My dear Friends
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which, I discovered, means Spring. I awoke this morning and cried for an hour over something that happened yesterday and, as a result, felt cleansed and refreshed. A good way to start the day.
Lent is the pilgrimage of the Church and also a personal pilgrimage through the desert-spiritual in our case in the West, but very real for the Children of Israel who spent 40 years wandering in order to find the Promised Land. The 'Promised Land' of the Church is Easter and the mystery of Christ's victory over death.
Jesus of Nazareth made his own pilgrimage into the Judean desert before starting his earthly ministry. You can see the Judean desert from the top of Masadah, a fortress in Israel/Palestine which was at one time inhabited by the Jewish zealots, who had gone there to flee from the Romans, and eventually made a suicide pact in which nearly all of them died.I often wondered how they got up there with the old and lame, and concluded it was on eagles' wings.
Every desert has its oases, every human heart has respite from its trial, tribulations and temptations. I will try to chart my journey in this country and Canada as I go through my own desert experience.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Friday, 1 February 2008
Concert in a Chinese Garden
The latest Concert for Peace and Reconciliation will take place on Saturday, February 16th at 8pm The venue will be the Lee Hall, Wolfson College. With my guitar I will sing Hebrew music, Jacques Brel, Gershwin and other various pieces.The concert is in memory of the late Dr Risa Domb, lecturer in Modern Hebrew at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Cambridge. She was also the Founder-Director of the Centre for Modern Hebrew Studies at the University, and she was made a life Fellow of Girton College, which was quite an honour. She was my friend and advisor, when The Little Sisters of Joy was just beginning-there will be hostility, she said, but you have to go on with it. And so I did. And so I try to do.
This time round (the previous ones have been in Clare, Pembroke and Robinson College Chapels, by kind permission of the various Denas) I decided on a change of venue. So I found Wolfson College, and, as you meander down Selwyn Gardens to the back entrance(parking is on the Barton Road side) you stumble across a very beautiful concert hall. The hall is simple but the surroundings are quite stunning. On either side there is a Chinese/English garden.
It would be lovely if it were summer and I could sing outside in the garden, but I have already begun to be affected by the location. I have made some new Chinese friends, who told me it would be difficult to find a Chinese costume my size, because they are all so small! And because the concert is in the evening (2 hours after the going out of the Sabbath) the audience won't be able to see the beauty around them. But hopefully they will feel the vibes.
Yes, I am nervous, but thankfully the adrenalin which started to flow last week has abated a bit. I am ahead in my arrangements, and have arranged several run throughs of my programme to friends. I have a month in Toronto to look forward to in March as a reward.
I only have one photo of Risa Domb-from the Jewish Chronicle in black white - and still she looks vibrant. I 'had a few words with her' this morning and promised her I would do a good job...
Come to the concert if you can, I promise you too a good night
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila xx
This time round (the previous ones have been in Clare, Pembroke and Robinson College Chapels, by kind permission of the various Denas) I decided on a change of venue. So I found Wolfson College, and, as you meander down Selwyn Gardens to the back entrance(parking is on the Barton Road side) you stumble across a very beautiful concert hall. The hall is simple but the surroundings are quite stunning. On either side there is a Chinese/English garden.
It would be lovely if it were summer and I could sing outside in the garden, but I have already begun to be affected by the location. I have made some new Chinese friends, who told me it would be difficult to find a Chinese costume my size, because they are all so small! And because the concert is in the evening (2 hours after the going out of the Sabbath) the audience won't be able to see the beauty around them. But hopefully they will feel the vibes.
Yes, I am nervous, but thankfully the adrenalin which started to flow last week has abated a bit. I am ahead in my arrangements, and have arranged several run throughs of my programme to friends. I have a month in Toronto to look forward to in March as a reward.
I only have one photo of Risa Domb-from the Jewish Chronicle in black white - and still she looks vibrant. I 'had a few words with her' this morning and promised her I would do a good job...
