The Wellness Center @ Adas Israel
“The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.”
~Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
The Wellness Center @ Adas Israel is thrilled to welcome you to a sacred place for communal gathering, mindfulness, and reflection. We invite community members to open themselves to wonder, awe, and Jewish ritual practice, seeking a deeper connection with one's inner self and fellow travelers. Through meditation, yoga, ritual immersion, and other embodied practices we seek to help create wholeness in the realm of the body, mind and spirit. As you explore multiple dimensions of the Jewish tradition on your journey we seek to be an avenue to help open spaces, ancient and modern, to elevate your spiritual and religious practices. Please join us to create expanse, release, connect and engage in our bodies, our lives and the world around us.
Jewish Mindfulness Center Of Washington
In-Person Meditation & Mindfulness with Mick Neustadt
Sessions will take place on the following dates:
Wednesdays, November 6, 13, 20, and December 4 in-person at Adas at 7pm
Register Here
Are you curious what mindfulness is all about? Interested in learning to meditate? Are you looking to continue to expand on your practice with a group?
This weekly group offers the opportunity to learn about and develop mindfulness to help you relate to your mind and emotions in a new way. Each session includes guided meditation, a short mindfulness talk, discussion, and opportunities to practice mindfulness skills in a group setting. Throughout the series, participants will engage in guided meditation, deep relaxation, walking meditation, and mindful movement. This class offers you an opportunity to practice mindfulness in a supportive environment and to learn how to integrate it into your daily life.
Grief Support Group with Mick Neustadt
Wednesday, January 8 - February 12 (6 sessions) 7pm - 8:15pm, Funger Hall
Register Here
Illness, death, and loss affect us all. There are precious few opportunities to talk about and learn about grief and loss.
This group provides a supportive environment for people to explore and express the many emotions and experiences associated with grief and loss. Participants will receive support and guidance around coping with the wide range of feelings stirred by grief. This group is open to anyone who has experienced the death of someone important to you.
Wellness Center Gan HaMishpacha Prenatal Yoga
Beginning Wednesday, November 6 at 6PM - 7:15PM | Register Here
Join the Wellness Center & Gan HaMishpacha for a Prenatal Yoga Series. The series will focus on linking breath to mindful movement, finding groundedness and tranquility in the mind and body, and connecting prenatal yoga practice to Jewish philosophy. Classes will involve alignment-focused vinyasa flow, restorative postures designed for pregnant individuals, guided meditation, and yogic breathing techniques. Our instructor, Olivia Siegal (RYT-200), a doctoral student in clinical psychology and stress, rumination, and anxiety researcher. Olivia is passionate about using mindful movement as a tool for stress and distress reduction, and she often integrates tools from her clinical training into her yoga classes. Olivia believes that yoga is for every body, and will always provide modifications and alternatives during postural practice, especially considering the pregnant body form. Expect to leave classes with a sense of release, renewal, and connection to your mind, body, and spirit.
Dip in the Adas Mikvah
One goal of mindfulness is to find moments of alignment, where body, mind, and soul are all engaged. Mikvah is a powerful Jewish ritual through which we can experience this alignment. Many people are able to achieve a harmony of their being in a single Mikvah immersion. Others establish a regular practice of Mikvah, akin to yoga or meditation, in which they experiment with different ways of immersing and find the ones that bring them closest to Oneness. You can now book a Mikvah immersion completely online, by clicking here. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to the Director of the Mikvah Rabbi Elianna Yolkut.
Wise Aging Series with Janice Mostow and Betsy Strauss
Developed by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Wise Aging hosts conversations about what it means not just to get older but to age wisely. The program seeks to offer practical and spiritual insights to help individuals meet the challenges of these years with a sustaining spirit. Facilitated Wise Aging groups refer to the foundational text, “Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience & Spirit” by Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Dr. Linda Thal. Janice Mostow and Betsy Strauss have co-facilitated Wise Aging groups at Adas Israel since 2016. A group started in 2023 will continue to meet monthly on Sunday mornings and is looking to add several participants.
Group 1: This group will meet quarterly and is a continuation of a group that has been meeting for several years. No new participants to be added to this group. This group will meet on the following Sundays from 1-230pm (Oct 20, Jan 5, April 6, June 8)
Group 2: This group will meet monthly, and is a continuation of the group started in Fall of 2023. New members are welcome to join. This group will meet from 10:30am-12:30pm on the following dates: September 8, October 20, November 3, December 1, January 5, February 2, March 2 , April 6, May 18, June 8
Yoga with Tobie Whitman
Wellness Center Yoga & Meditation Series
Fridays, September 20, November 1 & 22, December 13, 10:15-11:15 am in Funger Hall | Register Here
Bring mindful awareness to the body and the breath with a Wellness Center 4 part vinyasa yoga series rooted in the Jewish calendar. Through slow, deliberate sequences and energetic cues focused on alignment and cultivating interception, Tobie Whitman (RYT-200) helps students achieve embodied presence. Leave this one hour class feeling centered, calm and refreshed. Tobie is a dedicated vipassana meditation practitioner and has practiced yoga for nearly 25 years.
