General Announcements - June/July 2005
Meditation: Creating Sacred SpaceJust after my return from the URJ Meditation Kallah, April 6-11, in Prescott, Arizona, our own Religious Practices Committee began a discussion of Rabbi Larry Hoffman's article "Envisioning Sacred Community". I had just been immersed in a Sacred Community of Reform Jews who came together to meditate, pray, celebrate Shabbat, and learn in a camp setting of pristine beauty and natural grandeur. I wished to bring the sense of wonder and gratitude, the sacred, back home with me, making my friends and community a part of that experience.
Meditation, with its long periods of silence, frees us from the routines of everyday life which often prevent us from seeing the Sacred surrounding us. We sing "Everyday Miracles" during our Shabbat Morning Service. It tells us to stop, look around, listen, and be aware of the wonder which surrounds us daily; to heed the Sh'ma, which says, "Listen up Israel, Our God surrounds us!" Doing these chants with fifty or more meditators gave it a whole new dimension. On Shabbat, the sense of the Sacred, which was part of the morning T'filah, was quite palpable.
Rabbi Hoffman's article speaks of the Sacred Community as an experience, not an event, program, or intellectual symposium. The Kallah was actually all of these and more. It was an event, an intellectual challenge, a many layered program, but above all, an experience. Hearing how other Reform congregations bring the spiritual experience of meditation into their synagogue life was helpful to me. Many were interested in learning about our Congregation Albert Shabbat Morning Meditation, its inception six years ago, and that our meditation is open to beginners as well as experienced meditators.
To experience it for yourself, join us on the second and fourth Shabbat of each month, at 9:30 am. Participate in turning attention inward to the Sacred as a part of your Shabbat spiritual experience.
Paula Amar Schwartz
Meditation and Healing
Saturday June 11 and June 25
Saturday July 9 and July 23
9:30 am sharp - 10:20 am
Location: School Room 6New: A healing meditation component has been added.
Everyone from beginners to advanced practitioners
of any tradition are welcome.For information, please contact or
A Time to Talk
Bereavement Support sponsored by the Caring Committee
You are invited to meet with Pearl Gross and remember your loved one(s). A Time to Talk is an important aspect of mourning and remembrance. A Time To Talk will be held on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.
For more information, call Pearl Gross. Meeting place will be posted in the Temple office.
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