Serach, the daughter of Asher, lived a very long time — she lived through the descent to Egypt and the enslavement, the redemption, the desert, and the entrance to the land of Israel. She is listed in our parsha in the census (Numbers 26:46), one of the only women to be mentioned, and she is […]
MEDITATION: The Steady Presence of Serach bat Asher (Parashat Pinchas) Read More »
In the story of Balaam, we see Balaam undergoing a process of coming into greater alignment with God’s will for him. He begins out of alignment, in opposition really, and ends up becoming a vessel for God’s blessing in the world. In this this meditation, we use Balaam’s story as a way to explore our
MEDITATION: Coming into Alignment with the Divine (Parashat Balak) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at the story of the snake bites and Moshe’s placement of a snake on a pole for the people to look at in order to be healed. We explore what this story teaches us about how to pray for physical and emotional healing — the need to see very clearly
MEDITATION: How to Pray — The Snake Story (Parashat Chukat) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the feelings behind Korach’s rebellion, the sense of not-enoughness, of lack, of wanting, that in some way we all feel inside, the sense of a hole inside, which for Korach, manifested outside him as the earth swallowing him up. We spend our lives dealing with these holes as Korach did,
MEDITATION: The Hole Inside Us (Parashat Korach) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the story of the scouts. We connect to the fear and the doubt that the 10 scouts and the Israelites felt. We find those places inside us that are terrified of new things, that feel like grasshoppers in some way. And then we also touch the place of the “yud”
MEDITATION: Holding Both the Fear and the Yud Inside Us (Parashat Shelach) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the passage that is bracketed by upside down “nuns” in the Torah, a passage whose text is familiar to us from the Torah service in shul. First, we explore the feeling of rising up in divine power and having our internal “enemies” scatter in the face of that strength, and
MEDITATION: Vayehi Beneso’a Ha’aron: To Journey and To Rest (Parashat Beha’alotecha) Read More »
In this meditation, we work towards a sense of inner peace, the end of the priestly blessing, by first fully experiencing the middle line or heart of the Priestly Blessing, the sense of God’s face shining upon us. We take this shining face inside as a way to welcome all parts of us and to
MEDITATION: The Priestly Blessing and Inner Peace (Parashat Naso) Read More »
What did we “see” at Sinai? What was revealed? The Sefat Emet says that, as part of this intense revelation of God and Torah, what the people saw was their very own essence; they saw the divine part from above that was placed inside them. They realized who they really were. The Torah is like
MEDITATION: Seeing Your Divine Essence at Sinai (Shavu’ot) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore five phrases from the blessings God promises us if we walk in God’s ways, moving thorugh various aspects of feeling God’s indwelling inside us, from presence and non-rejecting acceptance to slowing down into steadiness, letting go of burdens and learning to stand tall and confident. The five phrases are: 1)
MEDITATION: What Divine Presence Feels like Inside (Parashat Bechukotai) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at the prohibition against ona’at devarim, speaking in a way that is shaming or hurtful to another person, and we apply it to ourselves and to our own internal criticism and shaming and negative self-talk. We take some time to notice it and shine a light on this inner talk,
MEDITATION: Negative Self Talk and Our Divine Essence (Parashat Behar) Read More »