Without asking for it, life has given me difficult people, painful experiences, and confusing moments. The gift? Learning how to cultivate a forgiving heart.

Forgiveness continues to soften me.

In the brilliance of the Hebrew calendar, we are given an entire month in the spiral of the year to return to this practice. Because there is always another layer to discover, another place to soften, another invitation to heal.

Here are a few practice notes I’ve gathered along the way:

​
​1. Forgiveness is not a one-time event.

It is a practice of returning—drop by drop, softening the places that have hardened. Like water wearing away stone, forgiveness often works quietly beneath the surface.

2. Forgiveness ultimately benefits you.

While it may include releasing another person, it is also the practice of reclaiming your life force. Every time we loosen our grip on resentment, we call our energy home.

3. Don’t forget: there is joy on the other side.

When the work feels heavy, trust there is something beautiful on the other side. Remember what you’re moving toward. Forgiveness doesn’t erase the past, but it can make room for more freedom, more love, and more life.

4. The deepest medicine of forgiveness is released in the body.

Forgiveness isn’t simply a decision we make with the mind. It is a softening in the heart. A fuller breath. A loosening in the belly. The body knows when something has truly been released.

5. Every forgiveness journey is unique.

But it helps to have a pathway.

This is why I created Heart-Work for Elul.

Together, we’ll walk an ancient Jewish pathway for cultivating a forgiving heart through mystical teachings, heart-centered meditations rooted in Kabbalah, somatic practices, niggunim, and gentle inner work.

I’m looking forward to walking this path alongside you. Gratefully, we have sages, scripture, poetry, and one another to guide us.

Whether your journey brings a profound breakthrough or a subtle softening- your heart, your energy, and your relationships will be shaped by the practice.

If your heart is longing for this work, I’d be honored to welcome you.

Learn more : https://www.awethenticroots.com/heartwork-series-for-elul

Let us arise early to go to the vineyard; let us see if the vine has blossomed,

if the tender grapes have opened, if the pomegranates have sprouted.

There I will give my love to you.”

- Song of Songs

Beloveds,

Today is Tu B’Av—the ancient full moon holiday of Love. The day of the heart.

The Kabbalists teach that Tu B’Av carries the energy of Divine Desire (ta’anug)—the longing for oneness that awakens both the heart and the body.

To get a feel for the energy of this day, here is ancient love poetry that is both sensual and errotic from Song of Songs:

“Like threads of scarlet are your lips;
Your mouth is lovely.
Like a segment of pomegranate
Are your cheeks amid your hair.

Let my beloved enter his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
I have come to my garden, my dear one, my bride,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spices,
I have eaten my honeycomb with honey,
And drunk my wine with milk.

​

My beloved is fair, and flushed,
Distinguished among the multitudes.
His head is the finest gold,
His hair is curled, raven-black.
His eyes are like doves by the water-courses,
Washed with milk, set in fullness.
His cheeks are like a perfumed bed,
Like banks of fragrant flowers.
His lips are like lilies,
Dripping with flowing myrrh.
His hands are rods of gold, filled with emeralds,
His belly is polished ivory, inlaid with sapphire”

- Song of Songs

For thousands of years, our tradition has preserved the Song of Songs as sacred scripture—not despite its sensuality, but because of it. It reminds us that holiness is not separate from our desires and pleasures. The Divine speaks through our longing, beauty, touch, fragrance, fruit, and breath.

Tu B’Av marks the beginning of the grape harvest in ancient Israel, a time of ripening, wine-making, and swelling abundance. White squill flowers bloomed, olives began to glisten with oil — and women wore white to merge with the blossoms as they danced. It was also the day of the wood offerings- a time of tending the temple’s fire.

This holiday arrives only days after Tisha B’Av, the day our tradition remembers destruction, exile, and heartbreak. The journey is intentional. We begin the month by sitting in brokenness- letting in light through the craks. Then, slowly, we discover that a broken heart is still capable of loving. As Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk taught, “There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.”

The tears of Av become the waters that nourish new life: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” (Psalm 126). By the Full Moon, the heart expands. Three thousand years ago, the women of Jerusalem emerged from mourning dressed in white. They gathered in vineyards beneath the moonlight, dancing in circles and opening themselves once again to hope, connection, and love. Perhaps this is the wisdom of Tu B’Av: love isn’t the absence of heartbreak. It is the courage to step back into the field of love once again.

The Mishnah tells us:

“There were no greater festivals for Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur.”

May the moon pour her silver light through the crown of your head, into your heart, and into your hands. May you remember that your longing and desires are holy. May your broken places become spacious enough to hold greater love. May you step forward into the field of loving possibility.

In just a few weeks, we enter the month of Elul, the season of returning and practicing forgiveness.

This is the inspiration behind Heart-Work for Elul, my four-week contemplative journey weaving embodied practice, mystical Jewish wisdom, meditation, and compassionate heart inquiry. Together we’ll explore forgiveness, belonging, heart-healing, and heart-expansion.

Learn More Here

Heart-Work for Elul​
An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Virtual & In-Person Options; Begins Wednesday August 12th.

We already have a beautiful cohort forming! Will you join us?

Heart-Work for Elul is a four-week contemplative journey through the inner landscape of forgiveness. Together we will prepare for the High Holidays through mystical teachings, heart-centered meditations rooted in Kabbalah, somatic practices, niggunim, and gentle inner work.

Each week follows an ancient model of forgiveness, as taught by King Solomon:

Week 1: Preparing the Heart-Mind
Week 2: Belonging
Week 3: Heart-Healing for Forgiveness
Week 4: Expanding the Heart-Field

Forgiveness is not about forgetting or condoning. It is the courageous work of seeing clearly, listening deeply, and slowly reclaiming the parts of ourselves that have become bound to hurt. This is not work we rush. It unfolds, breath by breath, layer by layer, opening us to greater freedom, compassion, and love.

Whether you are seeking healing in a relationship, greater self-compassion, or a deeper connection with the Divine, this journey offers an embodied way to prepare for the High Holidays. Rooted in Kabbalistic wisdom and open to people of all backgrounds, no prior meditation experience or prior knowledge is needed.

If your heart has been longing for a gentle container for this potent season, I would be honored to welcome you.

Learn More Here

Co-Sponsored by RUACH: Meditate. Move. Mindfully Connect.

Forgiveness Slow Flow & Heart Meditation for Elul​
​ An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Thursday, August 27, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Boulder, Colorado

Dive into the potent month of Elul with a slow-flow yoga for forgiveness and heart metta meditation that is rooted in Kabbalah. We will gently soften the heart, invite in the medicine of forgiveness, and be guided by our Sages into the process of teshuva: spiritual return.

Come as you are Wear comfy clothes. Bring a yoga mat (extras also available).

Register Here

Resources to Guide You This Moon

• ​New Podcast Alert: :Let the Body Speak , the Body Image Revolution ​

• ​New Tu B’Av Dance Playlist​

• ​Dance of the 12 Sisters: a Tu B’Av Story​

• Poetry to Read this month: Shir HaShirim

• Grateful to be on this podcast last year with Jewish Spirituality. Listen here: Full Moon, Full Hearts in Av: Practicing with Shema. ​

• ​Full Moon Av Meditation (Video)​

• ​Shema SourceSheet​

Reflection:

The Light Between Us by Maria Popova

“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”

​

Reflection Questions:

• Can you recall a time that a loving person reminded you of your own light?

• When have you been that for another?

​

Feel free to respond with any insight, questions, or feedback! I’d love to hear from you.

With trust,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality: Embodied Kabbalah at AwethenticRoots​

Here is a poem for the season:

(Gratitude to my Dance & Writing Teacher, Livia Shapiro, for guiding truth-telling poetry through embodied practice)

Honey From Eden

My hurt turned to honey

Streaming down my center

Moistening, sweetening my inner thighs and

sticky soles of feet.

​

I can not be dropped when I’m planted to this ground.

​

You can not hold my Light I spill over to you,

or even your own.

​

So I draw my scattered power back to me,

My longing turns to liquid light

like the 4 Rivers to Eden guiding me home,

To Life

.Feel it all in Av. From grief to love, Av is the wise heart-center of sacred time.

In this tragic month when the ancient temple was destroyed, we sanctify and tend our inner-temple. Through our hurt, a deep longing is born. Our brokenness has earned us a clearer path forward. The ruins in each of us become holy ground.

With the unfolding of the Hebrew calendar, each month awakens a different chush- embodied sense, intentionally guiding us toward shleimut—wholeness.

Last month in Tammuz, we practiced the art of witnessing. Tammuz invited us to see ourselves and others more clearly, to remain present with what is difficult rather than turning away. Compassion begins by seeing what is here.

Now we enter Av, the month of listening (Sefer Yetzirah).

Each month relates to a specific line in Torah, In Av we read, “הַסְכֵּ֤ת ׀ וּשְׁמַע֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַיּ֤וֹם”—“Silent! Shema -listen, Israel, today“ (Deuteronomy 27:9).

This listening is far more than hearing with our ears. It is the practice of deep attention. The Hebrew word Shema means not only to hear, but to listen, to pay attention, to internalize. As Rebbe Nachman taught, “The heart hears.”

To listen is to become spacious enough to receive another’s story. To notice the quiet stirrings of our heart. To become sensitive to what is beyond the surface.

The Shema, Judaism’s central prayer of oneness, reminds us that even when we cannot always see the Divine, we can cultivate the capacity to listen for it. Close our eyes and sense the oneness.

And this is the quiet wisdom of the season.

Before forgiveness comes seeing.

Before forgiveness comes listening.

First we see ourselves and one another more clearly. Then we listen—to another’s perspective, to our own hearts, and to what is asking to be healed. Only then does the calendar gently carry us into Elul, the season of forgiveness and return.

Heart-Work for Elul​
An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Virtual & In-Person Options; Begins Wednesday August 12th.

We already have a beautiful cohort forming! Will you join us?

Heart-Work for Elul is a four-week contemplative journey through the inner landscape of forgiveness. Together we will prepare for the High Holidays through mystical teachings, heart-centered meditations rooted in Kabbalah, somatic practices, niggunim, and gentle inner work.

Each week follows an ancient model of forgiveness, as taught by King Solomon:

Week 1: Preparing the Heart-Mind
Week 2: Belonging
Week 3: Heart-Healing for Forgiveness
Week 4: Expanding the Heart-Field

Forgiveness is not about forgetting or condoning. It is the courageous work of seeing clearly, listening deeply, and slowly reclaiming the parts of ourselves that have become bound to hurt. This is not work we rush. It unfolds, breath by breath, layer by layer, opening us to greater freedom, compassion, and love.

Whether you are seeking healing in a relationship, greater self-compassion, or a deeper connection with the Divine, this journey offers an embodied way to prepare for the High Holidays. Rooted in Kabbalistic wisdom and open to people of all backgrounds, no prior meditation experience or prior knowledge is needed.

If your heart has been longing for a gentle container for this potent season, I would be honored to welcome you.

Learn More Here

Co-Sponsored by RUACH: Meditate. Move. Mindfully Connect.

Forgiveness Slow Flow & Heart Meditation for Elul​
​ An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Thursday, August 27, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Boulder, Colorado

Dive into the potent month of Elul with a slow-flow yoga for forgiveness and heart metta meditation that is rooted in Kabbalah. We will gently soften the heart, invite in the medicine of forgiveness, and be guided by our Sages into the process of teshuva: spiritual return.

Come as you are Wear comfy clothes. Bring a yoga mat (extras also available).

Register Here

Chodesh Tov!

Here is a poem for the season:

(Gratitude to my Dance & Writing Teacher, Livia Shapiro, for guiding truth-telling poetry through embodied practice)

Honey From Eden

My hurt turned to honey

Streaming down my center

Moistening, sweetening my inner thighs and

sticky soles of feet.

​

I can not be dropped when I’m planted to this ground.

​

You can not hold my Light I spill over to you,

or even your own.

​

So I draw my scattered power back to me,

My longing turns to liquid light

like the 4 Rivers to Eden guiding me home,

To Life.

Feel it all in Av. From grief to love, Av is the wise heart-center of sacred time.

In this tragic month when the ancient temple was destroyed, we sanctify and tend our inner-temple. Through our hurt, a deep longing is born. Our brokenness has earned us a clearer path forward. The ruins in each of us become holy ground.

With the unfolding of the Hebrew calendar, each month awakens a different chush- embodied sense, intentionally guiding us toward shleimut—wholeness.

Last month in Tammuz, we practiced the art of witnessing. Tammuz invited us to see ourselves and others more clearly, to remain present with what is difficult rather than turning away. Compassion begins by seeing what is here.

Now we enter Av, the month of listening (Sefer Yetzirah).

Each month relates to a specific line in Torah, In Av we read, “הַסְכֵּ֤ת ׀ וּשְׁמַע֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַיּ֤וֹם”—“Silent! Shema -listen, Israel, today“ (Deuteronomy 27:9).

This listening is far more than hearing with our ears. It is the practice of deep attention. The Hebrew word Shema means not only to hear, but to listen, to pay attention, to internalize. As Rebbe Nachman taught, “The heart hears.”

To listen is to become spacious enough to receive another’s story. To notice the quiet stirrings of our heart. To become sensitive to what is beyond the surface.

The Shema, Judaism’s central prayer of oneness, reminds us that even when we cannot always see the Divine, we can cultivate the capacity to listen for it. Close our eyes and sense the oneness.

And this is the quiet wisdom of the season.

Before forgiveness comes seeing.

Before forgiveness comes listening.

First we see ourselves and one another more clearly. Then we listen—to another’s perspective, to our own hearts, and to what is asking to be healed. Only then does the calendar gently carry us into Elul, the season of forgiveness and return.

