Offerings

When we learn how to study Torah in the Jewish way, by looking at its every facet and layer, we enter into a 3,000-year-long conversation on how to live a life of purpose and meaning

There are two kinds of joy, our sages teach. There is joy that is contingent on a particular outcome: getting what you want, winning a contest, or seeing a rainbow. This wonderful feeling is dependent on things going our way. There is also joy that is not contingent on anything other than being alive. This experience of joy can abide within us regardless of external events.

One of the terms that the Sages gave for prayer is Avodah She’balev, which means “the service of the heart”, or more aptly, “Heart Work.” Prayer is meant to awaken us emotionally and move us spiritually. However, that rarely happens unless we also let prayer touch and open our hearts.

The cycle of seven is the organizing principle of the Torah, hence of Judaism. The seventh day, the seventh month and the seventh year all point us toward restoring a right relationship between ourselves and each other, and between the human community and the earth.

The landscape of the American Jewish landscape has changed dramatically over the past generation.

How do we hear God’s voice? Or in non-theistic language, how do we become aware of and listen for the deepest wisdom and guidance available to us?

Do you long to move, to fill your lungs, to sing out, to more fully express the life that flows through you? Full-bodied, full-hearted, full-throated expression: this is a good way to pray.

Have you always wished you could join into Jewish life, but felt too uninformed or insecure to try? Would you like a refresher course in what makes Judaism tick? Does the word “religion” or “God” give you the creeps, but you still feel curious to know and understand? This might be the workshop for you.

It’s good to be a Jew – really! Not necessarily easy or problem-free, but fundamentally, life-affirming-ly, soul-enriching-ly good.

The centerpiece of the Jewish worldview is that no matter how far or how long we may have strayed from the path of connection, kindness and love, we can always return. And as we turn towards forgiveness and love, forgiveness and love turn to greet us, with open arms. It is never too late to turn.

Torah, the Hebrew name for the Bible, literally means “Teaching” or “Guidance”. First and foremost Torah is teaching us about our relationship to the Cosmos, our spiritual quest. We will learn how to look at Torah as Sacred Myth, shining light on the human journey towards greater awareness.

How can human language define the Infinite? As soon as we give a name to the Infinite we have failed. The Jewish solution to this dilemma is to give the Infinite a name that is a verb, Being itself, limitless, dynamic, and ever-changing.

Pirkei Avot – The Wisdom of the Sages – is a carefully constructed collection of spiritual aphorisms from the 2nd Century CE. Our ancient rabbis were teaching us not only how to lead ethical lives, but also how to awaken to the presence of God within and all around us.

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was both a mystic and an activist, and he combined his passions in ways that can inspire all to link our inner and outer lives.

It is fair to say that Hebrew poetry is unique among the world’s literary traditions, for it covers 3,000 years, and is as alive today as in ancient Israel.

The International Declaration of Human Rights was ratified by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. This was the first time in human history that a global body agreed that all human beings are deserving of the same basic dignity and freedoms.

The Jewish People tell a story every year about how we came to be: we were slaves, and now we are free.

In the mid 18th century, a charismatic rabbi named Israel Ba’al Shem Tov and his disciples transformed the spiritual landscape of Eastern European Jewry with a teaching of simple joy, enthusiasm and love of God and fellow human beings.

One fabulous way to approach the wisdom of the Jewish tradition is to study the annual cycle of holidays and sacred seasons. Each time of the year is assigned a spiritual purpose that aligns with the cycles of nature.

African Americans and Jews share an inspiring and ancient story of the struggle against oppression and slavery, and the abiding possibility of liberation: the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

Jewish practice is filled with blessings, for almost every possible occasion or activity. We also bless one another. Blessings carry genuine power, and transmitting the energy of blessings makes one into a channel of awareness and goodness.