tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211532393234265552024-03-13T14:56:17.039-04:00Jewish SpiritualityWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-63444659850669313482011-12-30T13:32:00.000-05:002011-12-30T13:34:52.314-05:00Outpourings Of The SoulBlessings, those building blocks of prayer, are more than vague words to recite. Prayer is our response to the lament of the soul. When we’re alone, when we’re frightened, we reach out in prayer to the Holy One of Being for a helping hand. We don’t need to wait until we’re in the synagogue to pray; we can pray anywhere. Standing on line in a supermarket, sitting in traffic, or waiting to meet someone are all appropriate moments for prayer. A rabbi once asked me if I knew what telephone booths were for. The answer came as no surprise as he closed the door behind him and pulling a prayer book from his coat pocket. I remember the days when Temple Emanuel in New York City would broadcast Friday evening services for the homebound. I thought it was a great idea. People should be able to pray whenever the impulse to communicate with God compels them. <br />Around the end of the 1st Century, amid the many issues facing the Tannaim (the early sages of the Talmud), the question of whether to sanction personal prayer or communal prayer met with heated debate. The matter was settled with the decision that communal prayer would take precedence, but with the understanding that the order of prayer would be subject to continuous revision. That explains prayers like Tahanun (supplication), the section of the daily service that was added in response to the longing for personal prayer. Personal prayer has always been known to exist, and some of it has been handed down through the ages. Here is an example of one attributed to Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav: Wherever I go—only You! Wherever I stand—only You! Just You; again You! Always You! You, You, You! When things are good, You! When things are bad—You! You, You, You! <br />For many of us, composing personal prayers is difficult; after all, what words can we devise to address the King of kings? The siddur ( the Jewish prayer book) comes to our aid with selections that are apropos to special occasions or many occasions. Upon arising each morning, there’s Modeh Ani, “I gratefully thank you, O living and eternal King, for you have returned my soul within me with compassion—abundant is Your faithfulness; and then there’s the Kriat Shema at bedtime. During the day, the siddur provides a wide selection of blessings for all kinds of circumstances: upon tasting food or drink and upon witnessing phenomenal events. Prayer books provide a wide selection of uplifting, poetic Psalms—“Inside Divine wings you are nestled, beneath God’s pinions you are housed, a shield embracing is God’s truth. You shall not fear from nighttime terror, from the arrows that soar by day, from pestilence that stalks in the gloom, from feverish demons of the noon. A thousand dangers fall away beside you, yes, ten thousand of them at your right. To you, they can’t draw near.”(from the 91st Psalm). Most prayer books also contain sections of supplementary readings that can serve as uplifting words for fitting moments<br />If the prayer book selections don’t satisfy the outpourings of your soul, you might consider a formula such as the following to compose songs directly from your heart. Choose one area in your life for which you can use some spiritual help or support. Just as one would present himself before a king or some special dignitary, you could present yourself with some words of introduction. For an introductory remark, you might choose one from the following: May it be Your will, O Lord our God; He who makes blessing, bless (add your name, preferably in Hebrew); or O merciful God, who answers the down trodden, answer me. <br /> <br />Now you have to state your case and ask for a blessing. Remember you can only ask for the needs of the soul, like fortitude, courage or the strength to face up to predicaments. You can also declare your thanks for a blessing you have already received. Or you can ask for blessings that come to us inherently—wisdom, repentance, healing, and forgiveness. <br />Finally, take leave of your sojourn with the holy One, with parting remarks. Blessed are you O Lord, who bestows compassion upon your people Israel; or May you be pleased to grant the satisfaction of our desires; or May He who makes peace in the highest, bring this peace upon us and upon all Israel. Then say, Amen <br />I arrived in Jerusalem for the very first time in March 1984, in the late, orange tinted afternoon, the last day of Purim. The streets were littered with streamers and confetti, from the earlier celebrations. Banners still festooned the lampposts. The next day it rained. I was supposed to meet this rabbi that day, who was recommended to me by our rabbi here. I met with him at the Diaspora Yeshiva, on the West Side of the Old City, that drizzly Monday afternoon. I complained resentfully that on my first vacation day, it was raining. Don’t complain, he admonished me, “When it rains in Israel, it’s a blessing” Blessings rain down from above. We can petition God for rain, or consolation, or healing or anything else, but in the end it’s all according to His will.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-26184394766010197082011-11-30T15:43:00.000-05:002011-11-30T15:44:09.251-05:00The Healing Power of ChanukahChanukah takes place at a time when the days are shortest and darkness prevails over light, when the sap rests in the roots, and animals sleep for the winter. Now the soul is at the depths of its annual cycle and our feminine receptive attribute is at its peak, like that of the evening of Shabbat. Perhaps that's why the female motif of Chanukah predominates, with its tales of Jewish heroines and the restriction of women performing work while the candles glow only at night. Only in a setting like this can the intuitive expression of Chanukah come alive.<br /><br />Chanukah is not a Torah mandated holiday, but the Rabbi's of the Talmud, in their wisdom, realized that something was missing in the succession of Jewish holidays. The major festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Succot were all agricultural celebrations, as described in the Torah. There is an active energy about these festivals, reminiscent of the activity of sowing, planting and harvesting. But in winter, we mainly stay at home lighting the menorah on each of the eight nights of Chanukah. It's a quiet time like that of nature outside. <br /><br />We celebrate a miracle that took place over 2000 years ago. A miracle that caused a flask filled with enough oil to burn for one day, to burn for eight days. Why should a miracle, an event that defies the natural order and disobeys the law of cause and effect take place, if not for the will of God? Within that thought lies the seed of transcendence, the potential for healing and the promise of new possibilities for us.<br /><br />Jewish mystics and visionaries always understood, even to this day, that the entire sequence of holidays and festivals follow a path of body and mind healing, emotional development and spiritual growth, all of which are intrinsically interrelated. Much like the flask of oil that miraculously burned for eight days, miracles of restoring shattered lives happen every day.<br /><br />The healing path is intimately connected to the agricultural year that begins with Pesach, acknowledging the Exodus from Egypt and the subsequent escape from bondage. As we read further into Exodus, we find that the Israelites hadn't found freedom yet; the fear of survival in the desert dominated their minds--anxieties of insufficient food and water or the horror of perishing in the desert. So what really happened on the first day of Passover was that the Israelites for the first time became aware that freedom was possible. That's all! Awareness is an extremely powerful tool, and the first step that leads to physical, emotional or spiritual growth,. The first step in all healing is to become aware of the pain, which in some cases is enough to effect healing.