Congregation Shaare Emeth will host Rabbi Lisa Goldstein for its next Deutsch-Scholar-in-Residence weekend, Feb. 3 to 5. Goldstein, who served as assistant rabbi at Shaare Emeth in the mid-1990s, is now the executive director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. At the institute, she teaches and leads programs for rabbis, cantors, educators and lay leaders, focusing on the core spiritual practices of Talmud Torah (the study of a wide range of traditional texts), tefillah (prayer), Jewish mindfulness meditation and tikkun middot (Jewish ethical practices). 

As a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow, Goldstein designed a new methodology for combining local justice work and contemplative practice within a Jewish framework. At Shaare Emeth, she will offer a variety of study and spiritual practice opportunities that will help us see the connections between repairing our souls and repairing our world.  

Programs during the Fred and Elsie Deutsch Scholar-in-Residence Weekend include:

• Goldstein discusses “The Intersection of Spirituality and Social Justice” on Friday, Feb. 3, during 6 p.m. Shabbat evening services

• “A Contemplative Shabbat Morning Service and Study Experience,” from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Shaare Emeth’s clergy and Goldstein will lead a Shabbat morning experience with music, poetry, mindfulness meditation and an exploration of the weekly Torah portion. Goldstein will offer a teaching on “Parashat Bo: Embracing our Freedom.”

• “With Strength of Heart: A Workshop on Cultivating Courage,” from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Goldstein will lead an exploration of ometz lev, the character trait of courage, to help participants better understand how they can summon the courage to confront things in life that scare them, during times of need and in the world’s time of need.

• “Living with Ease in an Anxious World,” from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 5. Goldstein discusses strategies and practices to help participants cope with feelings of anxiety, whether brought on by troubling news reports, worries about children and grandchildren, or other sources. She will discuss how to discern between real concerns and imagined fears, and how to “live with more spaciousness and ease in our day-to-day lives.”

All events take place at Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road, and are free and open to the community. For more information, contact Sara Hendrixson at 314-569-0010.