You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Is spirituality a part of that time? This book shows you how it can be. This inspiring, informative guide shows us how we can use the often overlooked time at the end of each day to enhance our spiritual, physical and psychological well-being. Each chapter takes a new look at traditional Jewish prayers and what they have to teach us about the spiritual aspects of preparing for the end of the day, and about sleep itself. Drawing on Kabbalistic teachings, prayer, the Bible and midrash, the authors enrich our understanding of traditional bedtime preparations, and show how, by including them in our bedtime rituals, we can gain insight into our lives and access the spiritual enrichment the world of dreams has to offer. Clear illustrations and diagrams, step-by-step meditations, visualization techniques and exercise suggestions for fully integrating body, mind and spirit show us the way to: Hashkivenu—Creating a safe space for sleep Hareni Mochel—Clearing our hearts through forgiveness Shema—Connecting to God in Love Bircat Cohanim—Experiencing the reality of blessing Hamapil—Thanking God for sleep and the illumination that comes in sleeps This perfect nighttime companion draws on the power of Jewish tradition to help us enhance our spiritual awareness—in both our waking and sleeping hours.

You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Is spirituality a part of that time? This book shows you how it can be. This inspiring, informative guide shows us how we can use the often overlooked time at the end of each day to enhance our spiritual, physical and psychological well-being. Each chapter takes a new look at traditional Jewish prayers and what they have to teach us about the spiritual aspects of preparing for the end of the day, and about sleep itself. Drawing on Kabbalistic teachings, prayer, the Bible and midrash, the authors enrich our understanding of traditional bedtime preparations, and show how, by including them in our bedtime rituals, we can gain insight into our lives and access the spiritual enrichment the world of dreams has to offer. Clear illustrations and diagrams, step-by-step meditations, visualization techniques and exercise suggestions for fully integrating body, mind and spirit show us the way to: Hashkivenu--Creating a safe space for sleep Hareni Mochel--Clearing our hearts through forgiveness Shema--Connecting to God in Love Bircat Cohanim--Experiencing the reality of blessing Hamapil--Thanking God for sleep and the illumination that comes in sleeps This perfect nighttime companion draws on the power of Jewish tradition to help us enhance our spiritual awareness--in both our waking and sleeping hours.

This new spiritual approach to physical health introduces us to a spiritual tradition that affirms the body and enables us to reconceive our bodies in a more positive light. Using Kabbalistic teachings and other Jewish traditions, it shows us how to be more responsible for our own spiritual and physical health. Each chapter explores the meaning of traditional Jewish prayers, providing a framework for new thinking about body, mind, and soul. Simple exercises and movements help our bodies "understand" prayer, and show how the body's energy centers correspond to the Kabbalistic concept of the ten divine "rays of light," the Sefirot. And meditations and visualizations allow us to further enhance our spiritual awareness. Using the structure of the Prayer Wheel, readers can move step by step toward wholeness of body, mind and spirit: Modeh Ani Awakening our body and our soul Mah Tovu Creating a temple for our soul Asher Yatzar Focusing on the gift of our body Bircat HaTorah Balancing our mind through the gift of Torah Elohai Neshamah Connecting with the soul using the Sefirot Elu D'varim Walking on a God-centered path Clearly illustrated with photos and diagrams to guide readers, this active, creative approach allows us to tap the power of the Jewish tradition—to awaken the body, balance the mind, and connect with the soul.

The essential guide to Jewish family life and fun activities at home and on the road! This celebration of Jewish family life is the perfect guide for families wanting to put a new Jewish spin on holidays, holy days, and even the everyday. Full of activities, games, and history, it is sure to inspire parents, children, and extended family to connect with Judaism in fun, creative ways. With over 85 easy-to-do activities to re-invigorate age-old Jewish customs and make them fun for the whole family, this book is more than just kids? stuff. It?s about taking the Jewish family experience to a new educational and entertaining level. The Jewish Family Fun Book details activities for fun at home and away from home, including recipes, meaningful everyday and holiday crafts, travel guides, enriching entertainment?and much, much more! Clearly illustrated and full of easy-to-follow instructions, this lively guide shows us how to take an active approach to exploring Jewish tradition and have fun along the way. Each of The Jewish Family Fun Book?s three sections offer dozens of ideas and easy-to-understand instructions: ? ?Holiday Fun? aims to enrich the appropriate seriousness of Jewish holidays with a healthy dose of fun. How about having a Passover seder in a tent, like Israelites in the desert? Or celebrating the harvest holiday of Shavuot by taking your kids strawberry picking? ? ?Fun at Home? features Jewish activities ranging from relaxing (with a guide to Jewish books, music, movies, and websites) to exhausting (instructions for games and other outdoor fun); from creative (ideas for arts and crafts projects and recipes) to unforgettable (mitzvah and volunteer opportunities). ? ?Fun on the Road? is an easy-to-use travel guide, with suggestions for adding a memorable Jewish component to already built-for-fun family vacations. There?s information on Jewish museums, historical sites, camps, festivals, and kosher restaurants across the U.S.

