A Liminal Week

We move ever closer to the new year. In less than one week, next Sunday evening as the sun sets, we will transition from this year to the next one.

Yet, is it just the passing of one nanosecond which makes the difference? When the civil New Year’s eve is celebrated, how much time does the clock actually spend at precisely 12:00:00 midnight?

The exact “moment” of passage from one year to the next is nearly dimensionless. There is a breath before, and a breath after, and the moment has passed. One word we can use to describe this is liminality, being in a liminal space.

Liminal spaces are simultaneously both/and, and, neither/nor. They are the space in between. They are transition points.

Liminal comes from the Latin word, limen, meaning “doorway” or “threshold,” indicating the point at which one passes into, or emerges from, something or the verge of some condition or action, and transitions to the other. Another Latin word, limes, (not the fruit!) indicates the boundary of a plot of land, or a piece of land enclosed within the boundaries.

So, is liminality something which is finite and measurable, located in space and time, having dimensions, like land boundaries or the land within those boundaries? Yes, it can be that. It can ALSO be a simple inner perception and shift, a “micro” liminal moment, as it were, which is dimensionless, like that nanosecond we pass from this year into next year.

Consider a wedding. Other than legally, are the newlyweds really any different the moment they are pronounced married than they were the moment they met at the altar? What moment changes them, and is it only a moment?

Just like with a wedding, sometimes liminality concerns itself with the boundary itself (not legally married to legally married), while at other times the focus is on the space(s) delimited or defined by the boundary (the relationship itself as it develops over time). At some point in that relationship that lead to marriage, there was a micro liminal moment when the couple realized they want to make a permanent commitment to each other. It wasn't just a moment in time, but the relationship over time which brought them to that altar.

Transitioning from one year to the next is a micro liminal moment, a simple shift in perception, but sometimes a critical one.

Judaism is immersed in liminality! Edges and fringes, thresholds and gateways, transitional states and connecting points and margins, we have many of these liminal events, situations, and moments. Even the Hebrew word ivrit, from which we derive the very word Hebrew, means boundary crosser!

Other examples of this liminality can be found in the wedding chuppah which both defines the home and yet remains open-sided to let others in, the entire month of Elul, the yamim noraim (ten days of awe, which begin with the turning of the year at Rosh Hashanah), those moments between standing on this side of something and crossing over into that side of the beginning of the next, all of them are liminality, transition points which can act to prepare us to move from one state to another.

Some liminal moments are more easily seen, more clearly delineated, such as life cycle events, graduation, ordination, first day of university, beginning a new job. Others are “less grand,” like the moments between sleep and wakefulness. Some are joyous and celebratory, like weddings and births, while others are incredibly sad and filled with grief, such as funerals and tragedies and divorces. Life, really, is a series of liminal moments.

This entire week can be seen as a liminal moment. We have prepared during Elul, we have prayed for selichot, forgiveness, and now, we move ever closer, clock tick by clock tick, towards this new year, which comes at sunset Sunday evening.

Liminal moments require us to face ourselves and ask questions, yeah, those Big Existential Questions of life.

So, during this week as we walk that narrow bridge between this year and next year, we might want to reflect (feel free to use these as journal prompts if you journal):


What brings me a feeling of contentment? Of true, deep, inner joy (not just superficial momentary happiness)?


What are my most significant achievements in the past year? What are my biggest mistakes in the past year?


What project or goal, if left undone, would I likely most regret a year from now?


Were there any important decisions I avoided or actions I failed to take last year for which I have some regrets now, looking back?


One year from now, what would I most like to be different in my life? Does it require a major decision like a move, education, breaking apart? If it requires other people for support or encouragement, what are ways I might find to get that?


Over the past year, did my most important relationships become closer and deeper, or was there a shifting? In what ways might this indicate growth? In what ways might this be a sign of needing to grow? How might I have contributed to a falling away? What can I do to nurture those significant relationships this coming year?


If I could change only one thing about myself, what would it be?



We have prepared, and now we are in that liminal space of here and ready but not quite there yet.


What will this week bring you? I'd love to hear!