Na’aleh - Let’s Rise

As you may know, my work at Beth Tzedec has involved many threads woven into a rich tapestry, work that I am enjoying very much. One of those threads is of contemplative practice. A few examples of where we have experienced contemplative and meditative practices together are during Torah, Shabbat, and the Counting the Omer Through a Mindfulness Lens series, Returning - High Holiday meditation services, Let’s Sit-meditation circles in the Sukkah, Song Circles, and the annual LGBTQ+ Community Mindfulness Gathering for the first Sunday of Pride Month. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction, describes such mindfulness practices as “[...] awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgementally.”

Most of my offerings at Beth Tzedec are about slowing down and taking time to reflect.

Contrary to popular opinion, slowing down and reflecting is less about navel-gazing, and more about the impact one can have on the repair that our world so badly needs. Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw ghetto, in his book B’nai Machshava Tova - Building Conscious Communities,teaches that “the only way to holiness is by slowing down.”

Today we launch a new initiative: Na’aleh - Toronto Jewish Mindfulness Collective. Na’aleh is led by a team of individuals and organizations devoted to teaching, facilitating and practicing Jewish mindfulness. These practices include: sitting and walking meditation, contemplative chanting and prayer, heart-centered Torah learning and mindful eating.

Beth Tzedec and the Centre for Spiritual Wellbeing is delighted to be a partner in this exciting initiative, and the host of two of the upcoming retreats.

This mode of engaging with Judaism is as much for seekers of spirituality - an entry point for those who may wish and/or struggle to connect - as it is a stirring companion for those who have an ongoing committed Jewish religious practice.

Our Na’aleh team is excited to launch our first series, an arc of four programs offered throughout this year 5755 (2024-2025), each connected to an upcoming Jewish holiday.  Keep an eye out for the detailed announcement of the programs including Nashuva - Returning, the first day-long retreat happening on September 22nd at Beth Tzedec.

“From a theological perspective, you might say that the only way to experience the Divine Presence is in the ‘divine present’. We can think about the Divine conceptually, but the actual lived experience of the Divine can only be had in the now. When we are lost in thought, we also lose the experience of the Divine Presence.”

Rabbi Jeff Roth, founder of the Awakened Heart Project. Excerpt from Jewish Meditation Practices for Everyday Life.

Na’aleh means “Let’s Rise.” We seek to lift up life’s challenges and gifts with awareness, clarity, compassion and wisdom. We gather to elevate curiosity and connection in shared and joyous community. We practice to reveal the inherent goodness in each of us and to actively foster repair and wholeness in ourselves and in the world around us.

The work of Na’aleh will surely serve to enrich our Beth Tzedec community. I look forward to sharing this beautiful initiative with you.

Shabbat shalom.

Aviva

For more about Na’aleh read here>>