Wisdom to Live: An Evening of Reflection and Inspiration for Selichot
As we prepare for the High Holy Days, all are invited to join us for the screening of Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing, 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.
