Judaism and Blessing a New Labyrinth

Question: Is it Jewish to walk a labyrinth?

Rabbi Milgram writes: "In medieval times, walking a labyrinth in a cathedral, such as the famous one at Chartres, France, was considered the inner equivalent of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and more particularly, to the holy of holies, the central location of God’s indwelling. This is a recognition that Jerusalem is not just a city of stone and mortar, but a state of mind and spirit.

Our father Abraham called the city “Yireh,” seeing beyond what is known to us, moving from wilderness to what is promised. His friend and ally, Malchitzedek, called the city “Shalem,” wholeness. A pilgrimage to Yerushalayim in the labyrinth is to move from wilderness to wholeness, to pure awe and respect for Creator and Creation and one's place within the whole and within the holy."

Nina Amir contributes: In Exodus, we are told, “Build for me a sanctuary and I will dwell among you.”

I recall: As we make pilgrimage in the labyrinthian sanctuary toward the whole and the holy, perhaps we will experience the awe that caused our father Jacob to cry out, “Mah norah hamakom hazeh!” “How awesome is this place! Why, this is a house of God!”

And when we emerge, perhaps we will say this blessing I once found in a book:

“Barukh atah Yah, Eloheinu melekh hah-olam, sheh-asa lanu nays bamakom hazeh.”
“We bless you, source of all blessing, whose presence fills the world, for performing a wonderful (wondrous) deed for us in this place."

And one could conclude with a poem written by a contemporary rabbi, Rabbi Rayzel Raphael, in the center of a labyrinth:

Nevarekh et m’kor Ha-t’shuva
Nevarekh et galgalay torahtaynu
Ha-M’khadeshat et galgalay haz-manim
Nitbarekh bi-t’shuvataynu.

Let us bless the Source of our turning, Let us bless the circles of our learning.
Renewing our lives in the cycles of the seasons, May we be blessed in our re-turning.

And let us say together, Ameyn.

Responses here were primarily compiled by Alan Wagman, Esq.