Awakening with Rabbi Ami Silver

The Sages teach that the salvation of Purim has something to do with Moshe being born and dying in the month of Adar. They also teach that Purim is the day of true acceptance of Torah, when the event of Mount Sinai was ultimately fulfilled. In this very personal rendering, R' Ami explores the themes of birth and death, of traumatic separation and loss of self, and the possibility of a Torah that emerges when a self is expressed on the other side of that trauma.

Jacob's character is one of paradox and pulling polarities. He is the youngest and the oldest, he is a man of truth and is embroiled in deceit, he is Yaakov and is Yisrael. Here we explore the competing energies that pull us in different directions, and the aspects of ourselves that hold polarized identities, and the possibility of touching a wholeness that encompasses both ends of the spectrum. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork  This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

"Yitzchak went out to be a bush in the field" - Immersing Ourselves in the Field of Experience A brief teaching and body scan to invite us into attentive presence. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

We leave Yom Kippur with a strong awareness of our mortality, and we enter Sukkot to rejoice within our temporary home, under the passing shadows, within this temporal life. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Our liturgy speaks a lot about God as King or Melech, and even more intensively during the High Holidays. What is a Melech? How might we relate to this encounter with God when we have never stood before a King? Based on a Kabbalistic teaching on the meaning of the word Melech, this is an exploration of a way to come into contact with the visceral sense of a Melech within our own experience of being alive.

Shofar: Broken Whole How do we bring our parts together to stand before our Creator? Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RW7XP05U6O5L_IuLaVrGe3Qc_LP1pdeE6epsoowk1ZE/edit ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Tisha b'Av - a day for questions with no answers. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Shefa's logo is the "Returning Light Meditation" by Avraham Loewenthal. Audio is by David Kwan.

Thoughts and teachings on the Three Weeks, and the spiritual stance of learning to be with all that is not right. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gIYF4BJ1_e-idp-qyTEUlU1hX_i3fKT3QBnMmuFUQ9Y/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Shefa's logo is the "Returning Light Meditation" by Avraham Loewenthal. Audio is by David Kwan.

"Moshe didn't know who was speaking to him..." -- Bamidbar Rabba 14:20 "'And nobody knows Moshe's burial place'... Even Moshe doesn't know where he was buried" -- Sotah 14a Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14j2Q09ByioGFJJZiDy2jhP4ePuW7Xn8tuOYMar1yEI4/edit ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Dipping into the Torah that can carry us through. This piece from the Piaseczner Rebbe speaks of accessing a Self that exists beyond and within, a point of contact with the Divine in our root, that paves the way for a radical new framework of what it looks like to live with faith. Sources: Derech Hamelech, Parshat Nasso תר״ץ ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

In honor of Lag Ba'omer, thoughts on making space for beauty to emerge, for secrets to be noticed and heard, and for love to be sought after. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d66bYRaVxAy2lnWPS_zYiyOIpooL17RkHjPEdFGr9Lc/edit ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

With Lag Be'omer approaching, Rabbi Ami guides us through the story of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, exploring its connections to sefirat ha'omer, the tragedy of Rebbe Akiva's students, the hidden dimensions of Torah - and ultimately, the potential for healing that this story contains. Technical difficulties affected the sound quality of this class. However, we decided to share it for its timely content. The audio evens out after the first 7 or so minutes. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yzrf4mniECN8H_hlOkJ4VF7882T2AeX_QB6gv44QJsc/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork  This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

On Seder night we’re obligated to “see ourselves in every generation, as if we left Egypt.” This is not just a metaphor - it is offering a practical, experiential guideline to help us engage in a story from our past, and to participate in liberating ourselves in the present. Based on a close reading of the book of Exodus and a powerful teaching from the Piaseczner Rebbe, this class explores the liberating power of seeing and being seen, and the redemptive power of sharing a quality of vision with our children - those who we are raising, and those who are living within each one of us. Sources for further awakening

Pesach Seder Prep Hallel-Nirtzah: The Night That Shines Like Day ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep Barech: Embodying That Which We Hope For ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep Tzafun: Tasting the Hidden Light ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep Shulchan Orech: Being Okay ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder prep Maror-Korech: The Other Side of Bitterness ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

