Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Living

Karen Bonnell Werth, James L. Mirel

Description

An innovative yet practical guide to greater mindfulness
that brings spirituality into our everyday lives—for any lifestyle.

“Judaism offers a rich tradition for the spiritual seeker: its spirituality infuses daily activities with holiness and purpose. While relating the spiritual journey to a typical day in your life, we will walk with you through brief sections that discuss Jewish thought and tradition. These are followed by sections that include methods, activities, devotions, and blessings to enrich your spiritual practice. Every page offers the reader another step, another area of focus, another perspective to bring the sacred into everyday life.”
—from the Introduction

In every moment of each day, we have the opportunity to bring the sacred into our everyday lives. We can perform acts of mindfulness and thanksgiving that can transform our lives and help us repair the world. Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Livingprovides spiritual activities, meditations, prayers, and simple rituals to accommodate any lifestyle and daily routine, giving us a chance to embrace God’s creation throughout the day.

Coauthored by a rabbi and a psychotherapist, it bridges the gap between faith and healing, tradition and innovation, acceptance of the past and transformation for the future. Chapters are arranged according to the cycle of each day—from sunrise to midnight—and feature creative new rituals, inspiring passages from traditional Jewish texts, prayers, poems, blessings, acts of kavanah (spiritual intention), and more:

• SunriseRenewing our bodies with meditation and mindful breathing.
• Morning Contributing to tikkun olam (repairing the world) by ethically pursuing our livelihoods and recognizing our social responsibility.
• Afternoon Giving thanks with blessings at meal times, and extending hospitality to family, friends, and community.
• Evening Combining study and prayer with relaxation and leisure.
• Night Confronting pain, loss, and death with rituals for healing and renewal for the future.

Includes special sections dealing with the sacred aspects of relationships, love and sexuality, mourning and loss, Kabbalah, and more. By transforming our days, Stepping Stones shows us how we can transform our lives to practice mindfulness all day, every day—and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Noon
• Jewish philosophy
• Judaism
• Religion
• Noon (langue)

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 19 juillet 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580236607
• Langue: English

Extrait

S TEPPING S TONES T O J EWISH S PIRITUAL L IVING
Walking the Path Morning, Noon, and Night
Rabbi James L. Mirel Karen Bonnell Werth
Jewish Lights Publishing Woodstock, Vermont
You, the Eternal One, show me the
stepping stones, the path of life;
in Your presence there is great joy ,
in Your ways there are pleasures for eternity .
-Psalm 16:11
We thank You and sing Your praises:
for our lives, which are in Your hand;
for our souls, which are in Your keeping;
for the signs of Your presence we encounter every day;
and for Your wondrous gifts at all times ,
morning, noon, and night.
-From The Thanksgiving Prayer, the Siddur
CONTENTS
How to Use This Book
C ORNERSTONES AND F UNDAMENTALS
S UNRISE: D AWN -A WAKENING TO L IFE
Our Purpose-How to Be Holy
Breath-The Creative Force
The Light-The Sustaining Force
Releasing the Light, Repairing the World, Tikkun Olam
The Practice of Mindfulness
Self-Examination: Hitbonenut
Washing and Caring for the Body
Morning Prayer, the Sh ma , and the Prayer Shawl, Talit
Conclusion: Finding Peace
M ORNING: G OING ON O UR W AY , D OING O UR W ORK
The Journey: Hearing, Trusting, Following
My Work, My Job-Service to the Holy One
My Work, My Job- Middot , or The Seven Characteristics of Work
My Work, My Job-Honesty, Fairness, Truth
My Work, My Job-Honoring Life
My Work, My Job-The Soul s Joyful Work
Money-Making a Living, Borrowing from the Earth
Money-A Trust from God
Money-The Flow of Abundance, Tsedakah
Conclusion-Our True Wealth
N OON: M EALTIME , G RATITUDE , H OSPITALITY
Connecting to Our History
Mealtime: What-and How-We Eat Matters
Hospitality: Sharing Food with Others
Conclusion: Feeding the Soul
A FTERNOON: R ELATIONSHIPS -F AMILY , F RIENDS , C OMMUNITY , G OD
The Nature of Relationships
Communication in Relationships
A Loving Partnership
Parent-Child Relationships
Siblings-My Brother, My Sister, and I
Friendship
Our Relationship with Community
Our Relationship with Place-The Land of Israel
Conclusion: Our Relationship with God
E VENING: L EISURE -R ECREATION , S TUDY, AND P RAYER
Renewing the Spirit-Personal Endeavors
Renewing the Body-Recreation ( Re-Creation )
Renewing the Mind-Torah and Other Jewish Holy Books
Renewing the Heart-Prayer
Conclusion: Loving Ourselves, Loving Others, Loving God
N IGHT: P AIN , L OSS , D EATH, AND H EALING
Pain-Physical Illness
Pain-Emotional Distress, Anger, Fear
Pain-Spiritual Doubt and Guilt
Pain-Enemies
Pain-Death and Loss
Healing the Pain- Refu ah
Conclusion: Out of Our Darkness
M IDNIGHT: M YSTICISM , S EXUALITY, AND C REATION
Mysticism-Turning Prophecy into Action
Living with Angels
Mysticism-The Tree of Life
Creation and Sexuality
The Power of Love
Sabbath/ Shabbat , Wholeness/ Shalom , Messiah/ Mashiach
Conclusion: Awakening the Dawn!
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Sources
Suggested Readings

About the Authors
Also Available
About Jewish Lights
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W hen we sat down to conceive this project, we were deeply aware that we wanted a book on Jewish spirituality that spoke to our post-modern consciousness while holding true to the Jewish tradition. Together, we discussed our vision, imagining a book that would be easily accessible, that would teach fundamentals of Judaism without overwhelming the reader, and that would invite folks from all walks of life to experience the rich spiritual expression of Judaism. To this end, we hope we have remained true.
We dedicate this book to
All whose spirits yearn to experience the presence of God in everyday life through meaningful practices from an ancient tradition that helps us manifest in the world the love and light of the Eternal Oneness .
(kbw, jlm)
H OW TO U SE T HIS B OOK
W e thank you for choosing Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Living as part of your spiritual learning and enrichment. We hope that for many of you, the format of this book-a journey through a typical day-will help you engage with Jewish practices in a mindful and meaningful way. Although we present this material in the context of one day, we fully realize that Jewish spirituality takes a lifetime to master (perhaps many lifetimes). Enjoy the breadth and depth of Jewish spirituality as presented here, and build your practices at a pace that is comfortable and suitable to your life. Know that with each step, your soul connects in yet one more way with the Eternal Oneness that surrounds, infuses, and supports us.
There are many ways you can use this book:
As a practical guide to daily Jewish spiritual activities, meditations, and prayers-both traditional and creative.
As a self-teaching tool that provides you with Jewish ideas and values.
As a study guide for small groups that provides a springboard for discussion and practice.
As a resource manual that lets you directly investigate specific subjects or activities applicable to your current life situation. For example, if you are working on your relationship with a sibling, look in the table of contents for the section on relationships and go directly to that material.
You might want to copy meditations or blessings and take them with you during your daily travels, reading and reflecting on them as you see fit.
We would consider it to be a great blessing to know that this material was used and reused, shared and reshared. Please communicate with us about how you ve used this book and how it has affected you.
Rabbi James L. Mirel Karen Bonnell Werth
c/o Temple B nai Torah
15727 NE 4th St.
Bellevue, WA 98008
[phone] (Karen)
[phone] (Jim)
Fax: [phone]
C ORNERSTONES AND F UNDAMENTALS
J udaism offers a rich tradition for the spiritual seeker: its spirituality infuses daily activities with holiness and purpose. While relating the spiritual journey to a typical day in your life, we will walk with you through brief sections that discuss Jewish thought and tradition. These are followed by sections that include methods, activities, devotions, and blessings to enrich your spiritual practice. Every page offers the reader another step, another area of focus, another perspective to bring the sacred into everyday life.
We use poetry, scripture, metaphors, and symbols throughout the book to enhance your journey from the intellectual to the emotional/spiritual realm. Allow yourself sufficient time to digest the writings of poets, prophets, great teachers, and rabbis as you move through the material. This may require a shift, while reading, from using your rational mind to opening your listening heart to help you appreciate the sustaining truths below the surface.

Trust in the Holy One with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight alone. In all your ways know the Holy One, and the Holy One will make straight your paths .
Proverbs 3:5-6
Hebrew is the historical language of the Jewish faith. Because of that, many traditional prayers are spoken in Hebrew. We ve included Hebrew in transliteration to help you build a working Hebrew vocabulary. Most of the Hebrew is in italics and is followed by its English translation. We hope the Hebrew enhances your reading of the material and helps you feel connected to this ancient, sacred language.
Coupled with the sacred, traditional Hebrew, we have attempted to utilize gender sensitive language whenever possible. Judaism tries to honor the past while creating a future. As the Psalmist recognized, we must sing to the Eternal One a new song (Psalm 96:1). We are all singing new songs and using new words-knowing that we must create images and renew ideas about God so they reflect who we are as we speak from our heart. This renewal can sustain your connection to that which is meaningful and traditional and which is essentially Jewish.

God loves novelty .
Reb Menahem Mendl of Kotzk
Each chapter is divided into time segments that focus on specific aspects of daily life. The material is arranged as follows:
Sunrise: awakening, welcoming the day, morning routines, our bodies.
Morning: transitions, work, ethics, the environment, money.
Noon: mealtime, gratitude, and hospitality
Afternoon: relationships with family, friends, and community.
Evening: leisure-recreation, study, and prayer.
Night: pain, death, loss, and healing.
Midnight: mysticism, sexuality, creation, and shalom .
We ask you to continually generalize and reapply your learning, carrying practices from one chapter to the next in a way that makes sense for you. As described in this book, there are no restrictions on when or where to practice Jewish spirituality. Arrange and then, if necessary, rearrange freely the material so it best matches your day.
Also, each chapter contains two types of learning activity: Study, where we discuss concepts in Judaism that underpin spiritual practice; and Walking the Path, where we describe daily activities, provide guidance for contemplation (kavanah) , and suggest blessings (brakhot) to enhance your experience of the sacred. You will find traditional brakhot (blessings found in the prayer book, which in Hebrew is called the Siddur ) as well as more contemporary, creative blessings. We ve written these as examples of spontaneous prayer. We hope these examples will help you find words that best express your feelings and deepen your own spiritual practice. Our goal is to transform mundane actions into acts of holiness-bringing the sacred, holy practices of Judaism into everyday life.

There s a contagious nature to spiritual practice. The more I dedicate a portion of my attention to the inherent holiness that surrounds life, the more I long to bathe in the peacefulness and connection that emerges from the effort. As I become more skillful at pausing and truly considering the miracle in those things I take for granted, I experience time with a renewed sense of fullness. When time flies, moments are lived unconscio