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