The Wellness Center @ Adas Israel
“The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.”
~Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
The Wellness Center @ Adas Israel is thrilled to welcome you to a sacred place for communal gathering, mindfulness, and reflection. We invite community members to open themselves to wonder, awe, and Jewish ritual practice, seeking a deeper connection with one's inner self and fellow travelers. Through meditation, yoga, ritual immersion, and other embodied practices we seek to help create wholeness in the realm of the body, mind and spirit. As you explore multiple dimensions of the Jewish tradition on your journey we seek to be an avenue to help open spaces, ancient and modern, to elevate your spiritual and religious practices. Please join us to create expanse, release, connect and engage in our bodies, our lives and the world around us.
Jewish Mindfulness Center Of Washington
Upcoming Programs
The Elul Experience
MakomDC and The Adas Israel Wellness Center present a day of learning, embodied practice and gathering with special musical guest Eliana Light
Sunday, September 14 from 9am-5pm
Full Schedule and Registration (Includes Lunch)
Join us for a transformative experience dedicated to the Hebrew month of Elul, a sacred time of personal reflection, renewal, and spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days.
Through embodied practice—such as mindful movement, breath-work, and song—we will awaken our awareness of teshuvah (returning to our deepest selves and to the Divine). Guided by rich Jewish learning, we will explore texts and teachings that illuminate the themes of introspection, forgiveness, and spiritual growth.
Rooted in the power of community, this retreat will provide space for heartfelt connection through shared ritual, soulful discussion, and the collective experience of sacred time. Whether through silent meditation in nature, creative expression, or the stirring call of the shofar, participants will leave feeling renewed, grounded, and ready to step into the new year with clarity and intention.
Moon by Moon: A Community Integration of Spiritual Time Based on the Hebrew Calendar
In Partnership with At The Well
Click Here To Register
Jewish tradition holds the world’s best-kept wellness secrets—these ancient practices support our wholeness individually and in community. Please join in this collaborative experience as At the Well and the Wellness Center @ Adas partner to explore the wisdom of the lunar calendar through the sacred technology of Rosh Chodesh. The Hebrew Calendar invites each of us into cyclical time, present-moment awareness, embodiment, and collective care.
We invite you to take part in this series:
Wednesday, Sept 3rd 6:45pm @ 6:45pm–ELUL
Co-Facilitator: Rabbi Anina Dassa
In Elul we dive deep into the work of personal reflection and forgiveness. We seek spiritual alignment as we take stock of the past year and ask ourselves how we want to show up to meet the new one.
Tuesday, October 28 @ 6:45pm–CHESHVAN
With At The Well
In Cheshvan we find the spaciousness and grounding after the intensity and busyness of Tishrei and the High Holiday season. This spaciousness allows us to integrate all we’ve experienced, and reconnect with intentions we’ve set for the year ahead, beginning to live out those intentions in our daily lives.
Tuesday, January 20 @6:45pm–SHVAT
With At The Well
In Shvat we find rejuvenation through our connection to the natural world – just like the trees we celebrate on Tu B’Shvat (full moon), we continue to grow and renew even through the harshness of winter. We will be awakening from our hibernation and planting seeds for the spring to come. s, each setting intentions for freedom.
Tuesday, Februay 17th @6:45pm-ADAR
Co-Facilitator: Betty Adler
In Adar, we rejoice – no matter what else is taking place in the world or in our lives – finding new ways to tap into and understand what joy means to each of us. As Purim turns us topsy-turvy, we are called to reveal our true identities and celebrate our honest selves out loud.
Tuesday, April 28th @6:45pm-NISSAN
With At The Well
In Nissan, we celebrate the origins of Rosh Chodesh and embody liberation by owning our own time. This month invites us to take a step towards our own wholeness, each setting intentions for freedom.
Yoga & Meditation Series with Tobie Whitman
*NEW! TWICE A MONTH*
2025-2026 Dates, Beginning September 12 | Register Here
Bring mindful awareness to the body and the breath with a Wellness Center vinyasa yoga series rooted in the Jewish calendar. Through slow, deliberate sequences and energetic cues focused on alignment and cultivating interception, Tobie Whitman (RYT-200) helps students achieve embodied presence. Leave this one hour class feeling centered, calm and refreshed. Tobie is a dedicated vipassana meditation practitioner and has practiced yoga for nearly 25 years.
The Gates Swing Open: A Rosh Hashanah Community Discussion
Wednesday, September 17 at 7pm, Biran Beit Midrash | Register Here
Led by Amy Golen and Ellen Winter.
Join us as we gather together for a contemplative Rosh Hashanah reflection. With Rabbi Alan Lew z”l as our teacher, we will discuss sections of his 2003 classic book, This Is Real And You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation. This volume follows the spiritual calendar from Tisha B’Av to Sukkot. Our discussion this year will focus on Rosh Hashanah and follows past discussions on the Ten Days of Teshuvah and Sukkot. Rabbi Lew continues to be one of the leading voices in Jewish spiritual practice. His insights, consistently relevant, can guide us on the meaning of the High Holiday journey, especially during these challenging times.
The complete book is inspiring and can be easily purchased online; note there is an updated paperback edition. If you would prefer a shorter read, here is a link to related portions for our discussion, including Chapter 6: “The Horn Blows, the Gates Swing Open, and We Feel the Winds of Heaven: Rosh Hashanah.”
