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Have you wondered if there's a shape to Jewish services? There is actually a beautiful flow and careful sequencing developed by the ancestors. We begin at ground level as individuals with prayers of gratitude for body, mind and soul. We ascend into the level of raising emotions with psalm singing where we begin to feel more like a community gathered than individuals assembling. We continue toward the point of being a Whole People able to acknowledge we are not in control of creation, to release into the Oneness at the point of saying the Shema, then to let Shechinah flow over our backs like a comforting waterfall as we bow at the Borchu. Each of the several types of kaddish (Readers, mourners, Hatzi, d'rabbanan-for teachers) is the bridge to the next level up toward the Amidah. Here we find the prayer of our hearts so that we can descend from the place of pure spirited engagement to re-incorporate intellect in time to witness the reading of the Torah and to bring our heartfelt questions to Torah study. We continue down the ladder of prayer renewed and able to recommit at the Aleynu to living mitzvah-centered rather than self-centered lives. Then we do a mitzvah if it is our season of life to say Mourners Kaddish. And we are a mitzvah, by being present as a container of support for those who are saying kaddish. We land back on the ground with a piece like the Adom Olam that lets us leave services renewed in trust in creation, it will continue long after we are gone. The ladder model depicted below is based on my reading of the perspective of the medieval Kabbalist, Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla |
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Perfect for gifts, events and study, these 52 Mitzvah Cards convey many of the core spiritual practices of a meaningful Jewish life. Note: Name of each mitzvah appears in Hebrew with...
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