way back,

through my betrayals, my dismay, my heart’s leak, my mind’s sway,

eyes’ broken glow, groan of the soul—which convey all that isn’t real,

for every soul to These Hands careen. And let us say, amen.

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Say you will show me the way back, my Rock, my Alarm. Lead the way, Oh my Yah

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And yet in shock and yet in shame and yet in awe and yet to roam and yet to stay and yet right here and yet away and yet —“Halleluyah!” my heartbeat speaks, for You live in all this murk and too in the clear and too in our wreckage.

You are the mirror of our souls, let us say: amen

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Life may harm me, rob me, ream me raw, try me, even slay me

Over all You will prevail. And let us say: Amen

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Say You shall loan me a tomorrow, Say You shall loan another day to all who are called Yisrael and all called Yishmael and all called We and They, and let us say, Amen

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22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026

Upcoming Services

Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah

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Saturday June 13 Torah talk: Miriam

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Saturday July 18 Torah talk:

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Friday August 14 Erev Shabbat (7pm ET/ 6 pm CT /4 pm PT)

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Saturday September 19 Shabbat Shuvah

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Saturday October 3 Shemini Atzeret

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22 Sivan 5786 / 13 June 2026