Acclaimed lecturer and best-selling author Sara Yoheved Rigler, known for her expertise in Jewish spirituality and practical tools for spiritual growth, will be visiting the New York/New Jersey area during the second week of September. With Teaneck and Passaic being stops on her brief speaking tour, Rigler will speak to women about the central theme of her upcoming book, “Drink a Glass of Water and 117 Other Ways to Bond with Your Creator.”
The Teaneck lecture will take place on Wednesday, September 11, at 8pm at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. It is co-sponsored by the sisterhoods of Beth Abraham and Bnai Yeshurun and is part of CBY’s Gardin-Mermelstein Chodesh of Inspiration. Pre-registration is requested at www.bnaiyeshurun.org/bnot
The Passaic lecture will take place Sunday, September 15, at 8pm at KBS, 733 Passaic Ave., Clifton. To RSVP, visit kbsclifton.com. Questions? Email [email protected].
The lectures will explain to women how to transform their lives into conscious mindfulness of God, which is captured by the phrase, “Shiviti Hashem l’negdi tamid,” (putting God before you all times) and becoming God conscious. This is a guiding principle in Jewish spirituality, emphasizing the constant awareness of God’s presence.
The central theme of her new book revolves around mindfulness and living a God-conscious life. “Women have fewer positive mitzvos than men,” explained Rigler. “The purpose of life is to bond with Hashem. The mitzvah to bond with God is repeated five times in the Torah. That’s the idea of mindfulness.”
So how do you keep Hashem in mind? “By doing mitzvos with mindfulness,” shared Rigler. “Most of what women do is divrei reshut (permissible activities, but not specifically mitzvos). You go food shopping or prepare a meal for your family. By conscious intention, you can turn these acts into the mitzvah of “love your neighbor as yourself, which Rabbi Akiva says is the basic principle of the Torah.
“Rambam says you can fulfill this mitzvah in three different ways, and one of those ways is by doing chesed,” she continued. “So every act of chesed that you do consciously is a mitzvah d’oraisah (Biblical commandment). There’s also a mitzvah ‘to take very good care of your health.’ If you’re mindful that you’re fulfilling that mitzvah, then when you exercise or take vitamins or eat a salad, it becomes a mitzvah d’oraisa. And this is a way to bond with Hashem.
“This is an idea whose time has come,” reiterated Rigler. She learned this idea from Rabbi Asher Boruch Wegbreit, who gives Zoom classes on the topic of KLM—kavana l’mitzvot—whose premise is that it’s just a question of being mindful. By having conscious intention while doing things we’re already doing anyway, we bond with God through the mitzvah. “It’s a life changer,” she stressed.
Sara Yoheved Rigler is the bestselling author of seven books: Holy Woman; Lights from Jerusalem; Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara; God Winked: Tales and Lessons from My Spiritual Adventures; Heaven Prints; Emunah with Love and Chicken Soup: The Story of Henny Machlis, the Brooklyn-born Girl who became a Jerusalem Legend; and I’ve Been Here Before: When Souls of the Holocaust Return. She is one of the most popular authors on www.aish.com. Her writing has appeared in: Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul, Small Miracles of Love and Friendship, Ami Magazine, Jewish Action, The Jerusalem Post, Binah Magazine, Mishpacha and other anthologies and publications. Her YouTube channel, “From Within the Walls of Jerusalem: Gems of Jewish Wisdom and Practical Life Tools” presents personal and profound teachings. She gives a weekly marriage webinar for Jewish Workshops on a spiritual approach to marriage, with hundreds of members worldwide. She has spoken on five different continents and in over 35 American cities, as well as in Paris, London, Mexico, Panama, Chile and several South African cities. She lives in Jerusalem. Her website is: sararigler.com
While Rigler is still writing this new book, her lectures offer a preview of the transformative ideas that will guide readers toward living a more mindful, God-conscious life. The book will be published by Artscroll in 2025.
