from Divrei Matir Asurim Iyar 5784 via Archive.org (link provides PDF versions as well)
Divrei Matir Asurim Nisan 5784 also quoted below
Divrei Matir Asurim was a monthly publication of Matir Asurim: Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People and available in three formats: straight text for copying into emails; formatted text for copying/printing for postal mail; and on-line (with some internet links for those who can access them). If these are not accessible, PDFs can be uploaded to this page directly — please advise if there is a need.
Re-sharing here for easy access; intended for sharing with people experiencing incarceration or re-entry who seek Jewish spiritual support. Unless otherwise noted, writing is by Virginia Avniel Spatz; most material is published with CC-BY-SA [creative commons-attribution-share alike] license, unless otherwise noted.
Dates updated for 2025 and 5785. New links, via Archive and other sources, updated due to stalled renovation of Matir Asurim website. Otherwise material is as it was published originally.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: A Journey and a Second Chance
Passover is behind us, and the festival of Shavuot is still weeks ahead — in the month of Sivan. This in-between period, called the “Omer,” is understood in Jewish tradition as a part of a journey. (Lots more on this in the Nisan Divrei Matir Asurim.) Whether we’ve been marking the days and weeks — since the Omer began on April 13 (2025) — or not, we are on the way. In their book, For Times Such as These, Rabbi Ariana Katz and Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg ask us to consider what it means to be in this in-between moment:
“Welcome to Iyar. What journey are you on at this moment in your life? Where are you coming from and where are you going? What small thing can you do every day to remind you of how far you have come and where you are going?
“What [resources] bring you back to what’s most important to you?…
“On the “journey” from Pesach to Shavuot, our daily practice and weekly study invite us to reflect on what kind of people we want to be in the world: how we experience and manifest holiness, how we treat each other, how we live into liberation and live into Torah. What daily practice of noticing will you try on this year?” — For Times Such as These. (Wayne State,University Press 2024), p.229
For those of us in physical and/or psychological places we’d rather not be, reflecting on the present moment can be challenging. Can we still consider how far we have come and where we’re headed? Can we find ways to “experience and manifest holiness”? Is there a daily practice that will help “live into liberation and live into Torah”?
Some possible practices for those who find prayer or recitation of psalms helpful, on pages 2 and 7. It might also be of use to look ahead to Shavuot and consider one destination ahead. In addition, we are approaching “Pesach Sheni” — “Second Passover” — an opportunity for re-orienting ourselves anew toward liberation.
Second Passover
Ancient Ritual/Current Custom. The Book of Numbers describes a ritual option for people who were unable to make the proper Passover sacrifice in the month of Nisan. The Torah (Num. 9:9-14) explains that people would need this option if they were A) near a corpse and so ritually impure at the right time, or B) on a long journey at the time. The Mishnah later added that people who were prevented in Nisan from observing for other reasons should observe in Iyar.
Since destruction of the Temple, no one is making a ritual sacrifice, so no one is prevented from doing so. Today, customs of Pesach Sheni are minimal: 1) eating a piece of matzah, and 2) NOT reciting tachanun — petitionary prayers which are skipped on special celebratory days….
…Many Jews appreciate a day with shorter prayers and a reason to skip the heavy mood of tachanun…
…Still, this is a pretty boring set of customs — especially for those who don’t ordinarily recite tachanun and maybe don’t have an matzah available, anyway:
“But there is comfort in knowing that, millenia ago, our ancestors understood that life happens, that our holiday calendar must shift and be flexible to account for life’s events, and that second chances are possible.”— For Times Such as These, p.235
Second Chances. In the best of circumstances, preparing for Passover can overwhelm the holiday itself. Trying to arrange kosher-for-Passover food, gathering items for the seder, selecting text to read — can all seem like additional burdens, instead of pathways to experiencing liberation. If we are alone for the festival and/or don’t have resources to enliven the observance, Passover can seem like a long week without much to celebrate.
Matir Asurim has heard from several inside members whose Passover observances were thwarted by lack of decent food and ritual items. Observing Second Passover will not make up for a disappointing original holiday. But it does offer an opportunity to make new preparations and try again to capture some Passover spirit.
