About Me

My photo
Joy Serves G*d in Joy as a passionate performing percussionist, poet, publisher, photographer, publicist, sound healer, spiritual guide, artist, gardener and Gemini. "Ivdu Et Hashem B'Simcha" -Psalm 100:2 ....... Joy Krauthammer, active in the Jewish Renewal, Feminist, and neo-Chasidic worlds for over three decades, kabbalistically leads Jewish women's life-cycle rituals. ... Workshops, and Bands are available for all Shuls, Sisterhoods, Rosh Chodeshes, Retreats, Concerts, Conferences & Festivals. ... My kavanah/intention is that my creative expressive gifts are inspirational, uplifting and joyous. In gratitude, I love doing mitzvot/good deeds, and connecting people in joy. In the zechut/merit of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, zt'l, I mamash love to help make our universe a smaller world, one REVEALING more spiritual consciousness, connection, compassion, and chesed/lovingkindness; to make visible the Face of the Divine... VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE and enjoy all offerings.... For BOOKINGS write: joyofwisdom1 at gmail.com, leave a COMMENT below, or call me. ... "Don't Postpone Joy" bear photo montage by Joy. Click to enlarge. BlesSings, Joy
JOY's POEMS

JOY'S POEMS ... "You G*d are the Compassion, the Strength, the Beauty, the Victory, the Splendor, and the Foundation of everything in Heaven and on Earth." (1 Chronicles 1:29) ... I see Your Face in All Nature that I photograph. ... ... http://joys-poems.blogspot.com/ . . . Click "Older Posts" on lower right of each post page for MORE earlier posted stories and art.

ICE CREAM My Way



© Joy Krauthammer



ICE CREAM  My Way

- Joy Krauthammer


All winter
I had not bought
a container of soy ice cream.
Now it’s middle of spring.
I put on weight
with ice cream I ate
last summer and fall.

Today I treated myself
to a new ice cream.
It was my joy.
I never buy dairy ‘ice cream’.
I buy soy ice cream,
always the same flavor at Trader Joes.
Soy Chocolate Chip Cherry,
quart sized
similar to Ben and Jerry’s,
--the real stuff.
I buy Trader Joe’s
Soy Creamy Mini Chocolate Sandwiches
Non-dairy Frozen Dessert 2.3 oz. each
in measured amounts
the same way I buy individual small
1.5 oz. packages of nuts.
They set for me, Gevurah / limitation.

At Trader Joes
I shop for groceries.
I trust them.
I recycle my brown bags.
I like the employees,
the small store size
and less options
and what they sell,
ethnic foods.
Kosher chicken skinless breasts!
So much food which needs
no preparation.
Easy for one person household
and for ‘pot-lucks’.
Yes, I nuke my ‘food’.

Couple days ago
Seeing an ad
I allowed myself
a visit to the freezer section of
the big grocery.
I shop there for bottled water.

Wow, at the big grocery
reduced price on Ben & Jerry’s Vermont’s finest
pint of  Chocolate Fudge Brownie
FroYo Chocolate Low Fat Frozen Yogurt
with Fudge Brownies.
I allowed myself to buy it
after comparing calories
with something more extravagant.
I splurged.

I didn’t wait until I got home.  Shh.
In the car, as I drove
reached over for the grocery bag.
Grabbed the FroYo,
removed the circular cardboard lid,
raised the pint, palm sized
cool container to my lips
and bit into the top of
yummy flavorful frozen firm ice cream.
It softened as I held it
making it easier to devour.

Dark ice cream must have been all over my face.
What were other car drivers thinking
as they saw the container in my face?
Would they think I was disgusting?

I was proud of my resourcefulness
not having a spoon in the car as I drove.
I have never seen anyone do this.

As the ice cream softened
I squeezed the container
and melting,
the delight oozed up from the sides
toward the top
cooperating with my desire
to slurp.

Two sittings
I consumed the container contents.
Now empty, the round carton
is outside in the trash.
No more evidence of my atrocious act.

