Something Understood

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Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

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Something Understood: Autumn Colours

Autumn Colours

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Autumn Colours

Shoshana Boyd Gelfand reflects on autumn's colours and the season's spiritual resonance.

4 Extra Debut. Rabbi Shoshana watches the autumn leaves fall slowly and reflects on the vibrant colours and the season's spiritual resonance.

As Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand watches the autumn leaves fall slowly from the trees, she reflects on the vibrant colours of autumn and the season's spiritual resonance.

Shoshana explains that she has always been fascinated by the paradox at the heart of our relationship with the autumn. A celebration of the harvest is accompanied by the realisation that this joy is ephemeral. We know that winter is coming. Robert Frost's autumnal poem "After Apple Picking" refers to a post-harvest sleep which is suggestive both of winter and of death itself.

The Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot features a ritual in which dry willow branches are struck, causing their leaves to flutter to the ground mirroring the falling leaves of autumn which are celebrated as a vital part of the circle of life.

Chemistry reveals that the bright colours of autumn leaves are not the product of death and decay. In fact they exist dormant within the leaf throughout its entire life, but are only revealed towards the end when the leaf’s “work” is done. Shoshana likens this fact to adults who discover their true inner colours as they age.

Whilst for some the process of aging might lead to feelings of melancholy, as Shoshana approaches the autumn of her life, she's filled with a deep sense of release. 

She explains, "at a certain age, we can start to no longer care so much what others think of us. We can allow the true colours of our leaves to shine through a bit more because we have grown into our skin and have discovered what those colours are. And because, of course, we realise that if we don’t allow our colours to show now, there may not be a chance in the future."

Presenter: Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Producer: Max O'Brien

A TBI production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2018.

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