Lag B’Omer — Fire and Gender

Hedi Lampart and Fabio Diliberto from the Neshama band

This year’s theme for Temple Israel’s Lag b’Omer celebration was B’yachad (together) and everyone gathered in the Green Point shul for the lighting of the bonfire.

While the Neshama band played music, the food was demolished and the kids headed off to the scavenger hunt designed by Simone Meyerowitz and led by the amazing Netzer Madrichim.

Everyone else moved into the shul sanctuary for a discussion with doctor, blogger, writer and transgender activist Anastacia Tomson, author of Always Anastacia: A Transgender Life in South Africa.
She spoke about how most Jews and society in general see gender as binary and base their assumptions on crude biological and psychological assumptions. Step by step she peeled away those assumptions until we were left with a far deeper and more nuanced perspective.

Everyone resolved to take the conversation further and we will be working with Dr Tomson to continue the thinking together. After the talk we gathered once more in front of the bonfire to light the Mifkad Eish, incredibly and lovingly built by Nissim Atash.

Each letter of B’yachad was illuminated with fine wire art images from a shofar and a dreidel to Sponge Bob and a Minion. With music and meditation, we reflected on the unity of the universe and how we are all part of the Divine Echad.

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