Breathe New Life into Your Prayer with the Wisdom of Kabbalah and the Hasidic Masters Jewish mystics teach that every word a person utters in prayer should radiate light. Even the letters of the words of prayer carry sparks of the Divine that yearn to join together in holiness. In this inspiring spiritual companion, Reform rabbi Lawrence Kushner and Orthodox rabbi Nehemia Polen join together to provide a window into the liturgy for people of all backgrounds by offering fresh insights and meditations that bring the traditional prayerbook to life. Drawing from the Torah, Zohar, and ancient and contemporary Hasidic masters, Kushner and Polen reflect on the joy, gratitude, compassion, mystery, and awe embedded in traditional prayers and blessings, and show how you can imbue these familiar sacred words with your own sense of holiness. Insightful, fresh, and wise, Filling Words with Light will enrich your understanding of the prayer book and guide you on how to put more of yourself into the holy words of the Jewish tradition.

In addition to information on medical issues, this book features ancient and modern prayers and rituals for each stage of pregnancy, as well as traditional Jewish wisdom on pregnancy.

This comprehensive volume provides a balanced and easily readable account of the rise of modern sleep medicine, its history and developmental milestones. Authored by an international group of experts, the remarkable progress and fascinating evolution from rudimentary concepts of the ancient prehistoric and early classical periods to our contemporary knowledge are covered in detail. These examples and their relationship to modern therapies offer neurologists, psychiatrists, respiratory specialists, clinicians, researchers and those interested in sleep medicine an important perspective to the origins of current practice.

Inspiring, practical information and advice to enrich a Jewish spiritual life with traditional rituals and practices. Each chapter explores a different ritual or practice in depth and explains the why, what, and how to do it. Contents: Tefillin; Tallit and Tallit Katan; Kashrut; Shabbat; Daily Prayer; Talmud Torah; Blessings throughout the Day; Covering the Head; Upon Rising and Going to Bed; Mikvah.

The Essential Survival Manual for Growing Up Jewish! What does it mean to become a Jewish woman? Did you ever think that Judaism had any advice on how to deal with pressure from your friends? Arguing with your parents? Feeling stressed out? Well, this book shows you that Judaism can help you deal with all these things—and a whole lot more. The JGirl's Guide is a first-of-its-kind book of practical, real-world advice using Judaism as a compass for the journey through adolescence. A fun survival guide for coming of age, it explores the wisdom and experiences of rabbis, athletes, writers, scholars, musicians and great Jewish thinkers, as well as lots of girls just like you—girls who share your worries and concerns, and your joys. Here’s a place to turn to for honest, helpful discussion about the things that really matter to you: • Friendship • Eating • Health • Sexuality • Getting involved • Dealing with authority • Coping with stress • Self-esteem • Communication • Jewish Identity Now’s the time when you are thinking: Who am I? What do I believe in? Who will I become? The JGirl’s Guide provides Jewish writings, traditions and advice that can help.

A psychomagic journey to awaken lucid dream consciousness • Presents effective exercises and techniques, inspired by ancient texts, to deepen your personal awareness of the dream state and experiment with dreams for healing and divinatory purposes • Each initiatory chapter includes a psychodramatic narrative designed to generate the perfect dream for each stage in the initiation • Explains how dreaming has influenced cultural, religious, and spiritual thinking • Includes access to a seven-part hypnagogic guided journey recording Invoking Mnemosyne—Greek goddess of memory and eloquence, daughter of Heaven and Earth, mother of the Muses, and archetypal deity of the Asklepion dream temple tradition—this book initiates you into full dream consciousness, offering a lucid-dreaming ritual experience in the spirit of the Mystery Schools of antiquity. Sharing her more than a decade of research on Sleep Temples and Mystery Schools of the Esoteric Tradition, lucid-dreaming instructor Sarah Janes explores the evolution of imagination, memory, and consciousness throughout the ages and proposes that dreams have been fundamental in the creation and development of culture. Dreams play an important role in ancestor worship, afterlife beliefs, animism, religion, and wis­dom traditions. Explaining how a conscious dream life is essential for self-discovery, deep integration, and healing, Sarah presents exercises, techniques, initiations, and seven guided audio meditations to help you explore the inner depths of your psyche. Sarah reveals how dreams offer us an opportunity to remember and directly experience our divinity, to transcend the limitations of our mortality and enter timeless imaginal realms. These realms, accessible through dreams, can help you to form a better under­standing of who you are. Employing the power of story to affect the mind and lay down new neural pathways—as if one were really living the story—Sarah connects each initiatory chapter with a psychodramatic narrative as well as a guided audio meditation. Using symbolism and powerful imagery, these stories, combined with her meditations, help you generate the perfect dreams for each stage in the initiation. And by becoming a better dreamer, you can make better, more aware decisions in your waking life.