UH’s Yearly Theme

5785/ 2024-25 Theme

 

Every year United Hebrew chooses a theme for the year that we center our education and engagment activities around.  This year’s theme is:

Vayinafash: Refresh, Re-Soul, Breathe

 

The word vayinafash is most familiar from the phrase,  shavat vayinafash (שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ), found in Exodus 31:16-17.  You might know it most from singing V’Shamru during Shabbat.   

“Torah says “Shavat v’yi’nafash” – God stopped creating and was re-ensouled, re-inspirited, refreshed again….But if we read shavat vayinafash as “stopped (speaking) and breathed again… (God exhales)”   Alan Lew, Be Still and Get Going, A Jewish Meditation Practice for Real Life page 190 

We live in a world, in which we lead incredibly busy lives.  Vayinafash, whether connected with Shabbat or even on its own, is an opportunity for a mindful pause.  Vayinafash is an opportunity to stop, take a breath, maybe let go of worries and busyness for even a moment,  and allow that moment of pause to open us up to new – new ideas, new possibilities, new experiences.   

With a summer of “renewal” behind us and a new year ahead, together let’s explore the importance of vayinafash in our lives – of taking precious moments to refresh and breathe.   What might we be able to do differently? What might we be able to accomplish?  How might vayinafash help us live richer and more fulfilling lives? 

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13788 Conway Road
St. Louis, MO 63141
314-469-0700 (Main Office/Clergy)
314-434-3404 (School Office)
temple@unitedhebrew.org

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