Spirituality in Daily Life: IJS Podcasts

Sheila Weinberg Teaching on Retreat

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:22:32 +0000

Join Sheila for a teaching on grasping mind she gave in November of 2011 - featuring her wonderful grand kids.

Sheila Reads from Surprisingly Happy

admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:35:31 +0000

Join Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg as she reads from her new book, Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Religious Memoir. Included in this podcast is Chapter 18, “Discovering Meditation, Barre, July 1990″ and “Ashrei Yoshvei Veytecha.”

A Gift - Connecting with the Present

admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:16:29 +0000

Join Rabbi Marc Margolius for a guided meditation, practicing connecting with the present moment, with awareness of what is going on in ourselves and our world.

Gratitude right here right now

admin — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:41:14 +0000

Join Rabbi Rachel Cowan for a podcast on how the ongoing process of developing a spiritual practice can help us find joy even with the vagaries and grind of modern day life.

Joy in the Moment That Is

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:58:10 +0000

Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell, adjunct faculty with IJS, recorded this podcast November 3rd at his Mindfulness Mussar group at his shul - Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living. In it, he talks about the common sense that if we just reach a certain goal, achieve a certain thing in our lives, we’ll be happy, but find when we get there that it’s not the magical panacea we’d hoped for, and that this often results in struggle within ourselves. He uses the teaching of Issac, who pleaded with God for Rebecca to overcome her infertility; but when when his prayers were answered with exactly what he wanted, it was with twins who struggled within the womb and beyond. Jordan answers that to find the joy that is expansive and not predicated on the happening of any given event, we need to practice chesed, practice staying in the moment with what is happening, and practice radical acceptance of just the moment that is.

Walking as Practice

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:29:30 +0000

Join us in listening to Rabbi Sheila Weinberg as she gives walking meditation instructions on retreat. She describes walking practice as a way of paying attention to the sensations in the body, gathering our attention and focus in the body. Walking practice is based in bringing awareness to each step as it manifests in sensation through the entire body. Walking is its own practice when it is, itself, an opportunity to gather our attention into this present moment, in the felt experience of the body so that we have a place to rest, a platform in which to see distraction and settle down. As with other meditative practices, it provides us with a focus to aim the attention when the mind wanders, it allows us to focus back on the direct sensations of walking as they are experienced in the body, reconnecting to intention, and sustaining our attention.

The Spiritual Journey of Divine Compassion

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:55:33 +0000

Join Rabbi Marc Margolius for a podcast on the period of S’firat HaOmer - counting the Omer – a period marking our spiritual journey from Egypt to Sinai – moving from breaking the bonds of slavery on Pessach to developing our capacity to open ourselves to the divine on Shavuot. Marc’s offering includes a teaching and meditation the holiday of Shavuot and divine compassion (chesed), directed to and from each of us and one another. The renewed covenant between God and the people - after the giving of the Ten Commandments, the golden calf and shattering of the tablets - is forged in the crucible of human failure and divine compassion.

The essential ingredient sustaining the covenant between God and Israel is chesed - compassion formed in unconditional love, compassion that does not need to be earned or justified. Marc concludes with a blessing that our journey through the Omer open us to the possibility of real transformation – to a spirituality which includes and embraces human imperfection as the starting point for healing and justice. As we approach Shavuot, may we cultivate chesed so we may stand together at Sinai in justice, wholeness and peace.

Mindfulness: Training the Attention

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:41:35 +0000

Listen to Rabbi Sheila Weinberg as she gives an overview introduction to mindfulness practice on an IJS retreat this January; looking at understanding the nature of the mind and developing a quality of alert, stable attention again and again.You can also listen to Sheila teaching at a Jewish Mindfulness retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (6/25/09) [http://dharmaseed.org/retreats/836].

In the Divine Image

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:42:12 +0000

Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg for a meditation on, and exploration of, what it means to experience life as b’tzelem Elohim – created in the divine image. We return to the beginning, to where it all starts, Chapter 1 of Genesis; recognizing that there can be no liberation from bondage without the affirmation of the inherent dignity of the human being. This understanding is articulated in this verse – And God created Adam b’tzalmo – in God’s image, male and female, the one being was created in the divine image. This might be the most important text in Torah. This might be the root core out of which all else emerges. What does it mean? What does it mean to you?

Sh’ma Koleynu – Hear our voice

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:16:00 +0000

Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg in contemplating Sh’ma Koleynu – Hear our voices. This is the reverse of Sh’ma Yisrael, when our plea to hear is directed to ourselves; here, Sh’ma is directed towards the source of mercy and compassion - Adonai Eloheinu. It is a communal project to ask God to hear our voices – the inchoate layers of feeling, need, hope – that join together and become our communal offering. We are asking for divine presence, love, and support. [5:52]