I must have needed a treat.
I had a tough week.
Trying. Upsetting. Shocking.
And I was in physical pain.
For healing I took myself
for a Chinese reflexology and
acupressure massage,
and ice cream.

How would you feel
if your iMac computer had eaten
without a spoon
ten thousand of your photos, and
thoroughly messed up the remaining nine thousand
deleting all data
which had taken seven years of your life
with passion and care
to create, name, title, and organize well?

Did I tell you
I bought two containers
of ice cream?
I never go to Starbucks
but
the grocery sold on sale also
a pint of Starbucks
Peppermint MOCHA ice cream,
Swirled with Dark Chocolaty Chunks
Seasonal favorite, Limited Edition.
That means it is now and not later.
There’s a NOW lesson in this.
I love mocha and peppermint.
It’s even Kosher, dairy.

Today at home
I did the same.
It’s only me at home
and I gave myself permission
to eat the ice cream
with my mouth in the container.
Like a giant ice cream cone.
But I didn’t lick it.
It’s not so easy.
The ice cream was awesome.
Great flavor combination.
I can have chocolate with cherry
any ol’ day.
I savored and indulged in
mocha and peppermint.

Reminded me of delicious
Starbucks’ samples
of the same flavor coffee drink combination
with whipped cream
I had at a park festival last year
on my birthday.
I never drink coffee.

In two weeks it’s my birthday.
Seasonally, I celebrated today.
I ate less than 20%
saving more for later.
Will it last me to summer?

Another time, I’ll go back
to same ol’ Soy Mini Sandwiches.

2011
.
.

THE WOMEN



THE WOMEN
- Joy Krauthammer


In the noon day sun
four friends fill the new grave 
up to the top 
filling all corners, edges, spaces, depth
so the deceased is not left 
uncovered, alone 
in her exposed plain wood coffin
after family and community 
say Kaddish prayer,
add their shovels of rock-filled 
bone-dry heavy earth
and leave cemetery
for mourners’ Meal of Consolation.

Grieving daughter stays behind.

Female friends don't wait
for the grave-digger workmen 
to come later to do their 'job'.

Friends with daughter
do their final mitzvah / good deed
for her beloved mom, Rose,
of blessed memory 
and with their long-handled steel shovels
give her a blanket of love.

Daughter receives the comfort 
given in chesed / loving-kindness
and knows her beloved mother
Raizel bat Mordechai v’ Baila
is cared for
and her soul can soar
to Shamayim / heaven.

May She be Bound in the Bond of Eternal Life.
May Rose's memory be for a blessing.

-  with love from Joy Krauthammer

Friend, I hold you in my heart.
May The Compassionate One comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Hamakom y'nachem etkhem b'tokh sh'ar avelei Tziyon v'Yerushalayim.

~

Daughter Hare, with Joy, Barbara and Marianne
Levaya / Funeral April 15, 2011
8 Nissan, 5771

~
Photo (c) Nathan
.

TICHEL TYING


Ruthie Fogelman teaches Joy to Tie Tichels
Old City, Jerusalem, October 1997


Ten Years Later ~ Tichel Tying
  dedicated to Ruthie in the Old City

- Joy Krauthammer

  
How your "purple friend," me, laughed with glee
as you taught me to tie and wrap
pretty colorful tichels / scarves
around my uncovered head
and not just wear any old shmatah.
  
So I could be tzniut / modest
because then-- I was a "married woman"
in the Holy Land.

Transformed, I turned into a hip, tichel-tied modest woman
by my friend Ruthie in the Old City.
  
Looking "single" with uncovered head,
and my then dark wavy hair framing my face,
not today's silver locks,
I did not desire
Israeli men's reputed advances.
I would look married!
  
Now I am advised that I have become "single."
I won't use the "w" word
(sounds like a red-belly black spider).
"In transition" sounds good.
  
Studying Torah hours a day,
"married to G*d," is what I safely say
when questioned
about my marital status.
I'm not ready to play.
  
I need to return for another lesson,
"Return to the Land of My Soul,"
as my Rebbes Shlomo and David sang,
both of blessed memory.
But, oh, I am no longer married.
  
