Yaakov gets a blessing by pretending to be his brother Esav. In this meditation, we consider the pain of this messaging, the pain of feeling that in some way who you are naturally is not enough, and that you need to act like someone else to deserve blessing and honor and love. We work with […]
MEDITATION: Blessed For Being You (Parashat toldot) Read More »
In this meditation, we enter into Sarah’s tent and experience the quiet divine presence and nourishment we need. Like Yitzhak, we bring our grief and our loneliness and are loved and comforted (Genesis 24:67). Come in out of the cold and rest in Sarah’s tent with us. Photo by Monica Silvestre at Pexels
MEDITATION: Come Rest in Sarah’s Tent (Parashat Chayei Sarah) Read More »
In this meditation, we consider Sarah’s de-centering and neglect by Avraham and ultimate centering by God in the phrase vaHashem pakad et Sarah, “And God took notice of Sarah” (Genesis 21:1). We look at Avraham’s tendency to face outward and not inward and at our own tendency to do the same towards ourselves, how we
MEDITATION: Centering Sarah And Ourselves (Parashat Vayera) Read More »
This meditation explores the inner landscape that God is inviting us into in the call to Avram and to each of us to move towards “the land that I will show you,” to step out of our past conditioning and into an unknown land — together with God — to allow ourselves to open to
MEDITATION: To The Land That I Will Show you (Parashat Lech-Lecha) Read More »
In this meditation, we consider our own experience of being flooded and overwhelmed emotionally, and how building ourselves a safe place — like Noah’s ark — might help us learn to regulate and return to a state of calm. We take the time to imagine such a sanctuary inside ourselves and to feel God’s peaceful
MEDITATION: Building a Sanctuary For Your Internal Floods (Parashat Noah) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the tradition that God is our mikvah, our ritual cleansing bath, on Yom Kippur, imagining all the prayer words and songs as water that we can immerse in, letting go of all our efforting and resting in God’s healing waters. Image by Pixabay at Pexels
MEDITATION: Resting In God’s Healing Waters (Yom Kippur) Read More »
In this meditation, I offer a reading of the Akedah (the Binding of Isaac) from the lens of the inner child, focusing on two pivotal moments in the text — the first, when Avraham and Yitzhak “walk together” and the second, when Avraham binds up his son. We explore these in terms of our own
MEDITATION: Learning To Walk With Your Inner Child (Rosh Hashanah) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at teshuva as “return” with its emphasis on relationship and connection as opposed to self improvement, considering that perhaps God’s primary desire is simply to be with us, that it is the connection itself that is the goal, and in all our focus on fixing ourselves we lose sight of
MEDITATION: Come Home, Just As You Are (Rosh Hashanah) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at the mitzvah of helping someone lift up their fallen donkey, considering carefully the words hakem takim imo which mean “you shall surely lift up with him” (Deutonormy 22:5). Rashi explains that “with him” means only if he participates, and this is our jumping off point for considering how it
MEDITATION: Rising up Together (Parashat Ki Tetzei) Read More »
In this meditation we explore the verse Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokeha (Deuteronomy 18:13), “Be wholehearted with Hashem your God” as an instruction to give yourself over completely to the simple but not easy task of being true to yourself and to God in you at all moments. We consider the stress of constant worry
MEDITATION: Be Yourself No Matter What They Say (Parashat Shoftim) Read More »