Two rings to rule them all
2020-Feb-18, Tuesday 10:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
I tend to treat rings like they're D&D equipment slots, where I can wear one on each hand but any more causes them to lose their powers. For years I wore my wedding ring on my left hand and a ring with the first line of the Shema on my right hand, but obvious I don't wear my wedding ring anymore and the Shema ring's text has faded so much it's completely illegible and not even obvious that there's text there at all. And I had also bought it with one for schoolpsychnerd to wear too. So while I did like that my Shema ring spun and I could fiddle with it, it was time for new rings:
Left Hand
I really like Tree of Life imagery. My Shabbat set, candles and cup and tray and matchbox, are all tree-themed, I've got a Tree of Life mezuzah on my front door, and I have a Tree of Life in the entryway at the top of the stairs. A Norse pagan friend recently posted a picture of his full-back Yggdrasil tattoo, including Odin's ravens and Níðhöggr gnawing at the roots, and I posted one of those epic handshake memes on it that said
There's a song that we sing when we return the Torah to the ark, based on Proverbs 3:18, that begins: עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה ותמכיה מאשר eitz chayyim hi lemachazikim bah v'tom'checha me'ushar, "She is a tree of life to those who hold fast to her, and all those who uphold her are happy." That's why the Torah ark will usually have a tree on it, and it's why I bought this ring.
Right Hand
This one is a bit more somber. The Hebrew says גם זה יעבור gam ze ya'avor, "This too shall pass." I showed it to![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
lisekatevans when we were out to lunch on Sunday, and she commented that she thought it had passed, and it has. I got this as a reminder for the future, that similarly, I can live through whatever else comes. Some people get tattoos for this kind of thing, but I've never found something I feel so strongly about that I've wanted a tattoo of it.
The texture on the ring is because it has an imprint of the Kotel / Western Wall in the metal.
Now I just have to get used to wearing a ring on my left hand again, and what's more, on a different finger. I always used to wear two rings basically right up until I got married, so this is another way of going back to my traditional practice. Another milestone.
schoolpsychnerd to wear too. So while I did like that my Shema ring spun and I could fiddle with it, it was time for new rings:Left Hand
I really like Tree of Life imagery. My Shabbat set, candles and cup and tray and matchbox, are all tree-themed, I've got a Tree of Life mezuzah on my front door, and I have a Tree of Life in the entryway at the top of the stairs. A Norse pagan friend recently posted a picture of his full-back Yggdrasil tattoo, including Odin's ravens and Níðhöggr gnawing at the roots, and I posted one of those epic handshake memes on it that said
"Jews" 🤝 "Norse Pagans"
"Tree Imagery"
because it's true! There's a song that we sing when we return the Torah to the ark, based on Proverbs 3:18, that begins: עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה ותמכיה מאשר eitz chayyim hi lemachazikim bah v'tom'checha me'ushar, "She is a tree of life to those who hold fast to her, and all those who uphold her are happy." That's why the Torah ark will usually have a tree on it, and it's why I bought this ring.
Right Hand
This one is a bit more somber. The Hebrew says גם זה יעבור gam ze ya'avor, "This too shall pass." I showed it to
The texture on the ring is because it has an imprint of the Kotel / Western Wall in the metal.
Now I just have to get used to wearing a ring on my left hand again, and what's more, on a different finger. I always used to wear two rings basically right up until I got married, so this is another way of going back to my traditional practice. Another milestone.
