Rabbi Jeff Roth with retreat hosts, Mark & Kimberly Russo

On the week-end of May 1-3, I attended events with Rabbi Jeff Roth at several different locations. For years I have yearned to find new ways to explore my connection with G-d. By the end of the weekend, I had been introduced to prayers, chants, teachings, and meditation tools that enhanced my existing meditation practice and accelerated my process of transformation.

The Sabbath services were coordinated by B'nai Or of Boston, an established Jewish Renewal Community. Several members of B’nai Or have participated in Nishmat Hayyim’s programs and are excited about enhancing the Jewish meditation component within their community.

At the beginning of the Friday night service held at the Andover Newton Theological School, Rabbi Roth directed us to the last line of the “Ahlaynu “prayer in the Kabbalat Shabbat Prayer Booklet from The Awakened Heart Project. The line was translated “It is said, YHVH, the Oneness of Being, will be the dominant consciousness in all the earth, and on that day, all of us in the world of diversity will know their place in Unity.” Rabbi Roth suggested that the entire service focuses on helping us find ways to approach closer to “Unity”. He invited us to think about the chief obstacles in our own lives which divide us from high higher selves and keep us separate from the “One”. He asked twelve of us who had wrestled with this issue and identified some of our obstacles to come up and light the Sabbath candles. As we lit the candles, we were invited to welcome the light of the candles to enter inside our hearts and souls so that the light could penetrate our dark areas, our fears, and blocked spaces. I have found that using this ritual as part of my Sabbath candle lighting as helped me with my resistance to slowing down and allowing time for stillness.

A highlight of the Saturday morning service held at the home of a B’nai Or member was chanting the “Kah-dosh, kah-dosh, kah-dosh” response in English and Spanish. We learned of Rabbi Roth’s meaningful interactions with a small Spanish community connecting with their Jewish roots.

At the Jewish teaching and meditation session, Saturday evening at Temple Beth Zion, I was reminded that having a direct experience of the divine is at the heart of Jewish meditation. We discussed how G-d’s four-letter name is from the root of the Hebrew verb “to be” and that it describes a G-d “in process” not a static being or concept. And as I am created in G-d’s image, I am also a process not a static entity. I also appreciated the teaching that my life as it unfolds is a perfect text for coming awake.

At Nishmat Hayyim’s all day retreat at a beautiful farm in Plympton, MA, the highlight for me was the focus on ways of using the loving kindness “metta” practice with a Jewish blessing format.