Come to the concert if you can, I promise you too a good night
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila xx
Portugese snow
My dear Friends
I am sitting in the local library and the young man next to me has just said that there might be 'nas'-he was Portugese and with the help of my French, I intuited that this meant snow. The Blog has acquired a Portugese feel in that 2 young men, Portugese speakers, have commented and given me their Blog address-thank you, guys!
2 nights ago, rather tired and on the bus coming home, I met a charming young Portugese woman. We had a deep conversation, mainly in the cold when we got off the bus, but it relates to an important dimension of The Little Sisters of Joy. Hospitality is everything, it goes right back to Abraham and the angels. He was standing outside his tent one day, when 3 men came along, with the message that his barren and aged wife Sarah would bear a son. Sarah laughed and so the child was called Isaac, from the Hebrew root to laugh.
In the heat of the day, Abraham gave these men hospitality. Something to eat. Convivium, congeniality. My new Portugese friend can't understand why people in this country and in many Western countries, don't enjoy their food or talk to each other slowly and lovingly while they are eating. In a Jewish family like mine, we did enjoy each other's company when we were eating, especially on the Sabbath. And we always blessed the food, no matter how little, and sang the grace after meals,
'Those who are sowing in tears, will reap with shouts of JOY!'(Psalm 126)
On 15th August 1999, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I wrote the beginnings of a Rule of Life for my future Sisters. Hospitality was very prominent, and this was welcomed by the powers that be in Toronto-and Canadians are naturally hospitable people. I made the point in the Rule of Life (a dcument putting down how we live together, when we pray, eat etc and our 'charism' - really a gift of the Holy Spirit and the defining ethos of the community, in our case JOY. )
My Jewish aunt, disabled and poor, would always welcome strangers at her table-we can always put a little more water in the soup, she would say!
Auntie Belle is long gone, but certainly not forgotten.
I wish you JOY, in your Friendships, in your sitting down together, in your eating and your sharing.
Shabbat Shalom from
Sister Gila
I am sitting in the local library and the young man next to me has just said that there might be 'nas'-he was Portugese and with the help of my French, I intuited that this meant snow. The Blog has acquired a Portugese feel in that 2 young men, Portugese speakers, have commented and given me their Blog address-thank you, guys!
2 nights ago, rather tired and on the bus coming home, I met a charming young Portugese woman. We had a deep conversation, mainly in the cold when we got off the bus, but it relates to an important dimension of The Little Sisters of Joy. Hospitality is everything, it goes right back to Abraham and the angels. He was standing outside his tent one day, when 3 men came along, with the message that his barren and aged wife Sarah would bear a son. Sarah laughed and so the child was called Isaac, from the Hebrew root to laugh.
In the heat of the day, Abraham gave these men hospitality. Something to eat. Convivium, congeniality. My new Portugese friend can't understand why people in this country and in many Western countries, don't enjoy their food or talk to each other slowly and lovingly while they are eating. In a Jewish family like mine, we did enjoy each other's company when we were eating, especially on the Sabbath. And we always blessed the food, no matter how little, and sang the grace after meals,
'Those who are sowing in tears, will reap with shouts of JOY!'(Psalm 126)
On 15th August 1999, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I wrote the beginnings of a Rule of Life for my future Sisters. Hospitality was very prominent, and this was welcomed by the powers that be in Toronto-and Canadians are naturally hospitable people. I made the point in the Rule of Life (a dcument putting down how we live together, when we pray, eat etc and our 'charism' - really a gift of the Holy Spirit and the defining ethos of the community, in our case JOY. )
My Jewish aunt, disabled and poor, would always welcome strangers at her table-we can always put a little more water in the soup, she would say!
Auntie Belle is long gone, but certainly not forgotten.
I wish you JOY, in your Friendships, in your sitting down together, in your eating and your sharing.
Shabbat Shalom from
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
New Year for Trees
My dear Friends
Yesterday was The Jewish New Year for Trees. Sometimes called Tu Bi'Shvat, this refers to the date, the 15th of the month Shevat, in the Jewish Lunar Calendar. So it moves around a bit, usually between the end of January and the beginning of March.
