The Threshing Floor

The Threshing Floor was one of the heart-centers of the Biblical community. People would bring their grain crops to this circle of packed earth where they would thrash their stalks of grain separating the chaff from the wheat. This collective labor was done in high places overlooking the villages where the blowing winds brought relief and swept away the husks. It is easy to imagine people swapping stories, singing songs, sharing water, and aiding each other during the harvest seasons. The threshing floor was a safe space for wayfarers and villagers to lodge under the stars guarding their crops or hoping to be fed. It is no wonder that it serves a central role in biblical stories like the book of Ruth. An impoverished stranger, Ruth found hope, renewal and family because of a visit to Boaz at the threshing floor. This led to their marriage, the birth of their son Obed, the grandfather of King David. King David, in turn, purchases a threshing floor in Jerusalem to serve as a sacred altar; which became the very foundation for his son Solomon’s ancient Temple connecting the actual harvest with the spiritual one.

Thus the symbol of the threshing floor is one that speaks to Congregation Bet Haverim. We join together to discern what is meaningful from what no longer serves us. We find nourishment in our community through our collective labor and the celebration of our fruits—music being a nourishing aspects to us. Our music like the threshing floor serves as a witness to the travails and celebration of life. But it does not stop there, similar to the threshing floor it has the potential to gather people and aid them in the very transformation and like the floor that became an altar that became the foundation our Ancient Temple, our music evolves and now serves as a foundation to who we are at Bet Haverim.

I am so excited about this project-- Rabbi Josh