Or Halev Meditation Retreat with James Jacobson-Maisels – Incredible experience!

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Stuart Matan Lithwick

Hello!

I spent the entirety of last week doing very little but learning so much!

Annie and I went on the week-long Jewish meditation retreat, taught by Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels (think Self, Soul, and Text), and Rabbi Jeff Roth, at Kibbutz Hannaton. Over the entire week, we could not talk to anyone except for participating in prayer, and could not make eye contact with anyone. Our entire week was spent sitting, walking, eating, praying, and sleeping. But believe it or not, it was honestly one of the most rejuvenating weeks that I have had in my entire life. Continue reading →

7-Day Silent Meditation Retreat

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Eric Feldman

From my blog:

Imagine spending seven days without your phone, television, or computer. Okay, now add on the incentive of no listening to music, reading, or writing. And now try doing that without speaking or communicating at all. Not just verbal communication; you can’t even look at anyone else. Oh, and one final, small thing – you’re not really supposed to think either. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?

Well, yesterday, I returned from a 7-day silent meditation retreat in which I joined about 40 other people just as crazy as me in seeing what exactly that experience would be like. The retreat took place at an absolutely beautiful kibbutz in northern Israel called Hannaton, about halfway between Haifa and Tiberias. From this small kibbutz you could see tree-filled mountains and mountain ranges on all sides with tiny, mostly Arab villages here and there, and with the Sea of Galilee right outside the kibbutz’s borders. Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] On Pardes and Faith

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Aaron Voldman

I miss Pardes so much. As I shared with my classmates and teachers before departing, it was a dream to learn in Israel and my experience at Pardes turned out so much better than I ever anticipated!

I feel very grateful to my classmates for sharing your insights in class, and for in havruta study both supporting and challenging me. I miss spending Shabbos with you all, and our late night chats.

And I feel very grateful to our teachers. Our teachers both inspired us in the classroom, and taught us so much outside as well. By welcoming us to their Shabbat and Chaggim tables, they shared with us the joy and beauty of our tradition. Continue reading →

What is a prayer? [pt. 3 in a series]

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Pardes students daven mincha at Mitzpe Rimon.
(*click* for larger photo)

It’s been quite a long time since we last checked in. As you might recall, in parts one and two, we looked at what Meir and Rahel had to say about praying. The arrangement of the shiur was fascinating, because we heard first from a very capable prayer, and then from a self-admittedly prayer with out confidence. And then we rounded out with a James, who seemed to be both completely capable and confident, yet who was uncomfortable with the structures prayer has accumulated for itself.

T’fillah is a spiritual practice. Open heartedness and vulnerability. Can I open my heart, can I be vulnerable, can I allow myself to feel things that are hidden, unexposed? And to do that in the presence of the divine. What is the divine, that changes. Sometimes it’s a traditional personal relationship and sometimes it’s more pantheistic relationship asking to be seen and to be heard.

For James, theology is a larger discussion– a way of speaking about our spiritual and religious experience. He’s not worried about making claims about truth or Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Ayeka: The Cherry on my Spiritual Journey’s Cake

Posted on January 12, 2013 by admin

By Mira B. Shore (Summer ’09, ’10; Year ’12)

As a self-identified progressive, liberal, secular Jew growing up at Jewish Day School, I spent a lot of my time and energy speaking about why prayer and G-d were NOT a part of my life. I actively ran from prayer. Once I had my bat-mitzvah, there was nothing my parents could do to get me to synagogue. I prided myself on my rebelliousness and frequently claimed my atheism as a controversial badge of honor.

For university, I continued on my secular path by attending Sarah Lawrence College, named the #1 least religious college in America by The Princeton Review in 2011. While Sarah Lawrence was the perfect school for me in all other ways (academically, socially, professor/student ratio, philosophy, classroom dynamics, etc.) it was very taxing on my Judaism. After my sophomore year, I decided to go back to Israel and study at Pardes to try to find something I felt I’d lost.

Deciding to come to Pardes in the summer of 2009 was a difficult decision for me as a proud, secular Progressive, and I was concerned about how it might feel alienating. I was right. Continue reading →

[Pardes From Jerusalem Podcast] Shemot 5773: Fear of Sin, Mindfulness, and a Softened Heart

Posted on January 3, 2013 by admin

This week, Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels discusses Parashat Shemot in “Fear of Sin, Mindfulness, and a Softened Heart.”

james shemot

Shabbat Shalom!