<br /><br />Seven weeks after Pesach, we arrive at the summer festival of Shavuot. Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple. Spiritually, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, or the Revelation when God first revealed Himself to the fledgling Jewish nation. At that time the people were ordered to accept the teaching, the laws and the precepts outlined in the Torah. Acceptance became the second principle in the path. Not only did they agree to accept the laws and commandments, but also implicit is that we must agree to accept all of the uncertainties that come before us each day, both the positive and the negative. <br /><br />Finally, the Festival of Sukkot enters in the fall on the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish literature as Z'man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing. Agriculturally, we celebrate the bounty of the harvest. On the spiritual level, healing takes place through rectification, the integration of all the spiritual work that we have done for ourselves during the preceding year.<br /><br />In the cycle of time, the Jewish holidays bring us the opportunity to remember the spiritual and restorative work that we need to do for ourselves. We're not expected to change ourselves from one holiday to the next, but each one cues us into yet another aspect of the healing process. Just as the Torah is reread year after year and when the holiday sare observed, we try to grow spiritually a little more each year.<br /><br />At Chanukah, one strand of thought says that we should not endorse the military victory of the Maccabees; they say only the miracle of the oil properly restored the appropriate glory to the Temple. But if we understand that the Selucid Greeks are merely metaphors for the real enemy that lurks in our souls, who defile our inner personal Temple, we then fight for a more noble cause. The military victory represents the culmination of the battle we fought all year against the enemies of our souls…illness, despair, depression.<br /><br />At this particular Chanukah when the dark clouds of winter loom overhead, we need as much light as we can get. If every one of us would light one candle on each of the eight nights perhaps we can pave the way for a bright new future. It is said that miracles are not necessarily supernatural happenings. All of life is a miracle. Every person we know—our friends and our family—are truly miraculous, and the light of Chanukah allows us to see our miracleWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-84750425472655426742011-10-03T15:30:00.001-04:002011-10-03T15:34:33.714-04:00Sealed in the Book of LifeYom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar year is a time when I think seriously whether all our self-denial on that day actually secures our inscription in the Book of Life. We greet each other with L'shanah Tovah Tichatemu, may you be sealed for a good year. Is it just a matter of sitting passively in shul all day, denying our vital needs, or is there something that we can actively do to assure inscription?<br /><br />In the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, we find the moving prayer Untane Tokef that asks,"who shall live and who shall die" and answers, "repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree". I can understand repentance and prayer, but how come charity? Charity means giving or for-giving---in favor of giving. To forgive another is being in favor of giving something to yourself.<br /><br />T'shuvah, returning to the presence of God, which in some imprecise way became defined as repentance, is the hallmark of the High Holidays. Somehow repentance is connected to forgiveness. We pray for forgiveness for our sins against God; created in the image of God, we have to forgive those who hurt us and we have to ask forgiveness of those we knowingly hurt. There must be things we do wrong, even though at the time, we were not aware of it, for which we have to make amends, atone---an eye for an eye.<br /><br />Atoning for sins is the first step in the process of making T'shuvah, of becoming constantly mindful of God, a process that began at Rosh Hashanah. Atonement centers around the sacrifices that the High Priest performed in the days of the Temple. Sacrifices, like the ritual of the scapegoat, elaborated in the Yom Kippur liturgy contains the same sort of magic as those sacrifices that took us out of Egypt at Passover. The first atonement took place on Yom Kippur when Moses prayed on Mt. Sinai for forgiveness of the sin of the Golden Calf, the archetypal sin. Like Moses we are expected to expiate our sins, to pay for our misdeeds through prayer and sacrifice. We sin unknowingly and unwittingly against God because we are spiritually insensitive to His plan for the universe and our individual role in it.<br /><br />When I first came to comprehend Yom Kippur on a deeper level, I realized I had to reflect on prayer and fasting more seriously, rather than just behaving spartan for the entire day. I began to listen more carefully and to visualize as the chazzan portrayed the role of the high priest, ritually reenacting the drama of making expiation for the House of Israel with his entry into the Holy of Holies and ordained sacrifices. It was then that I knew that the mystery of atonement lay hidden in the Mussaf Amidah for Yom Kippur.<br /><br />I probed into the nature of sin. I found that cheyt, the Hebrew term for sin, finds its roots in the idea of missing the mark, like an archer inaccurately releasing his arrow. If we think of our relationship with God as our target, a sin is missing the mark, pointing to something other than God. I used to think that sin is an action morally condemned like cheating or lying. Now I know sin as being out of tune with the universe, not hearing the subtle Divine messages that are constantly impinging upon us or worshipping other gods like money, for instance, for what it can buy.<br /><br />Then I wondered whether I am confessing my personal sins or are we confessing the sins for all Israel like the high priest? It seems as if confession and the other forms of self-denial for Yom Kippur make us more humble and vulnerable to the possibility of starting the New Year with a clean slate. Maybe that's what being sealed into the Book of Life actually means. The Al Cheyt confession, the catalog of sins that we admit to even if we have no knowledge of doing wrong, is our way of making the sacrifice that compensates for the sins we sinned.<br /><br />The Mishnah on Yom Kippur offers some discussion on fasting; the Torah requires that we practice self-denial but mentions nothing about fasting; somehow the later sages concluded that the two were synonymous. I found that food deprivation brought me to altered states of consciousness--not hunger--which rendered me more receptive to Divine intervention and a clarity that atonement was immanent.<br /><br />Throughout the Torah and the writings of the Prophets, we are constantly reminded to keep God's commandments and we're duly warned of the repercussion if we fail to heed those words. The greater part of Jewish law, particularly the laws we classify as Mishpatim, the everyday laws, that concern themselves with righting a wrong or with paying for damages. From this, we might surmise that atonement is an on-going process and not necessarily a once-a-year event. If we start with Yom Kippur to become more attentive to our daily actions, perhaps then we can keep that slate clean and be sealed in the Book of Life.<br />G'mar Chatimah TovahWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-49973880560382427812011-08-23T15:17:00.000-04:002011-08-23T15:32:04.578-04:00The Month of Elul and SelichotThis year the month of Elul falls out on August 31.
