Blog

Episode 18: I am? And You are? Dialogic Personal Prayer Grounding his practice in the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook and Rav Dov Singer, Rabbi Yosef Goldman leads us into a deep engagement with our own lived experience, grounding us in a heart of gratitude. Read the episode transcript

Episode 17: Waking Up to Blessing Rabbi Susan Leider invites us to join her as she wakes up, connecting the daily Birkhot Hashachar to each step along the way. Read the episode transcript

Episode 16: Chant to Open the Heart Chanting a niggun is not only an outward expression of yearning. It can also penetrate the heart. Rabbi Hannah Dresner, chanting in her car, leads us in practice from a parched place, to open to the flow available at all times. Read the episode transcript

Episode 15: Music to Evoke Prayer Music is so evocative! In just a few notes we can be taken back in time to a far-off place, to a connection with another person. How does that work? What is added through words? Cadence, intonation, emphasis? Join Rabbi Lydia Medwin as she sits with and unpacks her experience of "Change is Gonna Come" with Otis Redding, and find your own prayer through music,...

Episode 14: Priestly Blessing: Lovingkindness Prayer Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari starts his morning davening (prayers) with the awareness that prayer is an embodied practice. He connects with sensation, with sound, with memory, and with the words of the Tradition for a personal engagement with the morning liturgy. Read the episode transcript

Episode 13: Priestly Blessing: Lovingkindness Prayer How do we prepare our hearts to pray? What conditions our souls to know what is important? Rabbi Amy Eilberg has used the mindfulness meditation practice of metta, or lovingkindness, for this purpose. The phrases she employs to settle and orient her heart are those of the Priestly blessing (Num. 6:2-26). Join her in this prayer practice for...

Episode 12: Prayer as a Hug The spring and summer of 2020 have been tumultuous, burdened by isolation and confusion during the pandemic, by fear and anger at systemic racism, uncertainty about the future in the run-up to an election. Hazzan Sabrina Sojourner invites us to rest in the hugs of our ancestors, In God's embrace, to find strength and hopefulness. Read the episode...

Episode 11: Etz Hayyim Hi -- Praying With A TreeThe biblical book of Proverbs refers to the Torah as a "Tree of Life" and we sing those words when we return the Torah to the Ark after reading from it. But, what does that really mean? Maor Greene asks just this question, and investigates the experience of prayer with a Tree. Go outside with them to see what it's like!Read the episode...

Episode 10: Embodied Awakening Prayer The traditional Jewish morning service begins with blessings acknowledging the workings of the body. But, sometimes we need to wake up more fully even before engaging in liturgical prayer. Rabbi Myriam Klotz leads us through her embodied awakening practice, inviting you to join in as well. Read the episode transcript

Episode 9: Embodied Chant to Open the Heart Many people approach prayer as an intellectual endeavor: I read the prayers and they say something, perhaps even what I mean. Others sense that prayer comes from the heart: when in community the sense of belonging and the invitation to connect with spirit opens the heart. Hazzan Joanna Dulkin reminds us that prayer begins in the body, and is energized...

Episode 8: Turn Your Torah into Tefillah Rebbe Nachman sought to use every possible methodology available to him to help people connect with their truest selves and to the Divine. One such practice was turning one's Torah Study into Tefilah (prayer). Rabbi David Jaffe gives us instructions, demonstrates, and leads us in this prayer practice. Read the episode transcript

Episode 7: Praying All Three Paragraphs of the Shema In many liturgically grounded communities, it is often only the first and last paragraphs of the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9; Num.15:37-41) that are recited as a community. But, what about the middle paragraph (Deut. 11:13-21)? Shouldn't it be part of our prayer? Rabbi Dan Liben thinks so, and shows us how he raises it up in a mindfulness-based prayer...

Episode 6: Meditation as Prayer In the early days of the pandemic (March, 2020), Rabbi Rachel Timoner turned to her own native prayer practice to help her ground herself, and then serve her community. Eventually, she shared her prayer practice with them, and sustained them as well. In this episode, she leads us through that practice in an intimate, personal, contemplative practice. Read the...

Episode 5: Singing Opens Me To Prayer Singing is a spiritual practice: it can open the heart, connect us to others, lead us to our deepest selves. But, how does that work? Cantor Ellen Dreskin leads us through her process of singing to become her "all" in life. Read the episode transcript

Episode 4: Praying OutdoorsMany people report that it is easier for them to sense God's presence in the world when outdoors - often meaning in the face of natural wonders or grandeur. Rabbi Chai Levy invites us to consider, instead, just going outdoors, wherever we are, opening up to what is in the moment, and praying "Hello".Read the episode transcript

Episode 3: Sim ShalomThe Sages taught, "there is no blessing greater than peace", and for that reason they chose to conclude every prayer service, and many prayers, with peace. Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg leads us through a deep, prayerful reflection on the classic prayer Sim Shalom, Give us Peace.Read the episode transcript

Episode 2: "Letting God Love Me" What could be more delightful, but might be more difficult, than letting God love us? In her practice, Rabbi Nancy Flam invites us to join her in just such a moment: to rest in the divine embrace, without comment, without question. Read the episode transcript