Open My Heart: Living Jewish Prayer
56 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 27 ratingsWelcome to “Open My Heart: Living Jewish Prayer” from the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Each weekday people associated with the Institute will offer a short prayer-practice, inviting you to join them. From one day to the next, the practice, the content, the words, and the voices will be different. No one presenter, and no one prayer, will necessarily work for everyone. But, our hope (and expectation) is that over time, joining in these prayers will lead you to find your own authentic and meaningful prayer practice at this time. Our hope is that these prayers will open your heart to prayer.
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Episodes
It's a Wrap
July 12, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBIn the course of seven months, we've offered 55 podcasts featuring a variety of prayer practices. These programs have been downloaded nearly 30,000 times. It is time to celebrate, and to take time to envision what might come next.
May I be safe
July 09, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBThis week we get to visit with Elana Arian, whose "Ken Yehi Ratzon" has closed our podcast. She shares her background, how she came to write Jewish music, her work as guest-artist in congregations and how that shapes her work, and how she came to write our closing tune.
Meet the Composer of "Open"
June 28, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBEach week we have been blessed to hear the first moments of the composition "Open" by Judith Silver. This week we meet her, and learn about how she came to write Jewish music, and how "Open" came to be. A true blessing!
Practicing with Psalm 27
June 25, 2021 11:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBWe are blessed to be invited into the personal process of listening deeply to the words of Psalm 27 to open our hearts with Rabbi Debra Robbins. Her book and its practices are so rich, it is helpful to have it modeled for us, so that we can engage with the Psalm ourselves, beginning on 1 Elul (August 8, 2021), to open our own hearts along the way.
Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27
June 21, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBThe period of time from the start of Elul to the end of Sukkot is about the same length of time from Passover to Shavuot. The former period is given focus through the recitation of Psalm 27 (and the chanting/recitation of selichot, or penitential prayers). Rabbi Debra Robbins provides us with tools to make the practice of reciting Psalm 27 a richer, deeper, and more sustained experience in her book.
The Nighttime Shema
June 18, 2021 11:00 - 7 minutes - 6.76 MBPrayer does not have to be complex, and we don't have to go looking for it up in the heavens or over the sea. Sometimes it is just in our mouths and our hearts, in simplicity and directness. Rabbi Denise Eger shares her lifelong practice of reciting the Shema at night, when going to sleep.
Mishkan Ga'avah: Where Pride Dwells
June 14, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBThere are so many ways to open up prayer. The most effective, and most important, is to connect deeply to one's own life, one's own heart, and to see oneself. From that clear seeing -- or the desire to do so -- we can express our deepest desires, most overwhelming fears, greatest joys, and significant commitments. That has inspired the flourishing of prayer in the LGBTQ+ community, which does not often see itself in traditional Jewish prayers. Rabbi Denise Eger introduces us to the richness o...
25-25-50 Meditation
June 11, 2021 11:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBDo you think you could have an "I-Thou" connection to a tree? Well, not sitting in your house you can't! And, likely just walking up to a tree and saying "HI" won't work either. Rabbi Mike Comins offers us a practice to help us cultivate our capacity to be outdoors and really BE there, perhaps ultimately to meet it as a "Thou".
Prayer as Poetry: Making Space for our Lives
June 07, 2021 11:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBThe Rabbis speak of the letters of Torah as being black fire on white fire. Rabbi David Stern understands this as the events of our life, and our ability to find space and spaciousness around them, to make meaning, and to find peace. He invites us into three meditation-based, poetry-infused prayers.
A Morning Practice
June 04, 2021 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBA spiritual practice requires "makom": a place, God (called HaMakom by the rabbis of the Talmud), and kiyyum, our own personal presence. Rabbi Karyn Kedar brings us through her personal practice of Makom, her personal evening and morning prayer practice.
Amen: Seeking Presence with Prayer, Poetry, and Mindfulness Practice
May 31, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBIs prayer poetry? Is poetry prayer? What is the orientation of mind and heart that one needs to bring to be able to do one, the other, or both? Rabbi Karyn Kedar -- author, poet, spiritual director, and IJS alumna -- invites us into her investigation of these questions through her recent book.
PrayerFull Guide to Prayer Practice - Part 2
May 28, 2021 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBWe welcome back Rabbanit Leah and Rabba Dina to reap the benefits of their work together. In this episode, we will hear their most recent PrayerFull podcast on Great Love.