<br />The month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that the month of Elul is a particularly propitious time for repentance. This mood of repentance builds through the month of Elul to the period of Selichot, to Rosh Hashanah, and finally to Yom Kippur.
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<br /> The name of the month, spelled in Hebrew, is said to be an acronym of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is God and the "I" is the Jewish people. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted), the word "Elul" means "search," which is appropriate, because this is a time of year when we search our hearts.
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<br /> According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time that Moses spent on Mount Sinai preparing the second set of tablets after the incident of the golden calf (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul and descended on the 10th of Tishrei, at the end of Yom Kippur, when repentance was complete. Other sources say that Elul is the beginning of a period of 40 days that Moses prayed for God to forgive the people after the Golden Calf incident, after which the commandment to prepare the second set of tablets was given
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<br />Customs of Elul
<br />During the month of Elul, from the 2nd to the 28th day, the shofar (a hollowed out ram's horn) is blown after morning services every weekday. The shofar is not blown on Shabbat. It is also not blown on the day before Rosh Hashanah to make a clear distinction between the rabbinical rule of blowing the shofar in Elul and the biblical mitzvah to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Four blasts are blown: tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah. Rambam explained the custom of blowing shofar as a wake-up call to sleepers, designed to rouse us from our complacency. It is a call to repentance. The blast of the shofar is a very piercing sound when sounded properly.
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<br />Elul is also a time to begin the process of asking forgiveness for wrongs done to other people. According to Jewish tradition, God cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we have first obtained forgiveness from the person we have wronged. This is not as easy a task, as you might think if you have never done it. This process of seeking forgiveness continues through the Days of Awe. Many people visit cemeteries at this time, because the awe-inspiring nature of this time makes us think about life and death and our own mortality.
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<br />Selichot
<br />As the month of Elul draws to a close, the mood of repentance becomes more urgent. Prayers for forgiveness called selichot (properly pronounced "s'lee-KHOHT," are added to the daily cycle of religious services. Selichot are recited in the early morning, before normal daily shacharit service. They add about 45 minutes to the regular daily service.
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<br />Selichot are recited from the Sunday before Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If Rosh Hashanah begins on a Monday or Tuesday, selichot begins on the Sunday of the week before Rosh Hashanah, to make sure that there are at least 3 days of Selichot. The first selichot service of the holiday season is usually a large community service, held around midnight on Motzei Shabbat (the night after the sabbath ends; that is, after nightfall on Saturday) . The entire community, including men, women and older children, attend the service, and rabbis give sermons. The remaining selichot services are normally only attended by those who ordinarily attend daily shacharit services in synagogue.
