Heal - The MAKOR Center for Spiritual Judaism

HEAL with us

The Need for Healing

Is there ever a time when everything in your life is going perfectly? Maybe your health is fine, but you’re having trouble at work. Or you’re in a good relationship, but your finances are out of whack. Or, you have a happy home life, but the 24/7 news and social media cycles are making you lose sleep.

There’s always something. And that’s why we need to remember to re-center ourselves again and again. To heal the different parts of our bodies, psyches, and lives that are hurting.

Healing comes when our soul is at peace. That is both the challenge and the invitation. MAKOR’s approach to spiritual healing is a simple 3-step process of affirmative prayer.

The Source of Healing

There are many avenues and modalities to healing. Each one is a channel … but there is only one Source of healing. We believe that it is the Divine Presence — the Life Force within us.

Think of it this way. You break your arm. You go to the hospital. The surgeon resets the bone and puts your arm in a cast. She gives you medications to avoid infection. Your arm heals. Who did the healing? Did the surgeon cause the cells to knit together into healthy bone? No. Did the medications make the bone grow? No. The doctor merely created an environment where the healing could take place. The actual healing was done by that inner Power that animates all life.

Or, you plant an acorn in the soil. In a place where it can get nice sunlight. You water it. Give it the nutrients it needs. Did you cause the acorn to open up and take root in the earth, eventually becoming an oak tree? No. The acorn had the seed of that power in it to begin with.

As founder Morris Lichtenstein wrote, God is not some supernatural deity, a “Being in some remote space beyond the world he created.” Rather, God (or whatever name you want to use) is a vitalizing force within us and around us… the Source of all life and Fountain of all reality.

Affirmative prayer is the way we’ve found to connect with that vitalizing force — to heal body, mind, and soul.

Three Steps to Healing

Why does affirmative prayer work? Because what the mind focuses on, expands.

If we come to prayer from a place of loss, lack, and limitation (for example, I’m unhappy and I want to be happy), what do you think keeps showing up in our lives? More unhappiness. Instead, we recognize and give thanks for the blessings in our lives, and we nurture our God-given potential for peace, love, joy, strength and resilience. In this way, our happiness grows and grows.

Founder Tehilla Lichtenstein outlined three steps to spiritual healing in her essay, How to Heal Yourself. Although written over a half-century ago, these time-honored principles have worked for millions of people worldwide.

Step 1: Recognize

What we call God – and you may have your own name for that Higher Power and energy – is present and omnipresent. Fill yourself with that consciousness. There is a power other than yourself that will work for your well-being. Calm your body and your breathing and your mind by knowing that God’s goodness is with you. As the prophet Isaiah said, Be still and know that I am God (Isaiah 46:10).

Step 2: Connect

God is not only around you, not only with you … but also within you. As Tehilla writes,

God is the source of life within you, the source of health within you, the source of healing within you, source of goodness and the source of righteousness. God is the source of creativeness, the source of every attribute and every faculty and every potentiality that seeks expressions for you. Whatever God is, whatever attribute God possesses, is also within yourself, and you may call upon it to express itself.

You have that Divine spark within to bring about the wholeness, health, and healing that you’re seeking.

Step 3: Affirm

This is a step where many people get stuck. Doubts creep in. Is God really listening? What exactly should I ask for? What if it doesn’t happen?

That’s why the most fruitful form of affirmation comes from imagination. Images are prayers. Create in your mind an image–a picture–of the state of health and well-being you’re seeking. It is a declaration in itself. That image evokes the forces of healing within you. If you find it difficult to visualize, affirm it in words. This affirmation is also a prayer and will bring the forces of healing into action.

We know how potent a force our imagination is. Look at all the creations of art, beauty, literature, architecture, inventions, and ideas. They were all once just an image in someone’s mind.

You have that same power within you. So why not use it for your good?

An Invitation:

Don’t rush the process. See if you can set aside at least 15 minutes at the same time each day. If doubts come in, return to Steps 1 and 2 to restore calm and serenity. Trust that God has endowed you with all the Divine qualities, the strength, wisdom, courage and creativity needed to face any challenge and live a happy, joyful life.

Sign up to get our Welcome Guide, which includes Tehilla Lichtenstein’s essay “How to Heal Yourself.”

Spiritual Healing Programs & Partners

No one has a monopoly on spiritual healing. It’s part of our mission to be a center for spiritual Judaism. A wellspring of unity and welcome. That’s why we invite strategic partners and programs into our midst.

We’ve had outside speakers, authors, practitioners, and healers share their insights on health and healing topics ranging from Ambition Addiction to Reiki – and many things in between! Like cultivating intuition, finding our inner voice, keeping emotional balance, and sensing our Divine purpose … to name just a few. Sign up for our email list to get advance notice and full descriptions of these spiritual healing programs.

We’ve also enjoyed the blessings of collaboration.

All Faiths Seminary International has recently partnered with the MAKOR to offer courses on Jewish Science as part of its core curriculum, and holds its classes at the Center. AFSI was originally founded by Kabbalah master Rabbi Joseph H. Gelberman in 1998. His motto was: “Never instead of, always in addition to.” AFSI is the only Interfaith Seminary in the world offering an Interfaith Minister Ordination with a Judaic Studies Concentration. Its current president, Rabbi Stuart Paris, was ordained by Rabbi Gelberman, along with MAKOR’s Rabbi Frank Tamburello.

United Nations Peace Day event provided another opportunity to collaborate with a variety of organizations. MAKOR joined with International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation, Pax Christi Metro New York, and Focolare for an evening forum on peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. The program shared experiences, introduced skills, and discovered ways to address the tensions that plague our daily lives in divisive times. Our Executive Director, Terry Katz, has been a key player in encouraging these partnerships on behalf of MAKOR.

If you feel your group or organization would be a good fit for a collaborative event, please contact us.