With fewer expectations and pressures, the more low-key Second Passover can provide a chance to re-focus on the holiday themes. And then to return to the questions raised above in “Welcome to Iyar” and look again toward the journey beyond.
Conditions that resulted in a less-than-satisfying Passover need attention. At the same time, we know that “life happens.” Perhaps a holiday built on the idea of second chances can help us honor the messiness of our attempts at liberation — as individuals and as a society.
PRAYER FOR CAPTIVES
One custom associated with the Omer period, between Passover and Shavuot, is praying for all who are captive, in body or soul
Prayer for Captives
In remembrance of the Exodus from Mitzrayim, we pray that You release all whose bodies and spirits remain captive and enable us to extend Your outstretched arm in the process of liberation.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: Omer and Psalm 67 (again)
As noted in last month’s Divrei Matir Asurim, Psalm 67 is associated with the period of the Omer, between Passover and Shavuot. One reason is structural: the psalm has seven verses, not counting the introductory line. It also has 49 words in Hebrew, again, not counting the introduction. So, it matches the Omer’s seven weeks and 49 days.
In addition, its themes are spring and harvest. This also matches the season.
Last month, Divrei Matir Asurim included the Jewish Publication Society translation (from 1917). Shared again BELOW
Here is a different translation, which comes from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l and the Open Siddur Project.
Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, known as “Reb Zalman” (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014), was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement….In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work.
Link to full entry at Open Siddur Project
Psalm 67 — A Psalm for All People of the Planet
(1) [For the leader; with instrumental music. A psalm. A song
— from JPS 1917; Reb Zalman leaves this blank]
“(2) God, bless us with grace! Let Your loving Face shine on us!
“(3) We want to get to know Your way Here on Earth,
Seeing how Your help is given to every group of people.
“(4) Oh, how the various peoples will thank You, All of them will sing and be grateful.
“(5) Many people will be joyous and sing
When You will set them right with forthrightness.
And the peoples, as You direct them, will cheer You.
“(6) Oh, how the various peoples will thank You. All of them will sing, be grateful.
“(7) The Earth will give her harvest.
Such blessings come from God. Yes, from our God!
“(8) Bless us God,
All the ends of the Earth will esteem You!”
Reb Zalman’s English translation was first published in Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi: As I Can Say It (2009). It appears in Open Siddur Project withCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-BY-SA) license, meaning material can be shared with notice of author and origin and any future sharing must do the same.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: Ahead toward Shavuot
A few words from Matir Asurim Shavuot mailing 2022 — find the full resource Shavuot
From the Introduction [written by Matir Asurim resource group in 2022]
On Shavuot we celebrate receiving our Torah. The Torah is our creation story. We chant it out loud each week together in our communities,, repeating the sacred stories over and over. These stories become a part of us, we can see ourselves in them, ground ourselves in their layered, powerful lessons. At times we might question these stories, grapple with them, feel comforted by them – as Jews, the mightiness of Torah permeates each of our lives in countless ways. In this mailing, we have included reflections, poetry, and teachings about Shavuot. Please know that while you read these words, we are celebrating alongside you, remembering that Torah exists on the page and it also exists inside each one of us. Here is to another year of celebrating the miracle of Torah in all of its depth and complexity and to the profound ways it connects us to one another.
We are looking forward to connecting with you, and, together, embodying the Jewish value and visioning a world where all are free. — from the Matir Asurim team
GOD QUEERS THE MOUNTAIN — by Rabbi Mónica Gomery
The last time I taught the story about the mountain, I tented my fingers into a mountain. See what I did there? and people laughed, then leaned closer, to consider the base of the mountain, thumb touching thumb, or to consider the peak where my fingers rested triangularly together. In the story, God raises the mountain over the people, either lifting it to hover or flipping it by inverting the triangle, plunging the heavenly peak toward the earth.
To be a human being is to walk that bridge slung between what is mortal and what is sky.
We call that story “Mountain Like Cask” or “Mountain Like Rooftop” or “The Threat of the Law.” But I’m thinking let’s call it God Queers the Mountain. Master of Inversions, insisting the world is capable of being in ways we never saw coming.
