How do we find spirituality in a busy world? How do we understand Shabbat?
1. Why are we commanded to rest from work on the 7th day? Why is this important?
2. To whom does this command apply? What does this imply about the nature of our responsibility towards our employees and property?
3. Do we allow others to rest today? How are we in violation of this commandment? How can we improve?
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To set apart one day a week for freedom, a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction, a day for being with ourselves, a day of detachment from the vulgar, of independence of external obligations, a day on which we stop worshipping the idols of technical civilization, a day on which we use no money…is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for man’s progress than the Sabbath?
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1. In what ways have our instruments been turned into weapons of destruction?
2. In what ways do we worship the idols of technical civilization?
3. What is the hope Heschel is articulating?
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In order to serve God, one needs access to the enjoyment of the beauties of nature, such as the contemplation of flower-decorated meadows, majestic mountains, flowing rivers… For all these are essential to the spiritual development of even the holiest people.
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1. Why do you think one need's access to nature in order to serve God? What does this mean for those who live in urban settings?
2. There are some Jewish texts that question the effectiveness of praying outside, since one might be tempted to worship nature rather than God. How do you reconcile this in your own experience? Do you agree with Rabbi Abraham ben Moses? Where do you personally find it easiest to feel spiritual?
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| God placed sparks of holiness within everything in nature.[COEJL] |
1. How can this verse guide us and our relationship with nature? How does this verse relate to your own ideas of spirituality and Judaism?
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Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass - among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field - all grasses, trees, and plants - awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things, which are made as one by their transcendent Source. May I then pour out the words of my heart before your Presence like water, O L-rd, and lift up my hands to You in worship, on my behalf, and that of my children!
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1. How do you understand Reb Nachman's prayer?
2. What is the relationship between solitude in nature and prayer? What does Reb Nachman's prayer imply about the need for environmentalism and sustaining nature?