If you dream it
“I am asleep but my heart is awake.” This verse from the Song of Songs is the message of the Hebrew month of Kislev (Chanukah begins on the 25th of Kislev falling this year on December 8). In the earliest text of Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, each month of the year is designated to a […]
Live and Unlearn
I first came across this gem in Joseph Campbell’s the Power of Myth. It is a penetrating story about unlearning— a phrase I reacquainted myself with this weekend when reading an author describe himself as a “slow unleaner.” Aren’t we all? Here is the story about the god Indra: There was a terrible […]
Infant Morality
Not a typo. The most prevalent question in classes today was, “Did you see the piece on 60 minutes last night about infants and morality?” This past Sunday, a segment on 60 Minutes featured a wife-husband team at Yale University whose experiments with infants provide compelling evidence that babies know the difference between […]
Circles of Trust
Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song There are some songs that embed deep in your consciousness. I didn’t know this Roberta Flack song, […]
The Other Candidate
The earth is rotating just enough to reveal the first rays of sun on this Election Day 2012. A certain calm pervaded Kabbalah classes yesterday after weeks of expressing worries and concerns about the election. Perhaps it was tiredness or resignation or the anticipation of acting on convictions. Often the most challenging for us is […]
The Doors on the Bus Go Shut and Open
The doors on the bus closed as he answered my question, “Come to see me on Sunday at 10 a.m.” I have told this story many times about Reb Yossel, a chassidic Rebbe in Jerusalem who I was privileged to know when I was studying in Israel at age 17. The bus incident occurred when […]
A Zohar in Every Nightstand
Daniel Matt, professor, scholar and student of Jewish mystical teachings arrives this Sunday at DIA. Dr. Matt’s scholar-in-residence week is a joint effort for the new Jewish learning collaborative of the Loup Jewish Community Center, Denver University’s Center for Judaic Studies and Kabbalah Experience. If you have time to ask only one question of […]
Yom Kippur 5773. Disentangled. To what degree?
Attachment to a certain way of thinking or being is what often does me in. I was standing today, on Yom Kippur, in the same room as the story I related last week of the young girl whose hair was entangled in a scrunchie. I could not unbutton the top button of my white robe […]
Blog for Yom Kippur 5773
I could have observed this scene anywhere, but it happened at our Rosh Hashanah Service—punctuating the opportunity to see it in the context of repentance and starting a new. A young girl was off with her friend playing and they decided to put their hair up in scrunchies. The imprecision of eight year old […]
Silence and Speaking Out
Reminder: We are gathering on the first day of Rosh Hashanah (Monday September 17th) for a Kabbalah Experience prayer, meditation and learning service from 10-1. Please RSVP or with questions to david@kabbalahexperience.com (we will also be gathering for Kol Nidrei—6:30 pm on Tuesday September 25 and the morning of Yom Kippur Wednesday September 26 from 10-1). […]