Prayer for Comfort

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert

Thanks to Joseph Shamash for leading an inspiring Creative Shacharit this morning!

We spent time practicing the Desire meditation from James Jacobson-Maisels’ Self, Soul and Text class, then were given paper and pens and markers to express what came up for us in the form of a drawing or a prayer, etc.

Here is what came for me:

Holy Rachamim, who holds all of creation

I long for comfort.

Your deep, warm womb

The feather-caress of Your great, white wing against my cheek

Your whispered promises in my ear

in my heart

Shechina, Tzimtzumai who birthed all my ancestors and me

I yearn to come home to You

held in You in each moment

supported

tethered from my centre to Yours

fed on love and life and holiness

able to see the world

through the veil of Your body

that my own sharp edges

be softened

my bones be cushioned

my tender heart be coddled

so it can rest

assured of new days, and moments of wonder and blessing to come.

Mama, bless my tears with Your warm hand

help me to feel cleansed, refreshed, renewed

and ready

to face the world on my own feet

grounded in Your earth

on this and every dawning day.

Amen.

____________________________________________________

You can find more of my writing on my website: http://www.anniegilbert.com/writing.html

What is a prayer? [pt. 1 in a series]

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Pardes students daven mincha at Mitzpe Rimon.
(*click* for larger photo)

Pardes was rocked by a shiur clalli (public class) about prayer in the Jewish world, particularly as experienced by three of our teachers: Rahel Berkovits, James Jacobson-Maisels, and Meir Schweiger. It was certainly an honor to see these teachers of ours open themselves up and expose the real humans inside! Some of us had to go on tiyyul to experience that truth–the rest of us just stayed put and knew that it would happen inside the walls too!

David Bernstein moderated, as it were, and opened the discussion with three questions: what does t’fillah (prayer) mean to you? How does t’fillah challenge you? What’s your best suggestion for the rest of us in the room?

The panel, though prepared, was definitely uncomfortable with these questions–in the way that all questions that require answers from the heart, true answers, make one uncomfortable.

For tonight, let’s listen to what Meir had to say. Keep checking in to see what the rest had to say.

Meir began with a story of a little boy participating in Jr. Congregation for chocolate bars! Well, maybe not just for chocolate bars, but the smile on his face as he recalled the chocolate proved that it was more than just Continue reading →

The trees are alive with the sound of silence

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Shoshana Rosen

By Shoshana Rosen

How do I even begin to put into words, an experience that in its essence has no words?

Just recently coming back from a silent meditation shabbaton, up north at Kibbutz Hannaton I realize only how much it impacted me by the stark reality of coming back home. Like many have said before me, sometimes you only realize how much you have changed, until you go back home.

Well for me, home is Jerusalem and Machon Pardes, particularly the Beit Midrash.

As I sit in Hummash class, all of these powerful images of the last couple of days flood my mind. What I would have done the last couple of days was sit on the floor, hands open, resting on my thighs, breathing in and out and letting the thoughts flow and ‘gently but firmly’ returning to my breath. But doing that would have been a little weird, considering I was wearing my black long boots sitting in Rabbi Meir’s hummash class while looking at Rashi. In fact, the only dress code Pardes has is to wear shoes, and for the first time, it felt super constraining, wishing I could feel the grass through my toes. Continue reading →

Kavuah T’filah

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Bogo

Fixed prayer is a salient element of halakha (Jewish law). Jews committed to halakha pray 3x every day (morning, afternoon, evening), and for many it is challenging to find meaning in the mandated, daily recitation of standardized liturgy.

A couple of years ago, I took a class that explored various spiritual practices in Hasidic and other Jewish traditions, and I came across the following quote:

R. Kook

“The perpetual prayer of the soul continually strives to… become revealed and actualized… Prayer is only as it should be when it arises from the awareness that the soul is always praying. At the moment of actual prayer the perpetual prayer of the soul is revealed in action. She then resembles a rose which opens her gentle petals toward the dew or the rays of the sun that shine upon her.”

Rabbi A. I. Kook, 1865-1935, Jerusalem
Introduction to Olat Ra’aya

Continue reading →

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Tag Archives: Rabbi James Moshe Jacobson-Maisels