Wisdom to Live: An Evening of Reflection and Inspiration for Selichot
Selichot, which translates to “forgiveness,” are penitential prayers. At Shaare Emeth, Selichot provides an opportunity to reflect on the themes of the High Holidays through a screening of the film “Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing”, a thoughtful discussion, and a moving service. During the service, our 6th- and 7th-grade Religious School students help change our Torah covers to white, our High Holiday Choir deepens the meaning and beauty of our music, and we end in quiet candlelight. We invite you to join us for all or part of this profound evening.
Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing is a powerful film documenting the life and death of Rabbi Rachel Cowan. Rabbi Cowan lived her life and faced her death with an unwavering commitment to gratitude and justice, honesty, and wisdom. She offers us a life-affirming and joyful model for the practice of cheshbon hanefesh, the accounting of our souls, that we are all called to make during these holy days.
About the Film:
Rabbi Rachel Cowan, a beloved and influential mindfulness teacher, is diagnosed with aggressive cancer. She uses her spiritual practice to navigate her death while looking back on her full life. She was a civil rights activist who taught people how to ”sit” with themselves and stand up for others. The first female convert to become a rabbi, she and her late husband, Village Voice writer Paul Cowan, were instrumental in encouraging support of intermarried couples. Widowed at 48, she had a powerful second act. As the first director of Jewish Life at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, she transformed Jewish philanthropy. As a founder of the Jewish Healing Network, The Institute of Jewish Spirituality, and The Wise Aging movement, she transformed Jewish life by bringing mindfulness and meditation into the mainstream. After she was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer, she used her terminal illness to teach others how to die well.
