Prayer as Home for the Soul: Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Teachings on Prayer
Avra Shapiro
3 weeks
Wednesdays: 7-8:30 pm ET / 4-5:30 pm PT
May 1 · May 8 · May 15
Many are familiar with Abraham Joshua Heschel’s teachings of the Sabbath as a cathedral in time, or of his time marching in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which he described as “I felt my legs were praying.” Less widely known, however, are Heschel’s deep insights into the practice of prayer.
In this three-part series, we’ll explore what, according to Heschel, makes prayer hard, what makes it powerful, and what makes it necessary. Using excerpts from essays such as “On Prayer” (1969) and “The Spirit of Jewish Prayer (1958), we’ll explore what a prayer practice can offer us, including creating a a home for the soul, a pathway to radical amazement, a response to divine pathos, and a way to attune to the divine. We will also utilize reflections, meditations, and and other practices to experience and experiment with these concepts. Come those who love praying, those who feel they don’t know how to pray, those who wrestle with prayer, and those who hold beautifully expansive views of what prayer can be.
In the poignant words of A. J. Heschel, “I pray because God, the Shekhinah, is an outcast. I pray because God is in exile, because we all conspire to blur all signs of His presence in the present or in the past. I pray because I refuse to despair, because extreme denials and defiance are refuted in the confrontation of my own presumption and the mystery all around me. I pray because I am unable to pray.” Join us as we journey together into the heart of prayer, guided by Heschel's profound wisdom and insight.
Sliding Scale
This course is available at a sliding scale cost of $126 (the true cost), $99 or $72.
If you can afford the full price, we hope you will choose that option, which allows us to continue to offer lower rates and scholarships to those who otherwise would not be able to access this learning because of financial barriers.
Financial Aid
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Avra (they/them) is a white, queer, non-binary, Jewish mystic and ordained Kohenet living on Lenni Lenape land in Philadelphia. They are a Jewish educator, ritualist, and musician with over fifteen years of experience in Jewish education. They have taught at spaces such as the Chicago Jewish Day School, Eden Village Camp, Base, Moishe Houses, college campuses, and synagogues from Reform to Modern Orthodox. Their music has been used by organizations across the country. They received their Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Northwestern University, where they graduated cum laude. While working as Lead Trainer & Organizer at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, they helped pass the country's most transformative police oversight body and spearheaded the development of trainings on the Intersections of Antisemitism and White Supremacy. As a trained Kohenet (kohenet.org), Avra believes in the power of prayer and ritual to bring wholeness and healing into our lives. Avra especially values ritual for life transitions that exist outside of the normative Jewish life spiral. Rooted in a queer, feminist, earth-honoring lens, Avra deeply believes that the awe-inspiring, complex body of Jewish wisdom has much to offer our tender hearts in today’s world. They believe in the importance of all Jews having access to femme/queer spiritualities and intimacy with the Divine. Check out their offerings at Kohenetavrashapiro.com.
