May 23, 2012 | by Rabbi Lisa Goldstein, Former Executive Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the gift of Torah, begins on Saturday night. The Torah itself describes this occasion as being accompanied by dramatic and terrifying noise and spectacle: thunder, long shofar blasts, earthquake, fire and smoke. As I type this, I am listening to the honks and sirens on Seventh Avenue far below, and I wonder: if Mt. Sinai were in New York City, would anyone notice if God started proclaiming?
Mt. Sinai, of course, is in the middle of the desert, a place of profound and almost absolute quiet. Some people say that the Hebrew word for desert, midbar, means “a place of speech.” That sounds completely counter-intuitive unless you consider that a desert is a place that is so quiet that we might finally hear the Speech that is actually there all the time. And in fact, there are midrashim, or rabbinic stories, that say that God is always speaking at Sinai, but that on the day Torah was given, the 6th of Sivan so long ago, the desert was completely silent so that we could really hear.
Contemplative Jews (including me) love those midrashim. To a contemplative person, silence is clearly the better context to hear the voice of truth. It is in the silence that the noise of life can settle down and reveal the hidden wisdom that grows underneath. So why does the Torah text itself insist that the Torah was given in the midst of so much clamor?
Perhaps it was the setting. Perhaps it was the extreme contrast between the quiet desert and the thunderous mountain that startled the Israelites into the possibility of hearing something new. In that case, in our noisy lives, the contrast of stillness may be exactly the thing that startles us into that same possibility.
My intention for this Shavuot is to engage in some great Torah learning, to spend time with dear friends and to eat some New York cheesecake. It is also to find a quiet corner, even in this frenetic city, to see if maybe I can hear something unexpected and true.
May 14, 2012 | by Rabbi Lisa Goldstein, Former Executive Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Contrary to many assumptions, spiritual practice is not in fact easy. There are so many reasons – truly compelling reasons – to get up from the cushion, to close the prayerbook, to break the pose, to cancel the meeting with my hevruta (study partner). And yet, the really hard part of spiritual work begins when we transition from the centering stillness of our practice to the busy, confusing, distracting realities of everyday life. But of course, that is where spirituality especially counts: in how we treat both beloveds and strangers, in how we make the thousands of decisions, big and small, day to day. At its heart the practice of paying attention moment to moment is preparation for wise and compassionate action in the world.
This blog is intended to be reflections on trying to live a mindful life in the bustling, vital craziness of New York City. I will share my ideas, explorations and experiences in hopes that you will find them helpful in your own practice and your own life.
And I welcome your thoughts and experiences as well. Since I first had the privilege of joining the Institute for Jewish Spirituality world ten years ago as part of the second rabbinic cohort, one of the biggest surprises and greatest blessings was finding a whole community of fellow travelers. I expect to learn much from you as we all move through this miraculous complex gift of life.
May 10, 2012 | Podcasts
Join Sheila for a teaching on grasping mind she gave in November of 2011 – featuring her wonderful grandkids.
Jun 23, 2011 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg as she reads from her new book, Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Religious Memoir. Included in this podcast is Chapter 18, “Discovering Meditation, Barre, July 1990″ and “Ashrei Yoshvei Veytecha.”
Dec 17, 2010 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Marc Margolius for a guided meditation, practicing connecting with the present moment, with awareness of what is going on in ourselves and our world.
Dec 16, 2010 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Rachel Cowan for a podcast on how the ongoing process of developing a spiritual practice can help us find joy even with the vagaries and grind of modern day life.
Nov 19, 2010 | Podcasts
Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell, adjunct faculty with IJS, recorded this podcast November 3rd at his Mindfulness Mussar group at his shul – Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living. (more…)
Sep 9, 2010 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Myriam Klotz for a relaxing period of embodied spiritual practice. Experience restorative yoga – a kind of yoga that involves gentle, passive stretching, allowing the nervous system to quiet down and experience deep rest. Explore how, in stressful times, we can find our ways to the waters of quiet and repose, restoring the soul to a place of ease and well being. Find renewal in slowing down, letting the body rest in stillness and quiet – experience a deep place of rest in the body and the breath. (12:05)
Sep 7, 2010 | Podcasts
This meditation is from Preparing the Heart: Meditations for Jewish Spiritual Practice. Rabbi Sheila Weinberg describes walking practice as a way of paying attention to the sensations in the body, gathering our attention and focus in the body.
