Sacred Secrets: The Legacy of Women’s Wisdom Across Generations by Rabbi Nadya Gross

From my earliest memories, I saw things that others didn’t see and knew things I had no business knowing. But at the time, I didn’t realize that others didn’t witness the dance of light around their bodies or the life forms at the base of trees. I didn’t know that the insights I had into people’s emotions were not universally shared. My curiosity led me to ask questions about these things… until my grandmother, Savta (Heb), took me into the kitchen (where everything important happened), closed the doors, and told me never to talk about these things with anyone except her. And so, my training began.

Savta was gifted in ways different from mine. She had grown up in a circle of women and their daughters, a circle where women educated each other, shared their unique gifts and insights, and passed down a legacy of wisdom.

The wisdom she shared with me was as ancient as the land on which we lived. We began with reverence for the Earth and all her elements—pre-patriarchal Goddess wisdom. We explored what it means to be intimately connected to all aspects of Creation, understanding that we are interdependent. Harm to a tree, an insect, or the water harms us. We learned that the respect we wish to receive from others must first be shown by us. I learned to never pick up a beautiful stone that caught my attention without first asking permission to remove it from its resting place. When harvesting fruit from one of the many trees in my grandparent’ yard, I expressed deep gratitude to the mother-tree whose body nurtured that fruit to ripeness.

We also examined the creation of the world and our unique role and responsibility as created beings. She taught me that creation unfolded from the Creator’s longing to be in relationship, and that our responsibility was to learn how to be in right relationship—with ourselves, with others, with the non-human world, and with all of existence.

Our relationship with the Divine was cultivated in the kitchen. Mornings began with bringing divine energy into and through our bodies, “dancing with God/dess.” I learned about alchemy as Savta combined simple ingredients with prayer and praise to create meals and treats that tasted divine.

Later, as I began to study Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), I realized that many of the truths and teachings Savta had shared with me echoed elements of this tradition. These circles of women and their daughters have existed throughout time, and it makes sense that different wisdom traditions would leave their mark on the transmission of wisdom from one generation to the next.

Most importantly, I learned to open myself—my heart and mind—to the messages that wanted to be expressed through me. This oral transmission, of which I am privileged to be a part, is a process of receiving—what kabbalah means—and thus an evolving wisdom. The women in these circles knew that we are each uniquely gifted, with attributes and skills meant to serve in making the Divine manifest. We do this best in the dance of relationship, attuning ourselves to others, exercising compassion, and humbly allowing the space between us to be filled with Presence.

An ancient Jewish story tells that the Sun and Moon were originally created equal. When the Moon complained, God instructed her to make herself smaller. Savta taught me that we are living in a time when the Sun and Moon—symbolizing the masculine and feminine in the old paradigm—would return to their originally intended forms. Each would match the size of the other, sourcing their own light and reflecting divine balance.

By the time I came along, the circle that Savta had been trained in no longer existed. (That’s a story for another time.) So, our work was secret. For many years, I kept these secrets. Eventually, I shared this knowledge with my teacher, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a brilliant mystic. He wanted me to write it down, but I knew that capturing this living tradition in one moment would distort its evolving nature. Instead, he encouraged me to train others, just as I had been trained. A friend suggested the name “Secrets My Grandmother Told Me,” and so the Wisdom School was born nearly two decades ago. Now, I’ve been sharing Savta’s wisdom and practices in a two-year program, breathing new life into a tradition that is both ancient and contemporary. Following the instruction about the Sun and Moon, I have welcomed all genders (and all faith traditions) into this process. And, I have been blessed to gather my own circle, comprised of past Wisdom School students who embody this wisdom and carry it forward in their unique voices. They are called Yoreshet, meaning “legacy holders” or “lineage bearers.”

For many years, I kept hidden a secret that was never meant to remain concealed. This also kept me separate from other women who carry their own matriarchal and matrilineal wisdom traditions. This year, Yerusha (Hebrew for Legacy), the organization I co-founded, is hosting a symposium in collaboration with The Lilith Institute (whose founder, Ruach D’vorah Grenn, is a Yoreshet). This two-day virtual event, titled Wisdom of the Mothers: Celebrating Matriarchal and Matrilineal Wisdom Traditions, will feature 25 unique presentations and workshops, along with a keynote by Max Dashu, founder of the Suppressed Histories Archives. The event will be held sacred with powerful opening and closing rituals. I am truly blessed to meet others whose worldviews complement and enhance my own. I hope you will join us too.

*The Symposium will be held on Monday, April 28 and Tuesday, April 29 – on Zoom. Tickets are on sale through April 14^th. You can get more information and purchase tickets here.

BIO: Rabbi Nadya Gross, is a Founder and Chief Programming Officer of Yerusha, a progressive, multi-faith educational organization committed to interfaith diversity and paradigm shift. Trained in a Jewish indigenous mystical tradition by her grandmother, she transmits the teachings in a two-year wisdom school: Secrets My Grandmother Told Me. Nadya is also a congregational rabbi, spiritual director and teacher. She and her husband, Rabbi Victor Gross, serve Congregation Pardes Levavot, in Boulder, CO which shares space, study, occasional worship and good works in the community with Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. This has been a living laboratory for the practice of Deep Ecumenism – a concept first articulated by Rev. Matthew Fox and developed by her teacher, and founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.