40 Days Elul Practice: Mussar Mindfulness: Day 9 Of Tishrei

Welcome to the Institute for Holiness,

Kehilat Musar.

We will begin in two minutes.

I want you to enjoy this wonderful song of the Keep Going song from the Big Suns,

Wonderful husband and wife band out of Ohio and New York.

Allow yourself to settle as you listen.

This is the Keep Going long song.

This is the Keep Going song.

I am Abigail and this But keep going,

Keep going,

Keep going,

Keep going on.

Keep going on.

I am Abigail,

And this is Sean.

And we're so glad that you turned this on and welcomed us into your home.

And you are welcome into our home.

We're in Dayton,

Ohio.

Dayton,

Ohio.

We're in Sean's parents' house.

Not parents' house.

Sean's parents' house.

We were in Louisville when the shit hit and we packed our three-year-old into a car.

We drove kind of far.

We drove here.

And we've been so lucky and blessed to be safely here.

And we thought we'd be here for like 10 days.

Welcome.

Allow yourself to settle.

What did we know?

Allow yourself to arrive.

What did we know?

We thought we knew a lot.

We thought we knew a lot.

We'll come shortly as we are moving to live stream and welcoming all those joining us via Zoom.

So grateful to have you.

We're listening to the Keep Going On song,

Which is our theme during COVID-19 and Yom Kippur and this whole 40 days practice.

We've been OK.

Are you OK?

Are you all right?

Are you OK?

Are you all right?

Are you OK?

I hope you're OK.

Welcome that you connect with them and look them up.

I am Rabbi Hasi Oriel Steinbauer,

The founder and director of the Institute for Holiness K'hilat Mosar here based in the Galil in Yisrael.

And we,

Of course,

Go live to invite everyone from all over the world to join us in this unbelievable practice.

I can't believe we're coming to a closure.

It's been amazing to be with you daily and to sit.

And I hope that you have benefited the way that we have.

We are involved in the 40 days Elul practice,

Mosar mindfulness.

And we are now on the eighth day of Tishrei.

And of course,

Tomorrow evening,

Yom Kippur begins.

We're moving into day nine tonight.

And it begins on the 10th.

So we are technically in the 39th day of the 40 days,

The 40 days coming into Yom Kippur.

So I'm delighted to have you.

I'm going to move into our kavanah for today before we move into practice.

So let me share the screen with you.

Thank you for your patience.

And I hope that you're safe and healthy and well.

Just an honor to have you here to do your self-care and your practice together,

That you chose to spend this half hour,

A little bit more of your life to do this practice and to join us here.

So this is an act of self-care.

It's an act that we are also doing for others so that we may bring God's good to others.

We also are doing this,

Obviously,

To strengthen our relationship with the divine,

Whatever that might mean to us.

So we say this together.

This is something I am doing to strengthen my own soul in order to be a benefit to others in the future.

This is something I'm doing to strengthen my relationship to others so I can be a better conduit of God's good to others when they need me.

And finally,

At the bottom here,

This is something I'm doing to strengthen my relationship with the creator so that I can be a better conduit of God's good to others when they need me.

We're going to hold these Kavanah today as we have during this whole practice this whole time.

And I continue,

I really encourage you to continue these Kavanah in your life when you are doing a particular deed to recall each of those and to recite this for yourself before you engage in the deed.

So I want you to recall that when we began this practice,

We essentially engaged in a form of a cultivation of honor and self-honor,

Of really seeing ourselves as dignified,

Created in the image of God.

And through that self-honor,

We could move through self-forgiveness,

Which is so important.

If we're not able to forgive ourselves,

It's very difficult to really give others and to even move forward.

So we engaged in that.

And then we slightly started to shift to dignity towards others,

Seeing them created in the image of God and being able to strengthen ourselves to be able to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.

Anyone that we've called suffering to this past year,

Whether it was in words or even thoughts or deeds,

This is how we strengthen ourselves and our relationships and our communities by taking that responsibility for anything that happened in the past year.

So I want you to recall we opened up these 40 days with several teachings from our ancestors,

Our sages.