Heart-Work for Elul​
An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Virtual & In-Person Options; Begins Wednesday August 12th.

​

We already have a beautiful cohort forming! Will you join us?

Heart-Work for Elul is a four-week contemplative journey through the inner landscape of forgiveness. Together we will prepare for the High Holidays through mystical teachings, heart-centered meditations rooted in Kabbalah, somatic practices, niggunim, and gentle inner work.

Each week follows an ancient model of forgiveness, as taught by King Solomon:

Week 1: Preparing the Heart-Mind
Week 2: Belonging
Week 3: Heart-Healing for Forgiveness
Week 4: Expanding the Heart-Field

Forgiveness is not about forgetting or condoning. It is the courageous work of seeing clearly, listening deeply, and slowly reclaiming the parts of ourselves that have become bound to hurt. This is not work we rush. It unfolds, breath by breath, layer by layer, opening us to greater freedom, compassion, and love.

Whether you are seeking healing in a relationship, greater self-compassion, or a deeper connection with the Divine, this journey offers an embodied way to prepare for the High Holidays. Rooted in Kabbalistic wisdom and open to people of all backgrounds, no prior meditation experience or prior knowledge is needed.

If your heart has been longing for a gentle container for this potent season, I would be honored to welcome you.

Learn More Here

Co-Sponsored by RUACH: Meditate. Move. Mindfully Connect.

Forgiveness Slow Flow & Heart Meditation for Elul​
​ An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Thursday, August 27, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Boulder, Colorado

​
Dive into the potent month of Elul with a slow-flow yoga for forgiveness and heart metta meditation that is rooted in Kabbalah. We will gently soften the heart, invite in the medicine of forgiveness, and be guided by our Sages into the process of teshuva: spiritual return.

Come as you are Wear comfy clothes. Bring a yoga mat (extras also available).

Register Here

Resources to Guide You This Month:

• ​Playlist for Av​

• ​New Moon Wisdom for Av (Youtube)

• Grateful to be on this podcast last year with Jewish Spirituality. Listen here: Full Moon, Full Hearts in Av: Practicing with Shema. ​

• ​Full Moon Av Meditation (Video)​

• ​Shema SourceSheet​

• Book I recommend: Sound and Vibration by Rav Dovber Pinson

• Poetry to Read this month: Shir HaShirim

Reflection:

“But the Divine was not in the wind.

And after the wind, an earthquake; the Divine was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake, fire; but the Divine was not in the fire.

And after the fire, a still, small voice,”

I Kings 19:11–12​
​

Reflection:

• What is your relationship with silence?

• Can you recall a time when you heard a “still, small voice”?

Feel free to respond with any insight, questions, or feedback! I’d love to hear from you.

With trust,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality: Embodied Kabbalah at AwethenticRoots

~ Judith Campbell

I was once afraid of my heart. The vast field of it overwhelmed me. It felt safer to walk on solid ground than to enter those mysterious, infinite waters. I believed I could control my experience with the mind—through learning, understanding, and memorizing. The heart felt like a place of chaos.

And then life crashed on me.

Like so many of us, hardship and circumstances beyond our control forced me to find new pathways through each day. I had to learn how to meet life again—to discover presence in the midst of grief and uncertainty. My mind couldn’t think its way through, but my heart, patiently waiting to be listened to all those years, quietly and persistently guided me forward.

I came to realize that my heart was not something to fear, but a wise prophetess within me.

What she taught me was this: drop the story, and be present with what is. You are not a victim, you are just a body noticing.

I could not bypass fear, hurt, or grief. But if I was willing to stay present with them, my heart could expand enough to hold joy, love, wonder, and hope as well. I learned that the heart longs to be witnessed, felt, and opened. Only then can it soften and release. There is no shortcut. The heart knows the way through.

The Hebrew calendar carries this wisdom, too. Before we ascend into the spiritual heights of Tishrei and the High Holy Days, we are first invited to prepare the heart. This is the gift of Elul: a month devoted to teshuvah (return), forgiveness, and feeling at home in the palace of the heart.

In the words of Jack Kornfield:

“If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace.”

With grace, I am honored to invite you into Heart-Work for Elul, a four-part contemplative journey of forgiveness and returning to the heart. Together, we will move through an ancient model of forgiveness taught by our Sages. I’ll guide us through Torah wisdom for this potent season, heart-centered meditations, somatic practices, and gentle reflection as we prepare ourselves for the High Holy Days.

I am blessed to be accompanied by Song & Prayer Leader, Kohenet Elana Brody, whose music will help hold this sacred space.

Learn More Here

Heart-Work for Elul​
​ An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

Virtual & In-Person Options; Begins Wednesday August 12th.

Journey at a glance:

Week 1: Preparing the heart-mind

Week 2 : Belonging

Week 3: Heart-Healing for Forgiveness

Week 4: Expanding the Heart-Field

​

While rooted in Jewish wisdom and the rhythms of the Hebrew calendar, this series is open to people of all backgrounds. You do not need to be Jewish, nor do you need any prior meditation experience. Whether you are seeking healing in a relationship, greater self-compassion, or a deeper connection to yourself, all who are on a journey of forgiveness, reflection, and return are warmly welcome.

Learn More Here

Early-Bird Registrations is now active for 15% off- use code EARLYBIRDHEART

Co-Sponsored by RUACH: Meditate. Move. Mindfully Connect.

​

With care,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality: Embodied Kabbalah at AwethenticRoots​

​
As David Whyte says,

Intuitively, we know what happens when we finally give ourselves over to tears

– we enter a physical state of deep attention.

In fact, I’d say full weeping is a form of temporary enlightenment.

It is no wonder that the divinely intelligent Hebrew calendar moves us through this arc: Tammuz, a month of sitting with brokenness, followed by her sister month of Av, a month of rebuilding after destruction. We are asked to feel what has shattered—and then expand our heart to let in new love. If I can stay present with sorrow, I can also stay open to love—like the sweetness that arrives on Tu B’Av, the full moon holiday that celebrates connection after rupture.

These months are often called the “two weeping eyes” of the calendar. And they prepare us for something essential: Elul, a month for interpersonal repair and forgiveness work. A sacred portal of return.

Elul is the month of calling back what has been scattered across the year—reclaiming the pieces of my energy, presence, breath, and life-force that I’ve left in too many places. The work is to reinhabit our body and soul fully.

And then choosing, with care: what is mine to carry forward—and what is ready to be released. We let what is not ours to hold return to the earth.

We empty the cup. So we can arrive more fully into ourselves for Rosh Hashana and the new year ahead.

Because this work matters so deeply to me, I’m offering a 4-week live series during Elul.

If you feel called into this work of softening, release, and re-inhabiting your life more fully, I would love to have you with us:

​

Heart-Work for Elul​
​ An Embodied Journey of Forgiveness and Return

A four-part Jewish contemplative journey through meditation, embodied practice, and forgiveness during the Hebrew month of Elul.

Journey at a glance:

Week 1: Preparing the heart-mind

Week 2 : Belonging

Week 3: Heart-Healing for Forgiveness

Week 4: Expanding the Heart-Field

While rooted in Jewish wisdom and the rhythms of the Hebrew calendar, this series is open to people of all backgrounds. You do not need to be Jewish, nor do you need any prior meditation experience. Whether you are seeking healing in a relationship, greater self-compassion, or a deeper connection to yourself, all who are on a journey of forgiveness, reflection, and return are warmly welcome.

Virtual & In-Person Options; Begins Wednesday August 12th.

Learn More Here

Join us on a forgiveness journey for Elul through 4-weeks of heart work: mystical teachings, heart-meditations rooted in Kabbalah, somatic practices, niggunim with Kohenet Elana Brody, and inner-work to prepare for the High Holidays.

Early-Bird Registrations is now active for 15% off- use code EARLYBIRDHEART

Co-Sponsored by RUACH: Meditate. Move. Mindfully Connect.

​
​

With grace,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality: Embodied Kabbalah at AwethenticRoots

Chodesh Tov, dear friends,

As we enter the month of Tammuz, I’m holding these words from the Piazesner Rebbe, written from within the Warsaw Ghetto:

“How can one seek personal serenity, private ecstasy, or even spiritual elevation while the Ark of the Divine is in the field- exposed, vulnerable, amidst the ruins of our people’s suffering?

​

What comfort can I take in visions, in inner stillness, in the taste of transcendence- when the Shekhina lies in the dust?

​

Now is not the time for private spirituality detached from the cries of the world.

​

Every breath of consolation must be offered in solidarity. Every ascent must carry others upward.”

Every new moon brings a particular spiritual invitation. Tammuz invites us to turn toward grief—to presence grief, express grief, and allow grief to move through us.

This is not the hidden grief we carry alone, isolated in the shadows or tucked away in shame. Tammuz is the grief of women weeping outside the Temple walls, out in the open. Grief under the bright light of the summer solstice- witnessed in community. Grief as collective care.

When we attune to grief, we discover how much it contains: love, loss, longing, anger, tenderness, disappointment, hope. So much of what it means to be human lives within it.

“There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.”

— Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

​

During this month, the walls of Jerusalem were breached, beginning the three-week journey toward Tisha B’Av and the destruction of the Temple. Other moments of rupture are remembered as well: the breaking of the tablets, the burning of a Torah scroll, exile from the Garden of Eden.

he thread running through them all is not simply loss, but brokenness. Something was broken into. Boundaries were breached.
​

Can we make space for the brokenness within ourselves, within one another, and within our world?

​
Tammuz is not a month for rebuilding the walls. That will come. First, we are invited to sit with what has been shattered and allow ourselves to feel it. To let the light enter through the cracks.

As my teacher Elana Brower explains, we can approach sadness in 3 ways:

Physical sadness : we want to move it.

Mental sadness asks us to find space between the thoughts, creating a wide openness between the hemispheres of the brain.

Heart sadness asks us to open, expand, and gently release the sorrow we carry.

This month, we begin by witnessing ourselves clearly- turning the gaze inwards and listening to grief as our teacher of the moment.

Every breath of consolation must be offered in solidarity.

Every ascent must carry others upward.

May our grief soften us toward one another. May our broken hearts keep us connected to the brokenness of the world. And may no one carry their sorrow alone.

If you’d like some companions for the journey through Tammuz, I’ve gathered a few resources and upcoming opportunities to practice together this month:

Resources for Tammuz:

New Podcast Episode: Exploring the Art of Grieving and the Spiritual Invitation of Tammuz, Divine Detour Podcast

I am so honored to be invited onto the Divine Detour Podcast. In this episode, we explore the art of grieving and the spiritual invitation of Tammuz—a tender and often challenging month in the Hebrew calendar.

Watch Here--> Youtube Version

​

Listen here--> Audio-Only on Spotify

New Guided Practice for Energetic Hygiene: Daily Energy Refill through the 5-Levels of the Soul (20-min)

Watch Here--> On Vimeo

​

Playlist For Tammuz & Summer Solstice

Grief in the Light: Summer Solstice Tammuz Music to Vibe to this Month. Have a song to add? Send it to me!

Previous Tammuz Resources

New Moon Tammuz Meditation with the Institute of Jewish Spirituality.

Watch Here--> Youtube Link

​

Podcast: Sitting into Tammuz: Holding our Heartbreak with Love with Jewish Meditation for Everyone

Listen Here--> Spotify Link

Books I recommend for this Month:

• When Things Fall Apart : Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller

UPCOMING OFFERINGS:

Shabbat Morning Yoga & Meditation:

Saturday, June 20, 10-11.30am at Nevei Kodesh

Together, we’ll welcome the new Hebrew month of Tammuz and the Summer Solstice through gentle movement, reflection, and teachings on the spiritual invitations of this season. We’ll explore how these energies can be lived and felt in the body, followed by an extended Shavasana—a “Shabbat pose” for rest and integration

All levels welcome.

Register Here: https://www.neveikodesh.org/event/saturday-morning-offering---yoga-with-jenna-zadaka.html

Moon Medicine: Rosh Chodesh Tammuz Ceremony

Tomorrow, June 16th at 10.30am on Zoom

Together, we’ll be exploring the embodied invitations of this new moon of Tammuz in sacred community. You can expect chevruta learning, guided meditation, teachings on this month, and sharing.

Cohort Invite Only. Moon Medicine Info Here: https://www.awethenticroots.com/seasons-to-wholeness-moon-medicine

Last Chance: Kabbalistic Movement Retreat

June 23–28 | Colorado Rockies

If you are a person who loves the rare intersection of movement & mysticism - this retreat is for you!

​June 23-28: Full Retreat Kabbalah & Authentic Movement Immersion​

​June 26-27: Shabbaton​

With summer at its bustling start, we gather to celebrate the wisdom of the body, in all of our unique expressions - with dance, with yoga, with song, with nature, and with incredible vibrant food. With our retreat positioned in the peaks of the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, we will enjoy wildflowers blooming and cool winds blowing through the trees, with nearby streams, lakes and iconic hiking trails, making summer all the more pleasant!

For this unique retreat, we will be guided by elder teacher Simona Aronow, who comes with 45 years of experience as a dance therapist and Kabbalah guide, through movement journeys that saturate the soul! Simona leads daily Kabbalah movement journeys, and daily inner world explorations using the transformative Authentic Movement practice. Also teaching will be masterful Kabbalah educator and yoga teacher Jenna Zadaka, and Elana Brody, leading song and prayer throughout. We also have incredible and colorful food prepared by Ariel Pasternak, who will supply all of our ingredients from local farms!

