Nurturing Jewish Spirituality

Beth Keil of Green Acres is glad there is a time of the year when Judaism asks people if they are living with integrity.

During Yom Kippur, she says, it takes courage to look within and ask: Am I kind? Can people count on me? Am I who I want to be in the world?

In seeking spiritual connection beyond a single day, she's found a practice -- Seventh Path Self-Hypnosis -- that connects her to a sense of unity and love.

"It's like drawing water from an inner well or being able to have the feeling of being embraced by God," Keil says.

Her spiritual practice extends the themes of Yom Kippur -- self-examination, repentance and forgiveness -- through the year, says Keil, who teaches the Seventh Path practice in the Wilmington area.

A day of atonement for sin, Yom Kippur is the sabbath of returning (shabbat shuvah) and is commonly regarded as the most spiritual day on the Jewish calendar.

Explicitly and implicitly, Jews will say that "Life is more than the drama of my life, for the world is full of God's glory, and we see it when we pay attention to the awesome things happening around us," says Rabbi Rachel Cowan.

Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in Manhattan, Cowan says many will leave a synagogue today hoping to feel a connection to an inner sense of beauty and meaning. It's such a common desire that the institute was founded in 2000 to help Jewish people experience the sacred in everyday life.

Study of the Torah, prayer, meditation, yoga and spiritual direction make spirituality more real for rabbis, cantors, educators and lay leaders who attend institute retreats.

"People are looking for ways to experience the still, quiet voice of God," Cowan says.

The search for ways to nourish the inner life has become a vibrant theme in 21st-century Judaism, says Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, professor of religion at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

In the 1980s, this trend was known as renewal. In recent years, it's been called an exploration of spirituality. And it's pursued through a host of practices from yoga to the search for the sacred in nature, Raphael writes in his 2003 book "Judaism in American."

Daily spiritual practices assist in the pursuit of beauty, purpose, peace and wisdom -- quests found, not just in Judaism, but in other American faiths.

At the moment, there is an interesting give and take with Judaism and the broader American culture, says Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Delaware.

In addition to Jewish people sampling techniques from other paths, a mystical approach to Judaism known as the Kabbalah has caused Americans to want to know more about Jewish thought. Madonna's fascination with the Kabbalah has sparked much of this interest, Sneiderman says.

The Kabbalah is traditionally reserved for students with a firm grasp of Judaism's basics, since it involves contemplating the hidden meanings of Hebrew words and letters in the Torah. Still, Sneiderman has taught the Kabbalah at the University of Delaware and Gratz Jewish Community High School in Brandywine Hundred.

He tells students the mystical teachings speak of the world as a concealment of God. One of the tasks given to people is to pierce the veil of matter to know more of the hidden realities of God's mystery, he says.

Cowan agrees. The Kabbalah is an incredible language of imagery and insight told through story and it opens people to the deeper roots of Jewish faith, she says.

Of course, other teachings can make God real, too. Meditation serves that role for Cowan. It helps her slow down and feel the beauty of life.

"Mindfulness meditation helps you be aware of what is true in any moment," she says.

At times, she is able to connect to a profound feeling of peace and see scripture with fresh insight.

For Keil, hypnosis has played that role -- a centering force in her life.

As a teen, she was introduced to focused breathing and relaxation by her mother. It was to help Keil with migraines so devastating that she would throw up. The practice quieted the migraines, though her mother never called it hypnosis.

Later, when Keil became an attending nurse at the Birth Center of Wilmington she trained in hypnotic breathing to help mothers in delivery. That's when she realized her mother had taught a form of hypnosis.

More intrigued, she found her way to a process called Seventh Path Self-Hypnosis, which combines relaxation with meditation and prayer. It works through stages of awareness.

The first stage is a kind of deprogramming that removes limiting beliefs. Keil calls this "emptying the cup." She next uses a state of relaxed attention to open to new possibilities.

"For me it's like cleaning the slate," Keil says. "And I get to attend to the wonder and joy that God breathed into life."

Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in Manhattan, Cowan says many will leave a synagogue today hoping to feel a connection to an inner sense of beauty and meaning. It's such a common desire that the institute was founded in 2000 to help Jewish people experience the sacred in everyday life.

Study of the Torah, prayer, meditation, yoga and spiritual direction make spirituality more real for rabbis, cantors, educators and lay leaders who attend institute retreats.

"People are looking for ways to experience the still, quiet voice of God," Cowan says.

The search for ways to nourish the inner life has become a vibrant theme in 21st-century Judaism, says Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, professor of religion at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

In the 1980s, this trend was known as renewal. In recent years, it's been called an exploration of spirituality. And it's pursued through a host of practices from yoga to the search for the sacred in nature, Raphael writes in his 2003 book "Judaism in American."

Daily spiritual practices assist in the pursuit of beauty, purpose, peace and wisdom -- quests found, not just in Judaism, but in other American faiths.

At the moment, there is an interesting give and take with Judaism and the broader American culture, says Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Delaware.

In addition to Jewish people sampling techniques from other paths, a mystical approach to Judaism known as the Kabbalah has caused Americans to want to know more about Jewish thought. Madonna's fascination with the Kabbalah has sparked much of this interest, Sneiderman says.

