Jewish Paths toward Healing and Wholeness

Kerry M. Olitzky

Description

Healing the soul is a vital counterpart to curing the body. Grounded in the spiritual traditions of Judaism, this book provides healing rituals, psalms and prayers that help us initiate dialogue with God and guide us on the path of healing and wholeness.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• List of Jewish prayers and blessings
• Judaism
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 30 juillet 2000
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580238007
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“Jewish healing is a discovery and rereading of Jewish texts, a reinterpretation and invention of Jewish rituals developed through the eyes and heart of one who has experienced loss. All lead to bringing a compassionate presence to Jews who are ill, grieving or despairing, to their families and their caregivers.”
—Rabbi Rachel Cowan

B’yado afkid ruchi, be’eit ishan v’a-ira, v’im ruchi gevi-a-ti,
Adonai li v’lo ira.
Into God’s hands I entrust my spirit, when I sleep and
when I wake;
and with my spirit and my body also, as long as God is
with me, I will not fear.
—Adon Olam, from the liturgy

Dedicated to
David Nathan Meyerson, z”l
May his memory be a blessing to us all.





Contents

Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
ONE A Healing God
TWO The Meaning of Illness and Healing in Jewish Tradition
THREE Healing Services: An Introduction to Prayers for Healing
FOUR Psalms of the Heart
FIVE The Role of the Individual and the Community
SIX The Process of Recovery
SEVEN Waiting Until Messiah Comes or, At Least Until the Next Office Visit
APPENDIXES
Prayers, Texts, and Resources for Healing
Healing Centers and Organizations
Suggestions for Further Reading
Notes
About The Author
Copyright
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Acknowledgments

There are many people who helped my family and me find the Jewish path to healing. They have all become our teachers. In particular, I mention and thank those individuals who helped me immeasurably throughout the development of this manuscript in ways that they may not even be aware of: Rabbi Daniel Brenner, Dr. Daniel Einhorn, Rabbi Peter Knobel, Dr. Carol Ochs, Dan Schechter, Rabbi Elliot Stevens, Rabbi Robyn Tsesarsky, and Marvin Zauderer. I am indebted to Sharon Gutman who shared her story of struggle and survival with me before the idea for this book had even been articulated. I also recognize the labor of Dr. Mark Straus, an early collaborator in this endeavor when the book was to take a different shape and form.
Similarly, I want to acknowledge the good works of these organizations that are engaged in a variety of healing projects and shared their materials with me—their ideas are implicit in much of what I have written: Central Conference of Reform Rabbis; CLAL: National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership; and Synagogue 2000. I must also single out the National Center for Jewish Healing (and its subsidiary, New York Jewish ealing Center), which has been doing groundbreaking work in the field. By name, I mention Susie Kessler, Aaron Lever, Janet Sherman, and Rabbi Simkha Weintraub, without whose assistance this work would not be possible. I am mindful of the profound influence this evolving grassroots organization has had on the entire field of healing in the Jewish community, so it is difficult to determine the extent or specificity of its influence on these pages. Ahead of time, I apologize if I have inadvertently used an idea or even a word without properly acknowledging its original source as the National Center for Jewish Healing or one of its staff members.
I must also acknowledge the groundbreaking work of Rabbi Yoel Kahn, formerly at Congregation Shaar Zahav in San Francisco, who laid the groundwork for services of healing. His own “Shema Koleinu: A Liturgy for Healing” (prepared with Rabbi Nancy Flam) significantly informed the section on healing services in this book.
There are no words available to thank my editors, Elisheva Urbas and Lisa Yanofsky, whose keen insights kept me on course when I might have gone astray. They constantly asked the right questions and were there with just the right amount of guidance. While the words and ideas are mine, they both share in the blessing of this book and the work of healing that it assists people in doing. And to my publishers and friends Stuart and Antoinette Matlins, I offer my humblest appreciation. They constantly challenge me to reach deeper and higher at the same time, standing by me as we journey together through the desert.
I must also thank my new colleagues at the Jewish Outreach Institute, Dr. Egon Mayer and Nastaran Afari, who provide the constancy of collegial support in the form of a “team” that makes such work possible, as well as the members of the board, with the indefatigable Terry Elkes as its president. They have helped me easily make the transition from one community to another, constantly reminding me of the blessing inherent in the work we do.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the many students who have given me the privilege of sharing these ideas with them in the classroom, in the hospital, and in brief moments of encounter. They have helped me to learn anew each day of God’s miracles.
Most people will argue that responsible scholars and writers do not reveal the names of their sources when preparing a volume for public consumption. That is true. However, many of the people whose stories appear in these pages are witnesses to the miracle of healing. Many want their names attached to their stories and want their stories told, so I share most of the stories of healing in their own names, with their permission, relating them in their own voices. I am simply their spokesperson. I acknowledge their candor and willingness to share with me and with you.
My family has helped me to understand the journey of healing that we embarked on together. To Sheryl, my soul’s partner, and to our boys, Avi and Jesse, who constantly provide me with unconditional love, the greatest ingredient for healing.
—Rabbi Kerry (Shia) Olitzky




Foreword

Debbie Friedman
I have been engaged in the process of healing for all my adult life. Once faced with the physical limitations imposed upon me, I found that the healing process took on new dimensions. It was no longer enough to intellectually acknowledge the constant struggle in which I was engaged. My challenge was different now. I had to move beyond my seeking out a place in the world which was safe and comfortable. This was war, and at this time I was forced to take part in what was to be a constant battle with my body. I often had no choice but to surrender to the power of its constraints.
I knew that the only way to survive this torture was to transcend it. My body had to become a metaphor for something in our lives that would make sense. Within this nightmare, my life, I had to find a world of hope and promise.
It was the prayer Asher yatzar that first awakened me to the possibility of finding meaning in my life in the face of my newfound “enemy.” Not everything was working according to the divine plan which God had created. Sometimes it was impossible to stand before God and pray because there was so much not working. But after some time, I came to see that what worked, worked. This, too, was a part of God’s wisdom, and for this I could be grateful. I knew too that even if I could not find my place in the Asher yatzar prayer, I could always turn to the prayer Elohai neshama in which we are uplifted by the concept of God giving us a pure soul; a soul created by God, formed by God and breathed into us by God.
This is the prayer to which I run when my body has given way. This is the place I go when I have done too much and I am unable to function. I am always hopeful that something good and helpful will come to be as a result of such an episode. I ask myself, “What I can learn from this experience? What is my body telling me? How can I make this experience my lover, my friend and partner on this unpredictable and bumpy road toward meaning and understanding?”
How can I find ways to embrace this monster when what I really want to do is vacate, throw in the towel and cry out in anger: “Okay, you win, now let me out of my misery.” I remember lying immobilized. Was it I who stood up to Goliath? Certainly, I could not entertain the possibility of the “valley of the shadow of death.” I had hoped that goodness and mercy would follow me all the days of my life and that I would “live in God’s house forever.”
And sometimes that was all I needed: a reminder that my ancestors held these prayers and poems and writings close to their hearts in times of celebration and in times of need. We who read this book, Jewish Paths toward Healing and Wholeness, seek out the same hints of hope as those who came before us. This searching is what has sustained us through time and what sustains us now.
Jewish Paths toward Healing and Wholeness provides us with the resources that reinforce our spiritual and emotional lives. By becoming more tolerant and understanding of ourselves and our respective afflictions, and by learning to see ourselves as the victors and not the victims, our afflictions will become our teachers, our friends and our partners in life and in prayer. The “process of healing” will ultimately become the “promise of healing.” We begin that healing in our immediate world, but the effects resonate beyond in our partnerships with one another and God. These are the seeds of tikkun olam. This is the Jewish path toward healing and wholeness.
Debbie Friedman is an internationally renowned composer, liturgist, teacher and performer.

Introduction

Healing Is Possible
Through a relationship with God bolstered by the application of Jewish sacred texts and supported through an exploration of the self, we can find healing. I believe it and I will help you explore that belief too. That’s probably the main reason why you have opened up this book, and it’s why you are willing to enter into a dialogue with me and with the many others whose stories of healing fill t