In this meditation, we work together to access the Ner Tamid (eternal light) inside us, to feel its glow spread through us, to know its steadfastness, and to spread its light to the other parts of us that are needing light. Photo by Pixabay at Pexels
MEDITATION: Our Inner Ner Tamid, Eternal Light (Parashat Tetzaveh) Read More »
In this meditation, we focus on the Aron, the ark, as the meeting place for Divine Presence in the Mishkan, and we find that meeting place inside ourselves in our hearts, and specifically in the hole (like the open space above the Aron between the angels where God spoke) of our vulnerability. We find in
MEDITATION: Becoming a Mishkan, a Dwelling Place for Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
One theme running through the parsha’s laws is taking care of the vulnerable in society — the stranger, the widow, the poor, the slave, . . . In this meditation, we look inward to our own vulnerable parts, we get to know them and the shame and judgment surrounding them, we listen to them and
MEDITATION: The Vulnerable Inside you (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »
This meditation considers the entire universe as a world of praise to God, and explores our ability to enter and join that praise. The meditation is based on a study of Ashrei we did together in my Psalms group, and plays with the words מהולל, mehulal, “praised,” and כל, kol, “everthing,” which both appear often
MEDITATION: A World of Praise (Ashrei) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the intense feeling contained in the Shabbat song, Tzama Nafshi, “My soul thirsts for God.” (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: My Soul Thirsts for God (Tzama Nafshi) Read More »
This week’s parsha begins, Vayechi Yaakov, “Yaakov lived,” but it is a parsha about Yaakov’s death. In this meditation, we work on expanding our notion of aliveness in two ways: 1) As Yaakov had a very difficult life, but still vayechi, still loved, so we experiment with seeing our most difficult emotions as manifestations of
MEDITATION: On “Chayut,” Aliveness (Parashat Vayechi) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the emotional complexity of the first scene of the parsha . . . (Click image for more)
MEDITATION: Glimpsing Goshen: the Land of Connection (Parashat Vayigash) Read More »
On Chanukah, we celebrate the miraculous — the impossible becoming possible. This meditation explores what it feels like to bring this sense of the miraculous inside — through the Chanukah light and all its particular miracles — especially to our darkest places, the places of despair and impossibility.
MEDITATION: Bringing the Miracle Inside (Chanukah) Read More »
Yaakov struggles with the angel and is told, vatukhal, “you have prevailed.” In this meditation, we work with our own struggles and fears and find the strength and resililence to meet them face to face and feel our capacity to handle what is difficult. Photo by Snapwire from Pexels
MEDITATION: “You have Prevailed”: Feeling Our Own Strength (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
Yaakov stopped on his journey away from home at Hamakom, “the place.” In this meditation, we intrepret hamakom to mean where he was at that moment, the emotional space he was in, a fearful, lonely space. We imitate Yaakov’s instinct to rest in the place that he was in — in its hard rocks —
MEDITATION: Resting in “Hamakom” — This Place (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »