Nina Amir's Thoughts on Spirituality, Judaism, Human Potential, Personal Growth, and Living Fully
Each year as Passover approaches I’m given reason to consider my fears and how I deal with them. I do this because I remember learning about how fearful the Children of Israel felt at the shore of the Red Sea as the Egyptians approached.
I was at an event near my home in [...]
I’ve written about fear a lot, however, when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hits somewhere in the world, in this case in Chile, it brings up some fear in me. You see, I live in California. My home sits between two fault lines.
The earthquake in Haiti brought up some fear, too. So do the little tremblors [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately. In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers: Chapter 1, Mishna 6, “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Perachya says, ‘Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend, and judge each person favorably.”
Leaving the latter part of this teaching for another time, I’ll focus on the first phrase: [...]
Today I was reading a blog about this week’s parshah and came upon a teaching from Rav Kook, the former chief rabbi of Israel. He said the moment you were born is the exact moment that God decided the world could no longer function without you.
So, your moment of conception had to be predestined and, even [...]
Today I’d like to share a teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s that truly speaks to me, especially since I do go out and teach. In fact, Rabbi Nachman’s wisdom, in this case, gave me permission to go out and teach what I knew. He taught me that everyone is a teacher, and we should [...]
I’m so struck today by the fact that worry constitutes just another form of negative thinking. In this current economy, many of us are stuck worrying – and thinking negatively. Thus, we create just what we don’t want.
Worry places us in the future, only it does so in a negative manner. It places our thoughts, [...]
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, those written [...]
The Hebrew word kabbalah comes from the Hebrew verb “lekabbel,” whose root kbl means “to receive” or “to welcome.” Thus, Kabbalah means “receiving” or “reception.”
Most people define Kabbalah as a wisdom tradition or mystical tradition received from teacher to student, handed down from generation to generation. Thus, we receive it from someone. We become the [...]
Feeling joyous on Shabbat constitutes a great mitzvah (commandment or good deed) in Judaism. No matter your circumstances, you must be joyous on Shabbat. Plus, according to Rebbe Nachman, it’s impossible to feel a connection to God unless you can experience joy. Indeed, mitzvot, or commandments, are supposed to connect us to the Divine, and, we [...]
Last week when I was in Westport, CT, speaking about how to move through fear, I said that we all have to realize that its a miracle that we exist day to day on what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov called the “very narrow bridge.” That bridge represents our lives. Every day we walk on that [...]
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