PrayerFull Guide to Prayer Practice - Part 1
May 24, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.1 MBJust as there are varied prayer traditions in different communities, so there are many ways to enter into prayer. Rabba Dina Brawer and Rabbanit Leah Sarna, Orthodox rabbis, have created a podcast of curated, thematic offerings for personal, contemplative prayer. We have a wide-ranging conversation about prayer, to prepare us to listen to one of their episodes in our next episode.
Thank You, Shekhinah, for Blessing This Day
May 14, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBRabbi Jill Hammer is the co-founder of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, which is a training program in earth based embodied feminist Jewish leadership and spiritual life. She invites us to join in a davvening practice rooted in the Kohenet community, and which she would engage in herself, sitting in Central Park, or at home on Shabbat.
Opening, through Song and Chant, to My Body and Soul
May 10, 2021 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBParticularly in the West, body and soul exist in two different domains. This is true for classical Judaism, as well. But, they are not separate, they live in one, intimate unity. It takes work to awaken to that truth. Prayer -- particularly through breath in song and chant -- can be a means toward inner and outer unification. Rabbi Margot Stein invites us into her practice for that purpose.
The Words of the Siddur: Evocative Poetry of the Soul
May 07, 2021 11:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBOften, when a book is placed before us we think we have to read it. But, that is not what we are supposed to do with the prayer-book. We're supposed to use it to open our hearts to prayer. Rabbi Ruth Sohn shares her personal practice of morning prayer, using the words of the siddur to prompt her own heart to prayer. Join her!
Bringing God Into Our Bodies through Reiki, the Sefirot, and Adon Olam
May 03, 2021 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBSpiritual life is all encompassing, and there is no dimension of our lived experience that is outside of its concern. In the same way, most spiritual traditions intuit and focus on shared awareness and experience. Cantor Louise Treitman brings together the healing sensation of Reiki, the energy of the Sefirot, and the experience of singing Adon Olam in a powerful morning prayer practice.
Finding Balance Each Morning
April 30, 2021 11:00 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBHow do you start your day? What does it mean to "get out on the wrong side of the bed"? What prepares you to meet the world fully, with the whole of your being? Cantor Bat-Ami Moses offers us a practice of bringing Netzach -- energy and determination -- and Hod --acceptance and receptivity -- into balance in heart, mind, body and soul to begin our day.
Unify Our Hearts -- in Love
April 26, 2021 11:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBSo much of our lives can feel scattered. What should I be doing now? Is there somewhere I should be (or not be)? What am I feeling? How is my heart? We pray "Unify our hearts to love and reverence Your Name" -- and through this prayer, we may find our own inner wholeness. Chant and pray with Cantor Lizzie Shammash in this moving practice of unification.
Praying in the "In-Between"
April 23, 2021 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBWe often think of prayer as coming in prescribed times or in specific places. But, often the most profound prayers come at those "in-between" moments, when things can go this way or that, or when we sense those important (but not necessarilly unusual) transitions in our lives. Dasee Berkowitz shares her "in-between" prayers, and invites us to live, pray, and love with her.
Becoming a Soulful Parent: A Path to the Wisdom Within
April 19, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MB"Ayeka", "where are you?" is the first question in the Bible, address to Adam after he had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That's a question every parent probably asks their child -- in some form -- when the child does something out of bounds. But, do parents ask themselves the same question? Dasee Berkowitz invites us to (re)connect with our own soul while parenting, for the sake of our children, and for our own sake as well.
Gratitude and Spiritual Protection Before Getting Out of Bed
April 16, 2021 11:00 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBThe transition from sleep to wakefulness can be fraught. For some, it is a time to jump out of bed and get the day going. Others just pull the covers over their heads and hide from the morning light. Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah welcomes her soul back to her body and envisions being wrapped in light to set out on her day. We invite you to join her in this practice!
Parenting on a Prayer: Ancient Jewish Secrets for Raising Modern Children
April 12, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBThere are tons of parenting books on the market, most of which are prescriptive and often lead to self-judgment. This week and next, we meet two authors who have reflected on their own experiences as parents and found wisdom to support themselves and others in the complex but delightful and revelatory practice of parenting. This week, Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah shares the insights she gained from the siddur that have supported her in her parenting practice.
