Into the Water: Brooklyn Waterfront Meditation and Tashlich Ceremony

Throughout the Jewish High Holidays, the tradition of Tashlich is an invitation to take stock of the past year and reflect deeply. Are we living lives that reflect our values? Are we acting with purpose? Are we embodying our truth?

This free workshop will take place in beautiful Brooklyn Bridge Park, where meditation teacher Yael Shy will lead us through a guided contemplative journey on the themes of the Jewish new year and the Tashlich ritual. Following this, Cantor and renowned musician Basya Schechter will lead us to the waterfront with song to blow the shofar and perform the Tashlich ceremony.

Tashlich is an ancient ritual in which individuals or communities traditionally gather by a flowing body of water, and throw pieces of bread or pebbles into the stream to symbolically represent misdeeds, mis-alignments, and regrets from the past year. The word “Tashlich” in Hebrew means “casting away.” This casting away represents a spiritual cleansing–an opportunity to let go of what is holding us back, and a chance to begin again in the coming year.

Into the Water is an embodied, open, and completely free opportunity to be present, thoughtful, and reflective at the most meaningful moment in the Jewish calendar. All are welcome – no Jewish or meditation background is necessary. Bring a cushion or chair to sit on and your bravery, honesty and presence to the discussion! Exact coordinates will be provided ahead of the event.

This program is in partnership with The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life and Romemu Brooklyn.

Basya Schechter is best known for her group, Pharaoh’s Daughter, a 7 piece world music ensemble that travels effortlessly through continents, key signatures, and languages with a genre-bending sound cultivated after her many hitchhikes in Africa and the Middle East. She is also the Hazzan and musical director of Romemu Brooklyn, a fast growing, progressive, spiritually adventurous satellite community, as well as on Fire Island’s flip flop community during the summers. In support of her nearly 10 albums, she has toured through America, Europe, South America, Israel and Canada, as well as being featured at Lincoln Center, Summerstage and Joe’s Pub.

Yael Shy is the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US. Yael is a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spiritualty’s Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification and has over 20 years of meditation practice experience. She is Adjunct Faculty at New York University and has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS, Fox 5 News, and in Time Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. Connect with Yael at yaelshy.com and @yaelshy1 on Instagram.

The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life is a Jewish community and cultural center in Brooklyn. We produce programs that raise up underrepresented perspectives and welcome the thousands of Brooklynites that have not yet found their Jewish home. We are creating a welcoming space that reflects the spirit of Brooklyn–future-thinking and deeply historical, iconoclastic, and sacred.

Romemu Brooklyn seeks to integrate body, mind, and soul in Jewish practice. We offer passionate services and communal spiritual connection to build authentic relationships with both ourselves and our community.