1geulahnow

Yasher koach. I went to one last night, and I think the topic is spot on. We all learn so much, but we have fewer opportunities to actually integrate what we learn. A chabura is the perfect place to take one idea and find practical ways to make Torah become lived inside each person.

For example, we all know that Hashem is One. Intellectually, it’s a fact. Experientially… we don’t feel it viscerally. A chabura can come up with ways to practice that integration. Meditation is one way — thinking about how Hashem is speaking all of reality into existence, and how His speech never leaves Him. Take one item in the room and imagine Hashem speaking it into existence and it being one with Hashem. During the week, people can commit to practicing with other created, finite things — even themselves — and realizing that everything is one with the One.

Another idea is eating. Eating is something through which we serve Hashem externally with brachos, but the feeling of connection is often small or not present at all. I don’t know if we can put links here, but there is a book on Amazon that’s a practical guide to deepening one’s avodah through eating. It has many exercises, and your chabura can take one each week. The book is called “10 Steps to Eat as a Jew: The Path Back to Gan Eden.”

Jewish breathing is another great way to bring our learning to life. Rabbi YY Jacobson has a couple of videos explaining how to breathe with Hashem. Eliyahu Pereira has a whole series on it. Rabbi Pinson also has a book with breathing exercises called Breathing and Quieting the Mind.

Hatzlachah!