Moon by Moon: A Community Integration of Spiritual Time Based on the Hebrew Calendar
In Partnership with At The Well
Click Here To Register
Jewish tradition holds the world’s best-kept wellness secrets—these ancient practices support our wholeness individually and in community. Please join in this collaborative experience as At the Well and the Wellness Center @ Adas partner to explore the wisdom of the lunar calendar through the sacred technology of Rosh Chodesh. The Hebrew Calendar invites each of us into cyclical time, present-moment awareness, embodiment, and collective care.
Jewish tradition holds the world’s best-kept wellness secrets—these ancient practices support our wholeness individually and in community. Please join in this collaborative experience as At the Well and the Wellness Center @ Adas partner to explore the wisdom of the lunar calendar through the sacred technology of Rosh Chodesh. The Hebrew Calendar invites each of us into cyclical time, present-moment awareness, embodiment, and collective care.
We invite you to take part in this 4 part series:
Tuesday, December 3rd @ 6:45pm–KISLEV
With At The Well
In Kislev, we awaken to our subconscious selves, tap into the spirituality of dreaming, hone in on sleep to nourish us in winter, and connect with the miracles of the season. Guided by Sarah Waxman, we will learn the teachings of this sacred months, with a sound bath led by Leemor Chandally and a creative dream exploration led by Andrea Lee Zucker.
Leemor Chandally is an experience designer with a background in regenerative design, urban planning, biomimicry and sound meditation. She integrates these disciplines in service of creating harmonically resonant spaces and experiences that connect us with our nature and induce health, beauty and awe. By applying nature’s principles to the design process, she aims to expand our collective imagination and unlock the intelligence of the collective to explore what’s possible when we tune into a shared inquiry.
ANDREA LEE-ZUCKER is a coach, artist, writer, and social entrepreneur on
a mission to live with love in every layer of life. Her work focuses on healing and
unlocking human potential to be the building blocks of justice, love, and peace. Find
her at www.andrealz.me or @andrealeezucker.
Tuesday, January 28th @ 6:45pm–SHVAT
With At The Well
In Shvat we find rejuvenation through our connection to the natural world – just like the trees we celebrate on Tu B’Shvat (full moon), we continue to grow and renew even through the harshness of winter. We will be awakening from our hibernation and planting seeds for the spring to come.
Tuesday, April 1st @6:45pm–NISSAN
With Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt
In Nissan, we celebrate the origins of Rosh Chodesh and embody liberation by owning our own time. This month invites us to take a step towards our own wholeness, each setting intentions for freedom.
Tuesday, May 20th @6:45pm–SIVAN
With Rabbi Elianna Yolkut
In Sivan we open up to receive divine wisdom and share our wisdom generously, finding strength and harmony in community and collective care.
Gan Hamishpacha/Family Center
The Gan Hamishpacha/Family Center at Adas Israel is a warm, welcoming, progressive place where all parents, babies, and children gather and connect. Growing a family is a magical time in life--a time that that calls for support, community, and a space for learning, questioning, and sharing. If you are expecting a baby or recently brought a baby into your family, we invite you to join a Prenatal or Postpartum Support Group right here in Cleveland Park at Adas.
For additional information & questions, please contact Gan HaMishpacha/Family Center Senior Educator & DONA Postpartum Doula, Darci Lewis.
Morning Awakening
2nd Tuesday Mornings of the Month @ 9:45am - Click Here to Join the Zoom
Shacharit (Morning Minyan) Siddur pages: click here to view
Join Rabbi Holtzblatt for an uplifting dose of mindful prayer and song as we start the day together. Gather over Zoom at 9:45am to center ourselves with selections from the daily morning tefillot (prayers). We will ground ourselves together with the experience of our own lives and meditate together. Morning Awakening is a new take on the traditional Jewish morning service.
Hesed Committee
Adas Israel invites anyone interested in creating a caring community to become involved in the many activities of the Hesed Committee. The committee focuses on Acts of Loving Kindness to help meet life challenges among our members. Hesed is a vital part of building community at Adas. One day you might be helping someone in our community. The next day you might need help yourself and the community is there for you. Hesed provides both the joy of giving and receiving. If you have any questions please contact Hesed Committee Chairperson, Rae Grad.
Hesed Support Groups & Meditation
Support Groups are a wonderful way to share insights and coping strategies for different life experiences. We are so fortunate to have Mick Neustadt available to guide these group sessions. Please click here to learn more about these opportunities: Intro to Mindfulness, Grief, Loss, and Healing, and more.