Jewish Mindfulness elements at Yom Kippur Services
Jewish Mindfulness practices of meditation, music and movement will be part of Yom Kippur services sponsored by Mishkan Shalom on Friday night and Saturday at the Haverford School, led by Rabbi Linda Holtzman and Rabbi Yael Levy.
Silences as well as song and Jewish yoga are designed to help participants find the ikar -- the essence -- of Yom Kippur: the call to come out from hiding and be completely revealed.
As with all Yamim Noraim services sponsored by Mishkan Shalom, no tickets or pre-registration is required. Click here for full details.
“On Yom Kippur, we stand completely revealed in this mysterious enterprise called life,” said Rabbi Yael, specifically avoiding the word “God,” since the concept can sometimes close the hearts of people who are not sure what they believe.
Kol Nidre begins at 5:30 p.m. The traditional Mishkan service will include a Mindfulness teaching by Rabbi Yael.
On Yom Kippur Day from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., a Mindfulness service will run concurrently with the traditional Mishkan service. That service will be co-led by Rabbi Yael with Rabbi Margot Stein, an award-winning singer and songwriter, and Rabbi Myriam Klotz, a nationally-known teacher of Jewish yoga.
The rest of the day will be a single service that will include Mindfulness practice during Musaf as well as a workshop on Spiritual Direction with Rabbi Yael during the 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. break.
The Yizkor service will be at 4:15 p.m. and the day will end with neilah after sunset at 7:15 p.m. followed by pot luck “Break Fast.”
Rabbi Yael recently talked about how she is approaching Yom Kippur: On the second day of Rosh HaShanah, she said, we read about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden hiding themselves. No wonder: They had learned they were vulnerable, and that everything is impermanent -- that, while there is goodness and joy, connection and great love, there will also be great pain and loss. As we all do, Adam and Eve were hiding from that paradox.
On Yom Kippur, the call is to come out of that hiding place and to strip oneself bare, she said: To see oneself as you truly are -- and to know you are loved.