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<br />A fundamental part of the selichot service is the repeated recitation of the "Thirteen Attributes," a list of God's thirteen attributes of mercy that were revealed to Moses after the sin of the golden calf (Ex 34:6-7): Ha-shem [1], Ha-shem [2], God [3], merciful [4], and gracious [5], long-suffering [6], abundant in goodness [7] and truth [8], keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation [9], forgiving iniquity [10] and transgression [11] and sin [12], who cleanses [13]. Why is "Ha-shem" listed twice as an attribute? And why are three of these "attributes" Names of God? Different names of God connote different characteristics of God. The four-letter Name of God (rendered here as "Ha-shem") is the Name used when God is exhibiting characteristics of mercy, and the Talmud explains that this dual usage indicates that God is merciful before a person sins, but is also merciful after a person sins. The third attribute is a different Name of God that is used when God acts in His capacity as the almighty ruler of nature and the universe. Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-80409705048898058852011-07-31T12:27:00.003-04:002011-07-31T12:31:58.245-04:00Tisha B’Av: 9th of Av.Tisha B'Av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av) usually occurs in the Gregorian calendar during July or August. This year it falls out on August 8, 2011. The Fast of the Ninth of Av is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av. The worst of the tragedies occurred on that date; most notably was the destruction of both Temples. (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.<br /><br />Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider the many other tragedies that transpired. In chronological order, its source began with the sin of the spies who lied pessimistically about the land of Israel to the Jewish nation (noted in the Book of Bamidbar). Ever since, God had given the nation real reason to mourn in correction of this lack of faith. Throughout history, the Temples burned, the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, Pogroms and World War I and II have all occurred on this momentous day. In the future this day of mourning will completely turn into a day of rejoicing as the true Moshiach will be born on this day removing the yoke of the nations around us.<br /><br /><br />Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three-week period of increased mourning, beginning with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which commemorates the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem, before the First Temple was destroyed. During this three-week period, weddings and other parties are not permitted, and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or drinking wine (except on the Shabbat) and from wearing new clothing.<br /><br />Tisha B'Av is an appropriate time for all Jews to mourn what we have lost. Many of the customs of mourning are in effect during this period, which gives us the opportunity to look deeply into our lives and mourn for what we once had. Mourning requires that we attentively observe our feelings of what has departed from our lives. There’s not much else to do but observe the feelings as they arise without fleeing from them. The more diligently we’re willing to face the feelings, the sooner they will depart from our lives. The feelings that accompany loss are often painful, but the effort of making full use of these weeks of grieving is highly cathartic and purifying. Tisha B'Av is an ideal opportunity for us to complete the process of healing as an entire community.<br /><br />The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiling, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.<br /><br />In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept) is draped in black.<br /><br />The physical connection of the entire Jewish people to Jerusalem comes to the forefront when King David conquered it from the Jebusites and paid for the holy site on the Temple Mount and made the city his capital. After the destruction of the First Temple, the majority of the Jewish population was swept into exile in Babylon, by whose rivers they swore to weep for Zion, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not place Jerusalem above all my joy." In the Maccabean era, the very essence of the battle for Jerusalem was to establish the Jewish nature of the city, drive out pagan practices from Temple ritual and Hellenism from public life. Under other circumstances, there might have been no national uprising against Jewish subordination to the Greeks.<br />The importance of Jerusalem as a national symbol grew with subsequent periods of foreign domination: during the Great Rebellion and the Bar Kochba Rebellion,coins were minted in memory of Jerusalem.<br /><br />It is, however, only after the destruction of the Second Temple that the significance of Jerusalem is transformed into that which we know today— a focal point, around which Jewish life turns toward which the entire Jewish people's national aspirations and messianic hopes are directed. Thus, we find that not only is this a spiritual connection, but also a physical one: all synagogue interiors around the world are built facing Jerusalem. Indeed, the daily and festival prayers abound in references to Jerusalem in lengthy text; the liturgy contains five major blessings relating to Jerusalem, while many other community and home rituals also describe and commemorate the Holy City.<br /><br />Jerusalem is the major topic of pre-modern Hebrew poetry, and the Kinot— the mediaeval and subsequent mourning liturgy of Tisha Be'av focus time and again on Jerusalem as they lament the trials of the Jewish people throughout its history of exile. As the inevitable cycle of life continues and repeats, traditions connected with Jerusalem have been enshrined to remind us that even joy is not complete without Jerusalem: a plate is broken at the signing of an engagement contract, a groom breaks a glass under the bridal canopy after the ceremony; one small section of the wall in every new house is left unplastered or unpainted - incomplete.<br /><br />For generations, it was impossible for most Jews to dream of living in Jerusalem themselves, but they participated by supporting those communities which resided there, hosting guests who had travelled from Jerusalem to raise funds. This was more than a form of charity: it brought Jerusalem to everyone and everyone to Jerusalem - a way of life. Diaspora Jewish life would be incomplete without Jerusalem: the hope for redemption and for the return of the people to Eretz Yisrael has always focused on Jerusalem. It is a longing and a hope which are most poignantly felt and expressed on Tisha B' Av.