Wind (Ruach)
רוּחַ
Wind (in Hebrew ru-ach רוּחַ, “ch” as in Bach) is invisible, borne on the air, and beyond human control. It can be gentle and restorative or powerful enough to cause great destruction. And the added mystery is that within each one of us is a tiny wind—our breath—keeping us alive from moment to moment. Ruach is the power of animation, whether stirring the branches of a tree, scattering seeds, lifting flocks of birds, or enlivening a human being. In the Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, the word Ruach can have all these meanings: wind, breath and spirit. A related word, Rei-ach, means scent, which holds the key to many precious soul memories.
Join me on this path in this Gateway of Wind and Spirit to explore the rustlings of Spirit in Jewish tradition and in your life.
Choose your favorite Pathway, or follow them in order:
Breathing Meditation
This breathing Meditation is a simple way to connect to your soul and to feel the divine gift of every breath, Rabbi Julie Danan Featured image: Great Egret, Fairfield Connecticut, Julie H. Danan Enjoy and bless a scent, or return to the Gateway of Wind
Blessings of Scent
This website can bring you a video or recording of wind's image and sound, but it cannot convey the feel of the wind in your hair, scent of a pine forest in the Cascade mountains, or the heady perfume of orange blossoms and jasmine in an Israeli spring. For that you...
Scents Feed the Soul
Neuroscientists and psychologists tell us that the sense of smell is closely connected to memory and emotion. Scents can tie us to our traditions (the smell of challah baking or latkes frying), and to Nature and places of the soul. I remember that when we moved...
The Shofar: Holy Wind, Holy Sound
Breath and wind are instrumental in playing the sacred instrument, the Shofar, or ram's horn (or sometimes an antelope horn) that is blown on Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur as a call to repentance, a spiritual wake-up. The word shofar is from the...
Tikkun Olam: The Shofar Calls to Justice
The blowing of the shofar is also a call to take action for justice in the world. Jewish advocates for social justice consider the call of the shofar a demand for righteous action in the world. Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center has often used the shofar as a...
Tikkun Olam: Clean the Air
I sometimes think of streams as the arteries of our planet, forests as the lungs, and wind as the breath.Yet millions of children and adults breathe polluted air. To live healthfully on the earth, we need to clean our air, the breath of life, both by better everyday...