Filling Words with Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer

by Lawrence Kushner, Nehemia Polen

Overview

Breathe New Life into Your Prayer with the Wisdom of Kabbalah and the Hasidic Masters

Jewish mystics teach that every word a person utters in prayer should radiate light. Even the letters of the words of prayer carry sparks of the Divine that yearn to join together in holiness.

In this inspiring spiritual companion, Reform rabbi Lawrence Kushner and Orthodox rabbi Nehemia Polen join together to provide a window into the liturgy for people of all backgrounds by offering fresh insights and meditations that bring the traditional prayerbook to life. Drawing from the Torah, Zohar and ancient and contemporary Hasidic masters, Kushner and Polen reflect on the joy, gratitude, compassion, mystery and awe embedded in traditional prayers and blessings, and show how you can imbue these familiar sacred words with your own sense of holiness.

Insightful, fresh and wise, Filling Words with Light will enrich your understanding of the prayer book and guide you on how to put more of yourself into the holy words of the Jewish tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683360551
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	10/01/2004
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 2.30(d)

About the Author

Lawrence Kushner, author, lecturer and spiritual leader, is regarded as one of the most creative religious thinkers and writers in America. A commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, he has focused us on spiritual renewal with wisdom and humor. Through his books and lectures, people of every faith and background have found inspiration and new strength for spiritual search and growth. It has been said that some spiritual leaders blend religion and psychology to help us walk better on the ground, but Lawrence Kushner draws on the wisdom of the mystics to help us dance better on the ceiling.

Kushner's acclaimed books include I’m God; You’re Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego; Honey from the Rock: An Easy Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary; The Book of Letters: A Mystical Hebrew Alphabet; Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians; and In God’s Hands, an inspiring fable for children, with Gary Schmidt (all Jewish Lights).

Kushner served as rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, for almost thirty years; he is currently the Emanu-El scholar at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, and an adjunct faculty member at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He is fascinated by graphic design and computers (designing most of his Jewish Lights books). He enjoys Mozart, hanging around sailboats, and making his granddaughters giggle.

Rabbi Nehemia Polen is professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew College. He is the author of The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto and The Rebbe's Daughter, recipient of a National Jewish Book Award. He is also a contributor to the award-winning My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries (Jewish Lights).

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1. The Blessings of Morning: Birkhot Hashachar
1.1 Awakening 3
1.2 Gratitude 6
1.3 Tents of Jacob 7
1.4 The Manner of Arabs 8
1.5 Fringes 9
1.6 A Sign on Your Hand 11
1.7 The Human Body 13
1.8 Apertures and Organs 15
1.9 Sweet in Our Mouths 17
1.10 No Fixed Measure 19
1.11 Acts of Love 20
1.12 Sacrifices 21
1.13 Rabbi Ishmael 23
2. Verses of Song: Pesukei D'zimrah
2.1 The Hidden God 27
2.2 Decrees 29
2.3 Tears of God 31
2.4 Serving in Joy 33
2.5 The Eternal Name 35
2.6 Generations 37
2.7 Those Who Fall 38
2.8 God’s Majesty 39
2.9 Every Soul 40
2.10 Song at the Sea 42
2.11 Remnant of a Melody 43
3. The Shema and Its Blessings: Shema U’virkhoteha
3.1 Blessing 47
3.2 Light 49
3.3 Commandments 52
3.4 Unity 56
3.5 Likeness 59
3.6 Lying Down 62
3.7 The Adversary 63
4. The Standing Prayer: Amidah
4.1 Open My Lips 67
4.2 Abraham 70
4.3 Resurrection 72
4.4 Sanctification 74
4.5 The Holy God 76
4.6 Pleasures 80
4.7 Joy 81
4.8 Wisdom 82
4.9 Repentance 83
4.10 Healing 85
4.11 Favor 86
4.11 Gratitude 88
4.13 The Light of Face 89
5. The Reading of Torah: K’riat HaTorah
5.1 The Ark 93
5.2 Adonai, Adonai 97
5.3 A Favorable Moment 99
5.4 Your Place 100
5.5 An Open Heart 102
5.6 Cleaving 103
5.7 Giving Torah 105
5.8 This Is the Torah 106
5.9 Open Your Hand 108
6. Supplication and Obligation: Tachanun v’Alenu
6.1 Compassion 111
6.2 Reverence 114
6.3 Open Your Eyes 116
6.4 Support from Zion 117
6.5 None Else 118
6.6 God’s Will 120
6.7 The Messiah 122
6.8 None Like Our God 124
7. The Sabbath: Shabbat
7.1 Sabbath Lights 127
7.2 Come, My Beloved 129
7.3 Flame Fused to Wick 131
7.4 Pieces of Peace 133
7.5 Planned All Along 134
7.6 The Table 136
7.7 Messengers 138
7.8 Children 140
7.9 An Extended Hand 142
7.10 Now Finished 145
7.11 Faint with Yearning 147
7.12 Lights of Fire 149
7.13 Completion 152
7.14 Elijah 153