I still cover my head in shul,
so will take from you,
my friend, my holy purple-loving soul sister, Ruthie,
another tichel teaching
with multi-layers and creative hippie fringe,
and keep uplifted, to the top of my head,
my kedusha / holiness
as I did when
we first tied tichels
exactly ten years ago.

   ~ ~ ~

THIS MOMENT

    HAIKU

Double Delight
 Joy's garden
© Joy Krauthammer



THIS MOMENT
 - Joy Krauthammer


Love bursting spring bud;
my heart swells to bloom brightly;
in Oneness we are.
.
.

'TIS SPRING



.
  
 'TIS SPRING
-  Joy Krauthammer


'Tis spring.
Early this morning
in serenity
I went kayaking
under the misty sky.

Boating in the view
of the blossoming
pink cherry trees
in Lake Balboa park
my heart blooms.
I visited the water birds
and waterfall.
I am grateful.
.
.
More Lake Balboa:

http://sephirathaomer.blogspot.com/2010/01/hod-sh-b-chesed-day-29-blossoming.html


STORY ~ Moe the Turtle:
2 POEMS ~ Cherry Trees:
PHOTOS ~ Lake Balboa

.

BUILDING A POEM

BUILDING A POEM

- Joy Krauthammer

BUILDING A POEM 
by Joy Krauthammer


The Deronda Review cover poem & photo

reprinted from "The Deronda Review" Vol. IV No. 1 - Fall-Winter 2010-2011
http://www.pointandcircumference.com/





Building A Poem
- Joy Krauthammer


Could 'building' be
one brick at a time
as progress is
one step at a time?

Baby steps for success
sometimes are essential.
A foundation, an intention. 
Steps go
further, 
deeper,
higher.

Steps in the mind
action
heart.

My sister's health improves
she takes
one step at a time. 
Don't look back.
I remind my sister
G*D is with you.
She reminds me
"ABC Always be careful
Always be conscious."

Alphabet is
the building
of a poem.
My sister builds a new life.
She is a poem.


II

I learn the new iMac, 
my senior challenge
one step at a time.

Daughter warned me
"Mom, don't do it.
It's a learning curve."
kvell with my new
computer photo creations.

Will these moments' words
be my first poem
on my new computer?
Shehecheyanu moment
like G*d's sunrise painting.

Is building as
a poem is 
a word at a time?
Relationships killed, not built 
with wrong words.

Or is a poem
a visual image?
and not a word at all.*
  
Can a poem be a photo?
what you see
in one shot
and touches your soul.

Photo of a building
steps up,
sunrise shot
as G*d paints
and builds
a new day
for us to build upon

beginning with
fiery praise
and grateful prayer,
hearing G*d's words, Shema,
and then action, Mitzvot.

Baruch Hashem, I build
in Four Worlds, 
Spirit, Mind, Heart, Body.
               ~ ~ ~ 


(Magritte painted
Ceci n'est pas une pipe.
An image is not the thing itself.
What does the Eiffel Tower
represent?
Is building a 'pipe dream'?)


BlesSings for building, health, wholeness, shalom and joy.

.

GARDEN of the HEART


GARDEN OF THE HEART

- Joy Krauthammer

As if in a labyrinth, every few feet
Heart of the Garden
© Joy Krauthammer

stopping my steps to focus, observe 
I walked around 
the small circular outdoor 
courtyard encircled by plants.

Low I bent down 
to inhale the enticing white azalea 
hoping in my heart it would be 
a gardenia in the garden
fill me with intoxicating fragrance.

Toward the end of my walk
in the slightly drizzly, grey afternoon
I came to the old wood double cushioned couch 
and spotted
cute little tender green clovers growing 
smack in the middle
between the cushions.

Can my 'seed dreams'
bloom as the clovers 
flourish in foreign land
an intersection
where bodies rest and 
landscapes of minds 
are redesigned?


Hmm, are the clovers really in the middle
or are they in a 'corner' at the intersection
of four cushions creating a couch?
No couch potatoes here, just couch clovers.

