Meditation 102

By Arielle Adelman
Published on April 25, 2013

Meditation 101

By Arielle Adelman
Published on April 25, 2013

Mindful Eating

By Susan Esther Barnes
Published on December 5, 2012

A meditation on the Bulgaria and Colorado tragedies

Published on July 20, 2012

The month of Av has come upon us in a manner true to historical form. Mishenikhnas Av, m’ma’atin b’simha… When the month of Av begins, we are told, we are instructed to diminish our joy. Sadly, a week of violence and tragedy all over the world has done it for us.

Finding balance at the intersection of yoga and Judaism

Published on April 4, 2012

Yoga means “union” or “union with the divine.” It doesn’t mean “contortionism,” “hippie commune” or “Lululemon.”

Meditations on a Goat

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 20, 2009

‘Prayer isn’t boring—you are’

Published on September 3, 2008

In a way, Jewish prayer is like another pillar of observant Jewish life: Shabbat. Just as tefilah involves letting one's creativity conquer one's boredom, Shabbat is about finding creative enjoyment on a day when cell-phones, iPods and DVD players are treated as hardly more useful than paperweights.

Meditating spies

By Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Published on June 19, 2008

Parshat Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1-15:41)

Why is there so much disillusionment, fear and unsettling behavior in this parsha? And what can we learn from the chaos?

Meditation—not just for your average JewBu anymore

By Merissa Nathan Gerson
Published on July 19, 2007

The model for the day was dying for the sake of rebirth. Think meditation, think spiritual awakening, think psychoanalysis.

Music lovers get presents for composer Reich’s birthday

By George Robinson
Published on October 5, 2006

Steve Reich, composer, turns 70 and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah in India? No Problem

By Robin Esrock
Published on August 31, 2006

Unlike my Pesach in Argentina, where we had to walk through metal detectors to enter the five-star hotel in Patagonia, this Rosh Hashanah service was open to anybody and everybody, bringing together quite an eclectic mix of travelers.

Lingerie and Meditation

By Ellie Kahn
Published on February 2, 2006

"I always say it is lingerie and meditation that have kept me young," says Michael Attie, a 62-year-old author, spiritual seeker and former owner of Playmates of Hollywood -- the world's largest lingerie store.
Once known as "The Lingerie Monk," Attie managed to combine his passion for spirituality with 13 years of selling sexy lingerie on Hollywood Boulevard.
I first met Attie when I recorded his mother's family history, and she told the story of her son inheriting Playmates of Hollywood. Her husband owned the store until 1982, when, faced with declining health, he called his son, who was meditating in the woods of Northern California, and asked him to come home to run the lingerie store.
Michael Attie made the most of it.

How We Worship

By Amy Klein
Published on September 29, 2005

Who are they? A diverse group if ever there was one -- as multifaceted as the city itself.

Meditate on Shabbat in the Old City

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on March 3, 2005

Minutes from the Western Wall, brilliant bougainvillea grace the courtyard of an Old City apartment encased in Jerusalem's signature stone. This is where participants in Sarah Yehudit Schneider's women-only meditation retreats symbolically leave the rest of the week behind to embrace the healing, nurturing powers of Shabbat.

Miriam Meditations

By Hank Rosenfeld
Published on May 15, 2003

Too much driving and dreaming makes me practically a native here, I suppose. When I complained to my friend Stuart back East, he said: "Slow down. Pull over. Take a class."

Severe Financial Crisis Hits Metivta

By Julie G Fax
Published on December 12, 2002

Metivta, A Center for Contemplative Judaism, went into emergency survival mode late last month after the board discovered the organization was out of funds.

"The board is looking intensely at our budget and trying to pare down costs to the absolute minimum to give us a chance to survive for the next couple of months, while our board and community determine what is Metivta's future, where we will go and what is our restated mission," said Lyle Poncher, Metivta board chairman.

Metivta is an organization dedicated to seeking spirituality in the Jewish tradition through meditation, text study and spiritual practices.

Feast and Help Yourself

By Dennis Gura
Published on May 31, 2001

"Finding Each Other in Judaism: Meditations on the Rites of Passage From Birth to Immortality" by Harold M. Schulweis. (UAHC Press, $12.95)

"Finding Each Other in Judaism" distills decades of those quiet, private moments when a curious, wounded or concerned congregant asks the rabbi: "What do I do now?"

Exercising the Mind

By Ani Dumas
Published on May 3, 2001

As we enter the new millennium, fitness professionals are becoming more aware of the movement toward spiritual forms of exercise. Programs like Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, and body work are common in fitness clubs and community centers. To keep up with today's stressful lifestyles, we must do more than increase our heart rates and pump iron to maintain maximum health. Mind and body fitness can facilitate this by achieving inner balance and harmony in mind, body and spirit.

Nighttime Devotion

By Dennis Gura
Published on April 12, 2001

During the past few years, an effort has been made to retrieve women's devotional literature and present it to a contemporary Jewish world.

Putting the Joy in Judaism

By Rabbi Elazar Muskin
Published on September 10, 1998

A few years ago, two of my colleagues took their families on vacation to Mammoth Lake. While there, the families spent Shabbat with one another, eating their meals together, singing zmirot (Shabbat songs) and enjoying each other's company.