Nina Amir's Thoughts on Human Potential, Personal Growth and Practical Spirituality
Many spiritual traditions contain a practice of blessing food prior to eating it. Christians, for example, say grace before a meal. This prayer more often than not thanks God for the food they are about to eat. Jews say a blessing over a particular type of food–one for bread, one for wine, one for cookies [...]
It’s easy to get so caught up in our lives that we forget to pray or to connect with God. That’s why some of the major religions suggest set prayer times during the day. While some advocate for long prayer periods, short ones can help us remember God, connect spiritually and provide a great practical [...]
Do you think your prayers fall on deaf ears? Do you pray and pray and pray, all the while thinking that no one hears your words? Do you look around and see that nothing changes despite your prayers? Do you wonder why you can’t hear God responding to your requests? Today, get really quiet. Listen [...]
As Jews around the world usher in the Sabbath with the candle lighting ritual, they ask God to spread over them “wings of peace…sukkat shalom.” They ask for “Shabbat shalom…Sabbath peace.” While some Jews actually will feel that peace during the 25 hours of this week’s Shabbat, I’m sure the survivors of the earthquake in [...]
To me, all sins come down to sins against God. If you believe a spark of Divinity exists in all things, then any sin you commit against something or someone constitutes a sin against God. Additionally, other actions are sins against our Creator as well. What might these be? They could be different for different [...]
I’m determined to put spiritual practice back into my life. I’ve been struggling for a year at least to find the time for a sustainable practice. I know…I teach and write about practical spirituality, by which I mean short, easy, sustainable practices that fit into our busy lives. However, I have failed to practice what [...]
Today while I was on Twitter, I watched video someone posted called “How Jews Pray.” I found it very interesting. (Wait for the commercial to end and you’ll be able to watch the WeJew.com video.) I’ve often thought about how we, as Jews, pray…or how anyone, for that matter, prays. Most religions have prescribed prayers, [...]
As my daughter left this morning to attend Easter Sunday services with her non-Jewish boyfriend, I thought about what she might take away from that service. I know she won’t be thinking about Easter from a personal growth standpoint as I do. And, despite my own Jewish leanings and upbringing, as always, I look at [...]
Have you ever noticed how we create huge tangles of our lives? Maybe we just take one strand – a relationship or a job or a particular way of thinking or a small lie or a debt that gets larger over time – and we knot it up until its a total mess. Or maybe [...]
We are told that on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, “it is written” and on Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance, “it is sealed.” What is “it”? Our fate for the next year. With Erev Yom Kippur, the beginning of this awe inspiring day, almost upon us, it is important to think about who [...]
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