Entering the Temple of Dreams: Jewish Prayers, Movements, and Meditations for Embracing the End of the Day

You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Is spirituality a part of that time? This book shows you how it can be.

This inspiring, informative guide shows us how we can use the often overlooked time at the end of each day to enhance our spiritual, physical and psychological well-being.

Each chapter takes a new look at traditional Jewish prayers and what they have to teach us about the spiritual aspects of preparing for the end of the day, and about sleep itself. Drawing on Kabbalistic teachings, prayer, the Bible and midrash, the authors enrich our understanding of traditional bedtime preparations, and show how, by including them in our bedtime rituals, we can gain insight into our lives and access the spiritual enrichment the world of dreams has to offer.

Clear illustrations and diagrams, step-by-step meditations, visualization techniques and exercise suggestions for fully integrating body, mind and spirit show us the way to:

• Hashkivenu--Creating a safe space for sleep
• Hareni Mochel--Clearing our hearts through forgiveness
• Shema--Connecting to God in Love
• Bircat Cohanim--Experiencing the reality of blessing
• Hamapil--Thanking God for sleep and the illumination that comes in sleeps

This perfect nighttime companion draws on the power of Jewish tradition to help us enhance our spiritual awareness--in both our waking and sleeping hours.

Tamar Frankiel, PhD, is recognized as one of the leading teachers of Jewish mysticism today. She teaches Jewish mysticism and comparative religion at the Academy for Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, and is the author of many books, including The Voice of Sarah: Feminine Spirituality and Traditional Judaism. She is coauthor of Minding the Temple of the Soul: Balancing Body, Mind, and Spirit through Traditional Jewish Prayer, Movement, and Meditation and Entering the Temple of Dreams: Jewish Prayers, Movements, and Meditations for the End of the Day (both Jewish Lights). She lectures frequently on topics of Jewish mysticism. Frankiel lives with her husband and five children in Los Angeles.

Judy Greenfeld is second invested cantor at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, California. She leads the New Emanuel minyan, a weekly progressive prayer service.