Intro Teaching
The Hebrew word for Kislev contains the root kesel—trust.
This month invites us into the kind of trust that emerges in darkness and deep rest.
According to Kabbalah, the spiritual sense of Kislev is sleep—the art of resting in faith. To sleep well is to trust that the Divine will return our soul in the morning. The Rebbe Rashab taught that those who fall asleep easily can enter prayer easily—because both require surrender.
Kislev is also the month of dreaming: nine of the ten dreams in Torah appear this month.
The Talmud teaches that “a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy,” and “an uninterpreted dream is like an unopened letter” (Rav Hisda, Talmud Bavli). Each dream offers us a message from the unseen, waiting to be received.
The Hebrew letter that corresponds to Kislev is Samekh, meaning support.
Its shape is a womb-like circle, without beginning or end—a symbol of the Ohr Makif, the surrounding light that holds and protects us. The Zohar, addressing the letter Samekh, teaches: “Those who are falling lean on you.”
Perhaps the great miracle of Hanukkah is this: learning to trust even as we fall into darkness, knowing that the Samekh encircles us—supporting both our descent and our becoming.
Each Hebrew month also corresponds to one of the twelve gemstones set in the breastplate of the High Priest. The stone of Kislev is the purple amethyst, called Akhlamah in Hebrew—from the root halam, meaning dream.
Amethyst is the stone of dreaming, of rest, of trust—the light within the dark.
Circle Meditation for Trust
Find a comfortable seat and, if you choose, gently close your eyes.
Begin by softening—melting the temples, loosening the jaw, dropping the shoulders.
Let your body know: it is safe to trust.
Notice your breath as it naturally flows in and out.
Can you feel the trust descend through your breath?
Feel your body resting in space, supported by the earth beneath you.
Notice where your body exists in space—
the contours and edges of your physical being.
Kabbalah teaches that the nefesh, the most grounded level of the soul, extends six feet around us.
Let your awareness expand beyond the boundary of your skin—into the energetic field, the Samech surrounding you. As if you’re sitting in the center of a radiant circle, allow the Samekh—an aura of light, your nefesh-field—to glow around you.
Imagine yourself surrounded by a soft purple amethyst light—the stone of Kislev, Akhlamah, the gemstone of dreams and trust. This is your dream-field, your aura of protection and rest. Or perhaps you sense another energy, another color—trust whatever arises.
Feel the Samekh encircling you:
the Divine space before you,
behind you,
to your right and to your left,
above you,
and below you.
Support on every side.
A womb of light.
Let yourself rest into this support.
Absorb it.
Marinate in trust.
Trusting on every side that you are held.
Perhaps gentle circular movements want to emerge from your body—
small spirals from the base of your body,
circling upward around your central column.
Any circles that bring you into a deeper state of trust.
Allowing the movement to arise from within.
Keep the breath flowing.
There is no right or wrong here.
We are practicing trust in the inner-directed healing of the body.
Where in your body can you trust just 10% more deeply—and allow the light of miracles to emerge?
Where in your life could you release control, even slightly, and allow the light of miracles to arise?
Now imagine this Samekh expanding—holding not only you, but everyone in your circle,
the Circle that holds all of Life.
Each of us held, and each of us holding.
A circle within circles,
a miracle of mutual trust.
Close by entering into a gesture or posture that resembles giving over your trust to someone else—and allowing someone to trust in you.
Let’s take a deep, trusting collective breath in—
inviting the Samekh into our bodies,
into our hearts,
and into this month.