​We have options to come either to the full retreat or just to the Shabbaton.​

Commuter, Camping, Lodging Rates. Payment plans available.

Folks are Flying in! Will you?

The retreat is a special and rare convergence of teachers of a feminine and embodied Jewish wisdom, all too rare in this world. If you hear the call to join, this is your chance.

Sending you big hugs as we enter this tender month of the calendar.

I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home by Toko-pa Turner, which so beautifully names the emotional terrain of Tammuz:

Grief is the expression of healing in motion. As you make the seemingly bottomless descent, it helps to remember that grief is the downpour your soul has been thirsting for. Because what remains hidden for too long doesn’t change. It is calcified in place, often sealed by shame, left untouched and forgotten by time. But when it can finally come into the open to be seen, it is exposed to new conditions and it begins to move. It rises on a salty geyser of tears, sometimes sung to the surface by a terrific moan, streaming down our cheeks until it moistens the soil where we stand, preparing us for new growth.

​

Have you ever noticed how beautiful a person is after they’ve wept? It’s as if they are made new again by the baptism of tears. Indeed, when something stuck can be released through grief, we are freeing up a greater capacity to love.

​
​

With Care,

Jenna Zadaka, AwethenticRoots

Hishtavut, the Jewish practice of equanimity, is about learning to see ourselves clearly. Not by bypassing our human urges, fears and desires, but by learning to meet ourselves with nonjudgmental awareness. In the famous work Duties of the Heart, the Spanish philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda explains that Hishtavus is the most important spiritual practice one can attain.

We all long for presence.

And yet, we all have countless escape mechanisms away from presence. We try protect ourselves because presence is not always blissful. Every moment asks us to open to the unknown. When we arrive in stillness, we may receive joy, wonder, or delight. We may also encounter grief, fear, confusion, or pain.

Over time, many of us block off pain and discomfort in the pursuit of feeling content. But the spiritual path invites something fuller. As grandmother of Authentic Movement, Janet Adler, writes in Offering from the Conscious Body,

“This work is not about seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.

It is about discovering, accepting, enduring our own truth and the truth of the other.”

The devoted path is learning how to become intimate with the moment, regardless of our preferences. In Torah , this is known as a Bitochon- trust or certainty. To trust the Universe- this is the foundation of equanimity, of Hishtavut.

Through the combination of silence, witnessing, and deep listening, Authentic Movement has offered me a awe-filled container to encounter my own raw truths. Rather than trying to fix, analyze, or transcend the experience, we learn to witness what is arising in real time through the body. We practice staying present to what is here, meeting ourselves with grace and curiosity.

This is one of the reasons I feel so called to deepen in the practice with elder teacher Reb Simona Aronow for five days of Authentic Movement and Kabbalah. Together, we will create a container to meet our true selves and inhabit more fully the landscape of body and soul.

Kabbalistic Movement Retreat Info Here: https://singanewsong.my.canva.site/embodiedkabbalahretreat

We will be gathering during the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a month associated with the rectification of sight. Tammuz invites us to practice seeing others and ourselves clearly. Through the practice of Authentic Movement, the presence of an outer witness helps strengthen the capacity of the inner witness.

The word Kabbalah means “to receive.” Traditionally, Kabbalistic wisdom was received through oral transmission—from teacher to student. Yet eventually, the teachings become embodied. The outer witness is internalized. Trust deepens. The inner witness strengthens. And we begin receiving wisdom directly from our own bodies.

​

In the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, we might understand this witnessing capacity through two energetic centers:

Da’at: Witness Conscious Above (mind / integrated awareness)

Yesod: Witness Consciousness Below (somatics/ integrated truth)

The refinement work is to witness ourselves with Hishtavut: equanimity, a posture of non-preference and willingness to hold whatever the moment has to offer.

The month of Tammuz also opens the doorway into a season of collective grief within the Jewish calendar. What moves me about this timing is that these teachings do not ask us to grieve in isolation. We gather at the height of summer, in the fullness of the solstice light, to be witnessed in what is tender, vulnerable, and true. Healing happens through relationship, within the collective. Through being seen. Through discovering that we do not have to carry our sorrow alone.

​

The invitation for this retreat is to bring all of yourself- to practice witnessing yourself with honesty, compassion, and presence.

Elana Brody and I recently went live to talk about movement, mysticism, and the heart behind this retreat. You can watch the replay here:

Watch Live Replay Here:

If you have any questions about the retreat, I’m here and would love to connect.

​

With grace,

Jenna Zadaka, AwethenticRoots

May this email find a quiet place in your heart.

​

“Human is a polarity of a Divine Image and worthless dust. S/he is a duality of mysterious grandeur and pompous aridity, a vision of G-d and a mountain of dust.” Abraham Joshua Heschel

Seated at the edge of the spiral labyrinth, I laughed at the paradox of my meditation walk — feeling myself both “a vision of G-d and a mountain of dust.”

On the spiral inward, I contemplated the Five Levels of the Soul. In Kabbalah, each level of the soul is its own consciousness and energetic field — carrying unique wisdom, memory, desire, and capacity to receive divine light. As I walked, insights poured through me for each soul-level, and I hurried to write them into my journal in preparation for my Kabbalah class at Nevei Kodesh this Saturday (scroll down for details!)

On the spiral outward, my thoughts became far less holy. My prayers shifted from rejuvenating the soul to releasing my unhealthy attachments. I felt my embarrassments, my messiness, my awkwardness — all the tender and unfinished parts of being human — as the stone path slowly spiraled me out of my own confusion.

When I completed the walk, I said aloud: “Hineni — Here I am.” Both my human and holy is here. And welcome. And from that place, I wrote this poem:

​
​The Healing Spiral:

Unravel me, great spiral.

Layer by layer -

Release my attachments I suffer by

Spin me out of my confusions and back into the open expanse

Exhale me as I twist and turn out of my great knot

Detach my narratives into the forgiving sky

like sharp scissors to my kite strings

Shake my torso strong as the boulders of my heaviness turn to sand- sweeping back to the shores to support my delicate sole of foot.

​

Walking, wandering forward along the everflowing waves, free.

Breathe me again and again until I am renewed, buzzing with the creative spirit.

​

Like the round pebble in my palm,

allow me to hold onto the circle of life-

softly, non gripping, with wonder.

​

Untie my bows,

reveal my radiant flesh,

unravel me open.

The first created being, Adam (אָדָם), reflects this duality of our human complexity. The Aleph (א) is silent — representing the transcendent, ineffable, and spiritual dimension of being. Dam (דָּם) means “blood” — the physical, earthly self rooted in the body and the ground. Together, אָדָם holds the union of spirit and flesh, fruit and peel, heaven and earth.

​
Join me this Saturday for a free Embodied Kabbalah Workshop on the 5-Levels of the Soul.

This is not about escaping our humanness (trust me, I tried that for years and it doesn’t work!) It is about welcoming every part of ourselves into the sacred — allowing the messy, tender, earthly parts of our being to be celebrated and elevated.

Nefesh:Functional Consciousness.

Ruach: Emotional consciousness.

Neshama: Intellectual Consciousness

Chaya: Transcendental Consciousness

Yechidah: Unity, Oneness

Together, we’ll explore how to nourish and hydrate these five levels with rejuvenating energy. We’ll learn, meditate, move, journal, and share to bring these esoteric concepts into our breath and being!

Kabbalah Workshop: 5- Levels of the Soul (Boulder, Colorado)

Saturday, May 30 | 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

• Please bring a yoga mat and wear comfortable clothes for movement.

• This class is free for all members and guests!

Register Here!

And speaking of Hineni above, I am excited to share a special collaboration with the Kavannah Collection:

הנני | Hineni - Here I Am Earrings

Created in Israel by a mother and a GoldSmith, Kavannah Collection pieces feel like spiritual vessels- crafted to connect our inner world, our ancestral lineage, and the intentions we choose to carry forward.

WEAR YOUR PRAYER! A Hebrew Engraved Heirloom to reconnect with you with the present moment, your Soul, and each step forward. Hineni means “Here I Am”, a declaration of acceptance of your full Self and total embodied awareness infront of the Divine Presence.

Use JENNA15 for 15% off the entire order, valid through July 27, 2026.

Shop here

Kabbalistic Movement Retreat, June 23-June 28th

am so excited to welcome Reb Simona Aronow — elder and teacher of 45 years- to guide us in the embodied practice of Kabbalah & Authentic Movement.

Together we’ll explore:

• The Sefirot/ Tree of Life
• The Mother Letters & Elements
• The Five Levels of the Soul, and more..

Learn More Here!

• For all bodies and movers of all backgrounds (You don’t need to be Jewish , or have any movement experience!)

• Located at Unifying Meditation Institute (UMI), just 35 min South of Boulder.

• Full retreat and Shabbaton-only options available, with both lodging and commuter rates.

As taught by Simona, Authentic Movement is a gentle holding container from which to explore your own inner reality and allow its organic unfolding without expectation. The mover listens deeply, learning to trust the body’s wisdom and impulse to move. Impulses are followed and given form as sensations, images, thoughts and feelings arise from the unconscious, ready to become known. Sometimes stillness may be your authentic truth in the moment. All expression is welcomed.

Elana Brody will lead us in Shabbat ritual and song, and I’m honored to share embodied Kabbalah practices along with wisdom I’ve discovered through weaving together Kabbalah and Authentic Movement in ways that feel accessible, relatable, and universal. I’ll also be offering Tree of Life Yoga and Shabbat morning yoga.

︎ Boulder, CO: Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) Ceremony

Wed June 17, 5.30-8pm (potluck to follow ceremony) in a Boulder backyard.

Tammuz and Av are often called the “two weeping eyes” of sacred time. Tammuz, in particular, invites us to sit with sadness and the truth of destruction — personal, collective, ancestral.In this season of the summer solstice, the chush (spiritual sense) to rectify is our sight: the capacity to truly see suffering, within and around us, and to expand our awareness to hold more. In our circle, we will practice both seeing and being seen, gently exploring the emotions we often turn away from.

You can expect :

• An Herbal Eye Bath & Guided Meditation

• Grounding into sacred time and exploring sorrow through a spiritual and embodied lens

• ⁠⁠Partner-Work (Eye Gazing)

• ⁠⁠Silent Garden Vision Walk , Song & Sisters

• Potluck in the yard

Join us here: https://www.awethenticroots.com/upcoming-events/griefinthelight

Embodied Judaism — New Course!!

I’m excited to be part of a beautiful lineup of educators for a new 14-week journey into the living heart of Jewish spirituality.

This course weaves together Renewal, earth-based, mystical, and ceremonial Jewish teachings through experiential practices designed to be felt in the body and heart.

Learn more and register here:
​Embodied Judaism Course

Full Moon Sivan: Inspo I’m loving

• Receiving in Sivan Playlist

• For my Devotional Creatives out there, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is a must!

• If you missed my Rosh Chodesh Sivan Live Meditation with Institute of Jewish Spirituality, Practice Here.

• New Song I’m loving: Women of the Waters​

• ​Prayerbook through the 5-Levels of the Soul: Beloved of the Soul Siddur by Sara Evian

Please do forward these offerings to anyone you think would benefit to spread the light! May we expand our ability to receive- abundance, love, wisdom.

​

Have a blessed Sivan full moon,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at Awethentic Roots: Embodied Kabbalah​

​

Dearest Community,

In this final week of counting the Omer through the Tree of life, we work with the energy of Malchut, - the indwelling Divine Presence, also known as Shekhina.

In Kabbalistic imagery, Shekhina is poetically described as the moon, the ocean, a bride, an orchard in blossom — receiving many streams of life into a unified whole.

During my recent retreat to Ireland, the beauty and quietude allowed me to practice the art of listening: to the sea, to silence, to the unexpected ways wisdom arrives. “Ocean, tell me what I need to see” was my question- and I received layers of messages from simply opening and bearing witness.

s King Solomon taught to learn from all of creation:

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you;
the birds of the sky, they will tell you;
speak to the earth, it will teach you;
the fish of the sea, they will inform you.”​
(Iyov 12:7–8)

Malchut takes on the posture of listening and receiving.

The Zohar says of Malchut:​
“Leit Lah m’Garma Klum” — “She has nothing of her own.”

Like the moon, she receives light in order to reflect it. Not to grasp, but to illuminate.

While all the Divine Energies (Sefirot) have a directional orientation, Malchut rests in the Emtza: the centerpoint. In the imagery of the Divine sanctuary, she is the inner space itself — the animating lifeforce.

The other Sefirot are associated with a sound, yet Malchut is the Silent Center. An empty-but-full silence. The sound of the breath, or more precisely- the still pause at the empty bottom of the breath. Expanding with possibility.

Practicing Quietude moves us inward — toward this still, present place where we can touch our essence. In the words of Maurine Stuart,

“What we are doing is having a taste of this One Mind: just plain, pure, clear Being. How do we come to this? Not by thinking about it, not by grabbing it, not by seeking after it; just by doing what the practice asks”

One of the most potent practices I know for entering this listening state is Authentic Movement. And I’m so excited to bring you a unique opportunity to practice with an expert facilitator, here in the mountains near Boulder, Colorado:

Kabbalistic Movement Retreat, June 23-June 28th

Hebrew Priestess Elana Brody and I are deeply honored to welcome Reb Simona Aronow — elder and teacher of 45 years- to guide us in the embodied practice of Kabbalah & Authentic Movement.

Elana will lead us in Shabbat ritual, sacred song, and chanting, and I’m honored to share embodied Kabbalah practices along with wisdom I’ve discovered through weaving together Kabbalah and Authentic Movement in ways that feel accessible, relatable, and universal. I’ll also be offering Tree of Life Yoga and Shabbat morning yoga.

