Holiday Fellow 5785:
Avidan Halivni

Have you ever wondered what Purim has to do with Judith Butler? Or how a Hasidic Rebbe could read Tu B'Shvat as a Holiday which affirms the physical act of eating? Well look no further! As the Gashmius Holiday fellow, Avidan Halivni is spending the 5785 calendar year learning Hasidic texts and creating content to be published for select Jewish holidays. Below you will find an ongoing archive of his work which ranges from essays, to short stories, to Hasidic translations, and is illustrated by Gashmius Creative Director, Eva Sturm-Gross.

Stay tuned for more Holiday Fellow content as the year progresses!

sefirot, in profile

by avidan halivni

Each of the seven weeks of the Omer are associated with corresponding Sefirot, the attributes of the divine that receive much attention in Kabbalah. The Sefirot are often linked to specific character traits as well, with the Omer serving as a period of reflection on one's own qualities and behaviors. In this piece, holiday fellow Avidan Halivni offers a character study of the personified Sefirot, inspired by primary Kabbalistic and Hasidic sources (and some yearbook superlatives) that reveal as much of the human psyche as they do of the cosmos.

Read Here

Purim 5785

In “Purim: The Role of a Lifetime,” Holiday Fellow Avidan Halivni presents a short story which explores the connection between Purim and performativity, using sources ranging from Judith Butler to Hasidic stories.

Tu B'Shvat 5785

In Eating Redeemed: a Tu B'Shvat Seder Companion, Holiday Fellow, Avidan Halivni translates a teaching from R. Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin for those seeking a textual exploration that connects the Tu B’Shvat Seder to a redemptive eating practice. This text is paired with a visual representation by Eva Sturm-Gross of the spiritual ascent through the Four Worlds of Kabbalah.

Hanukkah 5785

Avidan Halivni explores the ethical implications of how Hanukkah teaches us to treat the Other. By putting a Baal Shem Tov teaching in conversation with the thought of 20th century philosopher Emmanual Levinas, he argues that “to welcome the guest.. is to create an encounter with the Divine Light that the guest embodies.” And it is that Divine Light in the Other, Halivni teaches, that the Hanukkah candles represent.