Elohai N’shama

September 16, 2009 at 8:57 pm (Prayer)
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My God,

the soul with which You endowed me is pure.

You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me,and you protect it within me.

So long as this soul is within me, I will thank You, Adonai my God,

God of my ancestors, Source of all creation, Master of all souls.

We bless You, Adonai, in whose hands are the souls of all the living,and the spirit of all human beings.

What is your soul? The American Heritage Dictionary defines soul as: “The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.” Encyclopedia Britannica describes the soul as: “the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, that which confers individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self.”

However you define the soul, do you ever question whether that essence in another human or yourself is good? Do you ever have those days where it feels like everything around you is rotten? It is often difficult to shake such feelings but Judaism provides us a beautiful tool to remind us of the purity of our soul and of all those around us. The Elohai N’shama prayer is great for connecting and reminding ourselves of the good within us and others.

“My God,” we call our attention to God and begin our prayer.

“the soul with which You endowed me is pure.” Just in case you ever begin to question it we remind ourselves daily that our soul is pure. This is to counter the idea that we are full of sin.

“You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me,and you protect it within me.” To remind ourselves of the purity of our souls we acknowledge that God created our soul and each and every day God protects that soul. Isn’t it a beautiful idea that you are pure to the core and that reminding yourself of your relationship with God strengthens your connection.

“So long as this soul is within me, I will thank You, Adonai my God,” Subtly we acknowledge that God can take away our soul, that someday we will die. But until then we will thank God for the essence of our being.

“God of my ancestors, Source of all creation, Master of all souls.” Here we acknowledge that God has given the souls to all my ancestors and we are all interconnected. Not only do our ancestors have souls but all of creation and God is in responsible for it all. Seems to be the classic Rabbinic trick of making sure you realize that you are worthy (you have a pure soul) but you should temper that with the fact that you are no different from anyone else (you are just one of creation and God is Master of your soul).

“We bless You, Adonai, in whose hands are the souls of all the living,and the spirit of all human beings.” This then turns the prayer that was focused on us as individuals and ends it in a communal blessing. Traditionally, this part of the prayer acknowledges that God is so powerful that can resurect us and give us new souls. The idea of resurection seems so foreign to us that we even remove it from the prayer.  However, for a good many people it is comforting to know that after we die our souls will be connected and resurected.

Try the prayer. Try to say it each day in the morning. Maybe the positive outlook will cause positive things to happen in your day. Maybe by acknowledging that every person’s soul is pure you will be able to look at each person you meet in a different way.

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Transliteration?

December 23, 2008 at 10:01 pm (Uncategorized)
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Do we need transliteration in our siddur? Why do we need transliteration? What is transliteration?

We are putting together the Shabbat morning siddur for our temple. There are many interesting decisions to make in a Reform temple. The editors have posed a question of whether we need to have transliteration. Most of our service is in Hebrew but we provide translations. Do we also need transliterations?

Yes.

Why do we need them? What do you with a population where more than half of the people cannot read Hebrew? Some argue that they should learn. That is nice but not realistic. Just getting people to come on a non-holiday is a challenge. Making the service unattainable would not help.

So what does the transliteration do? Taking the Hebrew words and writing them with Latin characters allows an English reader to participate in the Hebrew prayers. No this does not help them lead the service but it does help for following along. For those who are learning Hebrew it is helpful for when it is too difficult to keep up with the speed of some of the prayers.

Transliteration is great for beginners and non-Hebrew readers to feel like they can participate in the prayers. Hopefully as people come more often the words will become ingrained and following along in Hebrew will become easier. Providing the tools for each person where they are allows them to pray with the community as they can.

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With Intention: Studying Torah

August 24, 2008 at 12:34 pm (Uncategorized)
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When you are doing Jewish activities, studying, praying, eating, breathing, do you do these with intention? Do you do things because that is just the way you always have? Does the ritual have meaning for you?

In the Talmud they talk about the importance of saying the Sh’ma and saying it at the appropriate times. However, it does say that if you are studying Torah with full intention you do not need to say the Sh’ma.

