Dear Lab/Shul Family,

With every innocent life taken or hurt during these days of horror, with every unfolding saga of pain – our hearts miss a beat and our minds fail to comprehend the scope of sorrow.

But we have agency. I ask you to please lean in and help out in any way you can – help yourselves cope and our community at large get through the crisis.

However you are already showing up to ground yourself, grieve, protect, protest, raise awareness, raise funds, reach out with care, get educated, open your heart to hope  – you are making a difference in bringing an end to this cycle of rage and paving the path towards a better future of healing.

It’s on us now to keep showing solidarity with our family in Israel, to do what we can to prevent further  bloodshed in Gaza, to bring back the abducted Israelis and support all relief efforts in Israel and in Palestine.

We must do what we can to secure a better future for our people and all people.

Hundreds joined us last week as we came together for reflection, prayer, and conversation. On Monday over 140 community members gathered online with only a few hours’ notice, on Thursday Shira and I facilitated at a Brooklyn gathering, including a special place for Israeli’s to process in Hebrew, and on Friday we gathered for a moving and contemplative Zen Shabbat. In addition we created a special online session for RTB mitzvah teens, and families to ask questions & process the situation. We’re planning more specifically designed programs and events in the coming weeks.

Here’s what you do today, tomorrow, this week: 

  • Check out our special webpage with updates and resources, including my latest statement that was widely shared on social media yesterday, our coverage on the front page of the NY Times + more ways to help, including petitions, actions, ways to donate.
  • Monday, Oct 16 @7-9pm ET // Live from Jerusalem: Keep Our Doors Safe: Reactivate Tools for Protection of Body and Soul – Join me on Monday for a special learning gathering to help us ground and feel protected. We will be exploring the surprising history + new applications of Jewish  ways with which we protect our homes, bodies and souls. Check out my VIDEO invitation.

    In response to the current crisis in Israel and Gaza, this event is open to all, for free, with hopes of profiting more spaces for healing and support, guidance and grounding. LEARN MORE + REGISTER HERE.

    This is a FREE stand-alone free session, and also the first of seven study sessions in HEIRLOOMS, a new online series taught by Rabbi Amichai exploring the seven most popular Jewish symbols and their secrets of spiritual survival.

  • Wednesday, Oct 18 @6-7pm ET // Join Lab/Shul for a Zoom Circle to reflect, listen, ask questions, pray and process. I will co-lead this from Israel alongside our team in NYC. REGISTER HERE.

This is a hard moment for so many of us. Please let us know if and how you are hurting and if there is any support we can provide you. Email hello@labshul.org.

Praying for peace, hope and healing,

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
Co-founder & Spiritual Leader