And one of them in particular was the Mate Moshe,

Where he really called on us to spend this time to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

There's a tradition there that we honor and that we're part of,

That we take this time of silence,

Of reflection,

To be able to be fully present and to grow,

Which is part of our spiritual curriculum,

What we need to engage in daily.

So you'll recall our honor practice,

Which I am going to share briefly our key texts that I want you to always remember.

Let me just make sure that I can find it for you.

Give me one,

Three seconds looking for it.

It was right here,

But you know how things get lost.

It's hiding on me.

Thank you for your patience while I look.

Here we go.

All right,

It's always a trick with this technology.

It's part of the practice,

Right?

OK,

So you'll see right before you a text that we had shared at the beginning from a Rabbi Chaim of Voloshin.

And he had a wonderful piece of work called Rul Chaim an Perkei Avot,

The Mishnah of the Ethics of Our Ancestors.

Instead of ethics of the fathers,

I like to say ancestors.

So we have here dignity and love are due to each and every human being,

Not because of the greatness of their or our achievements,

But because they and we are home to a soul that is inherently holy.

Nobody crafted or created his or her own soul,

Meaning we didn't do it ourselves.

And everyone has been gifted this.

So if we start with that premise daily that I have a gift,

I've been given a gift of life,

And that I'm created in the likeness of this divine essence of what I call Hashem or God,

That begins to move us into what we recalled from a Rabbi Shimon Shkolb's,

What I call our mission statement as Jews in life,

Which is lehetiv zulat einu,

To cause good to others.

And how he interprets that is to bring God's good to others.

And this ties into what we're finally shifting to.

And I hope that you feel,

As I do,

This lift of burden,

This lift and lightness and the sense of I am ready.

I'm ready to enter those gates of heaven.

I'm ready to enter Yom Kippur with the lightness of the white that we wear that is supposed to be like a shroud that we are buried in.

But it's lightness in the sense that this burden over these 40 days has been released,

That I've asked for forgiveness.

I've forgiven.

I've let go of things in my heart.

So I want you,

As we engage today,

To give yourself permission to feel that lightness and that joy.

You've done the work.

You've sat here.

You've done your tefillah,

This form together.

You've done your teshuva.

You've turned.

You returned.

You took responsibility and asked for forgiveness.

And you've forgiven.

And tzedakah,

Of course,

Every moment we are opening our hand.

This practice allows us to really see the suffering of others and to be more present and to give in any way that we can to bring God's good to others.

So with that,

We've moved from tzedakah,

This monkey mind,

We call it in Buddhism,

But the sense of really being a torn mind,

To yashuvdah,

Where we can actually settle and sit.

And we're going to do,

Again,

Our meditation of joy.

We're calling joy.

We're calling the joy of actually forgiving and releasing the burden on our chest and our heart,

Where we actually can feel it.

It's embodied.

So with that,

I invite you to sit now.

If you're sitting,

If you need to stand,

Please do so for any chronic pain or other issues.

Come to a comfortable but upright position,

Dignified,

Showing us all that you're created in the image of God.

Close your eyes if you feel safe.

If not,

Just lower your gaze in front of you.

Allow your hands to rest on your lap,

Or bring them up onto your heart.

And begin to take three deep cleansing breaths.

I can't help but smile as we invite the breath,

The gift,

And release anything that we might still be holding on to today,

Any thoughts or sensations of the body that want to take our attention away from the present moment or our breath,

Allowing yourself to really settle and come to stillness here together.

And I continue to smile also as,

I don't know if you can hear,

But in the background are children running through the streets in our kibbutz.

They too are excited for Yom Kippur in different ways.

And I keep hearing,

This is the keep going,

Keep going,

Keep going on and on,

Beautiful thing that we must keep going.

Allow yourself to feel grounded and supported by the earth with your feet firmly on the ground unless you're sitting in a cushion,

Knowing that you are between heaven and earth.

And start with your relaxing body scan as you move your awareness through your body.

And invite each area to soften if there's any tension at all.

Allow your face to soften,

Your forehead,

Your eyes,

Your jaw,

Down through your neck,

Your shoulders,

And your arms.