The Kabbalah is traditionally reserved for students with a firm grasp of Judaism's basics, since it involves contemplating the hidden meanings of Hebrew words and letters in the Torah. Still, Sneiderman has taught the Kabbalah at the University of Delaware and Gratz Jewish Community High School in Brandywine Hundred.

He tells students the mystical teachings speak of the world as a concealment of God. One of the tasks given to people is to pierce the veil of matter to know more of the hidden realities of God's mystery, he says.

Cowan agrees. The Kabbalah is an incredible language of imagery and insight told through story and it opens people to the deeper roots of Jewish faith, she says.

Of course, other teachings can make God real, too. Meditation serves that role for Cowan. It helps her slow down and feel the beauty of life.

"Mindfulness meditation helps you be aware of what is true in any moment," she says.

At times, she is able to connect to a profound feeling of peace and see scripture with fresh insight.

For Keil, hypnosis has played that role -- a centering force in her life.

As a teen, she was introduced to focused breathing and relaxation by her mother. It was to help Keil with migraines so devastating that she would throw up. The practice quieted the migraines, though her mother never called it hypnosis.

Later, when Keil became an attending nurse at the Birth Center of Wilmington she trained in hypnotic breathing to help mothers in delivery. That's when she realized her mother had taught a form of hypnosis.

More intrigued, she found her way to a process called Seventh Path Self-Hypnosis, which combines relaxation with meditation and prayer. It works through stages of awareness.

The first stage is a kind of deprogramming that removes limiting beliefs. Keil calls this "emptying the cup." She next uses a state of relaxed attention to open to new possibilities.

"For me it's like cleaning the slate," Keil says. "And I get to attend to the wonder and joy that God breathed into life."

Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in Manhattan, Cowan says many will leave a synagogue today hoping to feel a connection to an inner sense of beauty and meaning. It's such a common desire that the institute was founded in 2000 to help Jewish people experience the sacred in everyday life.

Study of the Torah, prayer, meditation, yoga and spiritual direction make spirituality more real for rabbis, cantors, educators and lay leaders who attend institute retreats.

"People are looking for ways to experience the still, quiet voice of God," Cowan says.

The search for ways to nourish the inner life has become a vibrant theme in 21st-century Judaism, says Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, professor of religion at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

In the 1980s, this trend was known as renewal. In recent years, it's been called an exploration of spirituality. And it's pursued through a host of practices from yoga to the search for the sacred in nature, Raphael writes in his 2003 book "Judaism in American."

Daily spiritual practices assist in the pursuit of beauty, purpose, peace and wisdom -- quests found, not just in Judaism, but in other American faiths.

At the moment, there is an interesting give and take with Judaism and the broader American culture, says Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Delaware.

In addition to Jewish people sampling techniques from other paths, a mystical approach to Judaism known as the Kabbalah has caused Americans to want to know more about Jewish thought. Madonna's fascination with the Kabbalah has sparked much of this interest, Sneiderman says.

The Kabbalah is traditionally reserved for students with a firm grasp of Judaism's basics, since it involves contemplating the hidden meanings of Hebrew words and letters in the Torah. Still, Sneiderman has taught the Kabbalah at the University of Delaware and Gratz Jewish Community High School in Brandywine Hundred.

He tells students the mystical teachings speak of the world as a concealment of God. One of the tasks given to people is to pierce the veil of matter to know more of the hidden realities of God's mystery, he says.

Cowan agrees. The Kabbalah is an incredible language of imagery and insight told through story and it opens people to the deeper roots of Jewish faith, she says.

Of course, other teachings can make God real, too. Meditation serves that role for Cowan. It helps her slow down and feel the beauty of life.

"Mindfulness meditation helps you be aware of what is true in any moment," she says.

At times, she is able to connect to a profound feeling of peace and see scripture with fresh insight.

For Keil, hypnosis has played that role -- a centering force in her life.

As a teen, she was introduced to focused breathing and relaxation by her mother. It was to help Keil with migraines so devastating that she would throw up. The practice quieted the migraines, though her mother never called it hypnosis.

Later, when Keil became an attending nurse at the Birth Center of Wilmington she trained in hypnotic breathing to help mothers in delivery. That's when she realized her mother had taught a form of hypnosis.

More intrigued, she found her way to a process called Seventh Path Self-Hypnosis, which combines relaxation with meditation and prayer. It works through stages of awareness.

The first stage is a kind of deprogramming that removes limiting beliefs. Keil calls this "emptying the cup." She next uses a state of relaxed attention to open to new possibilities.

"For me it's like cleaning the slate," Keil says. "And I get to attend to the wonder and joy that God breathed into life."



TO LEARN MORE

The Institute for Jewish Spirituality (www. ijs-online.org)


Beth Keil will give a class on Seventh Path Self-Hypnosis from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at the offices of Delaware Hypnosis Partners, 504 S. Maryland Ave., Wilmington. The cost is $110. Call 999-1400.

LOVE IS HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY

The Jewish year begins with 10 days of introspection and repentance, starting with Rosh Hashanah and culminating in Yom Kippur.


It began Friday at sundown and it's called "the sabbath of sabbaths"" the most sacred day of the year. It's also a "festival without food," a time of prayer and fasting because one's fate hangs in the balance with God.


It's also a day when Jewish people want to be at one with their heavenly judge, as well as family, friends and neighbors. And there is a feeling of hope that all will be well, for God is primarily a God of love and mercy for all.


Rabbi Benjamin Blech in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism