Encounter your Soul and Taste the Infinite

Participation and prayer and Jewish ritual has enhanced my life and nurture my soul by.  It gives me stability and a peace of mind. Our liturgy and rituals are predictable and cyclical. I can fill them with content that I am in control of and I share them with my family, friends and community. There is also room for adding new rituals, to be inclusive of our diverse lives. I invite you to create new rituals that give you meaning. Ultimately I want you to have a meaningful, spiritual life. It is proven that spiritual wellbeing is a pathway for good mental health. In my work as a Chaplain I have found that they enhance physical health as well.

Our tradition is rich in rituals that we can enjoy throughout the year. Some come around once a year, once a month, every week and others every day. We are by virtue a praying people, something many of my friends are not so comfortable with. What does it mean and why are most of us uncomfortable with its practices? Is it all about the language, form, content, or do we overthink its meaning? Whether the prayer book is written in your native vernacular or Hebrew, it speaks its own language. Judaism is not always easy to connect to our soul. Our deity is not visible and cannot be made into a physical image. We have plenty of metaphors and adjectives describing the divine essence. However, since I cannot see it, I can only embrace the words, allowing myself to connect to the words and the emotions that bubble up inside of me when being immersed in the words. Prayers are a language by itself, and our sages have helped us find a set of words discovering our soul journey.  My relationship with prayers is multidimensional; the original Hebrew, the translation, the structure, the poetry, the meditative aspect of saying the words, singing, just to mention a few.

Every day, I have multiple opportunities to enter into the infinite by opening myself up to the power of prayers and rituals. Is it really possible to be part of something infinite? How? My soul is the bridge and so is yours, but only if I allow myself to venture into that space. I do this multiple times a day to nurture my spiritual self while seeking closeness to Hashem when davening.  Praying for me is hard, I have to quiet my thoughts (my monkey brain) and be present, focusing on my words and emotions. For me our rituals and siddur are of great help to start that process. I can always add my own words, for instance, after reading the Amida (standing prayer), the siddur doesn’t have the exclusive rights; I have.

This is just my own process that I have partly shared with you. However, as a chaplain I have realized that my process is just that. All of us have our own way of connecting to the divine. If you have not allowed yourself to connect to your soul, then I would encourage you to try. Whatever makes you feel that you are part of something outside yourselves counts, and I believe it matters a great deal. Nature, music, poetry, conversations with friends, and meditation are just some ways that might be more attainable or desirable for your connection.

Dare to take the first steps in this journey, it is very rewarding; you will never be alone, you have a soul partner. You hopefully discovered a new friend, your soul, that is always there for you.