The Aquarian Minyan Yeshiva
CURRENT & UPCOMING CLASSES*
*All classes are offered virtually via Zoom, unless stated otherwise. Class times listed are for Pacific Standard Time
NEW FOR SPRING 2025!
Registration is open for the following classes:
Outer Flame, Inner Light: Timeless Jewish Visualization Techniques for Meditation with Steven Siegel
Tuesdays 12 noon Pacific Time/ 3pm Eastern
March 25, April 1,8, 15, 22, and 29
To Register Click HERE
*There is a suggested minimum donation $72-$125 and above (generosity level). Recordings will be provided to all who register. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Join veteran meditation teacher Steven Siegel as he unpacks several traditional types of visualizations and meditative techniques culled from Chassidic Masters and Kabbalists through the centuries. Over five weeks develop your visualization skills through the following techniques accompanied by a sixth week incorporating a powerful breathing technique.
Week 1 The use of an external object as a visual focal point: Candle flame meditation based on Zohar (13th Cent.) and Tikkunei Zohar (14th Cent.)
Week 2 Contemplation of a holy verse: Several traditional Shiviti practices that arose from various sources based on Psalm 16
Week 3 Visualization based on embodiment of a particular spiritual trait Tzadik visualization, based on Rebbe Maharash (4th Chabad Rebbe 19th Cent.)
Week 4 The use of the imagination to visualize a higher reality: Light of Shekhinah practice from Rabbi Elazar Azikri of Sefat (1533-1600)
Week 5 The Development of deeper awareness and presence: R. Chayim Vital’s (1542-1620) and the Komarno Rebbe’s (1770-1818) technique for Rising above Physicality
Final Week. A breathing technique for devekut based on the teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid and Rabbi Schneur Zalman (the Alter Rebbe)
In each class we will look at texts from Kabbalistic and/or Chassidic sources, examine the sometimes hidden, sometimes obvious, meditation or visualization they describe, and then experience the practice or practices.
About Steven Siegel
Steve Siegel has been a student and teacher of Jewish and Himalayan meditation and Kabbalah for more than 45 years. He has been blessed with the opportunity to study with many of the outstanding teachers of our times including Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z"l HaRav Avraham Brandwein z"l Dr. Daniel Matt, Rav Avraham Sutton, Rabbi DovBer Pinson, Rabbi David Cooper z"l Sri Swami Rama z"l and Swami Veda Bharati z"l On the instructions of Swami Veda, he created the group “Prayag: A Center for Meditation and Spiritual Growth ” in 2012 to teach meditation in the tradition of the Himalayan yogis and Jewish Kabbalists and to explore their points of commonality. Steven can be reached at:
Psalms of the Omer: A Journey from Liberation to Revelation with Rabbi Dr. Brielle Rassler
Wednesdays 12pm Pacific /3 pm Eastern
April 16/23/30 and May 7/14/21/28
To Register Click HERE
*There is a suggested minimum donation $72 - $125 and above (generosity level) for all seven sessions of this class. Recordings will be provided to all who register. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
The seven week period from Passover to Shavuot invites us into a treasure trove of potential for spiritual insight and growth through a daily spiritual practice known as the counting of the Omer. Join Rabbi Dr. Brielle Paige Rassler, award winning author of Psalms: A Millennial’s Interpretation, on a soulful journey through this process, guided by the wisdom and sacred healing power of the Psalms. Each week, Rabbi Brielle will uncover new ways of connecting with these sacred texts and spiritual practices, as we journey together from the liberation of Passover to the revelation of Shavuot. No prior experience with the Omer or the Psalms is necessary to benefit from this spiritual journey. Just bring your open heart, curious mind, and together we’ll discover where the Divine will take us from there.
About Rabbi Dr. Brielle Rassler
Rabbi Dr. Brielle Paige Rassler is a licensed psychologist, spiritual director, author, and artist. She maintains a private practice and serves as Lead Chaplain of Integrative Wellness at Penn Medicine Princeton Health. In addition to her emerging translation series, Rabbi Brielle has authored a reference guide to the Talmud, a manual for religiously integrated treatment of Jewish women with eating disorders, and has released two albums of original liturgical music. Her Psalms translations have been featured in multiple publications and her full translation, “Psalms: A Millennial’s Poetic Interpretation” was selected as a Gold Award winner of the 2023 Nautilus Book Awards.
Chanting The Beloved: The Jewish-Sufi connection From the Medieval Period to “Sufi Sam” and Reb Zalman with Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Seidel and Guest Speakers
Tuesdays at 12p Pacific Time/ 3pm Eastern
May 6,13,20, and 27
To Register Click HERE
*There is a suggested minimum of $72 for all four sessions of this series. Recordings will be provided to all who register.
"There are many paths to the divine. I have chosen the ways of song, dance and laughter" -Rumi
Is there a Sufi - Hasidic connection? Did Sufism percolate into Podolia and influence the dances and ritual of the early Hasidic movement? How might Jews respectfully recover a Sufi Jewish heritage and lineage that could invigorate our practice, our chant, our meditation practice and our davenen today?
Join Rabbi Seidel and special guests as we explore these and other questions as to the enrichment of Jewish life that occurred when it intersected with the Sufi tradition of Islam. Together we will trace this intersection of paths that begins with Medieval Egypt and culminates in the emergence of Sufi Sheiks of Jewish sensibility as well as Rabbi Zalman Schacter - Shalomi who successfully incorporated aspects of Sufi Zikr, teachings and ritual into the Renewal of Judaism in the later part of the 20th century.
Topics and people discussed in this class will include Avraham and Ovadiah the heirs of Maimonides, the Maimuni Sufis, Bahya Ibn Paquda and “The Duties of the Heart” the Tzfat Kabbalistic practices, the Intersection of Hasidic dance and Ottoman Sufi orders, the development of Jewish leadership in the Universalist Sufi order established by Hazrat Inayat Khan and the new interspiritual path established by Murshid Sufi Sam Lewis and continued by Reb Zalman and taught today by Natanel Miles- Yepez.
Guided meditation and chant will serve as a key component of this series
About Rabbi Jonathan Seidel
Rabbi Jonathan Seidel PhD is the Rabbi in Residence at the Aquarian Minyan and the Rosh Yeshivah. He has taught a variety of Jewish food history and Foodways courses over the last 10 years and enjoys Jewish cuisine from all over the globe. Rabbi Jonathan Seidel is also visiting Prof at the University of Portland where he teaches Comparative Religion, Bible and Theology. His High School Religious School project, written under the guidance of Rabbi Charles Kroloff was devoted to post Holocaust theology. At Oberlin College Rabbi Seidel studied Religion and Music, inter alia, and worked extensively in Interfaith programs. A Fullbright Scholar at the U. of Cambridge Jonathan holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Rabbi Seidel is in his 41st year of teaching at the University level and has served as Rabbi for much of the past few decades as well. He is currently Chair of the Oregon Board of Rabbis and President of the Oregon Interfaith Hub. He divides his time between Oregon , the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York Metropolitan Area