Mindful Fall Holidays

Mindful Fall Holidays

Jul 28, 2026

Mindful Fall Holidays

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot

September  9 – 23, 2026

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Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell and Rebecca Schisler

3 consecutive Wednesday evenings, September  9 – 23, 2026

Rosh Hashanah, Wed Sept 9, 7:30-8:30pm ET (Jordan)

Yom Kippur , Wed Sept 16, 7:30-8:30pm ET (Jordan)

Sukkot, Wed Sept 23, 7:30-8:30pm ET (Rebecca)

Course at a Glance

Enhance your holiday experience through a Jewish mindfulness lens. In this new, rolling series of workshops on the Jewish holidays, we will learn about the traditional and contemporary rituals and practices associated with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Accessible to all backgrounds with no Hebrew required, this course will help you transform traditional practices into accessible tools for spiritual growth, self-reflection, and presence.

Course Overview

“There is a season for everything…” (Eccl. 3:1)
Jewish tradition affirms that our system of holidays is an opportunity for spiritual growth and cultivation. In this new, rolling series of workshops on the Jewish holidays, we will learn about the traditional and contemporary rituals and practices associated with each holiday, and ways to invest each ritual with mindfulness and meaning. 

 

      • Rosh Hashanah: How do we wake up to our lives? What controls us? How do we change direction and recalibrate how we are living?
      • Yom Kippur: A time for deep truth, love, and courage as we face our mortality and seek forgiveness.
      • Sukkot: In a world of change and imperfection, let us inhabit our lives as they are and rejoice.
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Learn More About this Course from Jordan:

Curriculum

Rosh Hashanah is the “head” of the Jewish year. It is a time of shining a bright light on who we are and how we have lived and acted this past year. Jewish wisdom encourages this inner examination as part of a process of teshuvah, returning and recalibrating our lives to be more in sync with our highest sense for who we can be. In our session, we will touch upon the major themes and practices of the holiday from a mindfulness perspective, breathing new life into ancient forms.

Yom Kippur is understood to be the peak of holiness in our year calendar. It is a time of forgiveness – of self and others – and a time for refocusing on the core truths of our lives in the context of our mortality. In this session, we will unpack some of the primary themes and practices of the day, opening them up in a way so that Yom Kippur becomes a way of growing as a human being and not merely a time of religious observance.

Sukkot is, in many ways, the culmination of the High Holy Day season. It is also the most easily embodied of holidays, in which we build and then dwell in huts (sukkot) that are both protective and open. We also gather four species of plants and wave them, connecting with the natural world and the Divine as we seek to receive blessings for the new year. Sukkot is called “the time of our rejoicing”, a time of feeling the joy of life’s blessings, even as we dwell in leaky huts.

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Here’s what participants have said about our programs and faculty:

The retreat was well-organized and directed (Jordan did a great job) and the theme beautifully woven into all the instructions, talks, prayers and songs. For such a large retreat, the announcements were kept succint and not overdone–I’ve experienced the opposite on a retreat or two in the past and this was most welcome!

This retreat was transformative. The instructors’ genuine concern for each of us, their ability to treat us with unconditional positive regard, a long with their knowledge and spirituality enabled me to grow within the safety and nurturing refuge in the ark.

Also, the teachers, the rabbis, the leaders – everyone was so brilliant, had such meaningful teachings, observations – even when I thought I couldn’t take in any more, there was more that I gratefully took in. And a special thanks to Jordan, who had to negotiate all the notes on the board and address them in his humorous yet sincere fashion from the bima! The slamming doors! Thanks to you all.

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IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
Participants can register for our full year of mindful holidays at a discounted rate!
 We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

Abundance Level

$149

Register

Basic Level

$79

Register

Mindful Holidays Bundle

$184

Sign up for a full year of mindful holidays at a discounted price! This bundle includes: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Tu B’shvat, Purim, Pesach, and Shavuot.
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Meet Your Instructors:

Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell

Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell is Senior Core Faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), where he teaches Jewish mindfulness and text and directs cohort and retreat programs. Jordan began working for IJS as rabbinical student intern in 2005, and was on staff from 2011-2017, as a teacher of Jewish Mindfulness, leading retreats, and as Director of the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. Jordan also taught meditation to rabbis and cantors through IJS’ Clergy Leadership Program.

Currently at IJS, Jordan focuses on teaching Jewish mindfulness and text, planning and directing retreats, and leading the development of a new training program for advanced teachers of Jewish mindfulness.Jordan will also continue to share his expertise through online courses and on retreats, fostering mindful engagement with Jewish wisdom and tradition.

Rebecca Schisler

Rebecca is a meditation teacher, artist, and Jewish educator. A devoted contemplative practitioner, she has led groups and taught classes and retreats with Or HaLev, Wilderness Torah, Pardes, Stanford School of Medicine, Urban Adamah, Hamakom, and the Awakened Heart Project. She was previously the Director of Student Health & Well-being at Stanford University’s Hillel, and co-authored the Mahloket Matters Schools Curriculum with the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. A student rabbi at ALEPH, Rebecca is passionate about integrating ancestral wisdom traditions with innovative approaches to personal and collective healing and liberation. She teaches Jewish spirituality as an embodied, holistic, and accessible path, with relevant and timely wisdom for all. Rebecca currently lives in the California Bay Area, where she maintains a lively studio art practice as the artist-in-residence at the JCC East Bay, loves to host Jewish gatherings of all kinds, and tries to lose herself among her neighboring redwood trees as much as possible.
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Text Study 5787

Text Study 5787

Jul 27, 2026

Text Study 5787

Deepen Your Experience with Torah

Full Year Programs Begin October 4, 2026

Studying and interpreting Torah is one of Judaism’s oldest and richest forms of spiritual practice. At IJS, we approach text study holistically – both as an intellectual experience and as an opportunity for experiential, heart-centered, practice-based spiritual growth and development. This year, we bring you two new text study streams with extraordinary Torah teachers, both of whom provide rich material for contemplative study. 

For All Learners

The Poetry of Torah

Searching for the Sacred in the Weekly Portion

with Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

This course offers a contemplative approach to Jewish spirituality, grounded in the weekly Parshah, ancient and modern poetry, and daily life. Explore the poetry of Torah through Midrash and mystical texts, integrating learning through creative journaling, personal practices, and traditional chevruta discussion.

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For Seasoned Learners

The Illuminated Path

Living Torah with the Me’or Einayim

with Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein

Journey through the annual Torah cycle with the radical, practical Hasidic teachings of the Me’or Einayim (The Light of the Eyes). Blending Jewish mysticism with mindfulness, this text study course transforms deep spiritual wisdom into daily practices that cultivate self-awareness, compassion, resilience, and a profound connection to the Infinite Mystery.

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These programs will support you in finding personal meaning, expanding your spiritual awareness, and deepening your inner life and mindfulness practice. We encourage you to sign-up for a chevruta/study partner or take the course with a friend in order to deepen your learning and practice.

Bring the transformative light of Torah and Hasidic wisdom into your daily life.

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For All Learners

The Poetry of Torah

Searching for the Sacred in the Weekly Portion

with Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Monthly Live Sessions will be held on Thursdays from 11:00 AM-12:15 PM ET on the following dates:

2026: November 12, December 10

2027: January 14, February 18, March 18, April 15, May 20, June 17, July 15, August 12, September 16, October 14

Course Description

Our sages tell us that Torah is written in black fire on white fire. The black fire is the ink, the white fire is the page; the black fire is the words, the white fire the surrounding space of endless possibility. While Torah is often treated as prose and understood in prosaic ways, a tradition teaches that all of Torah is to be understood as poetry. Combining mindfulness practices with poetry both ancient and new, we’ll explore the metaphoric, symbolic approach of Torah as poetry, turning and turning Torah to see her (and ourselves) in a new light, cultivating our ability to hear the kol demamah dakah, the “thin murmuring Voice” at its heart. Each week will include an optional creative prompt or question to spark poetry or journaling. Suitable for beginners as well as those who have an established creative practice.

Curriculum

The curriculum for this course draws from three streams: the weekly Torah portion, the wellspring of poetry (both ancient and new), and the “Torah” of our lived daily experience.

Every week you will receive:

  • A new teaching exploring (part of) the Torah portion through the lenses of midrash (interpretive story), mystical texts, and other sources from Jewish tradition;
  • A poem, located in conversation with Torah. Some of these poems will be explicitly “Torah poems,” written as a way in to our sacred story. Others will be “secular” or emerging from other places. What will Torah reveal to us through the lens of the poem? What will the poem say to us when juxtaposed with Torah?
  • A creative prompt suitable for journaling practice or for responding to Torah with your own words of poetry; 
  • Instructions for personal practice and chevruta discussion that can deepen integration of learning and experience; and 

  • Access to an archive of all texts and materials from previous weeks’ teachings.

Testimonials

“Rabbi Rachel is a generous and creative teacher with a gentle and invitational presentation style. She illuminates scripture through the writings and wisdom of scholars and sages both past and present offering her own deep knowledge, personal experience, and poetry. Through her caring and genuine leadership participants feel welcomed to join Rachel on a journey to expand our understanding, explore new perspectives, and engage our imaginations.” – Cathy Warner, Greater Northwest 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation

“It is wholly worthwhile journey to deep dive into your inner world of experience and transform yourself spiritually through middot practices and learning. SO VALUABLE THANK YOU!”

“Seeing how the text can connect to mediation and embodied practices. I felt opened up to a different way of experiencing the teachings.”

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All Learners FAQ

Can I take this course if I’m not Jewish clergy?

Absolutely! Anyone is welcome, no experience with Jewish text study necessary.

How much Hebrew do I need to know to fully participate?

The weekly texts will be given in English, so one can comfortably participate without knowing Hebrew.

For Seasoned Learners

The Illuminated Path

Living Torah with the Me’or Einayim

with Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein

Monthly Live Sessions will be held on Tuesdays from 11:00 AM-12:15 PM ET on the following dates:

2026: November 3, December 1

2027: January 5, February 2, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, July 6, August 3, September 7, October 5

Course Description

Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky (1730-1797) is also known as the Me’or Einayim, ‘The Light of the Eyes,’ after the name of his book. Of all the early Chasidic masters, his teachings are among the most clear, the most radical, and the most practically applicable. In this course, we will have the privilege and joy of journeying through an entire Torah cycle with Reb Menachem as our enlightening guide, helping us to appreciate the deepest and sweetest ideas of Jewish mysticism, and learning how to integrate them into our embodied experience through practice.  

Anyone is welcome who has had experience with learning Jewish spiritual texts and practicing Jewish meditative practices. This course assumes prior knowledge of and experience with the Torah narrative, Jewish spiritual terminology, and mindfulness practice.

Curriculum

For each week’s Torah portion, we will delve into a teaching from the Me’or Einayim that illuminates our understanding of Torah and ourselves, and offers us a practice to work with.

Reb Menachem, as the name of his book suggests, was primarily concerned with the spiritual light he found within the Torah, and helping us access it in such a way that it helps us progress in every sphere of our lives – our inner, spiritual work, our relationships, and all the ways that we seek to contribute to and interact with the world.

Themes that we will explore, both intellectually and experientially, include: our relationship with ourselves, Torah, our spiritual community, and the Infinite Mystery; Teshuvah; the relationship between intellectual and emotional, embodied or intuitive ways of knowing; our unique path and role in healing and perfecting the world; the importance of our friendships; becoming and refining our vessel for the Divine; proper speech; mindful and spiritually elevating eating; and the cultivation of qualities such as self-awareness, humility, compassion and self-compassion, self-acceptance, self-empowerment, non-judgement, not-knowing and resilience.

After completing this course you may notice:

Having immersed ourselves in Reb Menachem’s luminous teachings and practice instructions for a year, we will be more attuned to, and more fluent with, the subtle spiritual currents that our mystics sensed running through the Torah itself, and all of the mitzvot – the means of connection, as Reb Menachem understands the word.

We will have a greater understanding of Jewish mysticism in general, and particularly the Chasidic project that Reb Menachem is such a helpful exemplar of in its earliest form, while it was still so raw and spiritually radical.

More than that, we will have experienced week upon week of not only learning, but practicing with and embodying Reb Menachem’s insights and guidance that came to him through the weekly Torah portion. Our very bodies and every aspect of our lives will be imbued with the light of his wisdom and the radiant Divine love that he sought to share.

Testimonials

“With Rabbi Daniel as my teacher, I’ve found personal meaning in our Jewish texts, practices that both comfort and challenge me, an inviting space to share questions and reactions and a caring community of fellow seekers. I am so grateful.” – Susan Kaplow

“Learning with Rav Daniel is a wonderful experience. In his classes he brings an extraordinary range of texts from our tradition and makes them meaningful for our lives today. His deep personal integrity, wisdom and spirituality constantly inspire me to walk the Jewish spiritual path and help me with my own awakening and development.” – Rabbi Danny Newman, Founding Partner, HaMakom

“When learning with Rav Daniel, I feel the inner peace and joy that comes with learning from a teacher who is scholarly, spiritual, and down-to-earth. I have also gleaned extremely useful tools in learning how to approach Jewish texts and tradition and how to bring meditative spiritual practice into my life, all in a loving and open-minded way.” – Shira Sacks

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Seasoned Learners FAQ

Can I take this course if I’m not Jewish clergy?

Absolutely! Anyone is welcome who has had experience with learning Jewish spiritual texts and practicing Jewish meditative practices. This course assumes prior knowledge of and experience with the Torah narrative, Jewish spiritual terminology, and mindfulness practice.

How much Hebrew do I need to know to fully participate?

The texts will be given in both Hebrew and English, so one can comfortably participate through the translations. However, a lot of the meanings we will discuss are conveyed more clearly in the original than in translation. 

I’m agnostic or atheist, or I’m allergic to theistic language in general. Is this for me?

One of the blessings that the early Chasidic masters give us is permission to restore our innocence, wonder and humility, particularly when it comes to the Divine Mystery. Everything that Reb Menachem teaches works regardless of whether we use the words “Hashem”, “The Universe”, “Life” etc.

Course Tuition

IJS is pleased to offer these courses at three tuition levels.

We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

 For All Learners:

The Poetry of Torah

$349
$299
$199

 For Seasoned Learners:

The Illuminated Path

$449
$399
$299

Meet Your Instructors

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat is a poet, a writer, a mother, a spiritual director, and a rabbi. Co-founder of Bayit: Building Jewish, a Jewish innovation incubator, she was named one of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis in 2016. She has served as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel of the Berkshires since 2011 and has blogged as the Velveteen Rabbi since 2003. Her collections of poetry include 70 faces: Torah poems and Crossing the Sea (Phoenicia) and Open My Lips and Texts to the Holy (Ben Yehuda.) She teaches at the intersection of spiritual and creative life, including for the Methodist-based Academy for Spiritual Formation. A participant in IJS’ Clergy Leadership Program, she lives and writes in western Massachusetts with her son.

Rabbi Sam Feinsmith

Daniel is a spiritual seeker, rabbi, educator, accredited Jewish meditation teacher (JMMTT) and MC/poet whose journey of healing, creativity, studying and teaching has brought him to Buddhist retreat centers, Chi Kung courses and six years of study in Orthodox yeshivot (rabbinical seminaries). Daniel lives in Israel with his family, where he directs Applied Jewish Spirituality, an online portal which makes the transformative spiritual wisdom of our tradition accessible to all who seek it (www.appliedjewishspirituality.org/).

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Rest, Return, Honor: A Shevet Day-long Virtual Mindfulness Retreat

Rest, Return, Honor: A Shevet Day-long Virtual Mindfulness Retreat

Jul 15, 2026

Rest, Return, Honor

A Shevet Day-long Virtual Mindfulness Retreat

October 25, 2026

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Alison Cohen

Sunday, October 25, 2026

11:00 AM-4:00 PM ET, live on Zoom

Retreat at a Glance

Ground your inner life after the High Holidays with our day-long virtual mindfulness retreat for adults in their 20s and 30s. Led by Alison Cohen, this gentle, accessible space weaves together sitting and walking meditation, Jewish wisdom, journaling, and embodied practice. This online retreat is a warm, inviting entry point for beginners and a welcome home for seasoned seekers. No prior experience is needed, just an openness to cultivate stillness, rest, and connection in community.

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Retreat Description

After the High Holiday season has come to a close and as the month of Cheshvan continues its unfolding, we invite our younger adult community members to join the Shevet Jewish Mindfulness Community for this virtual day-long retreat. Come together with fellow practitioners in their 20s and 30s to turn inward, supported by kehilah (community)—honoring what this sacred season has stirred in us.