Nurturing the Nest: A Holistic Journey into Parenthood
Tuesday evenings, 7:30-9:00 PM - October 28, November 4, November 11 and November 18 | Click Here to Register
Embark on a meaningful and empowering journey into parenthood with this four-part series designed for expecting parents to learn and build community with one another. Nurturing the Nest blends tradition, emotional insight, practical wisdom, and financial preparedness to support you in this life-changing transition. Explore Jewish texts and rituals that honor pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum experience. Gain tools to support mental and relational health during the early parenting months. Learn about lactation, feeding options, and how to build a strong postpartum support system. Finally, get practical guidance on financial planning for your growing family. Whether this is your first child or you're growing your family, this series offers a supportive, inclusive space for learning and connection.
Wise Aging Series with Janice Mostow and Betsy Strauss
Developed by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Wise Aging hosts conversations about what it means not just to get older but to age wisely. The program seeks to offer practical and spiritual insights to help individuals meet the challenges of these years with a sustaining spirit. Facilitated Wise Aging groups refer to the foundational text, “Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience & Spirit” by Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Dr. Linda Thal. Janice Mostow and Betsy Strauss have co-facilitated Wise Aging groups at Adas Israel since 2016. A group started in 2023 will continue to meet monthly on Sunday mornings and is looking to add several participants.
Please note, both groups are only open to Adas members.
Group 1: This group will meet quarterly and is a continuation of a group that has been meeting for several years. No new participants to be added to this group. This group will meet on the following Sundays from 1-230pm (Sept 14, Jan 11, April 19, June 21)
Group 2: This group will meet monthly. New members are welcome to register their interest. This group will meet from 10:30am-12:30pm on the following dates: September 14, October 12, November 16, December 7, January 11, February 22, March 22 , April 19, May 17, June 21
Jewish Mindfulness Center Of Washington
Ongoing
Morning Awakening
2nd Tuesday Mornings of the Month @ 9:45am - Click Here to Join the Zoom
Shacharit (Morning Minyan) Siddur pages: click here to view
Join Rabbi Holtzblatt for an uplifting dose of mindful prayer and song as we start the day together. Gather over Zoom at 9:45am to center ourselves with selections from the daily morning tefillot (prayers). We will ground ourselves together with the experience of our own lives and meditate together. Morning Awakening is a new take on the traditional Jewish morning service.
Gan Hamishpacha/Family Center
The Gan Hamishpacha/Family Center at Adas Israel is a warm, welcoming, progressive place where all parents, babies, and children gather and connect. Growing a family is a magical time in life--a time that that calls for support, community, and a space for learning, questioning, and sharing. If you are expecting a baby or recently brought a baby into your family, we invite you to join a Prenatal or Postpartum Support Group right here in Cleveland Park at Adas.
For additional information & questions, please contact Gan HaMishpacha/Family Center Senior Educator & DONA Postpartum Doula, Darci Lewis.
Wellness Center Support Group for Caregivers (ON ZOOM)
The Care for Caregivers group gives you a space to share your experiences, emotions, joys and challenges around caregiving. This group is designed to offer support and give you the opportunity to connect with fellow caregivers. We all need a place to express ourselves and to be seen and heard. Whether you are offering care and support to a loved one at home, in a care community or long distance, all are welcome.
Wellness Center Meditation Series in Collaboration with Or HaLev
New Dates Coming Soon!
We invite you to join the Adas Israel Wellness Center in a new meditation series led by Jewish Mindfulness teachers. The time is ripe for us to gather in community to make space to calm our minds during what can be tumultuous times. We will use the wisdom of our tradition to guide our practice, including Jewish texts, ritual and teachings from master practitioners.
This is a flexible series: register for all dates, sign up for particular sessions or just drop in. Both beginners and experienced meditators are welcome! One of the beautiful qualities here is that we are all really at the same place: beginning with our breath, finding “that still, small voice within” and bringing in expansiveness to help quiet our thoughts.
We deeply believe our community needs this offering. Our practice does not make the external reality go away, that’s not the goal. Yet the more we practice, especially in community, we create that inner mishkan that we can return to again and again. We look forward to having you join us.
Dip in the Adas Mikvah
One goal of mindfulness is to find moments of alignment, where body, mind, and soul are all engaged. Mikvah is a powerful Jewish ritual through which we can experience this alignment. Many people are able to achieve a harmony of their being in a single Mikvah immersion. Others establish a regular practice of Mikvah, akin to yoga or meditation, in which they experiment with different ways of immersing and find the ones that bring them closest to Oneness. You can now book a Mikvah immersion completely online, by clicking here. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to the Director of the Mikvah Rabbi Elianna Yolkut.
Hesed Committee
Adas Israel invites anyone interested in creating a caring community to become involved in the many activities of the Hesed Committee. The committee focuses on Acts of Loving Kindness to help meet life challenges among our members. Hesed is a vital part of building community at Adas. One day you might be helping someone in our community. The next day you might need help yourself and the community is there for you. Hesed provides both the joy of giving and receiving. If you have any questions please contact Hesed Committee Chairperson, Rae Grad.
Hesed Support Groups & Meditation
Support Groups are a wonderful way to share insights and coping strategies for different life experiences. We are so fortunate to have Mick Neustadt available to guide these group sessions. Please click here to learn more about these opportunities: Intro to Mindfulness, Grief, Loss, and Healing, and more.