This Feast is the anniversary or birthday of The Little Sisters of Joy. Yesterday was our 9th anniversary, so we are in our 10th year. In the year 2000, in Benigna's garden in Cambridge, a group of us stood around while I planted a sapling silver birch tree. Then we recited Psalm 96 (95) Let the trees of the wood all shout for JOY, at the presence of the Lord, for He comes...'
We were also commemorating the new life of Latif Freedman, Benigna's son-in-law, who died shortly after having lunch with us on the previous Christmas day. He was a wonderful composer and he love the little trio of silver birch trees in the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. In 2003, having moved to the Arbury, I planted another silver birch with the help of a friend. And Arbury is connected to the word in Latin 'arbor' meaning tree.
Don't you think there is something magical about silver birch trees? Feminine and elegant, they are used by some Native tribes for their canoes, as these people feel they have a special presence. The silver birch tree in Benigna's garden is extremely tall now; some years I asked Benigna, as we were standing together looking up at it, how long she thought it would last. 'Longer than you and me,' she replied.
Going back to the Feast of Tu Bishvat, it all started in my Jewish childhood, when I use to love, on this day, taking in as many fruits as I could to school. Lychees were quite rare in those days...
Our whole mission is about bearing fruit, which will last until eternity. Please pray that lots of trees can be planted with our help.
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Yesterday was The Jewish New Year for Trees. Sometimes called Tu Bi'Shvat, this refers to the date, the 15th of the month Shevat, in the Jewish Lunar Calendar. So it moves around a bit, usually between the end of January and the beginning of March.
This Feast is the anniversary or birthday of The Little Sisters of Joy. Yesterday was our 9th anniversary, so we are in our 10th year. In the year 2000, in Benigna's garden in Cambridge, a group of us stood around while I planted a sapling silver birch tree. Then we recited Psalm 96 (95) Let the trees of the wood all shout for JOY, at the presence of the Lord, for He comes...'
We were also commemorating the new life of Latif Freedman, Benigna's son-in-law, who died shortly after having lunch with us on the previous Christmas day. He was a wonderful composer and he love the little trio of silver birch trees in the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. In 2003, having moved to the Arbury, I planted another silver birch with the help of a friend. And Arbury is connected to the word in Latin 'arbor' meaning tree.
Don't you think there is something magical about silver birch trees? Feminine and elegant, they are used by some Native tribes for their canoes, as these people feel they have a special presence. The silver birch tree in Benigna's garden is extremely tall now; some years I asked Benigna, as we were standing together looking up at it, how long she thought it would last. 'Longer than you and me,' she replied.
Going back to the Feast of Tu Bishvat, it all started in my Jewish childhood, when I use to love, on this day, taking in as many fruits as I could to school. Lychees were quite rare in those days...
Our whole mission is about bearing fruit, which will last until eternity. Please pray that lots of trees can be planted with our help.
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Weekend blues
My dear Friends
Its Shabbat, I am feeling under the weather but had to come in to the UL (University Library) to check out some details for my concert programme. Consolation is, the Anderson Music Room is beautiful, with long elegant desks. Sorry, to my great surprise, a whole bunch of sixteen year old boys from Westcliff-on Sea have just invaded the computer room, where I am writing the blog! I managed to exchange a few words with their 'leader' - I have no idea what they are doing here, but seeing ten of them troop in cheered me up.
To get back to the Anderson Room, a very nice young man is sitting there, who is a former Music student, now working in the Faculty. He has aided me with the computer and chatted to me about the concert-hopefully he may even come. I have done a lot of advance publicity, and it has gone onto an email of the Jewish community; I am singing a lot of Jewish music and the Concert is in memory of Professor Risa Domb, who died last year and who was my Hebrew teacher here in Cambridge, when I did my degree from 1988-1992.