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-65535675663740118062011-06-23T16:30:00.002-04:002011-06-23T16:36:41.292-04:00Jewish HealingBy now you might be wondering what Jewish healing is all about. It grew from the concern of contemporary Jews who dedicated themselves to the benefits that accrue from living a spiritual life. Among the values derive from contact with spirit are healing, love, compassion, wisdom, abundance, creativity and intuition. <br /><br />From the Kabbalah, we learn that the blessings that flows down from God is pure energy which gets transformed step by step through the spiritual worlds until it reaches our material world. Here it takes the form of the body and any interruptions or blockages in that flow manifests itself into what we call illness. Illness can take place on all levels of body, mind and spirit depending on where it gets stuck. So the first requirement of authentic Jewish healing has to be on an energetic level. The second requirement is that it be Torah based, meaning that it needs to involve specific Mitzvot such as prayer and misheberah, bikim holim (visiting the sick), doing t'shuvah (turning inward towards God), tsedakah (giving to others), the study and visualizations of selected biblical text, and the recitation of specific tehillim (psalms). <br /><br />The third element to qualify healing as authentically Jewish is that it eliminates an affinity towards anything that smacks of avodah zarah -forbidden worship which means idol worship in the broadest sense, or engaging in religions outside of Judaism. Not only objects or people, but thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, convictions, etc. that binds one to pay homage to the object of devotion. So many medical and psychological theories that many of us cherish must be seen as the idolatry it is owing to strong convictions of worshiping mental constructs.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-37792189310783755602011-06-17T13:25:00.002-04:002011-06-17T13:28:48.607-04:00Spirituality and HealingJewish spirituality and healing are inextricably bound together. Healers around the world know that God is our ultimate healer; the force that enables true healing to take place. www.jewishealing.com is the website dedicated to spirituality and healing. <br /><br />Judaism has a lot to do with fixing things that went wrong. The Kabbalah, for example, presents us with the theory of Tikkun Olam (the rectification of the universe) to deal with the mechanics of repair. Through Kabbalah, it is believed, we can fix what went wrong with our bodies, our emotions, and our minds. Our entire existence—the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual life—emanates from the Divine realm, and provides for all of our personal needs, which we receive continuously. Many questions arise out of spiritual inquiry such as “Who am I?” “What is the purpose of my existence?” “What is the meaning of life?” “What happens to me after I die?” and a host of other similar questions that may pose a threat to our mental and emotional stability. Quite often, people, upon entering psychotherapy, find that their painful issues are not emotional but indeed spiritual. <br /><br />Healing is a function of living a spiritual life. Healing can be defined as the natural process by which the body repairs itself. As an integral part of nature, we all consist of the energy of Creation. A number of terms have been coined throughout the history of healing practices to describe energy; for our purposes, we mean the vital energy, the power that energizes life. This power is synonymous with what we call God. On Shavuot, we refresh our connection to God, our healing power, by receiving His Torah.<br /><br />Some of us believe that entering a spiritual path will solve our overall problems; they are often disillusioned when they find their lives have not really changed as a result of their introduction. Mysticism has always been the tool of spiritual explorers who stick with it, delving into the depths of their being, in search for an understanding of and an intimate relationship with the Creator. A grasp of Kabbalah can serve our healing efforts well however it is a long tedious journey that may last a lifetime while the practice of standard Jewish tradition—Torah, Mitzvot, and Prayer—bring about changes right now<br /><br />Jewish tradition tries hard, though sometimes pitifully, to relate that the entrance to the “Gates” is the alignment of our personalities with our souls, our spiritual Self. In more familiar terms, it means aligning ourselves with God and Torah. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner put in succinctly when he wrote, “The Pentateuch is God’s Torah; each one of us is our own Torah whose purpose in life is to align our Torah to His Torah”. <br /><br />You may ask, “Why traveling on the road to heaven—or biblically, the road to Canaan—is so urgently important for those on the spiritual journey”? I think that if a survey were taken to determine just what most people want in their lives, I think we would find that they want a just and moral society where people can flourish in accord with their aspirations.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-59504401903657230152010-06-23T13:08:00.001-04:002010-06-23T13:15:56.253-04:00Getting To Know Me<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5COwner%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5COwner%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: arial;" 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It was during Neilah, the closing service; I was weary from nearly twenty four hours of fasting and saturated with all the confessionals of the day. I thought to myself in the midst of confessing one sin after the other in the final confession, most of which I had no idea I committed, that in our dualistic existence there must be a polar opposite of a sin. Yes, of course, I reasoned after a little reflection, it's a Mitzvah. What else could it be? If sins are those actions from which God asks us to refrain, then there must be actions He wants us to do, my mind continued. There can only be a choice of what's acceptable behavior and what's not. How could we possibly know?</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" >After the final Shofar blasts, with my sins as white as lilies, I got in the car to start my drive home. I stopped at a traffic intersection and there cars were backed up for blocks due to a minor traffic accident. I was impatient to get home; I was famished. By the time the tow truck arrived, I was getting angrier for having to sit there and wait so long. I was now getting furious. I honked the horn and yelled at the police, the tow truck driver and the guy who drove carelessly, for causing the delay. It was then I remembered the line we just read, "for the sin that we have sinned before you through harsh speech".</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" >I finally arrived home starved and unnerved. In consolation, I ate and drank everything in sight without reservation and again remembered "for the sin that we have sinned before you with food and drink" It seemed as if I was doomed to sin. I started to think back to the revelation I had during Neilah. If the Mitzvah is the only antidote to sin, how could we be doing Mitzvot all day long. It then occurred to me that the Torah commandments are not the spiritual acts we're led to believe, but the archetypal models for everyday behavior. They're like basic training for every action we do, moment by moment.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" >Once I realized the error of behaving impulsively I began to wonder what else I do that's inappropriate. It's really hard to know because my ego mind tries to rationalize all my iniquities.<span style=""> </span>Many question arose. Would a Mitzvah counteract a sin now or would I have to wait until next year to confess again. I wondered if there are both small sins and big sins, or is a sin a sin? Is littering chewing gum wrappers as bad as stealing chewing gum? I don't know; only my conscience could tell me. What I do know is that the irreconcilable forces of sin and Mitzvah, provides us with a yardstick to measure if we are, indeed, fulfilling our purpose and destiny.