Spiritual Journaling as Spiritual Listening
April 09, 2021 11:00 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MBAlden Solovy spoke movingly about how poetry and prayer emerged in his life, and have sustained and nurtured him through very difficult circumstances. Now, he shares a key element of his morning prayer practice: sacred journaling. Listening deeply to his own heart, he touches on Awarnesses, Gratitudes, and Intentions to ground his life, and prepare him to pray from the heart.
Alden Solovy: "This Precious Life"
April 05, 2021 11:00 - 27 minutes - 25 MBWe begin a series of three interviews with authors in the field of prayer. The first is with Alden Solovy, who writes at tobendlight.com, and who has recently published "This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer". His project is to offer us all entry into expressing our own prayers, and finding our way into the prayerbook as our own.
Praying to the Beloved
March 22, 2021 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBContemplative practice -- for instance, meditation -- can settle the body and mind and help us to sense the deep Oneness of all beings. But, it can also be lonely. We human beings also need connection and relationship. Rabbi Lavey Dereby shares his personal practice of passionate, heart-felt prayer, of reaching out to the One, as Beloved. [Note: the prayer practice itself is all in Hebrew -- so please see the transcript for the words and translation]
"Middot and Meniyot" -or- "Musar My Way"
March 19, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBWe often think of prayer as a practice of reaching out, of shifting our attention toward God "out there". But, it can also be a matter of turning inward, connecting to the divine -- and divine qualities -- in our own souls. Rabbi Rachel Gartner introduces us to her practice with the obstacles to shining the light of her soul more brightly into the world, as prayer.
"God Lifts All Who Fall"
March 15, 2021 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBRabbi Jacob Staub recalls a teaching of his "rebbe" Sylvia Boorstein: whatever is happening, however you feel, whatever you know to be true, no matter how frightening, no matter how painful, no matter how difficut -- "Don't Duck!" But, how? Jacob leans into the arms of God, who lifts all who fall -- even him, even you. He invites you to join in this warm-hearted, loving prayer.
Why Worry When You Can Pray
March 12, 2021 12:00 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBWhen COVID-19 hit, rather than limiting religious life, Hazzan Harold Messinger (and his colleague Rabbi David Ackerman) of Beth Am Israel, created a new Zoom-minyan. Rather than bemoan not singing together, he used music on his end to engage people in their bodies and souls on their end. We invite you to have a taste of his Zoom minyan. P.S. check out the transcript for links to many of these tunes!
Morning Walking Practice
March 08, 2021 12:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBThere are many ways to pray, but fundamental to them all is opening awareness to that which is Beyond, to the All, to God. Cantor Josh Breitzer, in this time of pandemic, has turned his walking-commute into a walking-practice, bringing attention to the mundane aspects of the world around him, to wake up in payer.
Taking "Modeh Ani" Out of Bed and Into Our Lives
March 05, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBIs it possible to be fully grateful for our lives the first thing upon waking? How might the first prayer of gratitude, "Modeh Ani", help us cultivate a life of thanks and awareness. Rabbi Danielle Upbin shares her personal practice of mindfulness and chant.
Creating a Sacred Space to Pray
March 01, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBMany of us know where to sit in our synagogues for prayer, and allow the space to lead us into prayer. But, what do we do when we are on our own, even if joining in Zoom-prayers? Cantor Shayna DeLowe shares her personal experience of creating a sacred space for prayer, so that we might pray with her, as well.
A Rabbi, Yehudah Amichai, and Leonard Cohen Daven Together
February 26, 2021 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22 MBWeaving traditional liturgical melodies and the poetry of Amichai and Cohen, Rabbi Neil Blumofe walks us deep into the heart of love, through the morning/Shacharit service.
Expectancy -- not Expectation
February 22, 2021 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MB"All of Scripture is holy, but the Song of Songs is holy of holies" said Rabbi Akiva -- and also Rabbi Shefa Gold. She mines this book as a source of inspiration and personal teaching, through chant and silence. "Here comes my beloved!"
What Are We? The Redemptive Power of Prayer
February 19, 2021 12:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBIn the early part of the morning service, we meet a passage that carries us through a profound contemplation of our lives. Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell leads us through the prayer, and into it, to find our way to love.
Kissing the Mezuzah Opening the Door to Prayer
February 12, 2021 12:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBWho doesn't like to kiss? But, how many extend that to kissing the mezuzah? Aviva Chernickk has -- as a practice when she comes home and leaves the house, and as a prompt to cultivate the love invoked in the Shema.
