classes/workshops/events
an approach to
KABBALISTIC HEALING
as a way of life (part 1)
This is an introductory series of classes on Kabbalistic healing. Kabbalistic Healing is a path of awakening to our true nature
introduced and developed in Jason Shulman’s book Kabbalistic Healing. We will be exploring this book and participate in
discussions about suffering, healing, and God through the paradigm of the Four Worlds. In this class your will also be learning
practices that will help you live more consciously and vibrantly.
This material forms a spiritually accessible path of Awakening. In these classes we will engage with the concepts in the book,
experiential exercises, meditation, and spiritual practices so you can apply these teachings to your life.
Class for Fall 2009:
Dates: 6 consecutive Thursday evenings: October 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19
Time: 7pm-9pm
Place: Temple Sinai, Conference Room A
Phone: (585) 473-1214 or email: skrasner@rochester.rr.com
Cost: $150.00 total
an approach to
Kabbalistic Healing
as a way of life ( part 2 )
This is a continuation of the first series of classes. We will use Jason Shulman's book Kabbalistic Healing, and we will deepen
our inquiry into fundamental questions around healing, suffering, life, and God, with particular focus on life and death as seen
through the lens of the Four Worlds of Kabbalah. We will continue our practices and participate in experiential exercises,
meditation and spiritual practices.
Dates: TBA
Time: 7pm-9pm
Place: Temple Sinai
Phone: (585) 473-1214
Cost: $75.00
About Prayer, by Susan Krasner November 2008
When I was seven years old, my brother, who was 18 months younger, was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. After a few
devastating weeks of chemotherapy, my parents made the wrenching decision to take him from the hospital to live out his last
few months in the comfort of home and family. My mother told me to pray to God for him; pray that he would live. So I did. I
prayed constantly. My life became a living prayer. I don’t remember much else during that time other than talking to God, and
talking with my brother who lied in bed for the next 6 months. He and I talked about the deepest and most intimate things of life,
such as death, suffering, angels and God. My dear brother, Mark, died the day before my eighth birthday.
Why do we pray? What are we actually praying for if we have faith in God and God’s ways? How do we measure the results of
our prayers? Who is it that is listening? Kabbalist and author Jason Shulman writes “that for many of us the very thought of
praying becomes a problem. When we pray, most of us are casting a message in a bottle into an unsure sea. We don’t know
what to write the message on. We don’t know how to put the cork in. We often do not even know if there is a sea to carry our
message, or in which direction the shore lies, or if there are truly currents that will take our bottled message to the One who
can read the letters of our heart. Ultimately, we often end up wondering whether there is even One there who reads our hearts
and listens to our words.”
Shulman says “prayer is meant to be a direct line of communication with the depth of our heart and the height of our soul.” He
explores prayer in a way that we can actually see how the universe responds to our call, not in theory but in real time. “Giving
voice to the inner words of our heart works with our sense of separation and allows us to connect with the Divine no matter
where we are, physically, psychologically, or spiritually.” Shulman refers to the Kabbalistic idea of the four universes and how
it explores the transformation of our relationship to God, or the Divine, and the “who” inside of each of us that grows and
changes by the practice of prayer itself. “This is not about prayer to feel good, but to feel. This is not prayer to make ourselves
into something we are not, but to make ourselves into who we are.” “Prayer is to be where we are, when we are, as we are,
without changing anything. It is that place where we fall into ourselves and say, ‘Here I am, and I am here’, both.”
Even at times of great loss and sadness, my prayers bring me closer to who I am, to the “One who Listens” and ultimately Life
itself. Within and between the tremendous pain and joy that is inevitable when we engage in the world at this level, there is
some palpable thing that shows up at times of honesty, that is intimate and beyond words, that touches and surrounds us.
Perhaps it is there all along, waiting for our open hearts as its invitation. Haven’t we all felt it? At times like this we often
experience moments of silence. Then comes a natural rising up of expression, such as a smile, tear, song, or a prayer,
“blessed are you…”
You are invited to come explore this type of prayer practice in the Introduction to Kabbalistic Healing class.
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