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
Wellness Center Support Group for Caregivers (ON ZOOM)
Dates (8 sessions): Fridays 10:30-11:45am; February 14, 21 (no mtg on 2/28)
March 7,14, 21,28 and April 4, 11
Click Here To Register
The Care for Caregivers group gives you a space to share your experiences, emotions, joys and challenges around caregiving. This group is designed to offer support and give you the opportunity to connect with fellow caregivers. We all need a place to express ourselves and to be seen and heard. Whether you are offering care and support to a loved one at home, in a care community or long distance, all are welcome.
Wellness Center Meditation Series
Sessions will take place on the following dates:
Jan 14, 21, Feb 4, 11 at 7pm-8pm, Sisterhood Hall
Click Here To Register
We invite you to join the Adas Israel Wellness Center in a new meditation series led by Jewish Mindfulness teachers. The time is ripe for us to gather in community to make space to calm our minds during what can be tumultuous times. We will use the wisdom of our tradition to guide our practice, including Jewish texts, ritual and teachings from master practitioners.
This is a flexible series: register for all dates, sign up for particular sessions or just drop in. Both beginners and experienced meditators are welcome! One of the beautiful qualities here is that we are all really at the same place: beginning with our breath, finding “that still, small voice within” and bringing in expansiveness to help quiet our thoughts.
We deeply believe our community needs this offering. Our practice does not make the external reality go away, that’s not the goal. Yet the more we practice, especially in community, we create that inner mishkan that we can return to again and again. We look forward to having you join us.
Wellness Center Meditation Series with Mick Neustadt, LICSW
Sessions will take place on the following dates:
Tuesdays, 7pm-8pm: Feb 25, March 4,11, 18, 25, April 1 in room 217 (GanHaMishpacha)
Click Here To Register
This weekly group offers the opportunity to learn about and develop mindfulness to help you relate to your mind, emotions and your experiences in a new way. Each session includes guided meditation, a short mindfulness talk, discussion, and opportunities to practice mindfulness skills in a group setting. This group 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 15 - February 19 (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.
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, December 13, January 31, February 28, March 21, April 25, May 30
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 series:
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. Guided by Sarah Waxman, we will learn the teachings of this sacred month with a special meditation led by Amy Golen.
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.