• For all bodies and movers of all backgrounds (You don’t need to be Jewish , or have any movement experience!)

• Located at Unifying Meditation Institute (UMI), just 35 min South of Boulder.

• Full retreat and Shabbaton-only options available, with both lodging and commuter rates.

  Learn More Here!

  “When Hasidim (Devoted Ones) are engaged in prayer, an explosive spirit swirls within their souls that cleave to the living Divine. It shakes their body and limbs until the body starts to dance ecstatically, because dances are the body’s prayers, on the level of “All my bones shall praise you.“ The body and all its limbs dance to the rhythm of the heart, which moves and flows with the prayer of the universe. And the heart feels that its beating is only an echo of the motion of the worlds and that with its beating it embraces those worlds that unite with their Creator..”

  Excerpt from The Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov

What is Authentic Movement? (as taught by Reb. Simona Aronow)

Authentic Movement is a gentle holding container from which to explore your own inner reality and allow its organic unfolding without expectation. The mover listens deeply, learning to trust the body’s wisdom and impulse to move. Impulses are followed and given form as sensations, images, thoughts and feelings arise from the unconscious, ready to become known. Sometimes stillness may be your authentic truth in the moment. All expression is welcomed. .

The practice of Authentic Movement happens without music, eyes closed, and in the presence of a compassionate, caring, non judgmental, witness.

It is a privilege to witness one another as one might witness a bird in flight or the ocean waves. Witnessing is a being with, rather than a looking at. More embodied. More present.

Participants take turns as movers and witnesses. The presence of a witness brings connection, and the gift of seeing and being seen with acceptance. In sharing these authentic experiences together, there is mutual empathy and learning.

Register Here

Together we’ll explore:

• The Sefirot/ Tree of Life
• The Mother Letters & Elements
• The Five Levels of the Soul, and more..

“The spirit of the great and creative force was evident then and continues to be evident now within different mystical traditions in which prayers are embodied and spun into the numinous, emptying the self of that which is ready to be released, to be offered.”

Janet Adler, founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement

What to expect:

The mornings will be dedicated to embodied Kabbalah learning, while the afternoons devoted to Authentic Movement.

The Kabbalah teachings in the morning — the light — will have space to descend into the body -the vessel-through Authentic Movement, sharing and song. The bright teachings will have a chance to become personal through direct experience.

Unconscious material that arises is an important step to clear and empty the blocks, opening yourself to receive more clearly from your intuition and the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Our Shabbaton will have Shabbat Yoga, Musical Prayer, Torah Ritual, Spacious time for Shekhina, Authentic Movement & Kabbalah Session with Simona, delicious meals, and a Havdallah-Song Circle.

​Learn more about the retreat here.

Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested in this rare offering! We’re here for your questions, curiosities, and inquiries!

Blessings and Chodesh Tov ,

Jenna Zadaka, Spirituality & Somatics at Awethentic Roots.

Subscribe now

“Like the bowl that has yet to be filled,
there is an emptiness that precedes creativity
that is alive with potential.”
— Toko-pa Turner

Dear Ones,

The new moon of Sivan invites us into the art of receiving.

While this month holds the holiday of Shavuot — when the Israelites received the Torah — the Kabbalists teach that Sivan is the energetic headquarters of all forms of receiving for the year ahead.

So this becomes a time to explore:
How do we receive wisdom, insight, feedback, revelation, love?
What opens us? What closes us?
How do we receive in ways that are grounded, discerning, and sustainable?

And this can be vulnerable.Some of us struggle to receive because the body has learned to protect itself. Perhaps there were moments when you reached toward a teacher, a relationship, or life itself with openness — and were disappointed, unseen, or dropped.

The body remembers.

So often, with each disappointment, loss, or unmet longing, the body learns to close a little more. This is not failure — it comes from a deep intelligence to protect from being hurt again.

Sivan invites us to gently explore what it might feel like to open again, at a pace that feels safe and true.
​A safe moment to soften.
A safe moment to listen.
A safe moment to receive.

Our culture often teaches a narrow, linear way of receiving, but we are multisensory beings. We receive through intuition, dreams, silence, sound, relationship, nature, emotion, spirit, and the quiet knowing of the body.

Kabbalah — which literally means “receiving” — teaches that receiving is not passive. It is a mature spiritual practice. To truly receive, we build healthy vessels. Not receiving from grasping, lack, or dependency, but from steadiness, openness, and inner spaciousness.

From the Omer to Sinai

Throughout the month of Iyar, we journey through the counting of the Omer, refining the inner qualities of the Tree of Life day by day. We strengthen and clarify our vessels so that when Shavuot arrives, we are ready to receive with greater integrity and presence.

In Sivan, we arrive at the foot of the mountain.

The sages ask: of all places, why was the Torah given in the desert — the midbar?

Because the desert wilderness is hefker — ownerless. Wisdom cannot be possessed or controlled.

To receive deeply, we too are invited to become like the desert:​
open, spacious, unattached to certainty, released from the grip of what we think we already know.

The word midbar shares a root with medaber — “to speak.”
The desert speaks.

From silence, something essential emerges.

When we quiet enough to listen, the inner landscape of the body begins to speak in its own language.

Sivan invites us toward that silence — not emptiness as absence, but emptiness alive with presence and possibility.

As my teacher Elana Brower shares,

“Emptying myself of the past, of identity, and of certainty. Emptying myself of doubt, of distraction, and even of insight quietly reveals a deeper peace. Being empty and still, I can ascertain what might be of service to our delicate, shared humanity.”

One Human, One Heart

One of my favorite teachings about Shavuot is that the Israelites stood at Sinai “as one human with one heart” (Rashi).

When we open ourselves in this way, we are not only receiving for ourselves. We become connected to the lev ha’olam — the heart of the world.

Receiving becomes an act of relationship and responsibility.
Not taking, but becoming available to something larger that wishes to move through us for the healing of the collective.

Opportunities to Practice:

​

Virtual Meditation Sit with the Institute of Jewish Spirituality — The Art of Receiving to Prepare for Rosh Chodesh Sivan

Join me this Friday, May 15, as I guide the weekly Meditation Sit through the themes of receiving, silence, and preparing the vessel for Sivan.

12:30 PM ET on Zoom
Register here: Institute of Jewish Spirituality​

The session will also be livestreamed and archived on the IJS YouTube channel.

Virtual Meditation Sit with Shevet, A Jewish Mindfulness Community for Young Adults

Counting the Omer: Malchut

Join me on May 18 for 30 minutes of Jewish mindfulness teaching and practice, with optional Q&A afterward. Together we’ll explore the final Sefirah of Malchut as we integrate the Omer journey and prepare for Shavuot.

May 18 — 8:00 PM ET
Register here: Shevet Registration

Kabbalistic Movement Retreat

A unique intersection of Embodied Jewish Learning & Authentic Movement

Join us for a 6-day embodied Kabbalah retreat led by Reb Simona Aronow, an elder teacher ordained by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. With 45 years of experience, Simona will guide movement-based explorations of Kabbalistic teachings and authentic movement practices that deepen throughout the week.

She is joined by song and prayer leader Kohenet Elana Brody, embodied Kabbalah teacher Jenna Zadaka, and Chef Ariel Pasternak, who will prepare nourishing meals with fresh, local ingredients.

For all bodies and movers: located at Unifying Meditation Institute (UMI), just 35 min South of Boulder.

Full retreat and Shabbaton-only options available, with both lodging and commuter rates.

​Learn More Here

Shavuot at the Boulder JCC

The Art of Receiving Workshop

As part of an evening of Shavuot learning and community gathering, Mitten Lowe and I will guide an embodied exploration of the art — and edges — of receiving. Through text study, somatic practice, and meditation, we’ll create space to engage the deeper energetics of Shavuot.

Thursday, May 21
8:20–9:10 PM
Boulder JCC
Free

​Registration & Full Session Descriptions Here.

Boulder, CO: Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) Ceremony

Grief in the Light: Rosh Chodesh Tammuz & Summer Solstice Ceremony

Wed June 17, 5.30-8pm (potluck to follow ceremony) in a Boulder backyard.

Tammuz and Av are often called the “two weeping eyes” of sacred time. Tammuz, in particular, invites us to sit with sadness and the truth of destruction — personal, collective, ancestral.In this season of the summer solstice, the chush (spiritual sense) to rectify is our sight: the capacity to truly see suffering, within and around us, and to expand our awareness to hold more. In our circle, we will practice both seeing and being seen, gently exploring the emotions we often turn away from.

You can expect :

• An Herbal Eye Bath & Guided Meditation

• Grounding into sacred time and exploring sorrow through a spiritual and embodied lens

• ⁠⁠Partner-Work (Eye Gazing)

• ⁠⁠Silent Garden Vision Walk , Song & Sisters

• Potluck in the yard

​Join us Here.

Embodied Judaism — New Course!!

I’m excited to be part of a beautiful lineup of educators for a new 14-week journey into the living heart of Jewish spirituality.

This course weaves together Renewal, earth-based, mystical, and ceremonial Jewish teachings through experiential practices designed to be felt in the body and heart.

Learn more and register here:
​Embodied Judaism Course

To enter into the vibes of Sivan, here is a playlist to accompany you this month:

Receiving in Sivan (Shavuot)​​

​

Please do forward these offerings to anyone you think would benefit to spread the light!

May we expand our ability to receive- abundance, love, wisdom.

​

With gratitude,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at Awethentic Roots: Embodied Kabbalah

Iyar, the Hebrew month of healing, arrives this weekend in the fullness of Spring. Lilacs are blooming, sunlight pours down here in Boulder, CO, and I wove my first dandelion crown of the season.

​
This month’s name is an acronym for the sacred phrase:

“Ani Hashem Rofecha” (Shemot 15:26) — I am the Infinite One, your Healer.

The Sages teach that in this month, healing is more available through sunlight (Nedarim 10a), and the plants carry more potency. If one is to begin a healing protocol, Iyar is considered the most supportive time (Rabbi Pinchas Kortez, 1726–1791).

Tradition also teaches that the manna (angel food from heaven) began to fall on the 16th of Iyar (Rashi on Exodus 16:1:1), nourishing the Israelites in the desert—symbolizing miraculous sustenance and healing from above. This is also the month when Miriam’s Well emerged—a source of healing that rises from below, from within.

Bearing Witness

I’ve been contemplating the art of bearing witness—to ourselves and to others—as a form of healing. To witness ourselves with patience and presence is a slow, steady transformation. This is the medicine of Iyar.

Last month of Nissan was a rapid lift into higher consciousness—through miracles and Divine support, we were shown the light and our potential. Like a psychedelic journey, Nissan offers a full glimpse into the light, revealing what wants to be seen all at once.

Then comes the integration—a slow, grounded month of quiet, steady inner work. This is Iyar- the kind of spiritual work that often goes unseen—unfolding in the quiet recesses of your home, in your prayers at the altar, in the tears that gently clear space. Through the ancient ritual of Counting the Omer, each day matters—we are invited to witness a specific soul-aspect and emotional quality over 49 days.

“Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart.”-Psalm 90:12

This practice of self-refinement asks for discipline and steady showing up, without external recognition or noise. It emerges through silence—through emptying, through seeing what is true.

​
As it says in Pirkei Avot, “There is nothing better for the body than silence.”

We often are so eager to heal swiftly and linearly. Iyar reminds us that healing is slow, rarely linear, but absolutely worth our attention.

You don’t need to be broken to do this work. You can be whole, and discover deeper wholeness.

In honor of this work being sometimes messy and vulnerable, here is an excerpt from a poem for this month I wrote during a local Moving & Writing group with Livia Shapiro. May it reveal the raw & real healing process:

I don’t regret taking two years to heal this confusing knot.

I do regret grasping for help everywhere

and forgetting the single, clear flame

awaiting me upon my altar.

What is your relationship to silence this season?

What is asking for your healing gaze?

Witnessing Others

When we offer that same compassionate, safe witness to others, we allow their system to organize and come into wholeness naturally. We trust the intelligence of their inner healing.

This month we see a great example of this- Moses sees Miriam the Prophetess suffering after she is afflicted with leprosy. He does not turn away—he bears witness to her struggle and prays on her behalf:

אֵל נָא רְפָא נָא לָהּ

(Numbers 12:13)

These words have become a Jewish mantra for healing. (One of my favorite versions of Ana El Na here)

One of the greatest gifts we can offer is our caring, compassionate presence.

Can we sit with someone in their suffering without becoming consumed by it?

Can we offer our prayers, and allow ourselves to be transformed in the process?

A Zen poem my teacher shared with me, The Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness, offers these lines:

“Practice Invisibly,

Work Intimately,

Be the fool with no voice”

Practice invisibly:

Sitting at my altar on the morning of my birthday, crying and praying for those most alive in my heart, was the deepest point of connection in my day. What is it like to move through this practice—counting the Omer, witnessing yourself in truth—without the need to be seen or affirmed?

Work intimately:

My spiritual work is between me and the Divine, between me and myself. While it naturally ripples outward, it asks me to stay close to the present moment—to notice when I drift, and to return again. To remain steady with myself, and steady in practice.

Be the fool with no voice:

This is the most challenging for me. As a teacher and facilitator, my voice is how I share insight and understanding. Yet silence has become an important ally this year—softening the need to speak, strengthening my capacity to listen, and containing my experience to deepen my presence.

To be the fool—unknowing, resting in a beginner’s mind.

t is no wonder that this moon of healing meets us in the Omer week of Tiferet: Heartful Harmony. Tiferet is a kind of spiritual artistry—weaving together Chesed (loving-kindness and expansion) with Gevurah (inward gaze and discipline) to find rightful balance.

