Nefesh Le Nefesh: A Night of Chant, Connection, and Presence
My dear friend Dr. Debbie Lubetkin invited me to be a collaborator in manifesting her dream. Deb envisioned bringing Israeli therapists to her home, to provide both a supportive and therapeutic respite for them, as well as to train them in a new model of Psychotherapy for Trauma that was created by a close friend and colleague of hers, Michelle Lepak, L.C.S.W.
During this time of upheaval and uncertainty in the Middle East, therapists are at high risk and many already show signs of severe burnout and trauma themselves. They are caring for themselves and their own families, in addition to serving their clients. What makes this time so challenging for therapists in Israel is that they all have the same shared collective trauma. Meaning they never have a break from having the same material repeated over and over. This poses increased risk in therapists and their ability to engage in their own healing.
Presence Psychotherapy is an integrative trauma therapy that opens awareness to the Four Dimensions of Presence to help us expand our identification of who we are, experience well-being, balance emotions, and process the many layers and nuances of trauma. While encouraging clients to deepen their experience by slowing down and bringing nuanced attention to their sense of well-being, calmness, groundedness, spaciousness, connectedness, and even transcendence, PP creates new neural pathways which increase the efficiency with which Presence can be experienced and re-experienced. Residing in Presence strengthens self regulation, differentiation, and resilience both inside and outside of session and offers clients a profound sense of connectedness and sustained well-being that supports them even during the most difficult trauma processing.
Nefesh to Nefesh: A Night of Chant, Connection, and Presence
Early on the evening of June 11th, the Universe held us with grace, offering the perfect balmy, rain-free setting for our outdoor chanting session on Deb’s beautiful deck. We arranged 15 chairs in a circle, intentionally creating a safe space for presence, awareness, and deep connection to emerge.
In preparation for this chanting circle, I reached out to two Israeli friends to help translate the chorus sections of several chants into Hebrew. They generously shared the phonetic pronunciations and even recorded the lines for me, allowing me to practice over and over—often waking in the early hours with the Hebrew phrases looping gently in my mind. My greatest hope was that these chants would touch hearts and serve as a balm for healing.
My prayers were answered.
We opened with “Every Moment Is Now” to gently guide us into presence. We closed with “Nefesh le Nefesh: Soul to Soul,” the theme of their gathering. Before we began the “Nefesh” chant, I invited each woman to connect inward—placing her right hand over her heart center, and the left hand over the right in Garuda Mudra. This ancient gesture evokes the soaring spirit and our innate strength to rise above any challenge.
In that moment, we dropped into our hearts. We felt carried—lifted—on a wave of peaceful ease and sacred connection. I sang through my tears, deeply moved by the expansive love and humanity that Deb and Michelle had brought together in this circle.
When the harmonium held the final note in the air, there was a stillness—a sacred silence. Then, one woman softly asked: “Can we stand and do it again?”
So we stood.
Arms wrapped around each other’s backs, heart to heart, we sang again.
There are no words for what we experienced—only the echo of voices joined in healing, hope, and soul-to-soul connection.
