Shalom from the Holy City of Jerusalem!
It has been an action-packed semester thus far. I’m sure you are very interested in hearing all about it, so let’s do a quick review!
Our semester opened up with activities that promoted introspection and setting intentions for the semester ahead. We has a Jewish meditation workshop run by Moshe Feiglin wherein we explored out own complex relationship with our faith.
High Holidays
With this, we focused our attention on the High Holiday season and the themes that they carry looking at a wide range of source from the Talmud, the Rambam, and into the modern era. When asked what he had learned, Ephraim brought an idea from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Ephraim explains, “Tefillah is different from prayer. Prayer is coming to G-d and asking for something we need. Tefillah is an opportunity to come and talk to G-d; to have a conversation and form a union. It’s really to start a relationship.” We spoke a lot about the concept of teshuvah. Another participant, Ilan, explains what he learned; “Teshuvah is not just repenting, It’s more so returning to your true self. We all have a spark inside of us. Teshuvah is the return to that spark.”