Healing asks for both:

love and discipline, expansion and contraction, sound and silence.

Here are a few free Tiferet practices from previous years to support you in this time:

• ​Harmonizing Winds: Heart Meditation for Tiferet (20 min)​

• ​Heart Breathing for Tiferet (13 min)​

For a deeper dive into this month, we are still welcoming participants into Seasons to Wholeness: Moon Medicine—an intimate cohort journeying through sacred time with feminine Kabbalah and earth-based wellness.

Our Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) ceremony is tomorrow at 10:30am MST on Zoom.
Simply email Jenna@awethenticroots.com to join.

Iyar Playlist for You

Healing tunes for this moon:

​

​
As we enter this potent month together, I invite you to sit close with this question:

What would my fully healed self look and feel like?

​
​
Feel free to reply with your thoughts or insights! I’d love to hear from you.

May we be free, clear, and open to heal,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at AwethenticRoots

There is a cosmic invitation this week to open to Divine Love.

“In your abundant Chesed (loving-kindness), I will enter your house. I will lay myself down in awe.” Psalm 5:8
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~Imagine you are laying yourself down in Chesed, descending into a pool of loving-kindness.

Notice sensation as you unwind within the Great Infinite Love. Softening & receiving.

What arises as you are held in a field of loving-kindness?

With every flowing breath, allow in a loving presence. ~

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From this place, where can you invite in more Flow?

In the rhythm of the Hebrew calendar this week, we enter the pull of Loving Like Water (Chesed), the energy of:

Loving-Kindness

Benevolence

Abundance

Generosity

Compassion

After the Passover Seder, intelligently designed with ritual and storytelling, we acknowledge that freedom is not only about what we leave behind, but what we are now able to live into. Our Sages teach that there are two levels of freedom:

The first level of accessing freedom is freedom from what constricts us.

Then, there comes a higher level - freedom to-

Freedom to practice.

Freedom to heal.

Freedom to live in alignment with something deeper and true.

Freedom to love.

This is why the days that follow the Seder are guided by the ancient practice of Counting the Omer, a slow and intentional unfolding through the Sefirot, the inner qualities of the soul. We follow seven cycles of seven- each week guided by one of the Divine Energy Centers of the Tree of Life that enliven us.

We begin our 49 days of self-refinement by stepping into the flow of Chesed- Loving-Kindness. Every true transformation begins with Love, not fear. With our first taste of freedom, we open the faucet to divine love.

A Story:

There is a Midrash (an ancient oral story) of the first transformation. After being banished in grief from the Garden of Eden, how did Adam return to himself? He went into the Gihon River (one of the four rivers that flowed from the center of the garden)..

“until the waters reached up to his neck… seven weeks of days.. until his body became like a species of seaweed…

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What did the Holy One, blessed He do? The Holy One put forth the Divine right hand [the hand of Chesed] and accepted Adam’s teshuva [returning]…

Pirkei d’Rabi Eliezer 20

He descended into the revitalizing waters [the element of Chesed] for seven weeks until his rigid body softened. Leaving his limitations and entering a fluid realm, he transformed into a malleable creature of the sea. He left what he knew [ie the land[, entering into the realm of possibility [the waters]. He sat in the flowing river and prayed until he returned to himself, until he could once again feel the currents of love moving through him.

We too, begin our Great Return through the waters of Chesed.

Here is a glimpse into my Chesed practice this week, which you are welcome to try yourself:

Loving Like Water Chesed Practice:

I place my right hand upon my heart and breathe into the contact fully.

Feeling my sit bones rooted on the chair or ground, I visualize a great waterfall of light above me- sourced from the Infinite Field of Love.

I sense the waters pouring over my crown, into me, and I follow their flow. (Spend as much time here as you desire- in stillness , or in movement)

Breathing deeply in this rejuvenating waterfall; my love is everlasting.

I feel my veins as streams, carrying Chesed through the ecosystem of my body.

Behind me- a river fills my heart with each inhale.

With a lengthened exhale, the river glides out through the front of my heart, pouring love into the world.

I am Flow.​
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Free Guided Practice for the week of Chesed

20-Minute Guided Meditation: Practice With Me.

Poem for the Week of Chesed:

The Light Between Us by Maria Popova

The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.

Divine Love of Chesed Playlist

Listen Here

If you feel called, I’d love to hear from you:

How does your generosity flow?

Are there leeks in your giving/loving?

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Olam Chesed Yibaneh :The World Was Created Through Love- Psalm 89:3

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May our breaths flow with love,

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at AwethenticRoots​
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Dear Ones,

Happy New Moon!

This morning, I led a Circle Mandala Meditation to a group of women in honor of Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon) of Nissan, inspired by Miriam the Prophetess and her circle dance with tambourines. Afterwards, someone reflected:

“The world feels so painful to live in.

But somehow, the circle allows me to find comfort, and even Joy.”

Her vulnerability in those words touched me so deeply, my face crinkled up all over Zoom. And I was again reassured that the symbol of the Circle is a powerful remedy for healing, and an invitation into Freedom.

Miriam, the archetype of this new month, ushered into the world what we now call “Circle Consciousness.” Amidst tragedy, she packed up her circle tambourine during the darkest night with faith that celebration would follow. (Can you imagine packing for 40 years through a desert with your children and flocks and even having extra space for drums?) After escaping armies and natural threats upon their journey, the Sea Split and what followed was…ecstatic dance. A circle dance, with tambourines and song. Years of dense trauma packed into their bodies, and then a full-body release under their first Free Sky. This dance embodied freedom and opened their bodies to circles of flow following years of slavery.

When I dance in a circle- there is both a vulnerability of being witnessed, and a wild acceptance of a true streak in me that isn’t given permission to exist in everyday life. The circle feels both sacred and terrifying- it requires immense courage to bring hidden parts of yourself forward. And yet, the Kabbalists teach that Circle Consciousness is the future of redemption. In a circle, we can’t hide away from any part-we are asked to take accountability and stand in our full being. It may progress by walking into the circle in fear, rising with courage, and then standing in our true strength. Then, we can contribute to the whole. Before freedom, presence.

I remember the first time I felt the warm imprint of a circle in my body.

After convincing my husband to stay home with our baby, I skipped through the night alleyways of Jerusalem into a crammed apartment for my women’s group. It was Rosh Chodesh Nissan- in Jerusalem, even the children celebrate the new moon in their schools. My son was asked to wear white Shabbos clothes to his gan (pre-school) for a feast & celebration. In Jerusalem, Rosh Chodesh isn’t reserved for spiritual women’s groups- it is felt in the streets, at work and schools. Living by the moons is a thread that our culture has kept since leaving Egypt.

That first moment of freedom, Moses led the men in a prayer dance- formed in a line. It was call and response, followers and leaders. It was also future tense. Miriam’s Circle, on the other hand, was sung in present tense in unison. Everyone equidistant from the center- their truth, the divine.

In exploring Miriam’s circle dance, the host of my women’s group invited us to feel the difference between a line and a circle.

We formed a line, stepping quietly through the apartment. The invitation was simple: notice what it feels like in the body to be arranged this way. Safety arose. My heart felt tucked in, held close, protected. I didn’t need to show up fully; I could hide plenty. The back of my heart was guarded. It was easy—I didn’t have to choose where to go. I simply followed the person in front of me. There was a subtle hierarchy. Behind me, I felt the sensation of being followed. We were moving forward together, but without shared awareness. And still, being in a line was easy- I just had to stay in my place of rank. I wasn’t being asked to face anything new or grow. I barely had to think or feel.

Then we formed a circle and I immediately felt the shift in my bones. In that moment I understood why Society isn’t always ready or equipped for the circle.

Suddenly, my face was fully seen- in its radiance and its shadow. My heart, no longer hidden, pressed toward the center. Dreadfully, I felt exposed and open- almost like each women could see through my skin into my truths. And yet, the shoulders of the women on either side pressed into me- like I was held amidst my tender trembles.

I felt vulnerable and confident at the same time. Like the circle needed me to be present and full.

Relaxing finally into my feet, I looked at each women and felt their presence- each one revealing something essential and something beautiful. I felt the immense pleasure of witnessing each one of them, seeing a glimmer of the Divine on their face. I quietly acknowledged their gifts and light; as well as their challenges and shadows. In a circle, all parts of us were welcomed to exist. Perhaps this is what it means to be human together.

The circle holds us and calls us back—again and again—to our inner knowing, our spark of goodness, and the divine within.

When [humans] circle, something magical happens. Beyond the obvious social fulfillment is a space that touches the center of our deepest vulnerability and our greatest power. When combined with structure, mutual respect, trust, and ritual, a [human’s] circle becomes a space where tentative voices are urged into authority, where dreams are articulated for the first time, where tears mark a rite of passage. What makes a circle special? Being known beyond the roles that define us, speaking our dreams into existence, mourning what’s been lost, a container for promises, recognition that we are valued, time for honoring our innate connection to the cycles of the earth, the moment of recognition when we hear our own truth spoken by another, a space to call our own.” - Kristen Roderick

The Circle Calls!

Our circle is widening.. will you step in?

After 6-months of Seasons to Wholeness Moon Medicine, we are beginning a new cycle tomorrow!

We welcome you as you are- to be seen and held as we journey together through the Kabbalistic months and seasons. We invite in plant-allies, ancestors, mystic teachings, and wisdom from our own felt experience, to the magic of the circle.

This is for you if you are craving embodied invitations into cyclical living. If you are curious about Kabbalistic Mysticism and how it can bring you greater connection to your Self & Source, join our circle! If you wish to deepen with other women who are on a spiritual wellness path, we welcome women of all backgrounds.

(We have payment plans & scholarships available)

Learn More and Join Us!

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Here is a glimpse into our upcoming 6-month journey, will you join us??

Nissan: Sweetening the Bitterness (Hamtakah) & Circle Consciousness

• Plants of the Month: Motherwort & Yarrow Bonus Plant: Cacao

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​Iyar: Healing through Plants & Sefirot: the Energies of the Tree of Life

• Plants of the Month: Linden & Turmeric

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​Sivan: Receiving through the Sovereign Feminine

• Plants of the Month: Lavender & Reishi

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​Tammuz: Clarifying Our Vision through Embracing Pain

• Plants of the Month: Mullein & Agrimony

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​Av: Alchemy & Transmutation — The Fire of the Heart (Grief & Love as Sisters)

• Plants of the Month: Spikenard & Sage

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​Elul: Forgiveness & Returning to the Wisdom Within

• Plants of the Month: Rose & Tulsi

Join the upcoming 6-months

What Women Are Saying About Moon Medicine

“The Moon Medicine Circle has been a place of sisterhood, community, deep ancestral connection, and a container for aligning with the wisdom of both the Moon and the Hebrew calendar. Each month provided multiple opportunities for gathering, sharing, receiving teachings, and engaging in personal work connected to the emotional patterns of the month. Jenna and Mitten have woven such an incredible community where I can show up fully in my Jewishness, womanness, mysticness, and humanness. I am so grateful for this medicine and look forward to many more moons with my new sisters.”​
—Tessa Hansman

“I’m gaining attunement to the ebbs and flows of the tides of the rainbow of emotions the Moon offers. I love you guys. I love the medicine of the moon. I love learning about Jewish mysticism I love Awakening to the divine feminine of my ancestry.”

- Jennifer Cook

“I loved the moon medicine session for Sukkot!! It was so good! This wisdom is so powerful and feminine…I’ve never seen anything like it. Jenna and Mitten have created something so incredibly special and sweet!!”

- Ami Gordon

What This Journey Includes

Each lunar cycle we gather virtually to learn, embody, and reflect together. Each month includes:

• New Moon Ceremony (90 minutes) with Mitten & Jenna
• Teachings on the Hebrew month and Kabbalistic wisdom
• Somatic experiences with herbs and feminine wellness
• Full Moon Healing Circle (90 minutes)
• Community sharing and reflection
• Monthly home practices including meditations, recipes, and embodiment practices
• Seasonal ceremonies and gatherings
• Discounted 1:1 sessions with Mitten or Jenna

For New Moon of Nissan Wisdom & Practice bundle, https://www.awethenticroots.com/nissanbundle

Boulder Locals: Rosh Chodesh Nissan + Spring Equinox Ceremony

We are opening our circle to include more women (thanks to the amazing weather) on Sunday, March 22, 10-1pm

Together we’ll prepare for the Spring cleanse of Passover with a cacao & motherwort ceremony, invite in our matriarch Miriam, and embody the sacred circle she brought into the world.

​Register here!

Feel free to share this invitation with any sister who may feel called to this work.

Jenna Zadaka, Spirituality & Somatics at AwethenticRoots

Tambourines, with their circular shape, mirror the wheel of the year and celebrate the cycles of life—the circles that hold us and support us. These include the seasons, the phases of the moon, the teachers and mentors that surround us, the divine space that surrounds us each moment.

The tambourine is the instrument that Miriam the Prophetess carried with her from slavery into freedom. According to tradition, she led the women in song and dance after the crossing of the sea. In doing so, she ushered in an early expression of what we might call circle consciousness. While the men celebrated in lines of hierarchy, Miriam gathered the women into a circle. This formation imprinted something deep within the hearts and psyches of generations of women to come. In a circle, no one stands above or below another. Everyone can see each other’s faces, hearts vulnerable and pressing forward. Perhaps for the first time, we felt that within a circle, we could be more free.

In the words of Sarah Yehudit Shenider, describing Miriam’s Circle Dance:

“Just as a circle has no beginning or end and every point is equidistant from its center, so is this true for souls. Truly, it is impossible to rank them, for each is the most beloved in the scale of values that is its perfected virtue.

