In this meditation, we apply the phrase מדבר שקר תרחק, “keep yourself distant from falsehood’ (Ex. 23:7) to our inner falsehoods, to the core false beliefs about ourselves that lie hidden and unquestioned inside us, things like: “I am not enough” and “I don’t matter” and “I need to do everything just right.” We work […]
MEDITATION: Putting Distance Around Our False Beliefs (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »
This meditation deals with the tenth commandment, lo tachmod, “you shall not covet” or envy what your neighbor has. Bringing to mind a situation in which we might feel some envy around the accomplishment or quality of another person, we then look at the healing response that the experience at Mount Sinai offers us —
MEDITATION: Envy and Our Own Inherent Value (Parashat Yitro) Read More »
In this meditation, we focus on one line from the Song at the Sea: עזי וזמרת יה ויהי לי לישועה, “The Lord is my strength and my song. The Lord has become my deliverance” (Exodus 15:2), looking at the connection between strength and song, and then finally, deliverance. We consider the strength it takes to
MEDITATION: What Stops You From Singing Your Soul’s Song (Parashat Beshalach) Read More »
In order to achieve our own redemption, we need to become like Moshe in his ability to surrender to God and to open to the divine redemptive process. (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: Relaxing into Redemption (Parashat Va’era) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at the image of the burning bush that was not consumed. We become aware of our internal fires of suffering and emotion and we find within them a pont of perfect stillness, like the eye of the storm. We experiment with holding both energies at once, both the raging fire
MEDITATION: Not Consumed By Our Fiery Emotions (Parashat Shemot) Read More »
In the middle of Yaakov’s final words to his children, he suddenly turns to God in prayer with three words — לישועתך קויתי ה, “I hope for Your salvation, O Lord!” (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: Hope Amidst It All (Parashat Vayechi) Read More »
In this meditation, we take the concepts of darkness and light into our internal world, exploring the parts of us that feel most dark and bringing some warm Chanukah light to keep them company. There is a tradition that the Chanukah light is related to the or haganuz, the divine light that God originally created,
MEDITATION: Our Hidden Inner Light (Chanukah) Read More »
This meditation is dedicated to the memory of Gavriella Bader, z”l, a caring friend to my children and a beautiful human being. May her memory be a blessing, as her life was a blessing, and may the family be comforted by God among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. In this meditation we consider Yaakov’s
MEDITATION: Crying with the Inconsolable (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Yaakov needed this angel in order to learn that he was not small and insecure, as he thought, but strong and infinitely capable. In this meditation, we explore who these angels are inside us and how we can encounter them to know our own strength. (Click image to read more and listen)
MEDITATION: Knowing Our Own Strength (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the story of the angels that appear to Yaakov at the end of the parsha and its relationship to the beginning of next week’s parsha, when Yaakov sends out messengers to make contact with Esav. We consider the idea that these angels may have been the uneasy feelings that Yaakov
MEDITATION: Our Feelings Are Angels (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »