We are grateful to Yiscah Smith for sharing her insights with us. Please enjoy the conversation recording.

Renowned spiritual teacher and author Yiscah Smith has spent a lifetime guiding seekers toward deeper authenticity, inner peace, and connection with the Divine. In her newest work, Planting Seeds of the Divine, she offers a rich and soulful roadmap for cultivating God-consciousness from within, drawing on centuries of Jewish wisdom and her own lived experience. If you would like a copy of Yiscah’s book, you can purchase it here.

When the COVID lockdown began in March of 2020, IJS hosted the first Daily Sit to provide respite and comfort. Quickly we realized we’d tapped into a powerful yearning: By the end of the first week, more than 350 people were joining each day, finding 30 minutes of peace through meditation, Jewish wisdom, and community.

Now, five years later, the Daily Sit is at the heart of IJS’s digital offerings, which have been accessed over half a million times. Over 200 people still regularly gather each day to engage in practice for staying grounded and finding healing, hope, and connection. From the pandemic to October 7th to the political instability in our nation, the Sit has helped us all stay steady in the storm.

On the evening of May 29th, we celebrated this milestone and honor the person who has made it possible: our beloved Rabbi Marc Margolius. For five years, Marc has emceed the Sit, touching the lives of thousands with his wise teaching, beautifully guided meditations, and gentle loving presence. We also celebrated our dedicated community and took this opportunity to say thank you.

If you felt moved by the event and wish to make a gift to support the Sit, please click below to donate.

In a famous Hasidic saying, the Kotzker Rebbe was once asked: “Where does God dwell?” to which he replied, “Wherever you let God in.” Spiritual direction is the practice of letting God in, of noticing the sacred thread woven throughout everyday life.

Spiritual direction is a contemplative practice that invites one to grow in awareness of the sacred dimension present in every moment, no matter how mundane. In this practice, we assume that we all have a spiritual dimension and a need for meaning-making, whether or not we believe in God.

Spiritual directors act as companions on this journey, holding space for seekers to connect with their spiritual longing, discover and explore their inner wisdom, and strengthen their attunement to the sacred. Spiritual directors are not therapists, but trained guides who meet monthly with seekers to support their journey toward spiritual growth and wholeness.

In the fall of 2023, IJS launched Kol Dodi: Jewish Spiritual Director Training Program under the leadership of Rabbi Myriam Klotz. Kol Dodi is grounded in IJS’s contemplative and contemporary core spiritual practices for cultivating awareness of mind, body and heart, and for attuning to the Kol Dodi, which means “voice of the beloved.”

Recently, we celebrated 28 graduates of the 18 month spiritual direction training program. Current Program Director, Rabbi Elisa Goldberg notes that: “Many participants came to the program with significant professional accomplishments and commitment to their own personal practice. It was a blessing to work with individuals on such profound spiritual journeys and to know that they will be sharing their gifts with others.” Among the participants in the first cohort of Kol Dodi were rabbis, cantors, therapists, wellness practitioners, lawyers, doctors, chaplains, and Jewish communal professionals.

Spiritual directors offer seekers opportunities to pause in the midst of our busy lives to focus on the still small voice within. Meeting regularly with a spiritual director over time can help one to live a richer, more authentic life aligned with their deepest values, to cultivate compassion and resilience, and to develop spiritual tools to face life’s inevitable challenges. The practice of spiritual direction helps one to connect to life’s mystery, explore our deep interconnection with life’s mysteries, and deepen one’s unique experience of faith.

Kol Dodi provides opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. As one recent graduate of the program noted: “The Kol Dodi program has renewed my vocation as a spiritual caregiver and given me a greater appreciation of all that I have to offer… If only my work life had changed as a result of this program, dayenu. I’ve also been blessed to find great joy and purpose in offering spiritual direction to others. I’ve discovered what a life giving gift spiritual direction is, how simple the premise and yet so profound the results.”

Want to get involved? Looking to nourish your soul?
The individuals listed here have completed Kol Dodi: Jewish Spiritual Director Training Program and are available to provide direction to individuals. Please contact anyone on the list to schedule a free 30-minute introductory session to see if Spiritual Direction is for you.

The next cohort of IJS’s Kol Dodi: Spiritual Director Training Program will begin in fall of 2026. If you are interested in finding out more about the training program, please contact Rabbi Elisa Goldberg, Program Director at elisag@jewishspirituality.org

In the fall of 2025, we will be offering a Taste of Spiritual Direction and an opportunity to participate in time limited Spiritual Direction Groups. Sign up to be notified when registration opens.

We are grateful to Rabbi Shira Stutman for sharing her insights with us. Please enjoy the conversation recording.

Rabbi Shira Stutman is a nationally known faith-based leader and change maker with more than twenty years of experience motivating and inspiring groups large and small. She is the senior rabbi of the Aspen Jewish Congregation and co-host of the top-ranked PRX podcast Chutzpod! in which she provides Jewish answers to life’s contemporary questions and helps listeners build lives of meaning. She also teaches Torah and speaks nationally on topics that include growing welcoming Jewish spiritual communities; building the connective tissues between different types of people; and the current American Jewish community zeitgeist.

As founder of Mixed Multitudes, a consultancy that exposes diverse groups of Jews and fellow travelers to the beauty and power of Jewish life, tradition, and conversation, she currently is working on a variety of projects: running programs that support Jews in having less reactive and more heart-centered conversations about Israel; teaching in progressive institutions about antisemitism; and serving as scholar-in-residence for projects that build the next generation of philanthropic leadership. She was the founding rabbi of Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC, in addition to a number of other start-up Jewish life initiatives.

Her new book, The Jewish Way to a Good Life, is now available for purchase: https://theexperimentpublishing.com/catalogs/winter-2025/the-jewish-way-to-a-good-life/