Our day together will include sitting and walking meditation, wisdom teachings, and embodied practice, with optional time for sharing. Throughout the quiet of the day, with some periods of practice more silent than others, we will integrate body, mind, and heart, sow seeds of intention and compassionate awareness, and give ourselves space for stillness, reflection, and renewal.

After our day of retreat together, you may notice:

  • You feel more connected—to yourself, to others, to your practice
  • You’re more aligned with what really matters to you
  • You’re inspired to bring what you’ve experienced during our day of retreat into your life
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Curriculum

Our day will move gently between stillness and movement, teaching and silence, individual reflection and communal connection. We’ll open with our Arrival and Intention-Setting in community, grounding ourselves in the season of Cheshvan, and set kavannot (intentions) for the day.

Then the day will alternate between:

  • Guided meditations (including accessible-to-all movement practices) paired with wisdom teachings. We’ll draw from Jewish and contemplative sources, exploring themes of integration, rest, and return.
  • Space for questions and reflections in community
  • Optional journaling with prompts

We’ll close the day with Closing & Integration, naming what we’re carrying forward, honoring the day, and re-entering our lives with renewed intention.

No prior meditation or Hebrew knowledge is needed—just an openness to slowing down and being present with yourself and others.

FAQ

Do I need to keep my camera on during the retreat?

Cameras are welcome but optional—come as you are, and participate in the way that feels most supportive to you.

Is this retreat only for people already connected to Shevet, or can newcomers join?

All are welcome, whether you’re a longtime Shevet community member or joining us for the first time.

What should I have on hand to participate fully?

A quiet, comfortable space, a cushion or chair for sitting, and a journal if you’d like to write—beyond that, just yourself.

Save Your Spot!

Testimonials for our teacher, Alison Cohen:

Each Institute for Jewish Spirituality daily sit that you’ve led has touched and uplifted me in my practice. You inspired me when inspiration felt unlikely, connected with me (and, I’m sure, many others) and infused my day with both peace and joy. I thank you.

Feeling so touched by this retreat experience. I so resonated with you, your way of being, your offerings.

Your guided meditations were very helpful, especially for someone who has a hard time sitting.

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IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

Abundance Level

$99

Register

Basic Level

$55

Register

Reduced Level

$36

Register

Meet Your Instructor:

Alison (Ali) Cohen

Alison Cohen (she/her), also known as Ali, loves supporting people in strengthening their capacity to connect: with themselves, with others, and with ancient and contemporary wisdom traditions—especially Judaism and Buddhism. Her journey to practice began when she was desperate for guidance on how to compassionately navigate her tumultuous internal landscape, not to mention the world. On a young adult meditation retreat, she found what she was looking for and has practiced extensively in Buddhist (Insight Meditation) and Jewish meditation spaces ever since.

A former public high school teacher and mindfulness program director, Ali has trained with the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Brooklyn, Or HaLev, the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), Mindful Schools, and the UMass Center for Mindfulness, as well as under the guidance of several beloved teachers. She is currently participating in IJS’s Marbeh Fellowship.

Ali guides the organization Two Wings Mindfulness, teaches for IJS, and is part of the teaching team for Tara Brach’s 2026 Choosing Love program.

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Mindful Civic Engagement

Mindful Civic Engagement

Jun 25, 2026

Mindful Civic Engagement

Spiritual Qualities for Wise Response

October 15 – November 19, 2026

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Rabbi Marc Margolius and Guest Teachers:

Rabbis Sharon Brous, David Ingber, Sharon Kleinbaum, Rachel Timoner, Isaiah Rothstein, and journalist/author Yossi Klein Halevi.

6 Live Sessions, Thursdays, 2:00-3:15 PM ET
October 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19

Course at a Glance

Dive into this six-week program that uses Jewish mindfulness and the study of middot (sacred spiritual character traits) to transform stress into wise, effective civic engagement aligned with Jewish tradition. Our lineup includes some of the most notable and well-respected teachers, making this course accessible for all, from beginners to seasoned learners.

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Course Description

In turbulent, chaotic times such as these, strong emotions can push us to retreat and shut down – or to react unwisely or ineffectively. But Jewish mindfulness practice and tradition can help us stay present and respond wisely, as our better selves, even under stress. Join us to explore how Jewish spiritual practice and wisdom can help us engage the “better angels of our nature” to show up and respond more effectively to the pressing issues of our time, and more often act and speak in alignment with the highest aspects of Jewish spiritual tradition.

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Curriculum and Featured Guests

Each week will focus on a specific middah – a fundamental Jewish spiritual trait which can spur and shape our words and actions to help us stay engaged and meet this moment wisely. The program will feature weekly live sessions, each session featuring a major, distinguished Jewish spiritual teacher as a “guest expert” in that week’s middah. Rabbi Margolius will offer written materials for each weekly middah, including guided meditations, and suggestions for mindfulness practice of the middah. 

Emunah (Steadfastness): Faithfully Showing Up as Civic Engagement 

Gevurah (Strength): Setting Boundaries in Civic Engagement

Guest: Rabbi Sharon Brous, Founder and Senior Rabbi of IKAR, Los Angeles, and author of national best-seller The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World.

Guest: Rabbi David Ingber, Founder and Senior Rabbi of Romemu, and Senior Director for Jewish Life and Senior Director of the Bronfman Center at the 92d Street Y (NYC).

    Simchah (Joy): The Centrality of Joy in Civic Engagement

    Ahavah (Love): Rooting Civic Engagement in Love 

    Guest: Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Rabbi Emerita of Cong. Beit Simchat Torah (NYC) and Director, The Beacon: Shine the Light (Union Theological Seminary).

      Guest: Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Senior Rabbi, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn and author of Breath of Life: God as Spirit in Judaism.

        Emet (Truth): Staying Grounded in Truth 

        Hatmadah (Resilience): Staying the Course in Civic Engagement

        Guest: Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein, Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Advisor at Jewish Federations of North America and the Senior Rabbi at the Greenpoint Shul, Brooklyn, NY.

          Guest: Yossi Klein Halevi, journalist, best-selling author, and Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

            Save Your Spot!

            Here’s What Participants Have Told Us About How IJS Courses Transformed Their Lives

            A great relief in the discovery of a more sustainable process of letting go of the burden of uncertainty and impermanence. Thank you, Rabbi Marc and the other Rabbis of the Shofar project.

            I am so grateful to IJS! I have loved all the IJS programs I am involved with and am looking forward to a year of Torah study. The daily sits are wonderful, and I very much appreciate Rabbi Marc and also Rabbi Josh, and all the amazing teachers like Rabbi Sam who just offered an exceptional week of wisdom. I am also grateful to all the IJS staff including the tech support. 

            This was my second experience with Awareness in Action. Although I missed a few sessions due to conflicting obligations, I loved each session I attended. Rabbi Margolius is an inspired teacher. He made the learning so applicable to our lives.

            Register Now

            IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
            We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

            Abundance Level

            $349

            Register

            Basic Level

            $249

            Register

            Reduced Level

            $149

            Register

            Meet Your Instructors:

            Rabbi Marc Margolius

            Rabbi Marc Margolius serves as advisor for overall programming for IJS, and directs programming for lay leaders as well as Hevraya, the alumni of our Clergy Leadership Program. He hosts the “Daily Sit,” IJS’s online daily mindfulness meditation sessions, and teaches courses for IJS, including Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot, our online program in tikkun middot practice, integrating Jewish mindfulness with attention to core character traits.

            Previously, Marc served as rabbi at West End Synagogue in Manhattan and Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA, where he pioneered a Shabbat-centered model of congregational engagement. He developed and led the Legacy Heritage Innovation Project at the Legacy Heritage Fund from 2005-2010, an initiative to promote systemic educational change in congregations around the globe.

            Long active in social justice activism, Marc is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and of Yale Law School and lives in New York City.

            Rabbi Sharon Brous

            Sharon Brous is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a leading edge Jewish community based in Los Angeles, and author of The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World, a national bestseller.

            Brous offered the invocation at the Democratic National Convention in 2024, led the Hanukkah candle lighting with the Vice President and Second Gentleman in 2023, and the White House Passover Seder in 2021. She blessed President Biden and Vice President Harris at the Inaugural National Prayer Service in 2021, and in 2013, she blessed President Obama and Vice President Biden. She was named #1 on the Newsweek/The Daily Beast list of most influential Rabbis in America, and has been recognized by The Forward and Jerusalem Post as among the most influential Jews alive today. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, and her 2016 TED talk, “Reclaiming Religion,” has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people.

