Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Living

Walking the Path Morning, Noon, and Night

James L. Mirel, Karen Bonnell Werth

• Publisher: Jewish Lights
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781580236607
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

An innovative yet practical guide to greater mindfulness
that brings spirituality into our everyday lives—for any lifestyle.

"Judaism offers a rich tradition for the spiritual seeker: its spirituality infuses daily activities with holiness and purpose. While relating the spiritual journey to a typical day in your life, we will walk with you through brief sections that discuss Jewish thought and tradition. These are followed by sections that include methods, activities, devotions, and blessings to enrich your spiritual practice. Every page offers the reader another step, another area of focus, another perspective to bring the sacred into everyday life."
—from the Introduction

In every moment of each day, we have the opportunity to bring the sacred into our everyday lives. We can perform acts of mindfulness and thanksgiving that can transform our lives and help us repair the world. Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Living provides spiritual activities, meditations, prayers, and simple rituals to accommodate any lifestyle and daily routine, giving us a chance to embrace God's creation throughout the day.

Coauthored by a rabbi and a psychotherapist, it bridges the gap between faith and healing, tradition and innovation, acceptance of the past and transformation for the future. Chapters are arranged according to the cycle of each day—from sunrise to midnight—and feature creative new rituals, inspiring passages from traditional Jewish texts, prayers, poems, blessings, acts of kavanah (spiritual intention), and more:

• Sunrise Renewing our bodies with meditation and mindful breathing.
• Morning Contributing to tikkun olam (repairing the world) by ethically pursuing our livelihoods and recognizing our social responsibility.
• Afternoon Giving thanks with blessings at meal times, and extending hospitality to family, friends, and community.
• Evening Combining study and prayer with relaxation and leisure.
• Night Confronting pain, loss, and death with rituals for healing and renewal for the future.

Includes special sections dealing with the sacred aspects of relationships, love and sexuality, mourning and loss, Kabbalah, and more. By transforming our days, Stepping Stones shows us how we can transform our lives to practice mindfulness all day, every day—and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Dedication
• How to Use This Book
• Cornerstones And Fundamentals
• SUNRISE: DAWN—AWAKENING TO LIFE
• MORNING: GOING ON OUR WAY, DOING OUR WORK
• NOON: MEALTIME, GRATITUDE, HOSPITALITY
• AFTERNOON: RELATIONSHIPS—FAMILY, FRIENDS, COMMUNITY, GOD
• EVENING: LEISURE—RECREATION, STUDY, AND PRAYER
• NIGHT: PAIN, LOSS, DEATH, AND HEALING
• MIDNIGHT: MYSTICISM, SEXUALITY, AND CREATION
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Sources
• Suggested Readings
• About the Authors
• Copyright
• Also Available
• About Jewish Lights
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