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PRAYER
These are our most popular courses in this area:
SHEMA: BECOMING ONE TOGETHER
Nadav Slovin
Six-class course
Ongoing registration
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The first prayer we teach our children and the last prayer we recite before passing on from this world, said upon waking and sleep, the Shema is the engine of Jewish consciousness.
Yet its esoteric language leaves us riddled with questions: “Hear oh Israel” - why hear rather than know, understand, believe? Who is speaking, and to whom? “Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.” Why both Divine names, what is the deeper meaning of the repetition, and what is the nature of this oneness?
Our questions will invite us into the mystery of G!d’s oneness and our part in creation, guiding us through ripe layers of meaning, and directing us on a path of awareness and genuine connection to self, G!d, and creation.
Eight-class course
Ongoing registration
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Prayer is hard. All too often, it is inaccessible, impersonal and leaves us feeling alienated. Yet our prayers can be powerful medicine, helping us overcome adversity within and without.
Every prayer service can become a journey of transformation, through the four Kabbalistic realms of human experience: physicality, emotion, mind and spirit.
Our humble prayerbook (siddur) can become a roadmap to greater self-awareness, gratitude, empathy, focus, love, joy, forgiveness, resilience, creativity, connection and wholeness.
Together, we we will focus on certain key prayers from the daily morning service, learn their texts, explore their context, and then work with them to support our personal journey of becoming our best possible selves.
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.
Ten-class course
Ongoing registration
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From the Bible through the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and other mystical texts, the amazing smell of the ketoret (incense) and its symbolic and mythical powers have never ceased to fascinate our ancestors.
Our ancestors have already explored and understood this ancient, earth-based ritual on every level of our being: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual.
In addition, the ketoret was connected to battling plagues since Biblical times, which adds a timely dimension.
In each session, we will explore a specific aspect of the ketoret, which we will seek to experience on each of the four levels mentioned above.
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.
Six-class course
Ongoing registration
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Brachot (blessings) play a central role in every area of Jewish practice.
At its core, the practice of making brachot is a powerful gateway to experiencing the fullness of each moment and action, and of waking ourselves up to the sacredness of life and the Divine energy that animates it.
Through in-depth study of primary texts, embodied practices and cultivating open-hearted presence, this course explores the practice of brachot to unlock their potency as an ongoing practice of mindful awareness and encountering Divine reality throughout our days and 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 was composed by Sages and Prophets to provide a pathway to the Divine that could be accessed throughout the generations. It 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.
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Ten-class course
Ongoing registration
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Ana B'Khoach is an ancient mystical chant, used by many great Kabbalists, that encodes the mysterious 42-letter name of God.
In this online course, taught by Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan, we will explore the power of this chant like spiritual detectives, discovering a new layer of meaning in each class.
As we study and chant Ana B’Khoach together, we will encounter deep insights into the nature of reality and a wealth of mystical and kabbalistic practices, ranging from simple ones for everyday use, to advanced ones for those who are further on along the mystical path.
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.