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" >What I learned from this whole experience is that the spiritual part of Judaism takes place in our everyday activities, not in the synagogue. The early hassidic Rebbes, we're told, went out to the market place to find poor, hapless, distressed Jews in need of help and assistance. It is out there that we can choose whether to sin or not, but how could we know the right choice to make. It would take some kind of antennae, an oracle like the Urim V'Tumim of the High Priest's breastplate to intuit God's nod of approval. We can, with some practice, sensitize ourselves to pick up these messages either as the warm, loving aura of Mitzvah or the cold hostile feelings of sin. We know when it's right and we know when it's wrong; we don't need a book to tell us.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=";font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:85%;" >Jewish spirituality, quite different from the spiritual methods of the Eastern religions, yet equally effective, is built on the system of Mitzvot. The performance of mitzvot-- particularly those related to the Creation, the Exodus from Egypt, and the Tent in the Wilderness--reduces our reliance on ego, brings about healing, awakens us from from our fleeting, mundane activities and return us, once more, to that place of primal empowerment. We should<span style=""> </span>rethink our image of Mitzvot, not as antiquated, meaningless rituals performed by our immigrant ancestors, but as the current trend of contemporary, enlightened Jews looking to reclaim their spiritually.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-78259366324168703852010-03-26T14:08:00.000-04:002010-03-26T14:09:26.807-04:00Finding God For MyselfLiving a quaint rural town in southeastern Massachusetts, miles from the closest synagogue makes Torah study a bit more difficult. I searched for a means to learn without a chavruta, a study partner, and concurrently satisfy my longing for meaningful spiritual practice. I carefully considered several routes before selecting two paths that seemed the most pragmatic. Study ordinarily implies filling the mind with facts, with retaining information that might be useful at some later date. Many believe that Torah study is reserved for an elite few, for scholars, for rabbis or for the strictly observant. My learning is just the opposite; it's a spiritual practice aimed at making "korbonnot", coming closer to God. It's available to anyone who is willing to open the book and look at the text with a clear mind, one that's unencumbered with thoughts of the everyday world which can then become like a sponge, able to soak up the deeper meanings of the text.<br /><br />I had been scouring through the text, for some months, for an access into the problem and then one day right before my very eyes I found the first of the two directions: God establishes a relationship with us through the narrative. To reach this conclusion, I had to juggle a few ideas that arose during the months of investigation. Human beings need a medium in which to communicate with God and the spiritual world. I reasoned that stories are constructed from elemental feelings and impulses common to a nation's corporate experiences and reflected on another level through their literature. The stories in Torah are just that bridge. If we can allow ourselves, even for a single study session, to walk in the sandals of the ancient Israelites, the stories become real. Torah is writtten in metaphors. Behind the metaphor lies its true meaning like the tale of the Golden Calf that came to represent our worldly cravings. There's a certain energetic charge that accompanies the discovery of personal meanings of metaphors for yourself.<br />It's not necessary to read through or have a command of the entire Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. This course of study performs well with any selection of the text: the weekly portion or any specific excerpt of your own choice. As I read through the chapters I felt as if God was talking, not only to the Israelites through Moses, but to me. I found that by studying the text, with special emphasis on how God exercises His will and shapes the cause of events directly or indirectly--I could learn to keep God before me at all times. These are some of the mental notes I kept in mind. God is the indisputable boss like when He uttered to Abram in Genesis 12:1, "Go forth from your native land and from your fathers house to the land that I will show you". God is the principle prophesy maker as in Genesis 15:13, when He said to Abram, "Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs (Egypt) and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgement on the nation and in the end they shall go free" Finally I was mindful how God's decisions actually materialized as summarized in Exodus 12:31 as Pharoah exclaimed, "Up, depart from among my people, you and the Israelites! go, worship the Lord as you said". Our relationship to the Creator is determined by our understanding of how the Torah text revolves around God, not the Patriarchs or the Israelites.<br /><br />The other fork in the road led me to learn more about myself through the text, another route towards relating to God. Again I kept set of mental questions before me as I read through verse after verse. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of my life? Is there something about the story that rings a bell? Could I recall experiences in my life when I experienced something similar to this story? How would I describe the characters in the story? Who did I know who's like them? Could I identify with any one of the characters? Which one? How does God instigate action in my life? What does He want me to do? <br />I share this quest, particularly, for those who live far from a synagogue, who are distanced from Jewish life, who wish to pursue deeper meanings of Torah or who simply feel they don't have the time. When we make a spiritual discipline a priority, we miraculously find a way to get everything done. When we free up time to do the things that really feed our souls then we find the peace and happiness we seek.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-59838984289231556452010-03-07T13:55:00.001-05:002010-03-07T13:55:54.575-05:00Jewish Spirituality In A Nutshell (Part 2)The great stumbling block in achieving Devekut reflects upon the understanding of exile, a kind of existential loneliness. Ever since the Israelite captivity in Babylonia, some three thousand years ago, exile came to be identified with distancing oneself or an entire nation from God. Today, our estrangement from God is defined by our attachment to external influences—material possessions and much of our self-centered behaviors. Jewish historical records go on to trace the hardships that had befallen the Jewish people for their disobedience to God’s commandments. The shame of the golden calf incident became the symbol of our ultimate exile; when enraged by that sinful deed, God threatened the total annihilation of the Israelites. Where are we today? How distant from God have we become? To answer that, you may just need to look around and perceive all the suffering, destruction and pain that we’re exposed to daily. <br /><br />The return trip from exile is a process we call T’shuvah (from the Hebrew verb “to return”) is at the heart of Jewish spirituality. It is thought of as a process; it is not instantaneous, it takes place over time. T’shuvah, does not, as commonly believed, mean to refrain from consciously hurtful actions. The motivation for such actions lies rooted deeply in our subconscious; they are out of our conscious control. T’shuvah is the complete about-face from our present behavior patterns to one guided by Divine wisdom, the result of clinging to God. The process of T’shuvah is inaugurated at Rosh HaShanah, but the effort of turning towards God is meant to continue all year long. Through self-awareness exercises, which helps us to see ourselves more objectively, the process of turning inward is initiated.