One student says, If God flipped the mountain, then something is falling off of the mountain toward the people. This had never occurred to me, and now I imagine the landslide of rocks, branches and scripture, pouring down the face of the upside-down mountain at the people who stand there and tremble, try to keep their palms open.
To be a human being is to encounter debris.
To be human is to keep breathing as the gifts and the threats of the mountain hurl toward you.
At the reading, the trans novelist talks about rewriting Norse and Greek myths. Someone asks what is it about the mythic and fabulist that so populates the queer imagination? Someone else responds archetypes, belonging, new roots. Later that night a friend asks me, Why did it feel like it mattered so much when you made the mountain with your hands?
We are slung to the mountain. When it flips we flip, when it trembles we tremble. When it takes a new body, when it transforms its shape. When it is lonely, or stable, or wise.
To be queer means to listen for the stories of ancestors and find yourself stacked up against trees, boulders, breathing the breath of the mountain, the inverted mountain.
[end God Queers the Mountain by Rabbi Mónica Gomery and Shavuot 2022 materials]
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: Lag B’Omer
The entire period of counting the Omer is considered one of semi-mourning by many Jews. Music, dancing, weddings, and many forms of pleasure are avoided during this period — with a shift, beginning on the 33rd Day, which is called “Lag B’omer.” For some Jews, the shift is only temporary, with semi-mourning lifted just for Lag B’omer. For others, it is lifted for the remaining 17 days.
Many teachings in Judaism include number-word-play, called “gematria.” Here is one story based on gematria for Lag B’omer which offers some food for thought.
Image includes Hebrew characters. Here is text without those characters, which also serves as alt-text for the text-heavy image.
Hebrew Numerals and Lag B’Omer:
In Hebrew, letters serve as numerals —
gimmel = 3. lamed = 30. lamed + gimmel = 33, pronounced “lag“
32 = lamed + bet, 30 + 2 — can be read as “lev,” meaning “heart”
17 = tet vav bet, 10 + 5 + 2 — can be read as “tov,” meaning “good”
49 = 32 + 17 = “lev tov” or “good heart”
The Omer’s 49 days lead to a “good heart” in preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot.
Note that the first 32 days have “heart,” but “good” is not added until the last 17 days.]
“Good Heart” and Respect
Rabbi Akiva is an important important figure in Jewish tradition. He was most active between the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) and the Bar Kochba Rebellion (132 CE). He also appears in the related discussion on p.4 above of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
In this story, Rabbi Akiva has 12,000 pairs of students. “They all died in one period because they did not treat one another with respect.” And they all died in the period between Passover and Shavuot. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 62b)
Later tradition linked this story with the customs of mourning and then lifting the mourning in the Omer.
A study partnership is an important relationship in Jewish tradition. Linking student deaths to disrespect makes a strong statement about how the pairs of students failed one another.
In addition, the head of a study house is responsible for all the students, so Rabbi Akiva should have noticed that something was wrong. How did he miss the trouble? Some teachers suggest that the student pairs acted like things were well, apparently learning from one another, while harboring disrespect in their hearts.
This brings the story back to the gematria about a “good heart.” For the first 32 days, while the death continued, Rabbi Akiva’s students might have had “heart,” but it was not “good.” Without respect for one another, the pairs of students were doomed.
Another Akiva Story
Over the centuries, teachers have tried to explain what went wrong with Rabbi Akiva and his students. Some look for symbolism in the number: Could Rabbi Akiva have had 24,000 students? Is the large number related to Rabbi Akiva’s support for the Bar Kokhba Rebellion against the Romans? Maybe this story is hinting at the disaster for the Jewish population that followed that military action.
Rabbi Avi Orlow brings in another part of Rabbi Akiva’s story — Rabbi Akiva and his wife lived apart for many years, so that he could learn in Jerusalem, while she maintained their home in the countryside:
“While living apart from his wife all those years, Rabbi Akiva did not show his students the daily habits of respect. How were his students to learn how to treat each other with respect if Rabbi Akiva did not model this for them? “
— Rabbi Avi Orlow, “Modeling Respect on Lag B’Omer” 4/19/2013 on My Jewish Learning
The Talmud says that these students died because they didn’t respect one another. It is a strong statement — in the same spirit as Lev 19:16 suggesting that tale-bearing could lead to murder. Perhaps it also relates to Lev 19:17 about rebuke and “hate in the heart” (above page 4). In any case, this Lag B’Omer story stresses the importance of a “good heart” and respect. The Omer period is a good time to consider and how these values relate to Passover’s liberation and Shavuot’s giving of the Torah.