Each creature will eventually attain its full potential and shine with the unique revelation of Divine beauty that only it can manifest. The spiritual bliss of the world to come is the intensely abiding joy of finally becoming who you are. When that happens the distorting veneer of hierarchy will melt away and, behold, we will find ourselves standing in a circle with HaShem (G-d) at its center, and we will dance together in holy celebration.

In the circle world, it will be gloriously clear that every soul is equally precious and singularly beautiful in a way that cannot be ranked. Similarly, it will not anymore be possible to look to one’s neighbors for guidance in serving G‑d, for each person has a unique soul-specialty, and in that area they are the world’s foremost expert. There is nowhere to look for instruction except straight from HaShem (G-d), who metaphorically sits at the circle’s center, equidistant from all its holy points….”

The Song of Miriam can also be understood through the Hebrew letter Hei (ה)—the letter associated with this upcoming Spring month of Nissan. Hei carries the simple sound of the breath’s exhalation. In teachings of the Oral Torah, the world itself is said to have been created through this letter. In other words, through a cosmic exhale, life force flowed into existence and began its pulsation of life.

Hei is a mystical letter that continues to symbolize renewal and vitality. Visually, the letter contains small openings—one near the top and one at the bottom. Like a window allowing a fresh breeze, the spaciousness of this letter resembles pathways through which divine energy flows: both from above and from below.

In the month of Nissan, the Israelites received the very first mitzvah (divine commandment) : to track time through the lunations, following the rhythms of the moon: “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you (Exodus12:2)” This invitation became a direct pathway out of a slave mentality and into freedom. The Sforno, a physician and Italian commentator on the Torah, related how this commandment to begin marking time by the moon in Nissan was a direct pathway towards freedom:

“from now on these months will be yours, to do with as you like. [you have My authority to organize your own calendar. ] This is by way of contrast to the years when you were enslaved when you had no control over your time or timetable at all. [Freedom, i.e. means being able to formulate one’s own timetable. Ed.] While you were enslaved, your days, hours, minutes even, were always at the beck and call of your taskmasters. Therefore, this is the first of the months of the year, since this begins your time of freedom.”

Before this moment, the culture of ancient Egypt worshipped the Sun God. The solar worship symbolized sameness-you are who you are, never changing. The sun rises each day with powerful consistency—steady, unchanging, predictable. This solar worship reinforced hierarchical positions and rigid social structures. If you are a slave- so be it, there is nothing more for you.

The moon tells a different story, offering the Israelites a vision of evolution.The moon waxes and wanes. It reminds us that change is continuous and new realities are indeed possible! In the words of the Slonimer Rebbe:

“One could say that the idea of Israel counting [its months] according to the moon is that the moon has time when it is at the peak of its darkness and you don’t even see a glimmer of light, but even at that peak of darkness you know that it will start to give light again and even return to its fullness.”

How did the Israelites actually become free after slavery had sunken so deeply into their bones? We know from studying the history of trauma that freedom requires more than a physical escape. Through the rhythms of the moon, the Israelites learned to alchemize their suffering and pain. The secret of the moon and the cyclical rhythm of the Hebrew calendar allowed them to birth a new nation, instead of getting stuck and stagnant in their trauma.

Ultimately- a healthy balance of both the masculine solar and feminine lunar paradigms is necessary to create a whole society. Our inner beings also require both steadiness and fluctuation. So, the Hebrew Calendar was carefully designed to follow the moon, but incorporate the solar, as well. It is a lunisolar calendar that incorporates both.

In this way, the lunar calendar became more than a way of tracking time—it became part of Judaism’s subtle healing art- our blueprint towards Inner Sovereignty. .

And one more piece of the puzzle: side-bends. Side-bends open the ribs and lungs, creating new pathways for breath to move through the body. When we bend and breathe in new directions, we quite literally create space for renewal.

Which is why I created a Nissan Freedom Bundle for you to practice with. This includes:

1. Mandala Yoga Flow for Passover & Month of Nissan (40-min)

2. Hineni Meditation: Passover & Nissan Practice (20-min)

3. Visual & Breath Meditation for Renewal: Hebrew Letter Hei (10 min)

Please do let me know how these practices go for you- what softened, opened, or transformed. I would love to hear your insights from practice, feedback, or requests for future videos!

With love,

Jenna Zadaka, Spirituality & Somatics at AwethenticRoots

(Ps: does anyone know how to change the button colors from this awful red?? let me know!)

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Finally on my way to yes I bump into

all the places

where I said no

to my life

all the untended wounds

the red and purple scars

those hieroglyphs of pain carved into my skin, my bones,

those coded messages

that send me down

the wrong street

again and again

where I find them

the old wounds

the old misdirections

and I lift them

one by one

close to my heart

and I say holy

Holy.

Every year, the Mystics viewed the 7-week period between Passover (the spring holiday of Freedom) and Shavuot (the summer holiday of Receiving Wisdom & Abundance) as an opportunity for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. Known as the Counting of the Omer, while originally rooted in agricultural practice, this 7-week passage later became imbued with spiritual ritual by the Kabbalists. Today, it is a widespread Jewish practice during this time to focus on awakening our inner Tree of Life, discovering healing and balance within. We count seven cycles of seven — the symbolic number of wholeness. Each week we are guided by one of the seven emotional and embodied Sefirot (Divine energies).

“Teach us to count our days, that we may cultivate a heart of wisdom” Psalm 90:12

What are the Kabbalistic Sefirot?

From the word “Sapir”-(סַפִּיר) — a shining gemstone

They are Divine attributes that bring radiance and aliveness. When balanced within the Tree of Life system, they allow us to find alignment through our center column and open up channels of free-flowing energy. I have personally witnessed hundreds of people, from all backgrounds, rediscover their Divine nature through the Sefirot, refine their relationships, and uncover new pathways to live more authentically.

I am also baffled that the wellness world has so fully embraced the Chakra system, while the wisdom of the Sefirot remains shrouded in mystery and is rarely woven into yoga, meditation, and other wellness modalities.

This is why I created Radiant Body: Embodied Kabbalah — birthed from a deep desire to share the juicy, radiant, life-giving energies of the Sefirot.

Each cohort brings together an array of wellness practitioners, therapists, spiritual seekers, and leaders in the feminine wellness world who come to integrate this unique form of Kabbalistic healing into their practices.

Join our 5th virtual cohort of the Radiant Body: Embodied Kabbalah Course.

Together, we study, embody, and sit with one Sefirah each week over the course of eight weeks, widening our vessels to receive Shefa — divine abundance and wisdom.

My intention is to make the transformative wisdom of the Sefirot accessible to anyone who feels the stir in their heart. After years of studying Kabbalistic spirituality, movement practices, mindfulness, somatics, and trauma healing, I birthed this course from a community desire to experience Kabbalah from a feminine, embodied, earth-based approach.

I warmly welcome you to join us.
​All genders and backgrounds are welcome.

“Jenna’s Radiant Body Embodied Kabbalah course is a profound gateway into the Sefirot of the Tree of Life. Rich in content and thoughtfully resourced, it offers the opportunity to delve into both academic study and embodied spiritual exploration - exactly what I was seeking. The course invited a deep emotional and spiritual relationship with the Sefirot, encouraging reflection through journaling, discussion, and personal inquiry. Jenna held each session with extraordinary love, gentleness, and reverence. As a 34 year old mother living in Australia, these weekly sessions became the highlight of my week. I truly believe this course is the kind of spiritual medicine my generation of Jewish women needs, a powerful window into how ancient Jewish wisdom can guide and heal us in today’s world.”

-Liron Seeman,

This course includes:

1 1- live 90-minute zoom session per week

2 A printable guide for each of the 7 Sefirot, with mystic wisdom, embodiment practices , home practice, and reflection

3 Pre-recorded Sefirotic embodiment practices, meditations, visualizations, and yoga flows

4 An optional 1:1 session with the course instructor

5 Community-platform for sharing and networking

6 Ongoing support, accountability, and access to the instructor between sessions

​Learn more and register here.

VIRTUAL Wednesdays · Live on Zoom · Replays & Practices available On-Demand

• 10am-12pm (MST)

• 12:00–2:00pm (EST)

• 11:00am–1:00pm (CST)

• 9:00–11:00am (PST)

• 7:00–9:00pm Israel (IST)

Weekly Themes

• Week 1 · March 25— Tree of Life Healing & Introduction to Counting the Omer​
  Week 2 · April 1 — Chesed: Vital Energetics & Expansion​
  Week 3 · April 8— Gevurah: Cultivating Your Power​
  Week 4 · April 15 — Tiferet: Heart-Healing​
  Week 5 · April 22— Netzach: Masculine Flow (Confidence & Purposeful Action)​
  Week 6 · April 29— Hod: Feminine Flow (Sacred Witnessing) -Pre-recorded Session ​
  Week 7 · May 6— Yesod: Bedrock (Bonding & Intimacy)​
  Week 8 · May 13 — Malchut: Sovereignty

Feel free to forward this to anyone who may be interested! Thank you for continuing to support this work in the world.

May our steps be a blessing,

​Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at AwethenticRoots

As we approach the full moon of Adar, I find myself rejoicing in the very name of this month.

Adar can be broken into two parts: Aleph + Dar.

Aleph is the Hebrew letter of oneness, lifeforce. It represents the unity of the soul.

Dar means a dwelling place — the vessels of our hearts and bodies.

When we bring these two together, Adar becomes a living teaching: The experience of oneness filling and animating the body. Perhaps this is the joy that we experience in Adar: It is the light of our soul felt, received, and expressed through our embodied being.

In our Moon Medicine virtual group (see below for new cohort signup!) we practiced this through breath.

On the inhale, we drew in the Aleph — filling ourselves with Divine light, oneness, lifeforce. We paused at the top of the inhale to feel the soul animating the body — a full-moon sensation of aliveness, like light spilling over.

On the exhale, we released the Aleph and let go completely — emptying our vessels, surrendering into the unknown, offering it all back to our Creator.

This Adar breath allows the soul to spill into every corner of the body — through fingertips and toes — spreading the Aleph through the vessel like light filling the moon or water filling a cup. This is our true sovereignty: feeling Divine oneness within our own body. This is the sensation of sitting in our own Queendom.

As I prepare my costume and dance to my Purim-Queendom Playlist for this wild full-moon holiday, I keep returning to a line from the Megillah (the scroll we read capturing the heroic story of Queen Esther in ancient Persia):

“She robed herself with garments of Malchut מַלְכוּת (Queenship).”

On the surface, she dressed as a queen. And we have all felt the subtle magic of putting on something beautiful — how it can elevate our confidence and awaken courage. Clothing is not only a mood-lifter; it can be a channel to shine our inner light and uniqueness. The Kohen HaGadol (High Priest) wore a radiant breastplate over his heart, set with twelve gemstones representing the twelve tribes — each stone a living remembrance of collective soul. Joseph’s coat of many colors — originally described in mystical tradition as the Garments of the Balancing Force — was said to be a luminous rainbow robe, engraved with Divine names, animal forms, and sacred symbols and invocations, carrying even the fragrance of Gan Eden.

Clothing, in this sense, is not superficial. It has the potential to spiritually elevate us — to help us embody the energy we are choosing to inhabit.

But Queen Esther did not merely dress up.

Enclothing herself in Malchut means she wrapped herself in the spiritual qualities of Queenship.

As it is written (Esther 5:1): “And it came to pass on the third day that Esther dressed herself in royalty (מַלְכוּת, Malchut).” Shouldn’t it say ‘garments of royalty’? Rather, she dressed herself in the Holy Spirit.” (Megillah 14b:9-10)

What is Malchut?

In Kabbalah, Malchut is the feminine Sefirah (Divine Energy) on the Tree of Life — also known as Shekhinah, the indwelling Divine Presence. She is the culmination of ALL the light and energy poured into her; like an enchanted garden, or a field of presence that receives from all directions. To robe ourselves in Malchut is to invite the spirit of the Shekhinah to wrap around us. To become an ambassador of the Divine.

The Zohar affirms this: “The Holy Spirit is the Shechinah and is a name that was clothed with Esther” (Zohar, Ki Teitzei 1)

Malchut is our fully integrated, Widest Self. She is the inner queen who gets to dance this Purim with all of our parts — a colorful, sovereign expression of everything we are. In the words of Rabbi Tirzah Firestone,

“It is Malchut that quickens the hearts and bodies of new lovers and fuels a womans urge to conceive. It fuels our pulses, our appetites, and our physical desires. .. Malchut is our connection and pull to life on earth”

The embodiment of Malchut is the capacity to meet our wild, authentic fullness. To receive with grace. To give without depletion because we are rooted in a continuous source of nourishment and wisdom. To be in our throne of Malchut, we are one with our purpose. In the words of Rabbi Irwin Keller, “When we lose ourselves in beauty or in purpose, it is Malchut asserting itself.” Queen Esther reminds us that we are not powerless- we are robed in a god-soaked cloak, full of the light of Shekhina.

In our Radiant Body: Embodied Kabbalah course, we explore all seven emotional and embodied Sefirot on the Tree of Life through a somatic, feminine lens. The journey culminates in Malchut- expanding our vessel to hold greater abundance and overflow (see below offerings for details!)

May this full moon of Adar invite you to feel the Aleph alive in your vessel — and may you robe yourself in your own radiant Malchut.

Upcoming Offerings

Join me for our fifth virtual cohort of Radiant Body: Embodied Kabbalah Course!