            Brous is in the inaugural cohort of Auburn Seminary‘s Senior Fellows program, which unites top faith leaders working on the frontlines for justice, she sits on the faculty of REBOOT, and serves on the International Council of the New Israel Fund and national steering committee for the Poor People’s Campaign.

            A graduate of Columbia University (both undergraduate and M.A. in Human Rights), she was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children.

            Rabbi David Ingber

            Rabbi David A. Ingber serves as the founding rabbi of Romemu, the largest Renewal synagogue in the United States and as the Senior Director of Jewish Life and the Bronfman Center at 92NY. Rabbi Ingber founded Romemu in NYC in 2006, following his ordination by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. Over the past decade plus, Romemu has grown into a weekly home for thousands of people, a growing membership of over 1,000 in its two physical locations (Manhattan and Brooklyn) and a growing online global membership. Rabbi Ingber also founded Romemu Yeshiva, the first fully egalitarian Yeshiva (immersive learning center), dedicated to mystical and meditative Jewish learning and practice.

            Raised Modern Orthodox in New York, Rabbi Ingber studied at Ramaz, Yeshiva University, Beit Midrash L’Torah, Yeshivat Chaim Berlin, and Yeshivat Chovovei Torah Rabbinical School. He also studied philosophy, psychology and religion at New York University.

            Rabbi Ingber’s distinct approach to Torah, rabbinical teaching, and ritualistic practice is informed by his own personal seeking and learning from a wide cross-section of sacred traditions and faiths. He is enlightened by Jewish mysticism and Hasidut, fusing these beliefs with those of other ancient philosophies and world views. Particular influences include 18th Century Kabbalist and Founder of Hasidut, Rabbi Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov; the great 19th Century Ishbitzer Rebbe, R. Mordechai Leiner; and leading 20th Century thinkers from Kabbalist, Rav Abraham Isaac Kook to psychologist, Carl Jung.

            Rabbi Ingber was named by Newsweek as one of the top 50 most influential rabbis in the United States as well as by The Forward as one of the 50 most newsworthy and notable Jews in America. A major 21st Century Jewish thinker and educator, his rich perspective, open heart and mind, and full-bodied approach to Jewish learning has brought him to speak worldwide. He serves on the faculty for the Wexner Heritage Program, and the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and Israel, and was an AJWS Global Justice Fellow. Rabbi Ingber has lectured extensively on the topics of spirituality, theology, Jewish mysticism, prayer, and meditation.

            Yossi Klein Halevi

            Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Together with Imam Abdullah Antepli of Duke University, he co-directs the Institute’s Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), which teaches emerging young Muslim American leaders about Judaism, Jewish identity and Israel.

            Halevi’s 2013 book, Like Dreamers, won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. His latest book, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, is a New York Times bestseller. He writes for leading op-ed pages in the US, including the Times and the Wall Street Journal, and is a former contributing editor to the New Republic.

            His 2001 book, At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew’s Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land, will be reissued in 2019 by HarperCollins.

            His first book, Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist, tells the story of his teenage years as a follower of the militant rightwing rabbi Meir Kahane, and his subsequent disillusionment with Jewish radicalism. The New York Times called it “a book of burning importance.”

            In 2013 he was a visiting professor of Israel Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and served as a writer in residence at the University of Illinois. He was a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem from 2004 until 2010. Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Israel in 1982, and lives in Jerusalem with wife, Sarah, who helps run a center for Jewish meditation.

            Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

            Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum served for 32 years as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City, the largest LGBTQ+ synagogue in the world — for people of all sexual identities and genders — where she is now Senior Rabbi Emerita. Rabbi Kleinbaum was installed as CBST’s first rabbi in 1992, arriving at the height of the AIDS crisis when the synagogue was in desperate need of pastoral care and spiritual leadership.

            Rabbi Kleinbaum guided the CBST congregation through loss and change while addressing social issues and building a strong and deeply spiritual community. Under her leadership, CBST became a powerful voice in the movement for equality and justice for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and a significant force challenging the radical right’s dominance over religious and political life in the United States and around the world.

            For many years, Rabbi Kleinbaum has been ranked by Newsweek among the 50 most influential rabbis in America. The BBC also named her one of its 100 Women of 2024. She has long been involved in the fight for human rights for all people. Rabbi Kleinbaum was appointed by President Biden as a Commissioner to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. She is a Commissioner on New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, and served on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Faith Based Advisory Council. Rabbi Kleinbaum is also a member of the Executive Committee of Governor Hochul’s Office of Faith and Non-Profit Development Services.

            Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein

            Isaiah Joseph Rothstein is the Senior Rabbi of the Greenpoint Shul and also serves as Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Advisor at the Jewish Federations of North America, where he is the founder of the Jewish Federations’ Center for Jewish Belonging. Rabbi Rothstein studied at Kushner Yeshiva High School, Lev HaTorah, Machon Lev, and Binghampton University. He received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Elchanan Isaac Theological Seminary (REITS) and a Masters of Social Work from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

            Raised in a multi-racial Chabad family from Monsey, NY, Rav Isaiah sees himself as a human bridge, connecting disparate parts of the Jewish community and America. He is a member of Rabbis Without Borders, and Schusterman Foundations’ ROI + Senior Fellowships, and has been listed in the Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36.” His writing and commentary has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, and Jewish publications across the world. When he is not serving in his rabbinic roles, Rabbi Rothstein is writing a musical about Queen Esther. 

            Rabbi Rachel Timoner

            Rabbi Rachel Timoner is grateful and proud to serve as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She is honored to stand with families at the moments of greatest joy and deepest sorrow in their lives, and she is delighted to be part of a flowering of creativity, community, learning, spirituality, and action at CBE.

            Her initiatives in recent years include a weekly class designed to get to the heart and meaning of the prayer experience, a rabbinic conversation on antisemitism, a study series on systemic racism in America, a weekly class about peoplehood and nationalism, a sukkah about the refugee experience, a dialogue and study series on Israel, a revival of CBE’s youth group, a partnership with Antioch Baptist Church to address racism and antisemitism in Brooklyn, and a Dismantling Racism Team which was part of the successful campaigns to Raise the Age of criminal responsibility and to win bail reform in the State of New York. She helped to launch RAC-NY and Reform California, two statewide efforts to bring Reform Jewish values to bear on core issues of our times, such as immigration, affordable housing, and racial profiling. In November 2016, Rabbi Timoner, in cooperation with City Councilmember Brad Lander, co-founded #GetOrganizedBK in CBE’s sanctuary, so that over the next two years, ten thousand Brooklyn neighbors came together to resist autocracy and protect human rights. In May 2022, she gathered 55 women rabbis of all denominations to meet with the mayor to change the face of Jewish leadership in New York. On any given Shabbat, you’ll find Rabbi Timoner speaking about our purpose as Jews and human beings, the moral challenges of our times, the ways we need each other, and awakening to the spiritual aspect of our lives.

            From 2009 to 2015, Rabbi Timoner served as Associate Rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles, where she was a teacher of Torah and helped to develop the Shabbat Morning Minyan, Community of Elders, Spirituality Workshop, and Community Organizing Leadership Team that took on public transportation and economic justice.

            Previously, Rabbi Timoner raised funds to rebuild the San Francisco Women’s Building; worked to mitigate the harm of welfare reform in California; and founded two leadership programs and a peer hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth.

            She is a graduate of Yale University, received s’micha from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and was a Rockefeller Next Generation Leadership Fellow and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Rabbi Timoner serves on the board of the New York Jewish Agenda, the Brooklyn Community Foundation, the New York Board of Rabbis, the UJA-Federation of New York, Plaza Community Chapel, and the International Council of the New Israel Fund. She is a T’ruah chavera and is a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership Program and the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. She is the author of Breath of Life: God as Spirit in Judaism.

            Click Here to Register Now

            Awakening Shabbat: Fundamentals of Mindful Jewish Living

            Awakening Shabbat: Fundamentals of Mindful Jewish Living

            Jun 25, 2026

            Awakening Shabbat

            Fundamentals of Mindful Jewish Living

            October 14 – November 4, 2026

            Register Now

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell

            4 Live Sessions:
            Wednesdays, 2:00-3:15pm ET
            October 14, 21, 28, November 4 

            Course at a Glance

            This four-session course explores the spiritual foundations of Shabbat, including candle lighting, blessings, and Havdalah. Transform your routine Shabbat rituals into a grounded, life-giving mindfulness practice that focuses on oneg (joy) and menuchah (rest). Accessible to all observance levels, this series offers practical tools to cultivate deep presence, calm, and a weekly sanctuary for human thriving.

            Click Here to Register Now

            Check out this Video Preview

            Course Description

            Shabbat is more than a day off—it is a sanctuary in time in which we connect with a feeling of at-homeness and wholeness. Join us to discover (or rediscover!) this ancient tradition through a Jewish mindfulness perspective, transforming abstract or routine rituals into a grounded, life-giving experience. Whether you are a lifelong practitioner or new to Jewish tradition, this course offers the tools to breathe new life into your week. Together, we will explore how the wisdom of Shabbat can foster the deep presence and calm necessary for our human thriving. Sessions will focus on candle lighting, Kiddush and blessings at home, Havdalah, and the inner Shabbat experiences of joy and rest. This course is less about traditional “rules” and more about using Shabbat as a way to cultivate a deeper experience of life, no matter your level of observance.

            After completing this course, you may notice…

            • You’ve begun a meaningful practice of Shabbat.
            • You’ve enhanced the spiritual and personal meaning of your existing Shabbat practice
            • Shabbat has come alive for you, becoming a truly meaningful and important element of your life.
            • You are more connected to a reality of wholeness and “at homeness.”

             

            Sign Up Today

            Curriculum

            In this course, we will learn about traditional components of Shabbat practice from the perspective of a mindfulness practice. We will unpack the forms and prayers of Shabbat in a way that will shine a light on our human experience and open a doorway into an accessible and life affirming practice. This approach can work well whether you are already Shabbat observant in any way, or if it is all new to you.

            Our four sessions will focus on:

            The overall spiritual experience of shabbat from a mindfulness perspective, with a focus on oneg (joy) and menuchah (rest). 

            Candle lighting, blessing loved ones, kiddush, motzi, bensching.

            Shabbat prayer and home practices.

            Havdalah; bringing Shabbat into the week.

            Here’s What Participants Have Told Us About How IJS Courses Transformed Their Lives

            There is an abundance of light to tap into in our Jewish heritage. Spiritually, religiously and interpersonally each time we connect with another person, in each teaching we are given and in the quiet moments in between there may be something precious. This course reminded me to stay open to whatever comes, and to take notice of what arises and stay in the moment.

            I have access to levels of awareness in myself that I didn’t really know about and therefore hope for a life informed by awareness and connection to the divine.

            Register Now

            Register Now

            IJS is pleased to offer this course at two tuition levels.
            We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

            Abundance Level

            $199

            Register

            Basic Level

            $99

            Register

            Meet Your Instructor:

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell is Senior Core Faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), where he teaches Jewish mindfulness and text and directs cohort and retreat programs. Jordan began working for IJS as rabbinical student intern in 2005, and was on staff from 2011-2017, as a teacher of Jewish Mindfulness, leading retreats, and as Director of the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. Jordan also taught meditation to rabbis and cantors through IJS’ Clergy Leadership Program.

            Currently at IJS, Jordan focuses on teaching Jewish mindfulness and text, planning and directing retreats, and leading the development of a new training program for advanced teachers of Jewish mindfulness.Jordan will also continue to share his expertise through online courses and on retreats, fostering mindful engagement with Jewish wisdom and tradition.

            Click Here to Register Now

            Refuge in the Ark: A Jewish Mindfulness Retreat

            Refuge in the Ark: A Jewish Mindfulness Retreat

            Dec 10, 2025

            Refuge in the Ark:

            A Jewish Mindfulness Retreat

            Sunday, November 15 – Thursday, November 19, 2026

            Garrison Institute, Garrison, NY

            Click Here to Register Now

            When the seas of our lives are especially chaotic, it can be healthy to take temporary refuge in a sheltered place — like Noah did in the biblical ark. Once removed from the storm, we can connect deeply with a sense of newness and hope, feeling restored and strengthened. After this kind of retreat, we’re able to return to our lives with greater clarity and wisdom to respond to the realities of the world around us.

            The IJS community will create our own ark of calm connection this fall,

            and we hope you will join us.

            This mostly silent, Jewish mindfulness meditation retreat will be at the serene Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY. Our retreat will be led by IJS faculty and other experienced, beloved instructors. Over five days, we will focus on deepening our practice through silent meditation enhanced with Jewish teachings, meditation instructions, mindful prayer, and yoga/embodied practice. We will use silence as a tool to deepen our sense of calm, safety, and spiritual development, following Rav Shimon Ben Gamliel’s teaching: “I have found nothing better for a person than silence” (Pirkei Avot 1:17).

            Mornings on retreat will include two tracks — one for those newer to Jewish mindfulness meditation (including those who are new to retreats) and one for those with more experience. These tracks will offer different length meditation periods and tailored instructions. There will also be opportunities to mindfully explore the beautiful grounds and forested trails of the Garrison Institute.

            *Please note: Part of the power of retreat at the Garrison Institute comes from its long history as a monastery and practice center. And, this historical building is limited in accessibility. While our meditation and meals will be on the first floor, there is limited accessible housing on the first floor and no elevator to upper floors. Please be in touch with us if you have any questions about accessibility on this retreat.

            Our instructors will include Senior Core Faculty Rabbis Jordan Bendat-Appell, Sam Feinsmith, Miriam Margles and Marc Margolius, Program Faculty Cantor Lizzie Shammash, and Core Faculty Rebecca Schisler.

            This retreat is open to all participants 18+, and all experience levels. This retreat will be held mostly in social silence, except for opening and closing meals, Q&A, communal prayer, and one-on-one sessions with instructors. See FAQs below for more information.

            Retreat Costs and Financial Support

            We want to help ensure that the cost of enrollment is not a barrier to participation. A limited amount of financial assistance is available upon request. Please request financial support using this form.

            Single Room

            $2,200

            Shared Double

            $1,800

            Single for Health Reasons

            $1,800

            Commuter

            $900

            Registration Lottery

            This year, we will be admitting registrants to the retreat using a lottery system. Last year’s retreat filled up quickly, catching many potential registrants off-guard. Although ultimately almost everyone who wished to attend was able to, we felt adjustments would be beneficial.

            We are changing to a lottery this year to help decrease anxiety around registration and to allow sufficient time to register for those new to IJS or to this retreat. A registration lottery also enables IJS to distribute our limited financial support more equitably to those requiring it in order to attend.

            We will inform everyone who signs up if they are able to attend the retreat by Friday, August 21, 2026. More details on the registration process can be found on the registration page. 

            Register Today

            Sample Daily Schedule

            6:45         Sitting Meditation (or personal prayer)

            7:15         Shacharit / Morning Prayers / Chanting

            8:15         Breakfast 

            9:15         Tracks 1 and 2: Meditation with Instruction

            12:00       Lunch

            1:45         Sitting Meditation

            2:15         Walking Meditation

            3:00         Q&A and Sitting Meditation

            3:45         Yoga, Embodied Practice or Outdoor Walk

            5:00         Sitting Meditation / Mincha / Afternoon Prayers

            5:30         Dinner 

            7:00         Evening Teaching

            8:00         Walking Meditation

            8:30         Sitting Meditation and Ma’ariv / Evening Prayers

            Frequently Asked Questions

            Is this retreat for me?

            This retreat is open to beginner and more advanced students alike. We will have two tracks for the morning practice to help support both of these groups. If you have never meditated on a retreat before, you are welcome! Our practice guidance will be both accessible and deep.

            We also strive to make this retreat inclusive for all bodies through ensuring the availability of gender neutral bathrooms and chairs without arms. Please note below information about accessible housing. If there are additional ways that we can support your sense of belonging during this retreat, please reach out to us.

            Meditation is contra-indicated to some mental health conditions. If you are not sure whether retreat is right for you at this time, please contact us at support@jewishspirituality.org.

            How is silence practiced on this retreat?

            Shortly after our opening program and dinner on the first day, we will enter into what we call “social silence.” We see this as a warm, loving silence, in the presence of others, that helps us be more fully present. This silence will continue until the closing program of the retreat.

            We are inviting you to not speak with other participants, check your phone/email, or otherwise “exit” the silence for the duration of each day. This enables you to slow down, sink deeply into the practices, and truly “re-source” yourself in the spaciousness of the silence.