The Mishna in Berachot 13a says: “One who was reading Torah and the time for reciting Shema arrived, if he directed his heart [intended it], he fulfilled his obligation.” – translation by aishdas.org

Sometimes doing things with intention even removes the need to perform an obligation, a requirement, a commandment, a law. This is not something that was taken lightly, not as is done in our modern world. An obligation was just that, an obligation. But if you could show that you were so into the study of Torah, you did not need to say the Sh’ma.

I think the approach is the same for any Jewish activity. If you are just learning and encountering Jewish rituals and laws, it is more important to try one with intention then to do some without trying or half-heartedly. It is more important to do the commandments with intention then to be perfect in accomplishing all the obligations.

Pick something Jewish. Do it. Do it with intention. Pay attention to how it changes you, your interactions with people and your encounters with G-d.

Let me know how it goes.

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Community: Different Time and Place

July 2, 2008 at 8:05 am (Uncategorized)
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If the synagogue was the center of community life for so long and the barriers to leaving that are now gone, how do we keep community?

Jewish life has always been defined by community. Many rituals require at least 10 Jews (minyan) to make it legit. While you live close or have enough people in an area who are available on call a minyan is possible. What do we do going forward if people do not live near or are not available at the right time?

Reform Judaism threw many of the traditions out that required a minyan. As long as the synagogue was there and there was a place for you to go to pray or to say Kaddish that was good enough. Since it is harder to get people together in one place at one time should we just throw all the communal obligations out? It would be easier. Would it provide the spiritual life needed?

Given this new world there needs to be a multiplicity of approaches to meet the different needs of the community. Activities online that help one study or focus introspectively on one’s own behavior can go along way to help individuals that are not close or do not have time to go to temple. Perhaps even individually led prayer sessions online. Recorded prayers and ninguns for further spiritual connection. Much of this could be facilitated through communities online. Rabbi Uzi from CA teaches courses through teleconference. Alan Morinis leads mussar discussions via yahoo groups, conferences, and classes. Each of these create distributed asynchronous communities. Should any of these be incorporated into temple life? Should temples be locating these as other avenues of Jewish community building?

All the tools that have removed the friction have created a quandary for traditional synagogues. Does the synagogue march forward with the dedicated small group that comes to temple and attends the functions? Do they offer alternatives for those who do come? Given these asynchronous lives temples need to focus on multiple avenues and encourage more small groups functioning within the community as a whole.

Since people can find interesting things through many alternate means the synagogue should be looking to make ritual and spiritual connection more meaningful and more intense. Like going to a spa or a retreat, people should come to the temple for a respite. This should not be one program created to fit everyone but focused times around people’s spiritual needs. How about intense sessions of prayer as meditation? Chanting? Silence?  Should these even go on in the temple?

For Shabbat, why not focus on an exotic experience with music, food and drinks. Have this in a home, restaurant, or the temple. People can recline and be comfortable. Have an experience where people hang out, talk and challenge themselves. Make it something remarkable, something people want to talk about.

Now that there is less of reason to come to temple what do we do? How do we build community?

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Self

June 23, 2008 at 8:21 pm (Uncategorized)
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Have you ever been able to pray or meditate and not be aware of self? I find it difficult to do while praying. I do not think that I have ever accomplished it. I am always aware of where I am and what I am doing. It is  almost like I am worried about people watching me.

Is this a goal of prayer? Is it like meditation? Should achieve a place where you are praying and you are no longer aware of self?

I have found this place while working, while fully engrossed in thinking about a design. The entire world disappears and there is only the design. Sound, sight disappear beyond the design. This has not happened often but is great when it does.

Can I learn to summon it through meditation or prayer? How do I get there? Somehow I need to let go. Somehow the prayer needs to become second nature. It is still work. I cannot recall all the words to most of the prayers unless I am paying attention.

Maybe someone could give me some ideas.

Inspiration from “God was in this place and I, i did not know.” Lawrence Kushner

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