TORAH STUDY FOR THE SOUL: A CONTEMPLATIVE PERSPECTIVE FROM HASIDIC TEXTS
Join in the expanding circle of rabbis, cantors and others who share in the profound and spiritually uplifting world of Torah study with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Registration is open and online
Torah Study for the Soul - Celebrating Ten Full Years of Hasidic Text Study
with Rabbi Jonathan Slater and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality
5773: Birkat Avraham
Since the fall of 2002, Rabbi Jonathan Slater has offered weekly translations of classical Hasidic texts for personal study and spiritual growth. Hundreds of rabbis, cantors, educators and others have been enriched through their study of these texts – with partners in havruta or on their own, in Torah study groups and as materials for teaching.
You are invited to join the growing numbers who access the depth and richness of Hasidic spirituality presented in contemporary terms.
This year Jonathan will offer lessons from Birkat Avraham, the teachings of R. Avraham Weinberg, of the Slonim tradition, the father-in-law of R. Shalom Noach Berezovsky, the author of Netivot Shalom.
R. Avraham represents a rich current in the stream of Slonimer teachings, and in his work includes an unusual twist: at least one teaching in which the lesson of the weekly Torah portion is transformed into a prayer.
This prayer is framed in each instance by the verse, “As for me, may my prayer come to You, O YHVH, at a favorable moment; O God, in Your abundant faithfulness, answer me with Your sure deliverance” (Ps. 69:14).
Each week we will be invited to participate in turning our Torah study into prayer, opening our hearts to embrace the fullness of our lives with hope and commitment.
Each week Jonathan will provide a translation of one of these teachings, with reflection questions for personal application and commentary. As always, his commentary will be based in mindfulness practice and Jewish spirituality. This year will be an adventure weaving prayer into our ongoing Torah study.
We encourage participants to study with a partner, and will endeavor, to the extent possible, to help participants find partners.
For more information, contact Rabbi Slater at jonathan@jewishspirituality.org or 914/478-7326.
Journeying with the Torah:
Week by Week, Season by Season, Moment to Moment
Torah study and practice
with Rabbi Yael Levy
I will make known to them the paths to walk and the practices to cultivate. (Exodus 18:20)
Each day the world is created anew and each day we have the opportunity to step into full relationship with this mysterious unfolding that is our life.
In this Torah study program we will explore together the abundant sources for personal wisdom that stream through it. We will focus on how it guides us in opening our awareness and teaches us how to respond mindfully and fully to the challenges, blessings and surprises life brings. As we journey with the Torah week by week you will receive a mindfulness teaching based on the Torah portion, questions for reflection and suggestions for practice. We honor Torah as “a Tree of Life” that nurtures our souls and expands our capacity for compassion, graciousness and right action.
Questions we will be exploring will include:
- What does the Torah portion reveal about the blessings, truths and challenges of lives?
- What instruction does the Torah give for how to live well in relationship with ourselves and each other?
- How does the Torah anchor us in Jewish time?
- Where can we find ourselves in the stories of our people?
- What instruction can be gleaned from the Torah for how to live with awareness, honesty and compassion?
Each week we will travel within the Torah portion calling forth insights and guidance that can be integrated into our daily lives.
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Rabbi Yael Levy, a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, has served congregation Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia for 18 years. She is the founder of A Way In: Jewish Mindfulness Center whose mission is to integrate Jewish tradition, ritual and observance with mindfulness practice, and has competed the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Jewish Mindfulness Teachers Training program. Yael serves as a spiritual director to rabbinical students as well as in private practice. She is the author of “Journey Through the Wilderness, A Mindfulness Approach to the Ancient Practice of Counting the Omer”.