            You will have the chance to ask questions of the faculty after instructional periods, in small groups, and during designated Q&A periods throughout the day. We will also be chanting and singing/praying together each day.

            How will we be observing Jewish tradition?

            Our retreat is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, and you are welcome to participate regardless of your background. All Hebrew terms will be translated and explained. Our Jewish practice will be egalitarian and contemplative, and will include singing, prayer, and embodied practice.

            We will be engaging in prayer as a full group, and there will be time built into the schedule for participants to engage in their personal prayer practice as well. There will be an opportunity to say the Mourner’s Kaddish three times every day.

            Our retreat will be kosher, according to IJS Kashrut Standards.

            Food on Retreat

            A sensory highlight of this retreat will be the healthy and delicious gourmet food served by the Garrison Institute. Our menu will be vegetarian — with vegan, dairy, and fish options. We will be kashering the Garrison kitchen and working with their kitchen team to offer kosher food according to IJS Kashrut Standards. When registering, you will have the opportunity to let us know about any dietary restrictions you may have.

             

            Accessibility & Accommodations

            • Wheelchair/Scooter Access: First floor rooms are accessible, including dining and meeting spaces. The building entry is via a ramp at the main entrance. The dining hall uses a temporary metal ramp to bypass a few entrance stairs.
            • ADA-Compliant Rooms: There are two double ADA-compliant wheelchair accessible rooms and one single ADA-compliant wheelchair accessible room on the first floor with a semi-private shared ADA-compliant bathroom between them.
            • Bathroom for Accessible Rooms: The three ADA-compliant wheelchair accessible rooms share one semi-private bathroom (single toilet and shower stall). Private signage prevents other guests from using it.
            Save Your Spot

            Retreat Faculty

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell is Senior Core Faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), where he teaches Jewish mindfulness and text and directs cohort and retreat programs. Jordan began working for IJS as rabbinical student intern in 2005, and was on staff from 2011-2017, as a teacher of Jewish Mindfulness, leading retreats, and as Director of the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. Jordan also taught meditation to rabbis and cantors through IJS’ Clergy Leadership Program.

            Currently at IJS, Jordan focuses on teaching Jewish mindfulness and text, planning and directing retreats, and leading the development of a new training program for advanced teachers of Jewish mindfulness.Jordan will also continue to share his expertise through online courses and on retreats, fostering mindful engagement with Jewish wisdom and tradition.

            Rabbi Sam Feinsmith

            As Senior Core Faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Sam directs the IJS Clergy Leadership Program and serves on the faculty of Gates of Awareness, a training program for aspiring teachers of Jewish mindfulness meditation. He is one of two lead teachers for our online course on the fundamentals of Jewish mindfulness meditation, The Gift of Awareness, and has written the IJS year-long Hasidic text study offering for a number of years running. After close to fifteen years teaching contemplative practices grounded in mindfulness to teens and educators, Sam originally came on board at IJS to develop and direct the Educating for a Jewish Spiritual Life Program, which brought these practices to hundreds of Jewish day- and religious-school educators and their students.

            Rabbi Miriam Margles

            Miriam has a long and rich association with IJS, having taught on various retreats and programs over the years. She joins the Institute as a Senior Core Faculty after over a decade as the rabbi of the Danforth Jewish Circle in Toronto. She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and the Jerusalem Fellows at the Mandel Leadership Institute. Miriam as a founding faculty member at the Romemu Yeshiva, serving as a fellow with the Rising Song Institute, co-founding Encounter – the award-winning educational program working toward informed, courageous and resilient Jewish leadership on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and recording her original Jewish music with the Hadar Rising Song ensemble.

            Rabbi Marc Margolius

            Rabbi Marc Margolius serves as advisor for overall programming for IJS, and directs programming for lay leaders as well as Hevraya, the alumni of our Clergy Leadership Program. He hosts the “Daily Sit,” IJS’s online daily mindfulness meditation sessions, and teaches courses for IJS, including Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot, our online program in tikkun middot practice, integrating Jewish mindfulness with attention to core middot, character traits.

            Previously, Marc served as rabbi at West End Synagogue in Manhattan and Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA, where he pioneered a Shabbat-centered model of congregational engagement. He developed and led the Legacy Heritage Innovation Project at the Legacy Heritage Fund from 2005-2010, an initiative to promote systemic educational change in congregations around the globe.

            Long active in social justice activism, Marc is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and of Yale Law School and lives in New York City.

            Cantor Lizzie Shammash

            Cantor Lizzie Shammash’s first career as an opera singer brought her to Iyengar and Kripalu Yoga studies. She completed teacher training at Om Yoga with Cyndi Lee and continued her studies in pranayama, restorative and prenatal yoga. After graduating from Jewish Theological Seminary, Lizzie’s love of yoga and Judaism found their authentic fusion through studies with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality where she currently serves as a faculty member teaching yoga and mindfulness to rabbis and cantors. She leads yoga and contemplative prayer inspired by the Jewish calendar nationally for synagogue communities. Lizzie is passionate about helping others bring Judaism into the body, voice, and heart—through both methodical and creative embodied practice—and she lives in Philadelphia, where she has served two congregations. 

            Rebecca Schisler

            Rebecca is a core faculty member at IJS, where she directs young adult programming and created and steers the Shevet Jewish Mindfulness Community, a space for folks in or near their twenties and thirties to dive deep into Jewish spirituality and mindfulness practice in online and virtual spaces. Additionally, she creates and curates content for IJS social media and frequently teaches on retreats and multi-week online programs.

            Rebecca is honored to serve on this faculty after years of leading groups and teaching classes and retreats with Or HaLev, Pardes, Wilderness Torah, Stanford School of Medicine, Hillel at Stanford, Urban Adamah, Hamakom, and the Awakened Heart Project. A student rabbi at ALEPH, Rebecca is passionate about integrating ancestral wisdom traditions with innovative approaches to personal and collective healing and liberation. She teaches Jewish spirituality as an embodied, holistic, and accessible path, with relevant and timely wisdom for all.

            Join Us!

            The Gift of Awareness

            The Gift of Awareness

            Jul 28, 2025

            The Gift of Awareness

            Cultivating Mindfulness Through Jewish Meditation

            REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

            Discover the Jewish Practice That Wakes You Up to the Magic and Meaning of Your Life

            When is the last time you remember being fully present – not worrying about the past or anxiously planning for the future – just available to appreciate all the goodness of the moment?

            It’s probably easier to recall the last time you arrived at work and then didn’t remember driving there. Or finishing a meal not having tasted a single bite.

            Or being so preoccupied during a conversation with a friend, spouse or co-worker that you couldn’t really listen to them or remember anything they said.

            If so, you’re not alone.

            Today most of us regularly experience being so lost in our thoughts, distracted on our phones, and caught-up in our never-ending to-do lists that we aren’t really experiencing our lives in the present moment.

            We have a tendency to think – and our culture reinforces – that doing more and achieving more is what will bring our lives into alignment with our core values and what matters most to us.

            Access a More Relaxed, Restorative Way of Being That Offers a Deeper and More Meaningful Life Experience

            You Can Start with Just 5 Minutes a Day

            You may already recognize that you need some support managing your stress, being more present, reinvigorating your connection to Judaism, and skillfully navigating the challenges in your life and in the world.

            You’ve likely heard mindfulness is helping others, but may not have figured out how to make it work for you. And you may not realize that you can practice mindfulness within a Jewish context . . . in a way that makes mindfulness accessible, familiar and perhaps even more meaningful to you—in addition to potentially creating new and possibly unexpected connections to Judaism itself.

            That’s why the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, a global leader in teaching Jewish mindfulness and spiritual practices, has created The Gift of Awareness: Cultivating Mindfulness Through Jewish Meditation a first-of-its-kind, self-paced, online Jewish meditation course that offers new access to expanded awareness to support you in becoming more consistently who you want to be in the world . . . all from the comfort and convenience of your own home.

            Here’s how it works . . . during The Gift of Awareness, mindfulness educators Rabbi Sam Feinsmith and Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell will expertly guide you each step of the way through establishing a Jewish mindfulness meditation practice that can support you in:

            • Showing up non-reactively in your life
            • Finding ways to deal skillfully with your inner critic
            • Finding an anchor of peace and positivity in stressful situations
            • Reawakening or deepening your connection to Judaism
            • Being a powerful example of resiliency, empathy and connection in your life and in the world

            With regular practice – even for just 5 minutes a day – you can gain access to an inner refuge or sanctuary that you can take with you wherever you go . . .

            So that no matter the circumstances you may find yourself in, no matter how stressful and strenuous your responsibilities may become, you can always discern a subtle quality of awareness hovering in the backdrop and permeating your experience of body, heart, mind and world.

            Here’s What People Who’ve Established a Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Practice Tell Us About How It’s Transformed Their Lives

            “Before I came to IJS and took the course, I thought my yoga meditation that I practiced before classes was all that there was to meditation. During the course, I experienced a deeper inner look into myself and was surprised that feelings of loss that I had suppressed surfaced. Now that I’ve experienced The Gift of Awareness, my life is calmer and I realize that I can live at a bit of a slower pace, be more aware and present, be a better listener, and still get the things done that matter to me.”

            Marlene Aron

            “IJS has changed my life. I know it sounds dramatic. But I want everyone to know what I now know – our Jewish Hassidic wisdom has deepened my prayer, my meditation and my mindset. Even more essentially, because of IJS I have changed the way I speak to myself, which has changed everything.”

            Aliza Kline

            “Jewish spiritual practice has made me so much more spiritually alive. It inspired me. Refreshed me. Many of us go to yoga, meditate and are looking for spiritual practices to help us in our lives. What I didn’t know is that I could do all of that within the context of Jewish prayer and tradition—and that it would be so much more meaningful as a result.”

            Rabbi Rachel Timoner

            The Gift of Awareness
            A Session-by-Session Course Overview

            Here’s a closer look at everything you’ll cover:

            Every module is between 30 and 45 minutes in length, and includes:

            • Video teachings with Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell
            • A text study with Rabbi Sam Feinsmith
            • A guided meditation
            • A mindful life practice
            • Reflection questions and discussion forums
            • A supplemental handout

            Each session builds on the next so that you feel relaxed, inspired, and confident in each new skill before moving onto the next.

            Module One:

            Waking Up to Your Life
            From Automatic Pilot to Intention

            Module Two:

            Strengthening Attention
            From Distracted to Present  

            Module Three:

            Listening to Your Body 
            From Thinking to Sensing

            Once you have finished the first three modules you may notice . . .

            • You’ve begun moving through your life more intentionally, instead of being on automatic pilot
            • You find it easier to anchor your attention to be more present
            • You’ve become better able to notice your mental habits and unsupportive thought patterns that habitually move you into reactivity and away from feeling calm and centered.

            Module Four:

            Turning Towards the Stream of Your Emotions
            From Reactivity to Responsiveness

            Module Five:

            Working with Difficult Emotions
            From Avoidance to Approaching

            Once you have finished Modules Four and Five you may notice . . .

            • You’re better able to identify emotions in your body, such as “Oh, I must be feeling sadness because there’s sensation in the pit of my stomach” or “My face is flushing, which means I’m feeling angry.”
            • You’re more in tune with your emotions and able to know precisely what you’re feeling moment by moment, instead of having only a vague sense of ease or uneasiness.
            • You’re more able to cultivate non-judgemental attention to your own emotions, allowing you to be more responsive instead of getting stuck in emotionality and reactivity.

            Module Six:

            Befriending Your Own Mind
            From Conviction to Curiosity

            Module Seven:

            Cultivating Your Loving Heart
            From Judgment to Compassion

            Module Eight:

            Resting in Shabbat Mind™
            From Doing to Being

            Once you have finished Module Six you may notice . . .

            • You’re more able to be the observer of your thoughts and the student of your habits instead of believing those thoughts and habits are what define you.
            • As you realize more clearly that you’re not actually your thoughts and mental habits, you become more in touch with who you really are.

            Once you have finished Module Seven you may notice . . .

            • You’re better able to cultivate loving emotions when you need them — the kind of emotions that open the heart and leave the mind feeling spacious and connected.
            • You’re better able to skillfully handle emotions (like anger) that distort your ability to see clearly.

            Once you have finished Module Eight you may notice . . .

            • You’re better able to de-stress, regulate and strengthen your attention, and practice emotional self-regulation.
            • You feel more resourced, restored and supported as you do your work and live your life.
            • You’re able to meet others (and yourself) with a deeper quality of love, compassion and acceptance.
            • You have access in any moment to what Shabbat represents — peaceful awareness that you need to do nothing else or be anywhere else.
            • That practice grounded in Jewish wisdom has changed your relationship with Judaism and possibly even God.

            Course Materials and Resources

            When you register, you’ll get access to everything you need to take full advantage of the self-paced course, including:

            • 8 self-paced video teaching sessions, guided meditation “practices” and reflection questions – that you can access anywhere, anytime from your computer or mobile device.
            • Downloadable handouts for each module – so you can reference these powerful teachings anytime.
            • An online meditation timer you can load with your favorite guided meditations from the course – so you can practice them again and again.
            • 8 “Mindful Life” practices – designed to help you integrate the course teachings into your everyday life.
            • A personal online journal – your own personal space to record your reflections.

            The Gift of Awareness

            Course Tuition

            $249

            Purchase to get access to everything you need
            to take full advantage of this self-paced course

            Register Now

            About Rabbi Sam Feinsmith

            As Senior Core Faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Rabbi Sam Feinsmith directs the Clergy Leadership Program and teaches on the faculty of a variety of IJS programs. Previously, he taught Judaic Studies at Chicagoland Jewish High School, Illinois, and the Heschel School in NY, where he spearheaded initiatives to foster teen spirituality, mindfulness, and wellness. He is a co-founder of Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning, a center for contemplative Jewish learning and living. He served as a Kol Tzedek Fellow for American Jewish World Service, volunteering in Cambodia with their Volunteer Corps.

            About Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell

            Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell is a teacher of Jewish mindfulness and has spent years leading retreats and immersive experiences for adults in various settings through the National Ramah Commission, Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning, and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Jordan was the founding Director of Ramah Beyond and was Director of Camp Ramah in Canada from 2019-2022. Previously, he worked for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS) as a teacher of Jewish Mindfulness and as Director of the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. Jordan also taught meditation to rabbis and cantors through IJS’ Clergy Leadership Program. After being ordained in 2008, Jordan served as a congregational rabbi outside of Chicago and co-founded Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning. Jordan is a recipient of the 2014 Covenant Foundation Pomegranate Prize. He and his wife Yael live in Toronto and are the proud and grateful parents of three.

            About the Institute for Jewish Spirituality

            Since 1999, IJS has been a leader in teaching traditional and contemporary Jewish spiritual practices that cultivate mindfulness so that each of us might act with enriched wisdom, clarity, and compassion. These practices, grounded in Jewish values and thought, enable participants to develop important skills while strengthening leadership capacities, deepening their inner lives, and connecting more meaningfully with others, Judaism, and the sacred. As a non-profit organization, IJS is able to provide programming and resources to the community thanks to the generosity of our donors.

            Awareness in Action

            Awareness in Action

            Jul 28, 2025

            Awareness in Action

            Cultivating Character Through Mindfulness and Middot

            Registration Now Open

            Click Here to Register Now

            Learn The Jewish Spiritual Practice

            That Helps You Show Up More Often as Your “Best Self”

            In challenging times like these—marked by political turbulence, rising antisemitism, war, and the climate crisis—we all can be reactive and defensive rather than our best selves. Flooded by our emotions, too often we may regret our words and actions, wishing we might have paused and responded more wisely.

            Judaism has a spiritual practice specifically for times like these: tikkun middot, an ancient Jewish practice for developing desirable character traits and aligning our actions with our most deeply held values. Tikkun middot practice integrates basic principles of Jewish mindfulness with close attention to essential character or “soul” traits like loving connection, humility, gratitude, and the discipline to set wise boundaries. Each of us possesses these traits, but our innate spiritual and ethical qualities can become blocked, causing us to behave in ways that miss the mark.

            The Institute for Jewish Spirituality invites you to join Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot, a self-paced online course to help you uncover your authentic best self and be the person you wish to be.

