Ever since Fringes was founded our December service has revolved around honoring the wisdom of the dark time of the year. Founded in part by witchy Jews, we know the dark is part of our natural cycle, not something to fear or dread, and we actively resist the western tradition that associates the dark with evil and the white/light supremacy that grew alongside that.

For us, the miracle is not the candle lit against the “threatening” dark but the power of everything that rests and grows inside the welcoming dark.

Our Torah study text was the poem “Appalachian Elegy” by bell hooks as we honored her life and legacy.

You can download a PDF of our liturgy here.

Since the summer of 2020 we’ve included a “Prayer for An Accounting” in our prayer for healing – a count of those who have died from COVID. Initially this count was just in the U.S., but this year we also added the global count. The format is from a line in Torah. Below are the heart-breaking numbers from this month.