An overarching kavannah/intention for the Pesach seder - being free, making space for our pain, leaning into our weakness and redeeming it. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep, Steps 7 and 8 Motzi-Matza: Receiving Life Through and Beyond Constraints ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep #6 Rachta - Cleansing Ourselves from Limiting Beliefs We've told our story. Now we have a chance to bathe in the faith that our redemption is real. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Passover Seder Prep #5 Maggid - The Questions That Free Us ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder prep Here we pick up the whole matzah for all to see and break it into two. This sets into motion the redemptive process that grows specifically from brokenness, and develops into the greater, hidden light that is nurtured through the lived experience of each and every one of us. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Pesach Seder Prep Karpas is the true beginning of the Seder experience, when we encounter the paradox of this night - the newness and pain, rebirth and suffering, growing and drowning. Here we begin to feel the expansive space that holds the totality of this moment, and becomes the ground from which we can hope to be redeemed. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

The second stage of the Pesach seder offers us the opportunity to put our intentions for the night into practice. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork  This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Spiritual guidance and preparation for the Passover seder. Finding Seder/"order" amidst chaos, creating holiness in the here and now.

Many of us throughout the world are staying home these days due to quarantine and general guidelines around Coronavirus. Here Ami shares some thoughts and teachings about making a spiritual home, turning our house into a place of prayer, and our shared world into a house for God.

Dive into the everlasting nature of Purim, the redemption that takes place in light and shadows. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CsTV0u9iUTSETy28sFk1ixM_6W4t3L2h43aiclKXq2I/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 39 In this session we continue our exploration of the postures of prayer with the Maharal and a stunning piece from the Zohar, describing how we fall before God, and are lifted by none other than God. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cOyQS0h0uwS_g3y_9DbSaJd8EHLOTHd_xZesUuxNgic/edit?usp=sharing

Episode 38 Is bowing just an add-on to our prayers, a nice ritual that accompanies parts of tefillah? Or is it part and parcel of tefillah itself? What would that look like? Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tSMYjxAJGVGTA0BCBOh5Km-4-8xVYc29Fj0eDFNOZSE/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 37 We are so used to making brachot, to saying blessings as we go through our daily tasks and in our prayers. But what is a bracha? In this class we explore the deeper dimensions of what a bracha is, and what it might mean to engage in the practice of making and saying brachot in the moments of our lives. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vQ_Xqcgjck67IxQ_PaS8_hhAW5AmuYC4A2D4KNntNVg/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 36 “Tefillah is a space for me to not exist in a splintered reality… a place to unify my reality.. in Rebbe Nachman’s words, ‘to make the entire tefillah one’”. In this episode of Awakening, we explore approaching Tefillah as a way of coming into contact with our source of life, through savoring and attaching ourselves to the experience. Join Rav Ami as he guides us through teachings from Rav Kook and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kt15BhAm3waWRn8VrB8eWiSvaKCIBxZOsf37kJg4Lwg/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rav Daniel Kohn. Help support him by purchasing his music. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 35 In the eyes of the Hasidic masters, we do not pray to God—we pray *with* God. Join Rav Ami as he guides us through teachings on tefillah from the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Pinchas of Koretz, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and the Piaseczner Rebbe. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kx2DBx2HvX-ty-G5I-LdaKhE73iSuRUm23ckXezlcFc/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rav Daniel Kohn. Help support him by purchasing his music. Audio is by David Kwan.

Join Rav Ami as he guides us in a kavanah for taking three steps backward and forward, inward and outward, to enter into prayer in Presence. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rav Daniel Kohn. Help support him by purchasing his music. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 34 Can we really stand in prayer before our Creator? Is it possible to approach God in our humanness, or do we leave our shortcomings behind when we show up to daven? This week, Rabbi Ami shares the sources behind the approach to tefillah - taking three steps back and forth, and the opening words of the amidah - to discover the possibility of bridging the impossible gap. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ivvo3JZjLhkEuvnd0doldsH3oQu5hnt4wGQCIpqcKuY/edit?usp=sharing ***** Please support this Rabbi Ami and this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rav Daniel Kohn. Help support him by purchasing his music. Audio is by David Kwan.

