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MEDITATION
These are our most popular courses in this area:
Eight-class course
Ongoing registration
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The Tanya is the magnum opus of the great mystic Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, affectionately referred to as the Alter Rebbe, who founded the Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidic movement.
Tanya is based on Kabbalah, and it guides us to achieve harmony of body and soul, of earthliness and spirituality.
The Ba'al HaTanya (as the author is sometimes referred to) offers a series of practical suggestions for attaining inner harmony, always with the emphasis on joy.
In each of our eight sessions, we will learn about, and then practice together, a specific approach to opening our heart and experiencing an elevated consciousness, which through continued practice we can then integrate into every aspect of our daily lives.
Ten-class course
Ongoing registration
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The Shemoneh Esrei or Amidah is the central Jewish prayer, recited three times daily and even more on Shabbat and holidays. This course unpacks the language and structure of this prayer to uncover its contemplative, experiential core. The Shemoneh Esrei is a visionary journey and devotional practice of turning to God in a personal and intimate way.
Together we will excavate the text of the Shemoneh Esrei to encounter its multiple layers of meaning - the choice of words, hidden Biblical references and underpinnings of this prayer, as well as its Kabbalistic interpretations. These layers of understanding offer access points for engaging with the Shemoneh Esrei as a dynamic, experiential practice.
Eight-class course
Ongoing registration
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This is the second instalment in a course that empowers us to engage experientially with foundational contemplative practices from the Jewish tradition, from text to practice.
The meditations studied and practiced in this course focus on how the body is considered as a vessel (a keli) not only for a life of holiness (kedusha) but also for spiritual experiences.
The aim of learning various Jewish Meditation practices involving the body is threefold: first, to invite us to expand our understanding of what Jewish spirituality and meditation is; second, to relate to our bodies not as separate but as an integral part of our spiritual lives; and third, to be able to integrate these practices into our daily lives.
Six-class course
Ongoing registration
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This course seeks to engage the students experientially with perhaps the oldest source of Jewish Ethics. The Talmudic tractate "Avot," also known as “Pirkei Avot” or Chapters of the Fathers, is named for the early generations of rabbinic sages whose wisdom is included in this short compilation of teachings.
The aim of learning Pirkei Avot is threefold: first, to discover or rediscover one of the masterpieces of Jewish Ethics from its textual sources; second, to deepen our reflection and understanding of core Jewish values; and third, to be able to take these teachings into our daily life.
Each class will move from text study to practice, and will include a short hitbonenut meditation (self-inquiry), and a short writing exercise to help participants set goals for concretely embodying these teachings in their everyday lives.
Eight-class course
Ongoing registration
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​We are immensely privileged today to live at a time in which access to Torah learning has become more widely available than ever before. Alongside this general increase in access has come the absolute flourishing of Torah learning by and for women across the spectrum of Jewish practice and experience.
This course is an opportunity to mine the treasures of commentaries on the Torah by women, trans and cis alike, for the wisdom within.
The eight sessions will each focus on the parsha or Torah portion read that week around the Jewish world.
Each session will begin with a teaching, and will be anchored by time for contemplative practice and sharing. People of all gender identities and expressions are warmly encouraged to be a part of this sacred community of study and practice.
Year-round course
Join any time
2 Classes per month
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What are the unique spiritual and psychological opportunities and challenges of each month and festival?
What are the practices that our tradition recommends for each month, to maximise our potential in every area of our lives?
In this course, we will explore the depth and breadth of Torah and Kabbalah, and integrate their wisdom with insights from the contemporary mindfulness world.
Every month, we will explore a broad and deep range of texts, and participants will receive detailed and clear practice instructions for meditative and creative practices that will help to effect tangible changes in our inner lives, our routine activities and our everyday interactions with others.
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Nine-class course
Ongoing registration
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What is Jewish Meditation, and how to learn to practice it in an authentic way?
In this course we will encounter Jewish meditation intellectually and experientially, with foundational practices based on textual sources from the Jewish tradition.
​The course weaves together text study and practice, to empower participants to integrate the practices into their daily lives, incorporating our whole selves – intellectual, emotional, embodied, ethical and spiritual.
Each class will include reading and discussion of a key text, followed by meditation instructions based on the text, meditation practice, and time for questions and sharing at the end.
KAVANAH:
THE INNER PATH OF PRAYER
Rabbi Ami Silver
Six-class course
Ongoing registration
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Prayer (Tefillah) is the core spiritual practice of the Jewish tradition.
It is Jewish meditation par excellence. However, many people experience it as dry recitation of prayers, whose words and forms feel foreign and hard to connect to.
This course offers an entryway into Tefillah as it is meant to be - an embodied meditative practice of relating to the Divine.
Drawing from the full range of Biblical, Rabbinic, Kabbalistic and Chassidic sources, this course provides an in-depth exploration of Kavanah - the states of mind, heart and body that form the basis for Tefillah - and offers practical guidance for engaging in Tefillah as a meditative practice.
Eight-class course
Ongoing registration
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Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, was the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, and a towering scholar, thinker, Kabbalist and poet.
Many today see him as a modern day prophet, a visionary whose spiritual and redemptive teachings speak to the individual, the people of Israel and all of humanity.
In this course, we will explore eight "sparks" - aspects of our search for spiritual authenticity and freedom. Each class will consist of studying about a "spark," and then experiencing our relationship with it through a guided meditative practice.
Step by step, we will uncover more and more of our true essence – the image of the Divine in Whom we have been created and Who continues to dwell within us.