Editorial Reviews

"A wonderful collection of insights into prayer, collected and reworked by a team of contemporary masters. Will add depth and insight to your prayer life!"
—Rabbi Arthur Green, author of Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow and These Are the Words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life

“Kushner and Polen are unparalleled in their ability to translate the most arcane and difficult insights of Hasidic masters into terms that are stunningly applicable to the human condition. Each and every page is testimony to their affection for the sages they cite and their regard for the prayers those sages address. For a spiritual commentary on the prayer book, this is the book to own.”
—Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, editor of the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series

“This book will surely open the heart of anyone opening a prayer book. The inspiring gems of insight by two great scholars seem to literally sparkle right off the pages. So much wisdom, made so accessible.”
—Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, editor of The Women’s Torah Commentary and The Women’s Haftarah Commentary

From the Publisher

This book, co-authored by a Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi, offers a rich and inspiring collection of interpretations, reflections and teachings on Jewish liturgy. From the morning prayers and blessings, to the Torah service, and culminating in the Shabbat liturgy, Filling Words with Light is a wonderful resource for Jews and people of other faith traditions who seek to deepen their experience of daily and weekly liturgical prayer. … I had the "wonder-full" experience of attending a Saturday morning Shabbat service while reading this book, and being graced with a feeling of newness and excitement as I prayed the liturgy that has been so familiar for so long. Filling Words with Light truly illuminated the prayers, and in doing so, brought a sense of exhilaration and delight to the words, the service, and my personal experience of God and of communal prayer. This book will be both useful and delightful for spiritual directors, directees, clergy teachers and others who guide seekers on their prayer journey, especially those who are drawn to mystical teachings and practices.

Presence

Like many people, I have heard a lot about the Kabbalah, but I never actually studied it. Filling Words With Light is a good place to start. With its anecdotal style and sparing, well-glossed use of Hebrew, it initiates the reader gently into the mysteries of the Torah, Zohar and Talmud. While its logic was often alien to me, I was impressed by the love of language, and the way seemingly willful misreading of sacred texts could yield powerful and often beautiful new ideas; and also by the sophistication of pre-modern Jewish thought. There is great diversity of thought here, from numerological systems to meditative journeys, and even if you find much to disagree with, it will make you think.

Manna: The Living Voice of Judaism - Andie Newman

Filling Words with Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer. By Lawrence Kushner and Nehenia Polen. Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT 05091: $21.99. I54 pages.

Reform rabbi Kushner and Orthodox rabbi Polen have joined together to provide a window into the liturgy for people of all backgrouhds. They offer fresh insights and meditations that bring the traditional prayer book to life.

The mystics taught that the words of prayer carry sparks of the Divine that yearn to join together in holiness. Making the transition from rote recitation to enlightened prayer can be difficult and the two rabbis provide the help that task needs.

Community - Herman Landau