Couch Corners Clover
© Joy Krauthammer

 Ode to my "corners" and "attention"
Poetry Therapy Day teachers,
and
dedicated to 
Leslie Goldman, The Enchanted Gardener,
and 
Blooming Humans

  ~ ~ ~


During a poetry writing workshop day, in joy and awe, I photographed the seeded clover growing in the cushions of an old wooden garden couch. Digitally, I altered my photo-- the cushions as the 4 chambers of the HEART of the Garden, growing in the most unusual location, where there is possibility and a new reality with vision. The clover awakens us to our heart's flow in the nurturing creative space. “Garden of the Heart” is inspired by a rainy city day, and “Blooming Humans" Day 1.

Love and BlesSings for creativity and blooming heart,
Joy Krauthammer

PS
BlesSing for SPIRITED WOMAN Share Fest party day, 12/12/11.
May we all be blessed, in even the tiniest strangest corner of the universe, to find the place where we can be nourished and grow and be all that we can be. Couch clover I discovered and photographed in an LA building courtyard. © 2010

"Our 42 Day Blooming Humans series is here to assist in re-designing our inner landscape by shifting our focus into our Hearts and awakening to our role in Birthing New Reality.   By providing a common vision and focus, we are calibrating and unifying our Hearts, while maintaining a vibrant, creative space for integrating the power-filled energies arriving Now.  WoW!"
~ ~ ~

The Deronda Review back cover poem & photo
reprinted from "The Deronda Review", a journal of poetry and thought
Vol. IV No. 2 - Winter-Spring 2012
http://www.pointandcircumference.com/

.

TEARS NOT OF JOY

TEARS NOT OF JOY


- Joy Krauthammer

Do you think
tears are good for the garden?
the place where I find G*d.

Do tears nourish the flowers
in this rain drought of ours,
in this mourning,
hours of sadness,
or are tears too salty?

I used to cry as I swam,
breast stroke--face down
in the swimming pool.

Tears blended in,
disappearing, joining in 
as drops
in the ocean of tears.

No tissue needed.
         ~

Tears Not of Joy
Tear drops blend in the salty ocean of tears.















The Deronda Review
reprinted from "The Deronda Review", a journal of poetry and thought
Vol. IV No. 2 - Winter-Spring 2012, page 37

.

JOY AS HEALER

           JOY AS HEALER

              - Joy Krauthammer


I heal by acknowledging and feeling my joy.
I heal with G*d’s energy, feeling the Love.
I heal with Shechinah's nighttime embrace.
I heal with my spirituality. I heal with prayer.
I heal by studying and sharing Torah and wisdom of my teachers.
I heal by returning, teshuvah to me; what I am, to who I am, to where I am– my soul's land.
I heal by returning to what I love & aliveness.
I heal with my passion, heart and hands.
I heal with breath, deeply and slowly.

I heal with mikveh's water, with renewal.
I heal by swimming and by floating.
I heal with time, and with tears.
I heal with guidance, friendship.
I heal with space.
I heal with silence, with meditation.
I heal with sound; crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, bells, gongs & chimes.
I heal by playing my ribboned timbrel & drum.
I heal with song; gentle niggun and ecstatic.
I heal with my dancing.
I heal by creating art; by camera and brush. 
I heal with my spoken words & written words.

I heal in my garden of joy, by weeding & watering, planting & picking & pruning. 
I heal in my garden by inhaling, touching, seeing, and sharing the abunDance.
I heal by doing mitzvot / good deeds.

I heal by acknowledging my loss, grief, vulnerability, and aloneness.
I heal with memories.
I heal with gratitude.
I heal with humor, at times, dark.
I heal with chocolate, mostly dark.
I heal by 'letting it go'. 
I heal by speaking my truth.
I heal by forgiving others and forgiving myself.
I heal by knowing I am a vessel of joy for G*d.

                               ~ ~ ~ 
http://joys-joyousjoy.blogspot.com/2011/11/healing-with-joy.html