This cohort is especially potent because we will be moving through the Tree of Life during the Counting of the Omer — a sacred window in the Hebrew calendar when we refine the seven emotional and embodied Sefirot as a collective. Each week we focus on one Sefirah, widening our vessels to receive shefa — Divine abundance and wisdom — on Shavuot.

Whether you are new to Kabbalah or have been studying for years and are longing for a more embodied, feminine approach to this healing paradigm, this course is for you. I have witnessed hundreds of women activate their power, come into balance, and experience profound healing through these practices.

All genders and backgrounds are welcome.

This course includes:

• One live 90-minute Zoom session per week

• A printable guide for each of the seven Sefirot with embodiment practices, reflections, and teachings
  Pre-recorded Sefirotic embodiment practices, meditations, visualizations, and yoga flows

• An optional 1:1 session with the instructor

• A community platform for sharing and connection

• Ongoing support and access to me between sessions

We begin in 1-month (March 25th!)!

VIRTUAL Wednesdays · Live on Zoom · Replays & Practices available On-Demand

• 10am-12pm (MST)

• 12:00–2:00pm (EST)

• 11:00am–1:00pm (CST)

• 9:00–11:00am (PST)

• 7:00–9:00pm Israel (IST)

Learn More Here!

🌑🌸 Rosh Chodesh Nissan + Spring Equinox Ceremony- March 22!!! (Boulder, Colorado)

What’s Included:

🌿 Ancestral Mandala Yoga Flow & Kabbalistic Meditation

🌺 Motherwort & Cacao Medicine Ceremony

🎶 Singing Circle with @⁨Kylie Rosewell⁩ of Boulder Song Weavers

🤍 Communal Potluck

This happens to be my favorite month — the lunar start to the Hebrew year… and my birthday month ☺️ — so we would truly love to welcome you.

“The buds appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the dove is heard in our land.”

— Song of Songs 2:12

Together we’ll prepare for the Spring cleanse of Passover with a cacao & motherwort ceremony, invite in our matriarch Miriam, and embody the sacred circle she brought into the world.

Register here

Seasons to Wholeness: Moon Medicine — New Cohort Begins March 20th

After six months of attuning to the moons with our virtual cohort, Mitten Lowe and I have witnessed the steadiness, support, and anchoring that Seasons to Wholeness: Moon Medicine offers women as we journey through life.

We are beginning a new six-month cohort on Rosh Chodesh Nissan — weaving together Kabbalistic mysticism and earth-based women’s wisdom.

This is an intimate, embodied journey through six mystical Hebrew months, and such beautiful souls are already weaving their way into the container.

Hear from one of our current participants, Jenny Cook:

​
​“In Moon Medicine, I’m gaining attunement to the ebbs and flows of the tides of the rainbow of emotions the Moon offers. I love you guys.I love the medicine of the moon. I love learning about Jewish mysticism I love Awakening to the divine feminine of my ancestry.”

Learn More & Join the Magic!

Please pass the joy by forwarding this email to anyone who may benefit from these offerings! It truly helps to spread the word!

Here are some more Adar practices to deepen this month:

• ​Adar Teaching & Meditation for Purim with Institute of Jewish Spirituality

• Teaching & Yoga Flow: Pause for Joy​

• ​Finding Our Purpose: Finding Joy : Adar Podcast ​

• ​Pre-Purim Meditation with Shevet Use Password: yamindfulness44

• ​Kabbalistic Meditation for Keter (Crown of Desire)​

• ​Full Moon of Adar Meditation​

• ​Adar Bet New Moon Meditation​

• ​New: Inner Smile Meditation​

Not by me,but I’m also listening to:

• ​Practice You Podcast on Joy with Elana Brower​

• ​Joy is a Human Birthright: Audio Podcasts by On Being​

With love and joy,
Jenna Zadaka, Spirituality & Somatics: Embodied Kabbalah at Awethentic Roots

I was once on the way to teach a New Moon Adar Yoga class in Jerusalem when I ran into a cherished wisdom teacher, Yisca Smith.

I told her I wasn’t feeling joyous or particularly shiny that day. How am I supposed to teach a yoga workshop for Adar, this ecstatic moon of joy & exuberance, when I’m feeling introverted, quiet, entangled in my own complex emotions…? After all, it says in the Talmud, “When Adar comes in, increase in joy”. Ugh.. not an emotion that I lean into easily.

She offered me a linguistic teaching from Rav Kook- an insight that I return to every season of Adar when I resist moving into this party-filled, extroverted month.

There are different Hebrew words for joy , one being simcha- an externalized joy, like when you walk into a party or an uplifting place that naturally lifts your vibes, or when you surround yourself with high-frequency people that you love, dancing and telling jokes. It is a transcendent joy that encompasses us. This type of joy comes from the outside->in ( in Kabbalah, known as Ohr Makif- the Surrounding Light)

There is another Hebrew word for joy - osher- that speaks to a quiet joy of Inner Serenity. The still waters of this type of joy is personal, yet enduring. It is YOURS- a wide inner space that feels like the freedom of an expansive blue sky. Osher is a joy that I am more familiar with- it is a feeling of being congruent with your inner emotions, deeply knowing yourself, and tenderly witnessing whatever is arising within.

This is the type of joy I am welcoming in this Adar through giving myself a steady container of presence and self-love: it is the joy of feeling the rhythm of my heartbeat, of appreciating each rejuvenative breath and how it caresses me internally, of trusting the earth that is holding me.

When I can be present with my heart’s emotional whispers, I am gifting myself a joyful moment.

When I go slow, receiving my body as is, I dip into my joyful sanctuary.

When I offer myself the attunement and compassionate countenance that I so desire from others, I allow a joyous encounter.

As Rabbi Alan Lew so gracefully reassures,

“. . .when we speak of joy here, we are not speaking of fun. Joy is a deep release of the soul, and it includes death and pain. Joy is any feeling fully felt, any experience we give our whole being to. We are conditioned to choose pleasure and to reject pain, but the truth is, any moment of our life fully inhabited, any feeling fully felt, and any immersion in the full depth of life, can be the source of deep joy.”

Sometimes we simply need to remind ourselves: “This is a joyous moment”- This breath. This pulse. This movement. This moment.

As a free offering for this new moon, I’ve recorded an Inner Smile Meditation for you- an inner gesture of kindness and self-love to unearth the natural joy that is possible this month. Feel free to let me know how it goes - I’d love to hear from you!

Chodesh Tov-may we allow in smiling, luminous energy!

Inner Smile Meditation Here​

(Feel free to practice in the bath, on your yoga mat, on a walk, lying in your bed, or seated in meditation!)

In this meditation, there is no posture to take, no gesture to hold, no performance or masks. You’ll simply be held by your own great loving spirit.

Save for Later & Practice

Some more free Adar Practices for you

• ​New: Inner Smile Meditation​

• ​Adar Teaching & Meditation for Purim with Institute of Jewish Spirituality

• Teaching & Yoga Flow: Pause for Joy​

• ​Finding Our Purpose: Finding Joy : Adar Podcast ​

• ​Pre-Purim Meditation with Shevet Use Password: yamindfulness44

• ​Kabbalistic Meditation for Keter (Crown of Desire)​

• ​Full Moon of Adar Meditation​

• ​Adar Bet New Moon Meditation

• Purim-Adar Queendom Playlist

Not by me, but I’m also listening to:

• ​Practice You Podcast on Joy with Elana Brower​

• ​Joy is a Human Birthright: Audio Podcasts by On Being

Some other ways that I’m inviting in Adar energy (sharing with you all to be held accountable!)

• Adding flower petals and salts to my bath

• Writing with a pink glitter pen

• Buying a month’s worth of face gems (my favorite ones are here!)

• Nasal-breathing

• Signing up for a local dance & writing group (ask me about this if you are local and want to join)

• Refreshing my altar at home

• Baking my favorite hamantaschen (reply here and I’ll send you the recipe)

• Only saying yes to things that are a full-body YES

• Clearing space in my schedule for more inner space (and practicing the Inner Smile Meditation daily!)

What are yours? I’d love to hear from you!

(Tu B’Shvat begins at sundown this Sunday and continues through Monday )

The obvious question is , why are we celebrating Tu B’Shvat now, when everything is still frozen, instead of in the Spring when the buds and fruits are revealing themselves? Jewish Mysticism teaches that Tu B’Shvat celebrates the potential of potential. It invites us to gaze at a tree in the heart of winter and affirm: I already celebrate your fruits. I already see your gifts — even before they appear.

It asks us to offer ourselves that same belief.

Have you ever been seen like that? In a lowly place… an inner winter… and someone looks at you with eyes of trust and says: I’m already celebrating your breakthroughs. I already see your light. I’m already tasting your fruits.

There is something profoundly miraculous about being seen this way. This is how the Divine sees us — which is why we celebrate Tu B’Shvat now, when the trees appear bare… and not later, when the gardens are already in bloom.

While deeply earth-based and tree-loving, kabbalistically this day also honors the One Tree — the Tree of Life — the cosmic life force flowing through all of existence.

Historically, the fifteenth of Shevat served as an agricultural marker—a date for tithing the fruits of newly planted trees. In the mystical city of Tsfat during the era of the Kabbalists, Tu B’Shvat was elevated into a holiday celebrated through a mystical seder, a ritualistic meal with four cups of wine or juice and abundant fruits.

The four cups correspond to: • the four spiritual worlds • the four elements • the four seasons • the four matriarchs • the four parts of a tree, and more..

Each sip invites us higher — and deeper — into the rejuvenation that is happening in the unseen realms.

These mystics envisioned the Divine as a living Tree, with light flowing like sap through its branches. They believed that through mindful tasting, blessing, and ritual—one could release the hidden sparks of Divine light back into the world.

Up until very recently- the Tu B’Shvat Seder was hidden and only known to elite, select Kabbalists. I feel so fortunate that we now get to partake in the spiritual fruits of the Seder. To prep us for this day of intentional tasting, here’s an ancient Tu B’Shvat prayer from the Pri Etz Hadar:

Avi, Adoni, Dodi”- My Father, My G-d, My Beloved:

Let it be that our eating of these fruits and the blessings recited over them, and our talk about their spiritual roots...may it draw down bounty and blessing upon them, and upon the whole chain of angelic unfolding that sustains them. They should flourish from the beginning of the year unto its end, both they, and us, for blessing, for good life, for health and for peace.

Join me for upcoming Tu B’Shvat offerings & Beyond!

Tu B’Shvat Ceremonies🌱✨

Mitten Lowe and I are so excited to host both a virtual and an in-person Kabbalistic Feminine Tu B’Shvat Seder on the full moon.

FREE Virtual Feminine, Kabbalistic Tu B’Shvat Seder:

Monday, Feb. 2, 10.30am-12 MST

Register here for free! Recordings Available.

Register here for free!

FULL- Join waitlist! In-Person Tu B’Shvat Seder (Boulder)

Sunday Feb. 1, 5.30pm-8.30pm

Get on waitlist here.

Free Tree Flow for TuB’Shvat (Boulder)

This Saturday, January 31| 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

This weekend, I continue my series of Sacred Time Yoga & Meditation at Nevei Kodesh, weaving together embodied postures and Torah teachings to absorb the wisdom of the Hebrew months. This weekend we will have a creative Tree Flow to prepare for Tu B’Shvat-the birthday party for the Trees—and an invitation to journey through your inner tree.

Please bring a yoga mat and wear comfortable clothes for movement.

Sign up here!

(Free Online!) Livnot TuB’Shvat Seder Live from Tsfat- this Sunday!
​I’m excited to be one of the facilitators at Tu B’Shvat Olami 2026 | Global Digital Festival

Join Livnot U’Lehibanot for a global Tu B’Shvat digital festival, featuring leading partner organizations and educators from Israel and the United States, alongside inspiring voices, music, meditations, and ritual.

This is an invitation to connect to your Jewish roots through ancient Kabbalistic wisdom, meaningful Jewish learning, and a live-streamed Tu B’Shvat Seder from Tzfat, all woven into a rich, day-long festival experience!

Sunday, February 1, 2026

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET (drop in anytime)

Online | Free

Register for free!

New Moon in Adar: Queen’s Tea & Dance Ceremony (Boulder)

Dancing with Play • Shadow • Magic • Sovereignty

Our ceremony will be on the first floor near the fountain- expect 4 Cups of Queen Tea as Feminine training, Ceremony of Lightness & Joy as resilience & Dancing. Come dressed in your unique Queen attire!

Sunday, Feb 15th at 5-7.30pm at the Rembrandt Yard, Spruce Street.

Poem by Rav Kook

Just as we move through the four spiritual worlds in our Tu B’Shvat Seder, Rav Kook offers this beautiful Fourfold Song—a vision of healing that begins within and ripples outward.

This poem has been speaking to me so deeply, especially amid the grief, fear, and unrest unfolding in Minnesota, my hometown. In times like these, spiritual teachings remind me that inner repair and collective care are inseparable. I see my mother cooking food for families, walking little kids to the bus stop in the freezing weather while their parents hide at home in fear, and I am reminded of the Jewish Value of loving every fellow as yourself.

If you feel called to offer tangible support to South Minneapolis Families, this venmo link gives to a trusted, grassroots organization providing food and hygiene supplies to families impacted by ICE. Your care truly reaches those in need.

Venmo Donate Link Here

“There is one who sings the Song of Self. And within one’s self, finds everything; the full of one’s spiritual satisfaction within one’s own fullness.

And there is one who sings the Song of Nation. He steps out from the circle of his private concern, which he doesn’t find sufficiently broad, nor idealistically grounding. He strives for fierce heights yet attaches himself with gentle love to the ensemble of Knesset Yisrael – the Jewish people, and with her sings her songs, shares in her distresses, delights in her hopes. Engrossed is he with thoughts elevated and pure regarding her past and future; with love and wise-heart, he studies her inner spiritual essence.