A meditation on joining together with God, in Presence, based on a teaching from the Piaseczner Rebbe. ***** Please support Rabbi Ami's teaching and this podcast, designating “Awakening” with your contribution: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 34 While much of the language and forms of prayer tend to be outward-directed, tefillah is an invitation to turn inward, to cultivate an internal space in which we can meet ourselves together with the Divine. This teaching from the Piaseczner Rebbe helps guide us into that space. Sources: Aish Kodesh, Ki Teitzeh ת״ש ***** Please support this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

A guided meditation on opening the space of the heart - makom halev - as the space for prayer. Please support this podcast by contributing here, designating “Awakening”: https://www.paypal.me/shefapodcastnetwork This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rav Daniel Kohn. Help support him by purchasing his music. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 33 Our primary sources point to prayer as a prophetic practice - the direct meeting between human beings and their Creator. The fixed prayers we have are based on this direct communication, and are an attempt and opportunity to reclaim that connection. We’ll explore these themes with the help of Leonard Cohen and the Piaseczner Rebbe. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZLL5kyyw0VXYAUTwXFl7XZr0QZ8ybGR3bMWfNEi6y9U/edit?usp=sharing ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Hanukkah teachings from the Piacezner Rebbe

Episode 32 This week we continue to explore the entryway into tefilla, and look at the heart as the place of prayer, the locus for encountering ourselves together with the Divine. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aJ52Ts6LvEiea-EPIGCO-YSya8GBIqgcOv8nh8TpDvU/edit?usp=sharing ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Rabbi Ami helps support his teaching from this week with a meditative practice.

Episode 31 The Mishnah teaches that the basic orientation to prayer is to bring ourselves into presence, to align ourselves and let our attention rest in the here and now. Here, Rabbi Ami explores the underpinnings of this practice, from the Torah through the Mishnah and into its practical application in preparing ourselves for prayer. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxS1EBqaSDHrDaMJD0zofTgYTRtlXFVku-VkQJQDveI/edit?usp=sharing ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 30 Prayer is the centerpiece of our daily spiritual practice, and as we’ve been exploring in the previous sessions, it’s at the heart of what it means to be human. But is it a mitzvah? Is prayer actually a command, or is it something else? Rabbi Ami contemplates the nature of prayer and the relationship between human instinct, creative purpose, and religious obligation. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s_K3yKIMDMlTvgGNEnLu11rJarzusabGrYHJGt81znA/edit?usp=sharing ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 28 On this episode of Awakening, Rabbi Ami explores prayer as part of our basic identity as human beings. The Jewish tradition teaches that we are born from the prayer of the universe. This is not merely a spiritual or mythic message - it carries a key to understanding our place in the evolutionary process, and guiding us in how we may take part in our purpose as part of this grand ecosystem. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CCtdqR4bhdO3wMs1MbUuacRAlhRRk5wZ0of6dzW71Fs/edit?usp=drivesdk ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

Episode 027 What are the roots of prayer? Where does tefillah come from - in the universe, in the human psyche? The Rabbis identify prayer as emerging from the very fabric of Creation itself, speaking through our own being. Rabbi Ami shares his insight and his deep intuition in this continuation of this new series. Sources: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HKSKtd-0oR6BzxFhaDi9zR1eK21T8UJc4XV1b4CAz9A ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.

027 We often translate Tefillah as “prayer”, but what is the meaning of this word in its original form? This class explores a number of uses of this word throughout the Torah, and the way that its meaning is refracted through those stories and their interpretations. Once we can uncover some of the meanings of this word, we can begin to ask - how do we engage in Tefillah? Sources: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11JpDQ3vcNUWYaWw-Gl-pW9lo8ZXiLeoUdNhMqKnBMvU

Rabbi Ami announces the new way forward with his focus on prayer.

Episode 026 This is the first class Rabbi Ami ever gave in the Piaseczner Rebbe’s writings. It’s a broad introduction to the Rebbe’s life and writings, including a broad overview of the Rebbe’s various sefarim, historical background about the Rebbe’s life, stories about the Rebbe and his family, and a biographical sketch. The class ends with a framing of the Rebbe’s teachings through a powerful piece from Aish Kodesh. Sources: Aish Kodesh, parshat Yitro

In honor of David HaMelech, the end of the seal, prayers for salvation and redeeming the beauty of being alive.

The central practice of Yom Kippur is vidui - confession of wrongdoings. What is the goal of this? Is it make us feel guilty and ashamed? How does this lead us to teshuva or closeness to God? On this episode of Awakening, Rabbi Ami explores the role of vidui and teshuva on Yom Kippur, and look to Rebbe Nachman of Breslov to help guide us through its transformative process. ***** This podcast is supported in part from a grant from the Hadar Institute. Music is by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. To purchase, go to his cdbaby page. Audio is by David Kwan.