Risa was an exceptional person. Israeli, born in Natanya by the sea, she married Dickie, an Englishman, and lived with him and their children between here and Israel for many years. She understood what it was like to live in '2 Landscapes' and I feel she is still with me now. Right at the start of The Little Sisters of Joy she gave me her support and encouragment, telling me not to be afraid of confrontation-sometimes it is necessary to get to resolution. She told me to persevere, despite any hostility I might encounter. Easier said than done, but I do try!
Since the New Year, my life has got a little more peaceful and I am looking ahead. I miss Alexia and my friends in Paris, but hopefully it won't be too long before we are reunited.
A bientot!
Shabbat Shalom!
Sister Gila
Its Shabbat, I am feeling under the weather but had to come in to the UL (University Library) to check out some details for my concert programme. Consolation is, the Anderson Music Room is beautiful, with long elegant desks. Sorry, to my great surprise, a whole bunch of sixteen year old boys from Westcliff-on Sea have just invaded the computer room, where I am writing the blog! I managed to exchange a few words with their 'leader' - I have no idea what they are doing here, but seeing ten of them troop in cheered me up.
To get back to the Anderson Room, a very nice young man is sitting there, who is a former Music student, now working in the Faculty. He has aided me with the computer and chatted to me about the concert-hopefully he may even come. I have done a lot of advance publicity, and it has gone onto an email of the Jewish community; I am singing a lot of Jewish music and the Concert is in memory of Professor Risa Domb, who died last year and who was my Hebrew teacher here in Cambridge, when I did my degree from 1988-1992.
Risa was an exceptional person. Israeli, born in Natanya by the sea, she married Dickie, an Englishman, and lived with him and their children between here and Israel for many years. She understood what it was like to live in '2 Landscapes' and I feel she is still with me now. Right at the start of The Little Sisters of Joy she gave me her support and encouragment, telling me not to be afraid of confrontation-sometimes it is necessary to get to resolution. She told me to persevere, despite any hostility I might encounter. Easier said than done, but I do try!
Since the New Year, my life has got a little more peaceful and I am looking ahead. I miss Alexia and my friends in Paris, but hopefully it won't be too long before we are reunited.
A bientot!
Shabbat Shalom!
Sister Gila
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Sparks of Joy
My dear Friends
It's Saturday evening and I have just been speaking to my Catholic Friend Anne from Manchester. Manchester... We were just reflecting what an enormous Jewish community that wonderful city has. In certain neighbourhoods you can see the very Orthodox Jews, 'Black Hats' as they are known in Jewish circles, walking along the streets with their children on Shabbat, the Sabbath, going to the Synagogue.
Their colour scheme suggests a kind of glooominess, but in fact that is quite contrary to the tradition from which they came. In 17th Century Poland, when the poorer Jews were being discriminated against by the Jewish hierarchy, a group rose up and formed their own movement of Orthodox Jews - the Chassidim. Their leader was a Rabbi known by the beautiful name of 'Baal shem Tov', Master of the good name.
The Chassidim believed that there were Divine sparks everywhere, that prayer should be simple and joyful, and so went out into the fields to pray, much like St Francis of Assisi and his band had done before them. One of the strong themes of The Little Sisters of Joy is this link between the JOY of St Francis and the JOY of the Baal Shem Tov. In the writings of the Chassidic Rabbis, there is a strong emphasis on unconditional love, which is reminiscent of some of the great mystical writers in the Christian tradition.
Some years ago, the headline in the Catholic newspaper The Tablet read:
'Let us pray like the Baal shem Tov!'
Simplicity, Joy and a sense of God in nature - surely we can all understand that?
As the Shabbat yields to the Day of Resurrection, I wish you all a peaceful and joyful week, lit up by those sparks which were so central to the life and prayer of the Chassidim.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
It's Saturday evening and I have just been speaking to my Catholic Friend Anne from Manchester. Manchester... We were just reflecting what an enormous Jewish community that wonderful city has. In certain neighbourhoods you can see the very Orthodox Jews, 'Black Hats' as they are known in Jewish circles, walking along the streets with their children on Shabbat, the Sabbath, going to the Synagogue.