<br /><br />Are contemporary synagogues capable of fostering spirituality? Despite much grumbling that synagogue services are often lifeless and uninspiring, they still offer us an environment in which to grow spiritually. Synagogues provide us with a community whose mere presence provides the means for strength and support for our prayers. Prayer, the leading Jewish spiritual practice arouses our hearts in praise of God; it inflames our innate aspect of love. Synagogues also provide us with rabbis and teachers under whose guidance we can receive deeper insight into the mitzvot and the teachings of the Torah. <br /><br />Mitzvot and Torah are prayers of a different order. Any religious obligation that helps direct our attention to God is prayer. Rabbi Abraham Heshel’s statement comes to mind as he marched for civil rights from Selma to Montgomery and declared, “I’m praying with my feet”. Mitzvot, the Divine commandments require action by the physical body, like the holidays and Shabbat; while Torah narrative engages the mind on how God functions in the world. By integrating all three modalities prayer (emotions), mitzvot (action) and Torah (mind) we’re brought to a deeper understanding of the workings of spirit, and ultimately to union with the Divine Source. Yet, with this in mind, one urgent ingredient is still missing. We must learn to pay careful attention to everything our mind, body and emotions communicate to us. The kind of focusing—kavannah, in Hebrew— in prayer and in deeds momentarily nullifies our sense of self, and opens our perception to Divinity. It’s like a meditation on becoming aware of ourselves.<br /><br />Spirituality requires a certain behavior pattern expected of people pursuing a spiritual path. As Jews seeking access to the spiritual realm, we must behave in a manner conducive to Jewish expectations. Even before opening a holy text, we must learn to act with humility, with compassion, with kindness, with trust, with generosity, with all the characteristics that define us as “b’tselim elohim”, created in the image of God. Jewish spirituality depends upon each individual’s penetrating, inner-directed exploration; it is more than merely the practice of Jewish customs. Spirituality is striving to integrate our body and mind with the spiritual dimension in order to align ourselves with the Source of Creation.<br />The EndWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-63317077614486385392010-02-26T13:10:00.003-05:002010-03-07T13:57:34.574-05:00Jewish Spirituality In A Nutshell (Part 1)Generally speaking, spirituality is the awareness that an unseen spiritual world exists simultaneously with our everyday world of thoughts and feelings. This dimension of life generates the most significant values that mankind can attain—love, wisdom, healing, forgiveness, just to name a few. Religious traditions throughout human history always understood the need for making contact with the spiritual realm, but each culture’s style varies widely. Jewish spirituality is intimately tied into our tradition, and I know of no other spiritual practice as potent as Judaism for the Western sensibility. <br /><br />How can modern Jews live today’s pace, go through the mechanics of raising a family, attend to the pressures of the workplace and yet find time and energy to pursue spirituality in their lives? The present ultra-orthodox style of living in ghetto-like communities originated by necessity in the European countries in which they were forced to take refuge. Certain laws of the Torah made it necessary for everyone to reside close to one another; these people found joy and warmth and satisfaction from living in close proximity to each other. They not only lived among each other, but they followed the same dress code, ate the same foods and spoke the same language, all to remain distinct from the outlying community. Their spirituality came from clinging to God in every feasible moment. But is it possible for us, living in the 21st Century, in an ultra-technocratic society where change happens faster than we can keep up with it, to establish some level of spirituality.<br /><br />The ultimate objective of Jewish spirituality is a kind of Divine perception that Jewish mystics have struggled towards for many centuries. They labeled it “Devekut”—the union with God. This kind of enlightenment doesn’t take place with blinding flashes of insight. It’s nature is to experience God in all our daily activities. It’s meaning is encapsulated from the verse from psalm 140 “Shviti I stand before God at all times”, and its origin lies in the spring festival of Pesach. In the stories surrounding the redemption, we find the stiff-necked nation of Israel enslaved, to the taskmasters of Egypt, for nearly 400 years. They preferred the hardships of Egypt to the great unknown of liberation. You and I follow similar paths. It takes many plagues to dislodge us from our captivity to the world of matter and concepts. After God redeemed the Israelites with an outstretched arm, the people journeyed for the next forty years toward the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Egypt is our exile; the road to Canaan symbolizes our Devekut.<br />To be continued...Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-82405346383917479402010-02-19T14:25:00.000-05:002010-02-19T14:27:46.288-05:00A Jewish spiritual lifeAt one time I thought that the Hasidim lived the way of my dreams; somehow their garb seemed indicative of holiness. But later on, I found that theirs was no different than any other orthodox sect, who live more by the letter of the law than by its spirit. I also thought that guru-types, modern day mystics or new age priests were holy people, just to find out that most are still keeping their psychotherapy appointments. I think the shock of all these delusions pointed the way to realizing that Jewish tradition itself holds, within it, the keys to successful Jewish spirituality. <br /><br />On one hand, many of us seek a certain level of spirituality in our lives. Why not, after all, Judaism, with its holy Temple and the its priestly caste, was built on a spiritual foundation. Yet on the other hand, many Jews are fascinated by the exotic religions of the Far East. What could Judaism hold in store that would rival the esoterica of Asian cultures? <br /><br />Retreats are not necessarily a Jewish thing; Shabbat is our retreat in time, but sometimes it is helpful to a live for a few days under in an insulated environment, away from daily distractions, to get a sense of what it means to live spiritually. We were under the tutelage of several high-powered, spiritually evolved rabbis who functioned as our spiritual mentors for those days. <br /><br />They taught that to live spiritually is to confront the stronghold of our tradition with a little stretch of our mental abilities. This extra step is what's defined in the Talmud as "directing the heart", a gesture which means