Awakening With Rabbi Ami Silver

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.

“When we blow the shofar, we ourselves don’t make a sound; we express the breath of our hearts, “the voice of my Beloved is pounding…” it’s the Divine voice within our hearts, screaming to us, to give it space to be revealed… that is the sound of the shofar”  Sources: Derech Hamelech, Rosh Hashana תרפ״ו ***** 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.

Where does Teshuva begin? Where can we turn to draw on faith? In this piece for Rosh Hashana, the Piaseczner reframes Teshuva as tuning into the frequency of life, and Emunah as being a platform for the Divine. Learn along with Reb Ami in part one of a two part series.  Source: Derech Hamelech, תרפ״ו ***** 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 025 Rosh Hashana is a day of awe - the kind of awe that comes from closeness, and a revealed encounter with our Creator. In this piece brought by Rabbi Ami, the Piaseczner Rebbe explores the nature of this revelation, and points us inward to discover the meeting point with God within our own prayers, through our own voice.  Sources: Derech Hamelech, Rosh Hashana, ״קולי שמעת אל תעלם אזנך לרוחתי לשועתי״ ***** 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 024  This is a teaching on exile, the exile of the soul, of the world and of the Divine itself. Oftentimes we think that teshuva - the return to God - is about overcoming our own shortcomings, and repenting for our sins and misdeeds. But the Piaseczner Rebbe reframes teshuva, not as a narrowly focused battle with ourselves, but as something much more fundamental: our deep need and desire to return home. Beneath all of our prayers, there is a single, persistent prayer, “God, why have You abandoned me?” If we can feel into the painful reality of this separation, it can become the corridor to lead us back together, to walk together with God, even in exile, and to come home. As always, Rabbi Ami masterfully navigates these questions and ideas, and more. (This recording was adapted from a preexisting video and therefore has lower sound quality than usual. However, we felt that the power of the content outweighs the audio levels, and hope that you feel similarly.)  Sources: Derech Hamelech, Rosh H

Episode 023  In this continuation of the Piaseczner Rebbe’s teaching on prayer and Torah learning, we explore two kinds of pleasure on the spiritual path - the pleasure of grasping for something that you cannot grasp, the experiences that give us greater hunger for more; and the pleasure of integrating our experiences of the unknown, and coming to know something deeply in our bodies and minds. Join Rabbi Ami’s teaching as the Rebbe brings us closer to both of these modes of being, and offers us a map to build a bridge between them. ***** 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 022  In this piece from Derech Hamelech, the Piaseczner Rebbe guides us on the search for wholeness in our spiritual path. In prayer, we can encounter our wholeness, can experience an undifferentiated light that surrounds us in its totality. Torah study is the search to come to know that light, to recover our wholeness and absorb it into the particular vessels of our body and mind.  *****    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 21 The Piaseczner Rebbe’s Hashkata meditation is a step-by-step practice with detailed instructions for developing our inner workings (middot). It is the work of quieting the constant stream of thoughts, cultivating positive qualities in ourselves, and being our own best parent. Rabbi Ami guides us through this practice, and places it in the broader lens of the Rebbe’s teachings.     *****   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 Tisha B’Av, we ask unanswerable questions. We gaze into the wounds of the world and don’t turn away from the pain. Rather we search for ways to be with it, and find a way to rebuild through it and with it. This Torah from the Aish Kodesh is about showing us a path forward from within the darkness. In this powerful piece from Aish Kodesh, the Piaseczner leads us into deep questions about suffering. From within the darkness, he shines a path for us towards finding connection, empathy, hope and care not despite - but within the pain. This is a season to pay attention to the wounds of the world, to find a way to live with it and build from it.  *****   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 020  This short piece from the Piaseczner Rebbe’s journal offers us a powerful invitation to experience prayer in intimate connection with the natural world, and all of Creation. After reading through this piece to unpack its meaning, Rabbi Ami ends with a brief meditation to apply the Rebbe’s words in practice.  Sources: Tzav Vezeiruz 18  *****  Please take a moment to complete our listener survey so we can help improve our offerings, and get to know more about those learning with Rabbi Ami: https://forms.gle/KU9sd25CwiMeuUSA8   *****   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.