For centuries, Jewish women in Eastern Europe measured cemeteries and graves with thread. They used the threads to make special neshome likht [soul candles], or in some cases, protection bands worn around the wrists, ankles, or neck. Often carried out by experienced women known as feldmesterins, feldmestn [cemetery measuring] and kneytlekh leygn [laying wicks] were most commonly performed during Elul, to make soul candles for Yom Kippur.
In this workshop/walking tour through the Workers Circle section of Mt. Carmel Cemetery, we will learn about Jewish history and how to perform the soul candle rituals using translated Yiddish ethnographic studies and memoirs.
We will sing Yiddish songs, recite tkhines (Yiddish prayers) and read poems — some of them about this ritual — by some of the great writers buried at Mt. Carmel. As we learn about the history of this place and this practice, we will also learn about the way cemeteries were viewed in shtetl society, as a place to communicate with the dead and access their help.
This is an event for anyone who is interested in Yiddish, Jewish and/or local history, who wants to discover some neglected folklore and protection magics, or to find new paths of ancestral connection. Specific directions will be emailed to all registrants.
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Annabel Cohen is a PhD Student in Modern Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, focusing on the interwar Jewish anti-fascist left. She has a Masters with distinction in History from the University of London. Alongside her PhD research, Annabel researches and translates materials relating to Jewish women’s religiosity in Eastern Europe, publishing her work on the blog www.pullingatthreads.com. Her essay on feldmesterins – cemetery measuring women – was published in the recent anthology Strange Fire: Jewish Voices from the Pandemic, published by Ben Yehuda Press in 2021. She is one of the Yiddish Book Center’s 2023-24 Translation Fellows, for which she is translating the memoirs of Communist journalist, Gina Medem. Annie teaches Yiddish with the Workers’ Circle and YIVO, and this coming academic year will be teaching Yiddish language, history and culture at the Sorbonne university, Paris. Since 2018, Annie has been studying feminine and earth-based Jewish practice with the Kohenet Hebrew institute. She will be ordained as a Kohenet on August 18.
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French-American vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Éléonore Weill creates and performs soulful interpretations of Klezmer, Yiddish, French, Occitane music as well as original compositions, poems and improvisations. In addition to her social justice Yiddish music ensemble Tsibele, she performs and records internationally in a variety of ensembles with Frank London, Michael Winograd, Walter Thompson, Joey Weisenberg and the Hadar Ensemble, Kenny Wallesen, FADA, the Baroque Music Center of Versailles (C.M.B.V.), Orchestre National de Toulouse, Midwood, Les Saqueboutiers, Miqueu Montanaro, and many others. She also composed and played for Theater companies such as Doppelskope, Great Small Works and Bread and Puppets and performs at leading international festivals including Yiddish New York, the Ashkenaz Festival (Toronto), Kleztival (São Paulo), and KlezKanada (Quebec), Fun Dor Tsu Dor (Chateau Ligoure, France) on wooden flutes, piano, accordion, hurdy-gurdy, and as a lead singer.
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Sarah Chandler aka Kohenet Shamirah is a Brooklyn-based Jewish educator, artist, activist, healer, and poet. She teaches, writes and consults on issues related to Judaism, earth-based spiritual practice, respectful workplaces, mindfulness, and farming. An ordained Kohenet with the Hebrew Priestess Institute and a trainer for “Taamod: Stand Up!”, she is also is an advanced student of Kabbalistic dream work at The School of Images. Previously, Sarah served as the Director of Romemu Yeshiva, Chief Compassion Officer of Jewish Initiative for Animals, and Director of Earth Based Spiritual Practices at Hazon's Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Currently, she is the CEO of Shamir Collective, as a coach and consultant to high profile artists and authors to launch new music and books, as well as lead trainer for Soft as a Rock: Public Speaking for Sensitive Souls.