Divrei Matir Asurim was a monthly publication of Matir Asurim: Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People and available in three formats: straight text for copying into emails; formatted text for copying/printing for postal mail; and on-line (with some internet links for those who can access them). Archive.org link includes the PDFs from Iya 84 in formatted and straight text versions. If these are not accessible, PDFs can be uploaded to this page directly — please advise if there is a need.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: Passover and the Omer
Some Omer practices include Psalm 67 (translation: Jewish Publication Society, 1917):
Note: Hebrew and English are shared in a two-column layout in the print/PDF formatted version. Easiest way to view the psalm on-line is to follow this Sefaria link to Psalm 67. But here, too, is the English as noted from JPS 1917.
(1) For the leader; with instrumental music.
A psalm. A song.
(2) May God be gracious to us and bless us;
may God show us favor, selah
(3) that Your way be known on earth,
Your deliverance among all nations.
(4) Peoples will praise You, O God;
all peoples will praise You.
(5) Nations will exult and shout for joy,
for You rule the peoples with equity,
You guide the nations of the earth. Selah.
(6) The peoples will praise You, O God;
all peoples will praise You.
(7) May the earth yield its produce;
may God, our God, bless us.
(8) May God bless us,
and be revered to the ends of the earth.
Psalm 67 is related to spring and harvest, so shares themes with Passover and Shavuot. It also links to the Omer for that reason. In addition, Psalm 67 has seven verses (not counting the introduction: “For the leader; with instrumental music. A Psalm. A Song”). It also has 49 words in Hebrew, again, not counting the introduction. So, it matches the Omer’s seven weeks and 49 days.
Seven is an important number in the bible. Some examples:
- Seven branches on the menorah, described in Exodus 25;
- Seven days of Creation, and of our week — Genesis 1 and 2;
- Seven years to the Shmitah, the sabbatical year — Leviticus 25;
- Seven times seven years to the Jubilee, debt release, year — also Leviticus 25;
- Seven days for Passover and Sukkot festivals — Leviticus 23.
All these sevens are linked back to the seven weeks of the Omer. And also to the seven attributes of God — sometimes called “sefirot.” For some folks, this is just an odd note, maybe interesting, maybe not. For some it’s the basis for meditation during the Omer. (Alt text: Ps. 67:2-8 verses, one each for the 7-branch menorah, with verse 1 along the top and part of the long verse 5 making the menorah’s base/stand.) Annotations pointing to each verse added.
The image is from a bible commentary printed in Italy in 1656. The menorah is created with “micro-calligraphy” — a Jewish art-form using Hebrew text to form an image. This image was found on a source-page shared by Rabbi Nelly Altenburger on the text platform, Sefaria.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS: Labyrinth
Some Jews use a labyrinth to help in meditation. Sometimes, the focus is on seeking a personal center or finding a way out of confusion. For the Omer, the path can include words from Psalm 67, or a favorite text about liberation, or the attributes of God associated in some traditions with the seven weeks:
- chesed: compassion, kindness
- gevurah: strength, limits
- tiferet: beauty, balance
- netzach: power, everlastingness
- hod: gratitude, humility
- yesod: foundation, plan
- malchut: leadership, presence
It is recommended to use the non-dominant hand to trace a path, “walk,” a finger labyrinth.
Divrei Matir Asurim was a monthly publication of Matir Asurim: Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People and available in three formats: straight text for copying into emails; formatted text for copying/printing for postal mail; and on-line (with some internet links for those who can access them). Archive.org link includes the Nisan 84 PDFs in formatted and straight text versions. If these are not accessible, PDFs can be uploaded to this page directly — please advise if there is a need.
Virginia Avniel Spatz 