approaching every action with a clear intention or attention. In Hebrew it's called "kavannah", without it, every act we do, whether religious or not, loses meaning; it is acting unconsciously. <br /><br />While the Eastern religions preach the contemplative aspects of life, Judaism finds its spirituality and connection to God in the ordinary events of every day life. We find ours in the workplace, in the supermarket and in the home. I would be inclined to say that Jewish spiritual life rests on a foundation of three pillars: community, sacred actions (Mitzvot), and ordinary everyday activities. It's ironical that the very features of traditional Judaism that seems so foreign contain the very conditions that bring us closer to God. It's like having an oil well in your backyard without even knowing it.Wally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-22434269082363987272010-02-12T12:07:00.005-05:002010-02-12T12:18:12.786-05:00The Jewish concept of soulJudaism teaches that man has a soul – a consciousness that exists independently of the physical body and brain. This belief has broad implications. For one it means that there is an afterlife and there are future lives – reincarnation. More than that, the human soul distinguishes man from the souls of the animal worlds and from inanimate objects. We are not biochemical robots; bodies filled with water, proteins, and nucleic acids. We are not merely a superficial shell. We possess a divine spark, which God has breathed into us. This is our true essence.<br /><br />The soul is the secret to living a joyous life. Our soul constantly craves a return to its Divine roots, so that prayer, mitzvot, and Torah study nurtures souls longing for return to its source. Therefore, when we study a few verses of Torah we are directing our attention to our souls rather than to our daily lives. Our everyday Jewish practices determine whether we live in a state of happiness or of misery, depending on the condition of the soul.<br /><br />According to Jewish thought, the soul consists of three levels: Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah. The Nefesh refers to the person, to our physical existence. The words Ruach and Neshamah both mean "breath” in the sense of the soul being an ethereal, spiritual essence, and they are the aspects that continue living even after death, they are our immortality. The outcome of our mundane happiness depends upon the balance between Nefesh and our spiritual essence; our traditional Jewish practices attempt to orchestrate that state of equilibrium.<br /><br />Although Judaism concentrates its efforts on this temporal world (Olam Ha'zeh — "this world"), classical Judaism speculates an afterlife. Jewish tradition affirms that the human soul is immortal and thus survives the physical death of the body into the Hereafter, known as Olam Haba (the "world to come").<br /><br />For further information click on the title of this post to go to the Jewish healing websiteWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-9381604081297285512010-02-06T19:01:00.003-05:002010-02-12T12:22:02.602-05:00HealingI have written in many places, at many times that healing of mind, body, and spirit is dependent upon a spiritual relationship with the Holy One Blessed is He. This connection is based upon the Jewish practices of Torah, mitzvot and prayer. I know to many this sounds like an archaic way of life, but this is Jewish spiritual practice. It's been like this for centuries.<br />Jewish spirituality has a lot to do with fixing things that went wrong. The Kabbalah, for example, presents us with the theory of Tikkun Olam (the rectification of the universe) to deal with the mechanics of repair. Through Jewish tradition, we can fix what went wrong with our bodies, our emotions, and our minds. This may sound a bit fantastic or oversimplified, but it has proven its efficacy. All we need to do is get into our spiritual space. Healers know that spirituality and healing are interchangeable terms. If you wanted to heal some aspect of your life, you would have to encounter your spiritual self, where we encounter God. <br />Unfortunately many of us drift to other traditions like Yoga or Buddhism to seek spirituality and healing, but Judaism is just as effective as any other seemingly exotic tradition. You'll be hearing more about this.<br /><br />For further information click on the title of this post to go to the Jewish healing websiteWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-77863152419569820622010-01-29T13:06:00.002-05:002010-02-12T12:23:08.556-05:00Our imaginationMan is the only species of God’s creation blessed with the power of the imagination, a faculty that we utilize for physical survival and spiritual growth. Judaism bases so much of its authority on imaginative scenes. Take for example the well-known prescription in the Passover Haggadah when we’re told that “in every generation each individual is bound to consider himself as if he personally had gone forth out of Egypt”. The use of imagination in Jewish literature is limitless. In the synagogue we do a lot of ‘standing up and sitting down’. We stand primarily when the ark is opened, in order to experience ourselves in a spiritually elevated state. The mussaf (the additional service of Shabbat and each of the three Festivals) visually describes the scene of the sacrificial ritual assigned to that particular day. This list can go on and on, but it shouldn’t take much thought on your part to come up with lots more.<br /><br />The use of imagination in Jewish heritage is so far-reaching that it would be difficult to find important aspects of Jewish tradition where the imaginative mind does not come into play. It is widely accepted that the Prophets relied upon their imaginative faculty to receive God’s messages for His people. It’s not a coincidence that each Prophet’s teaching is similar to the others, only the language differed as the mind pictures of each Prophet varied.<br /><br />For further information click on the title of this post to go to the Jewish healing websiteWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-421153239323426555.post-56998916761012296092010-01-21T15:35:00.004-05:002010-02-12T12:24:14.624-05:00The Shviti<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0_uF50262MRvMaUIw-ByIK5s1tFYCJGWnX39ZevcaHRTrtY2hu6Im6ZGoGV7tkWQshtMQTDZiJK94Uhk4MAv5xbIp1qsxwcnp1p74HGxf7Z-DkO78J-Fhl4o0rivV21keqZ1m4OLUCM/s1600-h/Shiviti.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0_uF50262MRvMaUIw-ByIK5s1tFYCJGWnX39ZevcaHRTrtY2hu6Im6ZGoGV7tkWQshtMQTDZiJK94Uhk4MAv5xbIp1qsxwcnp1p74HGxf7Z-DkO78J-Fhl4o0rivV21keqZ1m4OLUCM/s200/Shiviti.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429295083143601650" /></a><br />Central to all of Jewish spirituality is the following quote from the Book of Psalms: “I place God before me always”. (Psalm 145:18).<br /><br />Plaques, such as the one above, were always to be found somewhere on the bima of old orthodox synagogues with the phrase in Hebrew: Shviti adonai knegdi tamid, hence the title “the Shviti.” They were there back then to remind the congregation to keep God before them at all times. Framed Shviti commemorative inscriptions are now available online to frame and hang in a prominent place in the home as a constant reminder to focus our attention on God at all times.<<br /><br />For further information click on the title of this post to go to the Jewish healing websiteWally Spieglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789255822034790997noreply@blogger.com0