            In this course, you’ll learn skills that can be applied in both the small and large actions of daily life: in difficult conversations, in interactions with family and friends, in traffic, and in meetings—whenever life is particularly challenging. You’ll learn to access and practice eight core character or “soul” traits (middot), each of which builds upon and integrates those that precede it:

             

              1. Loving connection (chesed)
              2. Setting wise boundaries for yourself and others (gevurah)
              3. A balanced self – taking up appropriate space and time (anavah)
              4. Energetic response – so you can get started and keep going (zerizut)
              5. Gratitude (hodayah)
              6. Righteousness – developing your capacity to do what is appropriate and just (tzedek)
              7. Mindful speech (sh’mirat hadibbur)
              8. Trustworthiness (emunah)

            Practice your soul traits to bring mindfulness practice more deeply into your life.

             

            Expert instructors Rabbi Marc Margolius and Rabbi Lisa Goldstein will guide you each step of the way to establish a tikkun middot practice that can support you in:

             

            • Growing in self-awareness and gaining better insight into your deeper motivations and habitual patterns
            • Becoming less reactive and more responsive—better able to access the innate wisdom in your body, mind, and soul
            • Developing the freedom to choose how you want to act
            • Experiencing Jewish spiritual practice as a path to personal transformation.

            Here’s what participants have told us about the difference this course made in their lives

            “I’ve heard the phrase, “living an examined life”, many times. But not until I began to participate in tikkun middot practice with IJS did I truly recognize the wisdom of this worldview, and gain the tools to put it into action. Now I am constantly surprised by how often I notice situations arising in which I apply middot to my experiences and responses. And this knowledge has a cumulative effect: the more middot I internalize, the more it enriches my life — personally, professionally, and communally.”

            Dan Kaplan

            Evanston, IL

            “Tikkun middot practice weaves Jewish wisdom through my day to day life, helping me meet situations that I used to find baffling and confusing. It may sound like hyperbole, but now that I’ve been practicing regularly, I experience miracles everywhere. Consistently, no matter what presents as a challenge in my life — from the simplest irritants to the most triggering situations — this practice helps me regulate my internal chaos and remember that my awareness is within me, a light that never goes out.”

            Cantor Meredith Greenberg

            Montclair NJ

            Awareness in Action
            A Session-by-Session Course Overview

            Here’s a closer look at everything you’ll cover:

            Every module is between 30 and 45 minutes in length, and includes:

             

              • Video teachings and guided “real life” scenarios with Rabbi Marc Margolius, Rabbi Tamara Cohen, Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife, and Rabbi Aaron Weininger.
              • A teaching from a related Jewish text with Rabbi Lisa Goldstein
              • A professionally recorded chant and sample “focus phrases” (a reminder to practice during the day)
              • A supplemental handout with reflection and journaling questions

            Module One

            Loving Connection: Chesed
            Open up to loving connection, especially in challenging situations.

            Module Two

            Setting wise boundaries: Gevurah
            Being loving and generous—but not to the extent you are doing a disservice to family, friends, colleagues, or yourself.

            Module Three

            Centering in a balanced self: Avanah
            Taking up the right amount of space in the world—neither too much nor too little.

            Module Four

            Channeling an energetic response: Zerizut
            Accessing the energy you need to either get going—or keep going.

            Module Five

            Experiencing gratitude: Hodayah
            Accepting life on its own terms and rejoicing about what is true at this moment, just as it is.

            Module Six

            Letting Righteousness Flow: Tzedek
            Developing your capacity to do what is right and just—with compassion opening new channels through which righteousness can flow.

            Module Seven

            Mindful speech: Sh’mirat Hadibbur
            Applying mindfulness to all of your communications so that they reflect your best self.

            Module Eight

            Generating Trustworthiness: Emunah
            Consistently showing-up for yourself and others.

            Once you have finished the eight modules you may notice . . .

            • Some of the eight traits (middot) have been easier for you to incorporate into your life than others. There is plenty of time to go back and focus on the ones you found more challenging. In fact, we encourage going back through all eight.
            • You are learning which support tools are most helpful for you… is it humming a chant throughout your day; posting a “focus phrase” on your refrigerator or laptop screen; and/or checking-in with a practice partner three times per week.
            • You’re becoming more skilled at noticing when you are about to go down a habitual path that is out of alignment with how you want to be in the world—and sometimes doing something different. (It takes practice!)
            • You’re increasingly able to meet others (and yourself) with a deeper quality of love, compassion and acceptance.

            Course Materials and Resources

            This course is appropriate for beginners as well as more experienced meditators and mindfulness practitioners. While the concepts and practices are framed in Jewish terms, no prior Judaic knowledge is assumed or necessary.

            When you register, you’ll get access to everything you need to take full advantage of the self-paced course, including:

            • Eight sets of self-paced video teaching sessions – that you can access anywhere, anytime from your computer or mobile device.
            • Eight guided “Mindful Life” practice scenarios – designed to help you integrate the course teachings into your everyday life.
            • Eight teachings from Jewish texts – that will provide a Jewish frame and additional insights into the character trait (middah).
            • Eight downloadable chants – one for each module, professionally recorded by Cantor Julia Cadrain with Elana Arian or Rabbi Sam Feinsmith, to help you integrate the character trait (middah) into your life through music.
            • Downloadable handouts for each module – so you can reference these teachings anytime.
            • Additional resources for each middah, including poems and playlists.
            • A personal online journal – your own personal space to record your reflections.
            • Online study/practice partners – so you can share your experience with like-minded others on a similar path.

             

            Awareness in Action

            IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
            We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

            Abundance Level

            $399

            Register Now

            Basic Level

            $299

            Register Now

            Supported Level

            $149

            Register Now

            Meet the course instructors:

            Rabbi Marc Margolius

            Rabbi Marc Margolius directs programming for lay leaders and alumni of the IJS clergy leadership training program, as well as the Tikkun Middot Project, which integrates Jewish mindfulness with middot (character trait) practice. He hosts IJS’s daily mindfulness meditation sessions and teaches an online program, Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot. Previously, Marc served as rabbi at West End Synagogue in Manhattan.

            Rabbi Lisa Goldstein

            Lisa is a master teacher of Jewish-based mindfulness practices. She first came to IJS as a participant in the rabbinic leadership program and meditation teacher training. She served as the Executive Director of IJS, where, in addition to management responsibilities, she also taught at retreats and meditation programs. Educated at Brown University and Hebrew Union College, she previously served as the director of Hillel of San Diego, where she was recognized as an “Exemplar of Excellence.” Lisa She lives in New York City with her husband and foster son.

            Rabbi Tamara Cohen

            Rabbi Tamara Cohen is an educator and liturgist who has been using innovative ritual and feminist creative practice to bring Jews and their fellow travelers into deeper connection with themselves, their communities, Judaism and the Sacred, for over twenty-five years. As a partnered queer white anti-racist parent of two boys and a senior leader at Moving Traditions, a national organization that works to support the thriving of Jewish adolescents and their families, she brings a keen awareness of the spiritual challenges and blessings of daily life for people who care for others within their own families while also being engaged in and committed to the need for the larger systemic changes that would make care and repair easier to center and access. Tamara’s writing can be found in The Journey Continues: The Ma’yan Feminist Haggadah, Siddur Lev Shalem and ritualwell.org. She is blessed to live with her family at the edge of Carpenter’s Woods in Philadelphia.

            Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife

            Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (she/they pronouns) sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Oreget Kehilah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh and Program Director of the ALEPH Kesher Fellowship and also enjoys working with Keshet and Beloved Builders. Additionally, she delights in serving as a davennatrix (shlichat tzibbur), life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, teacher, facilitator, liturgist and songstress. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer, bi-racial, Jewish Woman, her belief that Book, Body and Earth are equal sources of wisdom, and the quandries she encounters as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. After many years of traveling and living in Australia, she and her beloved once again make their home on Osage and Haudenosaunee land, also called Pittsburgh, PA.

            Rabbi Aaron Weininger

            Rabbi Aaron Weininger joined Adath Jeshurun Congregation in 2012, upon receiving rabbinic ordination and an MA in Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He holds the Berman Family Chair in Jewish Learning. Aaron earned his BA at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2007 he became the first openly gay person admitted to rabbinical school in the Conservative movement of Judaism. That experience taught him the power of listening at the margins rather than pulling people into whatever the center is at that moment, and he is attuned to the spark each person brings to Torah, prayer, and acts of kindness in the warmth of community.

            Meet the musicians and vocalists:

            Elana Arian

            Musician and Vocalist

             

            Cantor Julia Cadrain

            Vocalist

             

            Rabbi Sam Feinsmith

            Musician and Vocalist