​And there is one who broadens further her sense of self, until it extends and expands beyond the boundary of Israel, to sing the Song of Humanity. Her spirit advances and encompasses the majesty of humanity, the splendorous dignity of its divine image. She is drawn to common destiny and yearns for humanity’s sublime self-actualization. From this life source she draws the principles of her ruminations and investigations, her ambitions and dreams.

​And there is one who still more expansively rises higher until one unifies one’s self with all existence, with all creatures, and with all worlds. With all of them, one sings. This one engages one’s self with Perek Shira – the daily Song of World-Creation, to whom it is forepromised that one will be worthy of the World-Yet-to-Come.

​And then there is one who arises with all these songs together in concert, all parts contributing their voices, all together harmonizing their melodies. One with another creating polyphonic vitality and life: They are the sounds of joy and jubilation, the sounds of rejoicing and exultation, the sounds of ecstasy and holiness.

​The Song of Self, the Song of Nation, the Song of Humanity, the Song of World-Creation – they all symphonize together within this person at every moment and at all times.

​And this perfection in its plenitude ascends to become the song of holiness, the song of El (God), the song of Israel, with passionate intensity and beauty, with fierce integrity and grandeur. Yisrael shir El – Israel [means] the song of God. It is a simple song, a twofold song, a threefold song, a fourfold song. It is the Song of Songs of Solomon, Shir haShirim asher liShlomo, [the song] of the King in whom is the peace of wholeness.”

May we sip, taste, and receive abundance at the Tu B'Shvat Seder! Happy Full Moon this weekend!

Jenna Zadaka, Somatics & Spirituality at Awethentic Roots

Beloved community,

I am writing to you in a time of horror, and shock. We have been grieving the mass shooting in Sydney ,where 12 Jews were murdered and many more injured—some critically, including small children—simply for showing up to light the menorah.

We are left asking:
What is this moment asking of us?
​ How do we enter Hanukkah amidst such terror and heartbreak?

As the Jewish people have done for thousands of years, we respond by bringing our light.

We have eight full nights of resilience before us. Each act of lighting the menorah becomes a form of spiritual defiance—an embodied resistance to hate, fear, and erasure.

The Kabbalists teach that the light of the menorah is the אור הגנוז (Ohr HaGanuz)—the hidden, primordial light of creation. The Bnei Yissaschar (1783–1841), a Hasidic master and Kabbalist, wrote:

“Through this light, a person can gaze from one end of the universe to the other. It is therefore called the Chanukah candle.”

The Hanukkah candles offer us expanded vision—the ability to perceive reality from a higher, deeper vantage point. During Hanukkah, we are given unique access to this hidden light and invited into contact with the original love of creation itself.

The Hebrew word Hanukkah is rooted in chinuch—education. In this moment of darkness and terror, we are being called into both an opportunity and a responsibility: to educate the world through our clear response, to demonstrate that love, light, and hope will continue to expand.

Hanukkah also means rededication.

Thousands of years ago, when the Temple in Jerusalem was desecrated, the Maccabees chose to look, search, and trust—believing there must still be a cruse of pure oil hidden somewhere. That trust was the first miracle: the willingness to seek goodness even amid defilement.

Today, each of us carries a piece of the Temple—in our bodies, our homes, our hearts. And so we rededicate the light again and again.

Each night of Hanukkah, we might ask:
​What am I rededicating my light to? What is the light I am choosing to bring into the world?

May each candle be lit in honor of the holy souls taken from us.
May there be refuah shleimah—complete healing—for all who are still recovering.
May their memories be a blessing.

“The soul is delighted by the lighting of candles, expanding from the pleasure derived from the light.” — Rabbeinu Bachya

Free Resources for the New Moon of Tevet

As we crawl towards the new moon of Tevet, I reflect on this wisdom of the radiant Night- of meeting the slow, resting darkness where our greatest insights emerge from. Here are some free teachings & embodied practices for you. Reach out with any insights or questions!

1. ​Tevet Teaching & Audio Meditation (Substack)​

2. ​Live Tevet Meditation with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality​

3. ​Hanukkah Teaching & Winter Solstice Candle Meditation (IG Replay)

Upcoming Events & Offerings

I’d love to welcome you into these intentional containers to bring meaning, purpose, and spirituality into our lives. Feel free to share with any friends or family that would be interested in joining!

✨ Winter Solstice Hanukkah Evening (In Person)

Join us for a Winter Solstice Hanukkah Gathering at the Rembrandt Yard, celebrating the unique light each of us brings into the world.

You can expect:

• A gentle, warming yoga flow with live music by the Boulder Philharmonic

• An extended guided meditation honoring the seasonal turning

• Ceremonial candle lighting

• A strong, nourishing community container to set your winter intentions and anchor your prayers

✨ Only a few spots remain.
👉 Join the magic here.

🌑 New Moon Ceremony for Tevet (Virtual)

Join us for a special Rosh Chodesh Tevet gathering, held in the glow of the Hanukkah menorah. In this Moon Medicine session, you can expect:

• A gentle grounding into the spiritual energies of Tevet and the seasonal wisdom of winter

• A 45-minute nourishing yoga flow, supporting inward listening, steadiness, and winter restoration

• A visual candle meditation, connected to the Hebrew letter of Tevet, Ayin — the gateway of our inner vision

✨ This gathering is for Moon Medicine participants.
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to join, this is a beautiful threshold.

👉 Join Moon Medicine

Virtual Moon Circle with Jewish Applied Spirituality

Join us through three moons in a deep and intimate women’s circle that intermingles the rhythms of the Kabbalistic seasons with the wisdom of the feminine. Through ritual, prayer, embodied practice, Kabbalah teachings, and authentic sharing, we will journey together through the sacred Hebrew Calendar to uncover healing and wholeness.

Register here.

Tu B’Shvat: Cultivating Abundance

A Feminine, Kabbalistic Seder in the Heart of Winter (In-Person & Virtual Options)

Join us for a feminine, Kabbalistic TuB’Shvat Seder to call in juicy, yummy abundance in the heart of winter! We’ll move through the 4 Spiritual Worlds together through delicious fruits & treats, embodied practice, mystic teachings, niggunim, and authentic sharing.

Tu B’Shvat celebrates the rising of the Sap, the sweet nectar of life, that ascends up the trees for rejuvenation. 🌳

🌳 In-Person Seder: Sunday, Feb 1 • 5:30–8 PM • Private home in Boulder

Register here

🌿 Virtual Seder: Free online ceremony for women-identifying folks (18+)

Join the Zoom ceremony »

Recordings available!

Please share these offerings with anyone who may benefit to spread the light!

With gratitude,

Jenna Zadaka, Awethenticroots.com

From the high holidays of Tishrei, we descended—like a great waterfall—into the quiet, restorative month of Cheshvan, to integrate and restore after the peak of spiritual heights and extroverted celebrations.

Thank the Divine for Cheshvan and its gentle holding—a basket month of rest and repair.

Now in Kislev, we descend even deeper into the subconscious–a time to melt our awareness beneath the surface. The root of Kislev is Kesel, trust- because it takes tremendous trust to enter the darker, quieter months to listen into the dreamworld. In moments of darkness or despair, it is trust that leads our hearts forward, like a flame guiding us through the night.

Rosh Chodesh Kislev invites the questions:

Where in my body do I hold a feeling of trust?

Where in my life could I trust more deeply?

Each Hebrew month is guided by a chush, a spiritual sense that leads us toward our divine wholeness. The chush of Kislev is sleep (Sefer Yetzirah 5:9) and—more deeply—dreaming. We begin to ask: What seeds of healing or miracles are dreaming through me? What hidden messages can I meet in the fertile terrain of sleep and the subconscious?

It takes deep trust to fall asleep—to relinquish control, set aside our to-do lists, and let go of our gripping. Kabbalah explains that each evening when we sleep, a part of our Soul returns to Source. On a spiritual level, when we hit the pillow, we trust that our Soul will return to us by morning. The morning prayer “Modeh Ani” thanks the Divine for this great return—it’s not a given that our Soul will once again reinvigorate our body.

Kislev can also be read as Kis-Lev, “pocket of the heart.” What dreams, yearnings, and inner desires stir in the deep vessel of your heart? In the dark quiet, when we close our eyes, we open the eye of the heart to sense what is moving beneath the surface.

As we descend further into the winter darkness toward the end of Kislev, we kindle the first candle of Hanukkah—ritualizing our trust in the return of light and hope. A flickering reminder that “first comes evening, then morning” (Genesis 1:5). After every season of darkness, a glimmer of light surely returns.

One of the names for the Divine is Laila—Night. Darkness itself is a deep teacher and healer—the moist, fertile realm of the feminine. It’s the darkness of the womb, of life-giving soil, of resting roots beneath the earth, of the lush, dense forest floor.

“I shut my eyes in order to see” Paul Gauguin

All of life, including insight, arises from darkness. Kislev invites us to meet it heart-on—with curiosity and trust. As we descend into this rich darkness, I’m honored to share some free Kislev resources and invite you into some warm and uplifting spaces to gather:

Free Resources for Kislev

Here are some practices and inspiration for this new moon. Reach out with any insights or questions!

1. ​Live Recording: Kislev Teaching & Meditation with Institute of Jewish Spirituality​

2. ​Video Podcast: Energy of the Month with Jenna Zadaka: Exploring the Spiritual Meaning of Kislev and Rosh Chodesh​

3. ​Hanukkah Circle Meditation for Trust for Ritual Well​

4. ​Rosh Chodesh Kislev Meditation with Institute of Jewish Spirituality

Upcoming Offerings

Join me for some upcoming opportunities to gather:

🌚 New Moon Medicine for Kislev: Dreaming in Miracles (Virtual)

Join Jenna Zadaka and Mitten Lowe to welcome the energies of Kislev through seasonal attunement, Kabbalistic teaching, herbal supports, and embodied practice within our deep Moon Medicine cohort. 6-month commitment from the time you begin. Recordings available.

Tomorrow, Thursday, Nov 20 • 6:30 PM MST

Register here

🕯Winter Solstice Hanukkah Gathering (In-Person)

Sunday, Dec 21st · 5-7.30pm· Rembrandt Yard (1301 Spruce Street, Boulder)

Candle Lighting Ceremony, Gentle Warming Yoga & Music-Guided Meditation with Jenna Zadaka, Mitten Lowe, and the Boulder Philharmonic. All genders and backgrounds are welcome!

Sign up here

​

🧘‍♀️ Free! Kindle Your Lights Yoga For Kislev (In-Person)

Saturday, Dec 13 · 10-11.30am at Nevei Kodesh, Boulder

We will weave together embodied postures and Torah teachings to absorb the wisdom and energy of Kislev through a warming yoga flow & sharing ritual.

Save the dates:

Saturday, January 10 - Divine Body - Yoga for Tevet

Saturday, May 30 - Receiving Wisdom - Yoga for Sivan

Saturday, June 20 - Discovering Wholeness - Yoga for Tammuz

Join us here

​

🌒 Moon Circle with Applied Jewish Spirituality (Virtual)

I’m excited to be the newest faculty member of Applied Jewish Spirituality- an organization I have deeply admired for many years. My first offering will be a Virtual Moon Circle for Women, beginning in the Hebrew Month of Tevet (end of December).

Three Moons: A Women’s Circle through Sacred Time

Join us through three moons in a deep and intimate women’s circle that intermingles the rhythms of the Kabbalistic seasons with the wisdom of the feminine. Through ritual, prayer, embodied practice, Kabbalah teachings, and authentic sharing, we will journey together through the sacred Hebrew Calendar to uncover healing and wholeness.

Our journey at a glance:

🌑 Tevet — Listening to the body and reclaiming feminine knowing

🌳 Shvat — Rooting in abundance through the Tree of Life

🌸 Adar — Awakening into joy, play, and renewal

To bless beneath the new moon in sisterhood is our birthright — a remembering of our cyclical, radiant nature. As taught in the lineage of the Arizal, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (1534–1572):

“As long as the feminine presence within each creature remains diminished, the entire organism lacks completion. Thus, the primal drive of the universe is to restore the feminine (and all her shattered piece

s) back to her place on high. There is no other way to fix the world except by inviting her back up and in.”

— The Diminished Moon, Etz Chaim

Join the journey here!

​

✨Tu B’Shvat: Cultivating Abundance (In-Person & Virtual Options)

Join us for a feminine, Kabbalistic TuB’Shvat Seder to call in juicy, yummy abundance in the heart of winter! We’ll move through the 4 Spiritual Worlds together through delicious fruits & treats, embodied practice, mystic teachings, niggunim, and authentic sharing.

Tu B’Shvat celebrates the rising of the Sap, the sweet nectar of life, that ascends up the trees for rejuvenation. 🌳

🌳 In-Person Seder: Sunday, Feb 1 • 5:30–8 PM • Private home in Boulder

Register here

🌿 Virtual Seder: Free online ceremony for women-identifying folks (18+). Recordings available.

Register Here

​

🌌 Save the Dates: Other Winter Ceremonies at Rembrandt Yard, Boulder

• New Moon in Shvat: Rising Sap Tree Medicine — Jan 18, 5–8pm

• New Moon in Adar: Embodying the Inner Queen — Feb 15, 5–8pm

​

Please share these offerings with anyone who may benefit to spread the light!

With love and rest,
Jenna Zadaka​
​ Embodied Kabbalah · Somatics & Spirituality
​ awethenticroots.com