Their colour scheme suggests a kind of glooominess, but in fact that is quite contrary to the tradition from which they came. In 17th Century Poland, when the poorer Jews were being discriminated against by the Jewish hierarchy, a group rose up and formed their own movement of Orthodox Jews - the Chassidim. Their leader was a Rabbi known by the beautiful name of 'Baal shem Tov', Master of the good name.
The Chassidim believed that there were Divine sparks everywhere, that prayer should be simple and joyful, and so went out into the fields to pray, much like St Francis of Assisi and his band had done before them. One of the strong themes of The Little Sisters of Joy is this link between the JOY of St Francis and the JOY of the Baal Shem Tov. In the writings of the Chassidic Rabbis, there is a strong emphasis on unconditional love, which is reminiscent of some of the great mystical writers in the Christian tradition.
Some years ago, the headline in the Catholic newspaper The Tablet read:
'Let us pray like the Baal shem Tov!'
Simplicity, Joy and a sense of God in nature - surely we can all understand that?
As the Shabbat yields to the Day of Resurrection, I wish you all a peaceful and joyful week, lit up by those sparks which were so central to the life and prayer of the Chassidim.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Canadian tales
My dear Friends
I thought I must get cracking again after publishing the Christmas Newsletter-the response from round the world has been overwhelming! Thank you so much, The Little Sisters of Joy, thanks to modern technology, is beginning to feel more and more like one huge family!
I wanted to share with you something which is giving me so much pleasure and delight at the moment, while I am in the 'waiting zone' for Canada. When I tell some people about my plans, they open up and share with me some very beautiful experiences they have had in Canada over the years, usually on holiday, although one man worked for a while in native Canadian country and became familiar with their beautiful soapstone carvings.
Another friend said I must go to the 'Martyrs Shrine' - a place deep in the woods of Ontario, where some Jesuit priests had been killed some centureis ago and who are listed in the liturgical cycle of prayer in The Divine Office (collection of the Psalms as laid out for different days in the Catholic Church.) An elderly lady on the bus just this morning spoke of a week she would never forget in southern Ontario, miles from anywhere, where you hear the hoot hoot calls of those special birds(I forget the name) in the silence of the middle of the night.
I treasure these experiences: I know I will never get to all those places, but they are already forming a kind of memory bank in my own soul. It is all part of the preparation and is very exciting.
If any of you have your own memories of Canada or north America, do share them on the Blog or send an email.
For now, its getting late, I am in the Grad pad and have to make my way home...
Goodnight, Dreams of fine gold..
Sister Gila
I thought I must get cracking again after publishing the Christmas Newsletter-the response from round the world has been overwhelming! Thank you so much, The Little Sisters of Joy, thanks to modern technology, is beginning to feel more and more like one huge family!
I wanted to share with you something which is giving me so much pleasure and delight at the moment, while I am in the 'waiting zone' for Canada. When I tell some people about my plans, they open up and share with me some very beautiful experiences they have had in Canada over the years, usually on holiday, although one man worked for a while in native Canadian country and became familiar with their beautiful soapstone carvings.
Another friend said I must go to the 'Martyrs Shrine' - a place deep in the woods of Ontario, where some Jesuit priests had been killed some centureis ago and who are listed in the liturgical cycle of prayer in The Divine Office (collection of the Psalms as laid out for different days in the Catholic Church.) An elderly lady on the bus just this morning spoke of a week she would never forget in southern Ontario, miles from anywhere, where you hear the hoot hoot calls of those special birds(I forget the name) in the silence of the middle of the night.
I treasure these experiences: I know I will never get to all those places, but they are already forming a kind of memory bank in my own soul. It is all part of the preparation and is very exciting.
If any of you have your own memories of Canada or north America, do share them on the Blog or send an email.
For now, its getting late, I am in the Grad pad and have to make my way home...
Goodnight, Dreams of fine gold..
Sister Gila
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