Increasing Wholeness: Jewish Wisdom and Guided Meditations to Strengthen and Calm Body, Heart, Mind and Spirit

by Elie Kaplan Spitz

Overview

Combines Jewish tradition, contemporary sciences and world spiritual writings with practical contemplative exercises. Will help you balance and integrate mind, body, heart and spirit, reach out to the Divine, and be more fully present and effective in your life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580238304
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/15/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	970 KB

About the Author

Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz is the author of Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World and Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives&Living with Purpose (both Jewish Lights). A spiritual leader and scholar specializing in topics of spirituality and Judaism, he teaches, writes and speaks to a wide range of audiences. He has served as the rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Tustin, California, for more than a decade and is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee of Law and Standards.

Table of Contents

Preface: Welcome to Increasing Wholeness
Introduction

Chapter One
Seeking Greater Wholeness
Try This:
Identifying an Obstacle to Inner Peace
Breath, Eyes, and Mood
Epsom Salt Bath

Chapter Two
Body: Our Portal to the World
Try This:
Uniqueness Abounds
Sensual Wakefulness
Walking Meditation
Shalom Meditation
Guided Meditation of Praise
A Blessing Practice
Blessings of Dawn
Body-Mind Calm

Chapter Three
Heart: Fueling Engagement
Try This:
Quieting the Inner Drama with Touch Points
Receiving and Giving a Blessing
Corresponding with God
Harvesting Gratitude
A Daily Recitation of the Modeh Ani
A Quick Bibliodrama

Chapter Four
Mind: Alertness to Reality
Try This:
Identifying Holy Moments
A Listening Exercise
Shema Meditation
Discerning Patterns and Directing Your Future
Intensive Meditation with a Focus on Mind

Chapter Five
Spirit: Intuitive Wisdom
Try This
Intuitive Answers
Conjured Sensuality
Intuitive Gifts
Hearing Your Calling
Experiencing Daily Prayer
YHVH Meditation
Intensive Meditation with a Focus on Spirit

Chapter Six
Hand: The Power to Touch
Try This:
Baseless Generosity
A Tzedakah Box Practice
Prioritizing Charitable Giving
A Gemilut Chasadim Practice
Chesed (Compassion) Meditation
Writing an Ethical Will

Chapter Seven
Inner Peace: Balanced from Within
Try This:
Walking in the Light
Looking Back
When at Peace
A Taste of Wholeness
Revisiting Obstacles to Our Completeness
Infused by Light
A Final Blessing

Afterword: Crafting a Practice
Try This: A Sabbath Retreat
Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index of Practices

Editorial Reviews

"A thoroughly contemporary guide to Jewish spiritual practice, drawing on Jewish sources as well as a wide range of teachings from many traditions. An easy and plain-spoken guide to techniques of visualization and guided meditation."
—Arthur Green, author, Judaism's Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers

“This inspiring work is a spiritual journey with wisdom and guidance to lead us toward a life of peace and wholeness.... A book to read and re-read, a book you will want to share with those you love.”
—Rabbi Naomi Levy, founder and spiritual leader, Nashuva; author, Hope Will Find You

“Wise and practical.... An eloquent reminder that it’s not enough to talk about the truth: we must live it, day by day.... In these pages you will find the resources, both ancient and contemporary, that help us to live truth and choose love.”
—Rabbi Shefa Gold, author, The Magic of Hebrew Chant: Healing the Spirit, Transforming the Mind, Deepening Love

“There is no better guide than Rabbi Elie Spitz, with his sweet soul, practiced spiritual depth, and soaring mind. He has distilled his soul into this marvelous book, taking our hand and leading us to increasing wholeness.”
—Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL, author, God of Becoming and Relationship: The Dynamic Nature of Process Theology

“Wonderful.... Sure to touch the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life and empower them to live their lives more fully and meaningfully.”
—Rabbi Yoel Glick, author, Living the Life of Jewish Meditation: A Comprehensive Guide to Practice and Experience