Walking practice is based in bringing awareness to each step as it manifests in sensation through the entire body. Walking is its own practice when it is, itself, an opportunity to gather our attention into this present moment, in the felt experience of the body so that we have a place to rest, a platform in which to see distraction and settle down. As with other meditative practices, it provides us with a focus to aim the attention when the mind wanders, it allows us to focus back on the direct sensations of walking as they are experienced in the body, reconnecting to intention, and sustaining our attention. (11:46)
Apr 21, 2010 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Marc Margolius for a podcast on the period of S’firat HaOmer – counting the Omer – a period marking our spiritual journey from Egypt to Sinai – moving from breaking the bonds of slavery on Pessach to developing our capacity to open ourselves to the divine on Shavuot. (more…)
Mar 22, 2010 | Podcasts
Listen to Rabbi Sheila Weinberg as she gives an overview introduction to mindfulness practice on an IJS retreat this January; looking at understanding the nature of the mind and developing a quality of alert, stable attention again and again.You can also listen to Sheila teaching at a Jewish Mindfulness retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (6/25/09) [http://dharmaseed.org/retreats/836].
Jan 12, 2010 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg for a meditation on, and exploration of, what it means to experience life as b’tzelem Elohim – created in the divine image. We return to the beginning, to where it all starts, Chapter 1 of Genesis; recognizing that there can be no liberation from bondage without the affirmation of the inherent dignity of the human being. This understanding is articulated in this verse – And God created Adam b’tzalmo – in God’s image, male and female, the one being was created in the divine image. This might be the most important text in Torah. This might be the root core out of which all else emerges. What does it mean? What does it mean to you?
Oct 1, 2009 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg in contemplating Sh’ma Koleynu – Hear our voices. This is the reverse of Sh’ma Yisrael, when our plea to hear is directed to ourselves; here, Sh’ma is directed towards the source of mercy and compassion – Adonai Eloheinu. It is a communal project to ask God to hear our voices – the inchoate layers of feeling, need, hope – that join together and become our communal offering. We are asking for divine presence, love, and support. [5:52]
Sep 14, 2009 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg in this series of short podcasts in preparation for the High Holy Days.
“Achat Sha’alti me’eit Adonai, otah avakeish; shivti b’veit Adonai kol y’mei chayai, lachazot b’noam Adonai ulvakeir b’heichalo. One thing I ask of Adonai, for this do I yearn: to dwell in the house of Adonai all the days of my life, to see the goodness of Adonai and to visit God’s sanctuary.” (more…)
Aug 18, 2009 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Jonathan Slater for a discussion of the practice of engaging in and maintaining a spiritual practice; whether prayer, meditation or yoga. Throughout the latter part of the summer and into the fall we read through the book of Deuteronomy/Devarim, where Moses is speaking to the children of Israel, preparing them for entry into the land of Israel and their life there, warning them of the dangers that they will face once they are settled; how difficult it will be to maintain a spiritual awareness, a clarity of mind, once they are settled and prospering. Moses is also speaking to us – addressing the difficulties that we have in maintaining a spiritual practice, in remaining connected to our own lives, moment to moment; living this moment as it is, just as it is, just as we are. In this time of preparation for the High Holy Days, we engage again in spiritual practice and turn our hearts to the Holy One, to our truth, to the truth of our lives, so we can live honestly, lovingly, and righteously in the present moment, and ask those essential questions in our lives – who are we now? who are we to become? (10:05)
Jun 5, 2009 | Podcasts
Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg for this meditation on shalom. Every day is a good day to pray for shalom. Our most important prayers are sealed with the prayer for shalom – Birkat Hamazon, the Amidah, the priestly blessing. We make our best efforts to work for peace in the world. You are invited to welcome peace, shalom, to enter your body, heart, and mind. This is a meditation for shalom, a prayer from shalom – it moves from the inside to the outside. Shalom is vast and open, receptive, spacious, it does not grab; it holds everything. Invite rest, peace, shalom, into your body, and into your life.
May 12, 2009 | Podcasts
As we approach Shavuot, explore the physical experience of revelation with Rabbi Myriam Klotz. What is the embodied, sensory, experience of a moment of revelation of the sacred in the world?
With the season, we return to the Biblical moment of divine revelation through the gift of the Torah – a kinetic and dynamic moment – standing at Sinai the people saw the voices of divine revelation – all at once, an each in their own way, depending on their capacity.
In this embodied meditation, you are invited you to explore your own sense of standing, and of hearing. To simply stand, to just be aware of your hearing, of your sensing, is an invitation to experiencing the truth of this body, at this moment, right now – that allows us to be alert and awake to the divine mystery of being. Use this practice to attune to a deep listening to the inner movements of your unique spirit.
Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the gift of Torah, begins on Saturday night. The Torah itself describes this occasion as being accompanied by dramatic and terrifying noise and spectacle: thunder, long shofar blasts, earthquake, fire and smoke. As I type this, I am listening to the honks and sirens on Seventh Avenue far below, and I wonder: if Mt. Sinai were in New York City, would anyone notice if God started proclaiming?