Relating to God

The goal of this seminar is to give us the opportunity to focus, reflect, and deepen our relationship with God.

Often in Judaism and in life in general we express our relationship to God through acts involving other people, places, and things. Yet, as in all relationships, there needs to be a time to focus directly on the relationship itself.

It is not easy to find the time to completely focus on a relationship. The moments in which we succeed in doing so are often labeled “quality time”. So too in our relationship with God, it is rare that we focus exclusively on this relationship.

This seminar may be particularly daunting because it raises subjects with which we frequently struggle. We have noticed that many Jews do not feel comfortable talking personally about their relationship with God, and this will be the heart of this seminar. We hope that these sessions provide the venue for understanding and integrating what it authentically means to wrestle, listen, talk, and live a direct relationship with God Everyone in their own path; everyone at their own pace.

We strongly suggest facilitating all of the sessions, however if time and group technicalities make this difficult, then we suggest that you choose at least 6 of the topics that most resonate with you – sessions in which the sources, experiential exercises, and personalizing questions pluck a deep and personal chord.

Each session runs between 90 – 120 minutes, depending on the nature of the group and their desire to talk. Ideally, sessions would be weekly, allowing enough time to process and actualize each topic without allowing too much time to pass between meetings.

Each session includes the three Ayeka elements:
• Jewish texts
• Guided writing exercise
• Spiritual chevruta questions to help personalize the ideas

Session 1: Wrestling with God
Our name, Yisrael (Israel), derives from Ya’akov’s wrestling with the angel of God. Ya’akov was alone, at night, blessed with a new name. What does this mean in today’s world for us? Have you ever wrestled with God and prevailed?

Session 2: My God
How do we create our own personal and authentic relationship with God? What is from our parents, our tradition and ancestors, and what is strictly the product of our own experience? Why does the prayer book say “Our God” before “the God of our Fathers”?

Session 3: My Inner Voice
“Prayer is only correct when it arises from the awareness that the soul is always praying.” The intuitions of our inner voice are like “angels knocking on the doors of our souls”. In your life, have you ever had a moment you felt you were listening to your soul?  When? 

Session 4: Prayer – Asking
A significant portion of Jewish prayer involves asking God for things. If God is omniscient – why do we need to ask? Doesn’t God already know? And if so, who are we to nudge and try to “change God’s mind”? How do you feel about yourself when you ask God for help? Have you ever felt that God was your confidant?

Session 5: Prayer – Talking
Rebbe Nachman stressed the importance of talking aloud to God. Does our thinking create our words or do our words create the thoughts? Why does he equate stream-of-consciousness talking with holiness and happiness? Is it easy or difficult for you to talk openly with God?

Session 6: Prayer – Loving
One of the most well-known and recognized lines of the prayer book is: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart.” What does this verse mean to you? Are their moments during the day that you sense God’s love for you?

Session 7: Called by God
The Talmud states that each person is judged on six aspects of our behavior. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that “Religion begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us.” What do you think you are called to do?

Session 8: Shema Yisrael
What does God’s oneness mean to you? We have said this line so often that it can become a meaningless recitation of liturgy. How can we bring this pillar of Jewish thought and prayer into our daily lives? What does oneness mean regarding people that I don’t like or agree with?

Session 9: All of Existence
There are many channels for living a spiritual life - through my own inner fulfillment, or through community, national life or all of universal being. How do I harmonize these different channels? Which is my strongest? My weakest?

Session 10: Closing Session
Participants are invited to prepare a few minutes presentation describing something they learned from other members of the group, and how participating in this Ayeka seminar has affected their relating directly to God.