Chant as the Heart of Prayer
February 08, 2021 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.8 MBCantor Audrey Abrams brings her background as a music therapist (and her self-awareness as a "shower davener") to help us use chant to open the heart, face our truth, and emerge more whole.
I am? And You are? Dialogic Personal Prayer
February 05, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBGrounding his practice in the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook and Rav Dov Singer, Rabbi Yosef Goldman leads us into a deep engagement with our own lived experience, grounding us in a heart of gratitude.
Waking Up to Blessing
February 01, 2021 12:00 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBRabbi Susan Leider invites us to join her as she wakes up, connecting the daily Birkhot Hashachar to each step along the way.
Chant to Open the Heart
January 29, 2021 12:00 - 22 minutes - 21.1 MBChanting a niggun is not only an outward expression of yearning. It can also penetrate the heart. Rabbi Hannah Dresner, chanting in her car, leads us in practice from a parched place, to open to the flow available at all times.
Music to Evoke Prayer
January 25, 2021 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBMusic is so evocative! In just a few notes we can be taken back in time to a far-off place, to a connection with another person. How does that work? What is added through words? Cadence, intonation, emphasis? Join Rabbi Lydia Medwin as she sits with and unpacks her experience of "Change is Gonna Come" with Otis Redding, and find your own prayer through music, too.
Personal Morning Davening
January 22, 2021 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBRabbi Ari Lev Fornari starts his morning davening (prayers) with the awareness that prayer is an embodied practice. He connects with sensation, with sound, with memory, and with the words of the Tradition for a personal engagement with the morning liturgy.
Priestly Blessing: Lovingkindness Prayer
January 15, 2021 12:00 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBHow do we prepare our hearts to pray? What conditions our souls to know what is important? Rabbi Amy Eilberg has used the mindfulness meditation practice of metta, or lovingkindness, for this purpose. The phrases she employs to settle and orient her heart are those of the Priestly blessing (Num. 6:2-26). Join her in this prayer practice for the sake of your own heart, and the good of all others.
Prayer as a Hug
January 11, 2021 12:00 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBThe spring and summer of 2020 have been tumultuous, burdened by isolation and confusion during the pandemic, by fear and anger at systemic racism, uncertainty about the future in the run-up to an election. Hazzan Sabrina Sojourner invites us to rest in the hugs of our ancestors, In God's embrace, to find strength and hopefulness.
Etz Hayyim Hi -- Praying With A Tree
January 08, 2021 12:00 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBThe biblical book of Proverbs refers to the Torah as a "Tree of Life" and we sing those words when we return the Torah to the Ark after reading from it. But, what does that really mean? Maor Greene asks just this question, and investigates the experience of prayer with a Tree. Go outside with them to see what it's like!
Embodied Awakening Prayer
January 04, 2021 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBThe traditional Jewish morning service begins with blessings acknowledging the workings of the body. But, sometimes we need to wake up more fully even before engaging in liturgical prayer. Rabbi Myriam Klotz leads us through her embodied awakening practice, inviting you to join in as well.
Embodied Chant to Open the Heart
December 28, 2020 12:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBMany people approach prayer as an intellectual endeavor: I read the prayers and they say something, perhaps even what I mean. Others sense that prayer comes from the heart: when in community the sense of belonging and the invitation to connect with spirit opens the heart. Hazzan Joanna Dulkin reminds us that prayer begins in the body, and is energized by chant and song.
Turn Your Torah into Tefillah
December 21, 2020 12:00 - 19 minutes - 17.6 MBRebbe Nachman sought to use every possible methodology available to him to help people connect with their truest selves and to the Divine. One such practice was turning one's Torah Study into Tefilah (prayer). Rabbi David Jaffe gives us instructions, demonstrates, and leads us in this prayer practice.
Praying All Three Paragraphs of the Shema
December 18, 2020 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBIn many liturgically grounded communities, it is often only the first and last paragraphs of the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9; Num.15:37-41) that are recited as a community. But, what about the middle paragraph (Deut. 11:13-21)? Shouldn't it be part of our prayer? Rabbi Dan Liben thinks so, and shows us how he raises it up in a mindfulness-based prayer practice.
Meditation as Prayer
December 14, 2020 12:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBIn the early days of the pandemic (March, 2020), Rabbi Rachel Timoner turned to her own native prayer practice to help her ground herself, and then serve her community. Eventually, she shared her prayer practice with them, and sustained them as well. In this episode, she leads us through that practice in an intimate, personal, contemplative practice.