Sermon by Rabbi Denise L. Eger, July 22, 2005

Shabbat Shalom
Moishe is driving in Jerusalem. He's late for a meeting; he's looking for a parking place, and can't find one. In desperation, he turns towards heaven and says, "God, if you find me a parking place, I promise that I'll eat only kosher food, I'll respect Shabbas, and all the holidays."
Miraculously, a place opens up just in front of him.
He turns his face up to heaven and says, "Never mind, I just found one."

Moishe could be any one of us. We call upon God when we need it. When trouble is in our lives we ask God for a solution but we are quick to take God out of the equation when our problems are solved. And yet we are quick to blame God-or take our anger out on God when there is pain, suffering, or injustice and our prayers seemingly go unanswered.
And yet Jewish tradition teaches us something different. Jewish tradition teaches us to put God at the center. When God is the center of our lives rather than only on the outskirts- God won’t just be situational. God is present in all we do—good and bad, successes or failures, joy or suffering. When we put God at the center of our lives—we can allow a different relationship not only to the world around us but also to ourselves. When our very being has God at the core of our foundation we allow ourselves the chance to hope be part of a never-ending fountain.
In Jewish tradition, God helps us be mindful of the present as well as the future and the past. A sense of the divine in our midst shapes our thoughts and behaviors in a very different way. Take a simple example of eating. If we simply prepare and buy our food then consume it. We might stop to enjoy the taste, smell, and look of it. Or we might rush through a meal—never bothering to think about what we are doing. In fact we might be doing something else as we are eating—driving, reading, writing, talking. Watching television.
But when we put God at the core of our lives—and then thank God for the food—we add a dimension of holiness to the simple act of eating. We slow down—we take a moment to appreciate where we are, what we are doing, and the effort it took to prepare the food—even if we bought it.
Our prayer before eating bread or a full meal—the Motzi—helps us in many ways. It puts God front and center in this process of nutrition. It reminds us of the miracle of food—the miracle that we have it at all and the miracle it took to grow it. The very words of the motzi—who brings forth bread from the earth—hamotzi lechem min haaretz- reminds us of the process it took to go from wheat to bread. And also the partnership we have with God –who created the universe and the seed and cell but that it takes our talent and creativity to grow the wheat, cultivate it, mill it and turn the flour into baked goods. All of this from putting God at the core and allowing a moment of prayer- the Motzi meditation if you will—to bring you into the moment prepared and mindful of where you are in the world and your place in it.
Buddhist tradition calls this idea of presence –Mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention to an experience from moment to moment —without drifting into thoughts of the past or concerns about the future, or getting caught up in opinions about what’s going on. Mindfulness is a practice that helps us to wake up to the truth of our experience.
Judaism too is built on a series of prayers and meditations to help the spiritual journey of a person be present and acknowledge the holiness around us. As Rabbi Jim Mirel writes in his book, Stepping Stones to Jewish Spiritual Living: Walking the Path Morning, Noon, and Night, (Jewish Lights Press) “Judaism offers a rich tradition for the spiritual seeker: its spirituality infuses daily activities with holiness and purpose.”
The Jew’s daily prayer routine has built into it –opportunities to practice mindfulness. But as Rabbi Jonathan Slater, Program Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality writes, “Distant from God, alienated from their true home and their true self, Jews may have come to sense that God is not involved in the workings of the world, and that we alone must do God’s work.” Thus for many of us—God is absent or non-existent. We don’t pray daily, or for even the simple things. God is far away—unformed—until like Moishe the Driver –we are in a pinch and need God.
The mindfulness movement has grown beyond the hallways of spirituality and religion—to the halls of academia because the benefits of these age-old traditions have measurably improved lives.
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is founder of the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness which is part of the UMASS Medical School. As he says "We are moving so fast, it is harder to know who we are," We're living great lives, but we're never there for them. We have no time to linger or savor. We are starving for that." The research at University of Massachusetts and Harvard and most recently at Duke Center for Integrative Medicine has shown that disciplines for mindfulness when measured help with stress reduction, pain management and improvement in the overall quality of lives.
In a recent LA Times article (Monday July 18, 2005, p. F5) the issue of mindfulness and health was highlighted. The article (perhaps you saw it) was entitled “Being Mindful of Each Mouthful.” It highlighted the work and several studies that have been done on the notion that a mindfulness practice can help people diet and deal with their food issues. As it said in the article quoting Dr. Jean Kristeller of Indiana State University “It involves a very brief meditation to center you before eating, and an emphasis on eating with full attention—getting pleasure from food and noticing when you have had enough.” (Sounds like the Motzi to me!)
They have had a number of controlled studies done on the notion of mindful eating and measured them against outcomes of those who receive expert nutritional and diet and fitness information without the meditation. And it seems that the mindful eating group—who meditated prior to eating, on average, lost weight, reduced binging, and improved blood sugar levels, and had less insulin resistance and lessening of other problems that often lead to diabetes. The National Institute of Health is so encouraged by the initial results that they are spending 1.8 million dollars over four years on studies of it!
They are discovering what Judaism has taught for millennium. That prayer helps. That Prayer matters. And when we bring prayer and we would say, God into the center of our being—we can have an inner strength and peace that helps us to face even our darkest hour.
The motzi before we eat, the shehekiyanu prayer for moments of thanksgiving and gratefulness, the blessing over the candles for the beginning of Shabbat, the blessings upon awakening and the shema at night before you go to bed, the prayer upon seeing a rainbow, or a learned person, or the prayer for a safe journey –are at the core of Jewish tradition and the notion of Jewish mindfulness. These brachot are at the core of helping us –be present in the moment— to make us aware and suffuse our spirits with a sense of connectedness, wholeness and yes, shalom—peace. It reminds us that we are not alone—that God is in our lives and we are in God’s. And perhaps most importantly in this crazy, fast-paced, 24/7 society, that we can take a few moments out—to appreciate our surroundings and our lives.
Mindfulness is not for Buddhists alone. It is an age-old Jewish practice that is being rediscovered and scientifically shown to improve the quality of one’s life. Tradition teaches that we are to say meah brachot—100 blessings a day. These blessings help us in the practice of mindfulness. Help us put God at the center of our lives. So many of you say, “Rabbi, I want to study the kabbalah.” You tell me you want to be more spiritual, that you want to understand the wisdom of the mystics. And I am telling you this—if you want a more spiritual life,--one that is more at peace, practice JEWISH MINDFULNESS. Practice our prayers—put them into your daily life. And do what the kabbalists do—begin to put God at the core of your being.
Baruch atah Adonai—Praised are You Adonai who hears our prayers—shomea tefilah—Helps us to be mindful of the many gifts that surround us. And let us not walk in fear as we reach out to You for sustenance, health, and well being.
Ken yehi ratzon