“An inspired, intelligent book that will teach you how to have a meaningful meditation practice. The YouTube meditations are a special bonus for beginners.”
—Nan Fink Gefen, PhD, author, Discovering Jewish Meditation: Instruction & Guidance for Learning an Ancient Spiritual Practice

“I can tell immediately when I’m in the presence of a great teacher, one who offers wisdom with nuance and maturity rather than clichés and truisms. Elie Spitz is my teacher. Becoming whole requires a whole practice—not prayer or reflection or mindfulness or study or intuition or movement, but all of them in balance. Elie Spitz seamlessly integrates a lifetime of spiritual seeking and wisdom into this remarkable guide for wholly living.”
—Rabbi Mike Comins, author, Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer Is Difficult and What to Do about It

“Offers wisdom and guidance for absolutely everyone.”
—Edith R. Brotman, PhD, RYT-500, author, Mussar Yoga: Blending an Ancient Jewish Spiritual Practice with Yoga to Transform Body and Soul

“An excellent manual of spiritual practice.... Unmistakably Jewish, mature, reasonable and inspiring.”
—Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Emanu-El scholar, Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco; author, I’m God; You’re Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego

From the Publisher

This is a book for all chaplains, pastoral counselors and their patients, families and groups. Rabbi Spitz, a Conservative congregational rabbi in California, has written a helpful and often eloquent interactive guide to accessing the generations of Jewish practice in mindfulness.

Each chapter ("Seeking Greater Wisdom," "Body," “Heart,” “Mind,” “Spirit,” “Hand,” “Inner Peace”) offers a combination of meditation, prayer, selected sacred texts from the Jewish tradition and personal observations. Each chapter also contains several videos in which the author takes the reader through an aural version of the written meditations. The videos are available using a QR code reader app downloaded to a smartphone and are a welcome novel use of technology as well as an excellent method to use for study purposes. The detailed endnotes section and an index organized by the practices discussed make this slim volume an easy-to-use reference, teaching and practice book.

Spitz writes, “The central message of this book is that we live in a world of many demands, conflicts and unmet expectations that produce an undertow of anxiety. Yet with the help of resources that have come down to us across the ages…we can develop our capacity to pause and reflect.” (123)

Association of Professional Chaplains - Linda S. Golding

Rabbi Spitz's goal is "to surprise you with ancient wisdom and imaginative insights that move you toward greater inner ease and effectiveness" and to provide you with "a fuller sense of awareness of your inner life and greater integration and strengthening of the physical, emotional, intellectual and intuitive dimensions of self." To do this, the chapters of Increasing Wholeness focus on body, becomingfully engaged, “alertness to reality,” intuition, the power to touch (which discusses giving on a personallevel and as commanded in the mitzvah of tzedakah) and “inner peace” and each chapter is full ofideas gleaned from many religions, stories, and practices. Rabbi Spitz also includes many personalexperiences to illustrate his points. The book details several kinds of guidedmeditations, which may beenhanced with videos from Rabbi Spitz's YouTube channel. An index of practices is included after thechapter notes, and he lists them by category: awareness, blessings, encouraging daily change, exploringnew perspectives, guided imagery, and relaxation and balance. An extensive list of suggestions forfurther reading by subject accompanies the text.

Rabbi Spitz is a pulpit rabbi in California as well as the author of other books on aspects of Jewish spirituality. He strikes a nice balance between deep philosophical thoughts, non-traditional practices and exercises, and common sense. Meditation using the Shema and practices using the Amidah prayerdraw on Jewish spirituality. His five steps for making change provide a doable framework and includecelebration when meeting one’s goals. Spitz draws on a variety of sources both secular and religious,and traditionalists may be off put by many references to Hinduism and Buddhism. But as a guide toself-help and self-fulfillment, the book is thoughtful and well-organized and is highly recommendedto libraries whose patrons are interested in the subject matter.

Association of Jewish Libraries REVIEWS - Chava Pinchuck