Since the COVID lockdowns of 2021, Ashbel and friends started to present a participatory ritual inspired by the medieval tradition of “Tikkun”, related to the spring holiday Shavu’ot. Hebrew for “amending” or “correcting”, the “Tikkun” of Shavu’ot is a communal night of learning. In different formats and iterations, the occasion took place three times from dusk til dawn – 9 pm to 5 am – as a live happening, centred on the main question of the holiday: What makes a society possible?
The nights involved many of our friends, and were made up of various actions: talking, telling stories and interpreting traditions; performing actions, singing, dancing and image-making; nocturnal walks through the different neighbourhoods, guided by artist Alona Rodeh; some snacks and drinks and a lot of food for thought, time for dozing off and dreaming, time for quiet introspection and time for sharing space with others. The “Tikkun” is a comfortable place to hang out and learn together through the long hours of the night, until the sun comes up and we slowly pack up our things to return to the waking world.
2021: live video broadcast from the HAU Hebbel am Ufer Studio, HAU4
2023: the Tikkun as the seminar “Reading Ruth”, taught in Berlin UdK with Prof. Lukas Feireiss
2024: live at HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin in the frame of the Omer Count
