Jewish mantras and managing anxiety
Or, how our tradition can help us feel anchored despite the chaos of the world
Welcome to the Ritual Home! This is a project of Modern Ritual, written by Rabbi Samantha and Rabbi Rena, illustrated by the incredible Susan Alexandra. We’ve been dreaming for a while about creating a space that has depth and personality and Jewishness and joy. In all of the horror and suffering, we still want a space that feels beautiful. Where Judaism can be lovely and complex and good all at the same time.
We’re going to send out a Ritual Home every 2 weeks. Our first few issues will be ~free~ and then we’ll move to a paid model. We have been thinking about how to make Modern Ritual more sustainable for a while now, and this feels like an option that allows us to keep creating and to be supported by you. We can’t wait to hear from you!
*This has been an extraordinarily tough week and so we want to tell you all that we wrote this before the devastating news of the murders of six hostages in Hamas captivity. Click here to read our response.
Whew, it seems like so many people we know are struggling with anxiety right now. Maybe it’s the winding down of summer, maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s the challenge of simply existing with a heart in what sometimes feels like a wildly harsh world.
If it isn’t you, congratulations (no shade) !!!! Leave us a comment and please let us all know what you’re doing so we can try and breathe it in.
Anyway, lucky for us, Jewish tradition has lots to offer us around soothing our anxiety. (By the way, we do not endorse relying only on tradition, we of course recommend therapy, medication, etc!!). Throughout history, our people have developed life-affirming stories and rituals that help us hold it all: the good, the beautiful, and the ugly.
One of the ways that I (Sam) have been dealing with the wild stresses of this time and the negative self-talk that comes with it is by turning to Jewish words. Though I’m not currently engaged in a daily prayer practice, the idea of daily prayer is an anchor for me. As we approach the High Holy Days, we traditionally add in an extra paragraph to the daily prayers: the reading of Psalm 27. However, this doesn’t start until exactly 30 days before Rosh Hashanah, (Sept 4) and as of this writing - we aren’t there yet!
So instead, I’m digging into some other words from our prayerbook and trying to turn to them at least once a day. (If I don’t do it every day, I don’t sweat it - it’s not about perfection!) It’s also not about memorization nor is it about convincing myself to believe. It’s simply about offering myself an anchor. It’s more about the practice of repetition, the possibility that through repeating these words, I might find myself more rooted - and the anxious thoughts might go further away.
These days, I’m turning to the words “Elohai n’shama shenatata bee, t’horah hee.” “Holy one, the soul you have given me is perfect.” This line comes from our morning prayers, and is traditionally followed by more words of gratitude for the body and soul. But I’m sticking with just this sentence :).
Sometimes, simply saying these words feels grounding: even though the world is harsh, my soul (that ineffable mysterious thing that makes us who we are) is untouchable.
Sometimes, saying these words is an opportunity to get lost in their rhythm.
Sometimes, it just gives my brain something else to turn over that isn’t my anxious thoughts.
One of the gifts of being a Jew in 2024 is that the words of our tradition don’t have to be used in the exact same way that they always were. The words Elohai n’shama are traditionally said at the beginning of the day, in the midst of other prayers. But they belong to each of us, to use or turn to, at any time when they might be helpful. These words certainly aren’t a guarantee that we’ll magically feel better or that the world will change. They’re simply a source of potential stability, handed down from generation to the next, for each of us to make our own.
Five Cool Jewish Things
We’re going to share 5 things that we love this week. Sometimes these recs will come from us, sometimes it will come from other people!
If you want a prayerful moment in the mornings, but aren’t quite ready to start saying prayers, put on this gorgeous song by Batya Levine.
Did you watch You Are So Not Invited to My Bat mitzvah? If not, the time is now. Don’t miss this Adam Sandler family production where Sarah Squirm plays a rabbi.
Want to know how all the cool rabbis prepare for the high holidays? They read This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared by Alan Lew. It’s a deep dive into the spiritual meaning behind the holidays. It’s intense - and great.
Learn about playwright Clairette Atri Mizrahi here. She writes about her Mexican Syrian Jewish family and how we can expand the bounds of what we think of as “Jewish.”
Our friend Jude has an awesome new Jewish substack, Homegrown Jewish Heart. Check it out here.
We want to hear from you!
We want to include a Q+A section of this project, but we need your questions so we can answer them! Please submit a question here. Thank you!
xoxo,
Rabbis Rena and Sam