There is a great teaching of the Maharal of Prague who says that we pray in order to empty ourselves of words and the real prayer happens in the silence afterwards. Usually when I’m feeling heartbroken, I will pour out my heart, in the words of the Siddur and in my own words, until I have no more words. Then I will just stand there, struck silent, and for me that silence is as deep a prayer as any of the words I have said. And it’s an opportunity to be there with the One and receive whatever there is to receive.
Rabbi's
Bio
Rabbi Derby's Drashot
For me, there’s no difference between my words and the Siddur’s words. Both are incredibly valuable. I thinks it’s genius that the rabbis have us say the Amidah individually and then communally, where I’m not alone, drawing support from others, just as silent meditation with others is valuable. I make no distinction.
| CLASSES & EVENTS
Havruta Study Group:
Community Leadership, and Crisis
This
class is facilitated by Rabbi Lavey Derby, partnering with the Shalom
Hartman Institute. Key questions facing the Jewish people and
contemporary society are explored in this 8-month program.
To learn more and LISTEN TO
PODCASTS OF THE CLASS, click here.
Summer Trip to the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem!
Join Rabbi Derby for the 2010 Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat:
June 30 - July 7, 2010
To learn more about the program, and for info on informative meetings about the program, see our Israel page.
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JOIN US IN THE IDRA
The Idra is a center of spiritual growth & learning at Kol Shofar.
NESHAMA MINYAN
Nurture and enrich your soul with an introspective Shabbat morning
prayer service. The Neshama Minyan includes meditation, Shabbat morning
service, Torah reading with group aliyot, teaching chanting, and
discussion. Neshama means soul, spirit, and breath.
All are welcome!
Monthly Shabbat Neshama Minyan Services are held at Davidson Middle School Annex,
150 Lovell Avenue, San Rafael.
For dates and more info, see the Neshama Minyan page.
CHAVURAH FOR JEWISH SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
An in-depth experience of changing and meditation. For more info on this chavurah.
To learn more...
Tuesdays, 7:50–9:00 PM
We meet at Davidson Middle School Annex, in San Rafael.
I will take a line from the liturgy and repeat it over and over again, until I’m done. If I feel that I need to feel more compassion in my life, I might repeat a line, chanun v’rachoom adonai, (‘compassionate and merciful is God’), just to open my heart. I speak the words because they’re coming from my heart, or I speak the words because I want to have an influence on my heart.
–Lavey Derby
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