Continue down through your torso,

Softening your chest and your belly,

Down through your pelvic region and your hips.

Continue down your legs,

Your thighs,

Your knees,

And your lower legs,

Through your ankles,

Even allowing the tension to release in the bottom of your feet and your toes.

You may wiggle them if you wish.

Allow the intention of ease in breath.

I invite ease out breath.

Ease is welcome.

I invite joy.

Joy is welcome.

Allow a half smile to form on your face,

Slightly up curling your lips.

We know that this affects all the pathways of your brain,

Sending the signal that joy has entered and joy is welcome.

Calm breath in,

Inviting relaxation with each out breath,

Finding your own natural rhythm now,

Not controlling or forcing your breath.

No need to try to make anything happen.

Notice your felt experience.

Now with all your faculties except for your eyes,

Of course,

The sight senses,

We are going to remain closed.

But in your body and in your smell and your ears,

Any other of the felt senses that come,

Recall something that brings you joy.

Feeling of contentment and well-being,

For me right now that is leading you in this guided meditation and has been on this journey of this freewill offering of 40 days.

For you,

It might be being out in nature,

Forest,

Or lake.

Maybe it's dancing,

Being with a loved one or having a warm kitten purring on your lap.

Enjoy this memory and notice how it feels in your body.

Notice any energy flowing through your body.

Notice what is in your body,

What is in your mind.

Notice any energy flowing through your body,

Any joy.

And no need to beat yourself up if you don't feel anything.

We're here to practice mindfulness together in a safe,

Sacred space.

We just recognize and allow and accept whatever is here,

Gently investigating with nourishing,

Nourishing and nurturing love and kindness,

Self-compassion.

Again,

Give yourself permission to feel any joy or anything that arises right now in this moment with the intention of yashuvda'at,

Of settling to embody this joy.

Invite the joy of your body.

And then,

As you're feeling this joy,

Let yourself come to a place of joy,

Yashuvda'at,

Of settling to embody this joy.

Invite.

From time to time,

You will hear me go silence for you to come to more mindfulness and deepen in your practice.

And I encourage you,

Your thoughts may take you away and simply bring yourself back to your breath in the present moment.

If there's any strong sensations in the body,

Any strong emotions pulling you away,

Please come sit with you.

No need to avoid or be in denial or push them away.

Invite them in your joy.

There's room in the heart space for all of it.

We'll call our poem from Woomy,

The wonderful Sufi poet,

Which we invite all in,

Even those that we think we shouldn't.

They may be making room for some other delight.

Bring to mind now,

Bring to mind your forgiving yourself early in our first week together in the practice.

Recall the feeling of releasing the burden in your heart and how that was causing good to yourself,

That you were caring for yourself.

Recall the gratitude you felt.

Give yourself a simple thank you right from the heart being and relax in this joyful feeling of gratitude.

Bring to mind our work and practice of the second,

Third,

And fourth week,

Where we are called forgiving those in our lives who hurt us or cause us harm or suffering,

The person that we have an easy relationship with,

The stranger or the acquaintance,

The person that you have a challenging relationship with.

Recall forgiving them.

Recall any release when you did.

Recall that space when you were able to practice even for a moment that they too were created in the image of God,

That they too have their plate full,

That they too make mistakes.

From your heart,

Give your practice and them a thank you for allowing you to be able to practice this forgiveness.

This forgiveness,

This mexilla,

This kind of cleansing,

This wiping away.

Allow the joy to permeate that you are alive for this moment that is a gift that you have been given another day to do this practice,

To grow,

To bring God's good to others.

Show your gratitude with a thank you right now of your breath that is sustaining you and keeping you alive.

Your blood flowing through your body,

Nourishing every cell and the senses of we can feel the felt senses and smell,

The taste that might be in our mouth,

Our being alive to this moment right here,

Right now.

The miraculous body that is a gift to do one more day of service.

Allow yourself to relax.

Taking in all the goodness inside,

This appreciation and joy.

We will spend the next few minutes in silence.

Allow your breath to be your anchor.

We will spend the next few minutes in silence.

We will spend the next few minutes in silence.

We will spend the next few minutes in silence.

Gently,

Softly open your eyes if they are closed.

Come back to this sacred space of the Zoom room,

Once you're joining us live on Facebook or LinkedIn or YouTube.

Thank you.

Thank you for your practice.

We always move towards closure with our prayer of forgiveness that we've been doing during this 40 days practice,

Which I will share with you now.

And I encourage you to say this with me in the Hebrew if you're able,

And then we'll move into the English.

And if you are identifying with the feminine language,

Then you will use mohelit here.

The masculine singular is mohel.

So we'll say slowly together.

So you'll recall here in the English that I hereby forgive anyone who is angered or provoked me or sinned against me,

Physically or financially,

Or by failing to give me due respect or in any other manner relating to me,

Involuntarily or willingly,

Inadvertently or deliberately,

Whether in word or deed,

That no one incur punishment because of them.

And say this to yourself too.

I hereby forgive myself.

Because how often do we anger ourselves,

Provoke ourselves,

Sins against ourselves in so many ways,

Failing to give our self-respect,

Whether this happens willingly or not,

Or deliberately or not.

May we forgive ourselves,

May we forgive others,

May we seek forgiveness when we need to.

And with great joy,

There should be a few really engaged in this practice and joined us as I pray and hope you have that there's a lightning.

There's a joy and really the burden.

We've done our end of the work.

The rest is up to God.

We are ready to meet our maker and to say,

I've done my practice,

I will continue to.

We're not meant to be perfect.

We're meant to just be doing the best that we can engaging in this practice.

So I'm so delighted and grateful that you've joined us.

We have something special today.

We seem to only have one guest on Zoom,

But you are quite welcome that we were going to allow questions and answers for anything about this 40-day practice.

So let me see if our guests wants to join us.

If you do go ahead and take yourself off mute and let me share the screen so others can join with us.

And it's still not moving from the screen.

Let me see if I can undo the pen.

If there's any not showing.

Are you able to remove pen?

Here we go.

I think this should work.

I think I've done my end,

Our guest.

And I've taken off the pen so you should be able to be seen too unless you're choosing to hide your screen.

Let me see if I can move the gallery one more time.

Because I don't see you.

Are you able to see both of us or no?

Hi,

Rabah.

I can see you,

But I'm in bed.

It's late.

And I really want to say I have a meaningful Yom Kippur.

Your teaching has been very meaningful and very,

Very handy and hands on for me.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Yes.

We're just delighted.

Please help me pronounce your name correctly.

How do I say it?

Corinne.

Corinne.

Yes.

Yes,

Voodoo.

Todah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Did you have any thoughts or questions on the practice for the past 40 days?

In fact,

Your teachings helped me get deeper and it helped me reflect.

And I'm still working,

Soul searching and working on myself.

Because I go back to what you've told.

And it's very,

Very deep.

And it goes to my heart.

I'm really grateful for all you have said and all you've taught us.

Well,

I hope that you continue to practice with us past this new year.

We'll look for other opportunities to continue to join live and connect and to be in touch with anything and let us know.

And I'm so grateful that you joined tonight.

And I wish you of course.

Which part of Israel are you?

Which part?

Do you know the lower Gavir in Kibbutz,

Hanaton?

I know I've been in 2017 in Galilee.

But I've not been to the Kibbutz,

No.

But it's a very nice place,

I know.

Yes,

It is.

And if you ever come again,

We would love to host you.

Please be in touch.

Absolutely.

I apologize.

Right now,

I'm a bit financially difficult for me.

But whenever I can,

I will try to send something.

Thank you so much.

You just reminded me to make the announcement.

Thank you.

So for any of you joining us or have during this 40 days,

We make the wonderful,

How do I want to put it,

Request that if you're able at any amount to make a donation to the community,

To allow us to continue to offer this type of free will offering from the Institute of Holiness of Kehilah Muzar.

We thank all of our sponsors during this time and all the donations.

We're so grateful.

And Corinne and everyone watching,

I wish you a happy and safe and healthy New Year.

And I already know that you and all of us are sealed in this book of life in the present moment,

Regardless of what happens this year.

And that's the gift.

So thank you so much.