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Meditation and God: Is There Room for Both?

Meditation and God - Is There Room for Both?

With the Purim holiday coming up, I have been reflecting on the tides and turns of Jewish history against the backdrop of the larger world and great civilizations as celebrated, mourned, and honored in the Jewish Holiday cycle. With this in mind, I thought of the relatively recent contact between Buddhism and Judaism and about the practices and language of meditation and God, wondering, “Is there room for both?” Continue reading “Meditation and God: Is There Room for Both?”

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Was the Buddha “Engaged”?: The Work of Spirituality, a Buddha, and God Wrestler

Engaged Buddhism: The Work of Spirituality, a Buddha, and God Wrestler

In a recent blog post, I wrote about the intersection of politics and religion, particularly in the Jewish tradition. I received some questions and comments about how this would be similar or different within Buddhism or the various Dharma worlds and was asked to elaborate on my previous post.

These questions have raised an ongoing and challenging one for me: What really is the work of spirituality? What is the work of a Buddha? What is the work of a God Wrestler (one translation of “Israelite”)? Continue reading “Was the Buddha “Engaged”?: The Work of Spirituality, a Buddha, and God Wrestler”

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What are Your “God Moments?”

What are Your God Moments?

There are some moments in life that can only be described as “God moments.” We may think that these can only be feel-good moments of pleasure and joy, but this is not always so. God moments may be experienced both when witnessing the miraculous or when feeling great terror or pain. God moments are those moments in our life where the naked truth is fully unveiled and we bear witness to the awe found in profound presence. Continue reading “What are Your “God Moments?””

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What is Prayer?: How Do I Pray? And Can Prayer Be Meaningful?

What is Prayer? How Do I Pray? And Can Prayer be Meaningful?

Over the past few months, I have been reflecting very much about prayer. Especially since beginning Rabbinic study and founding Mindful Judaism, I have been exploring the following questions: What is prayer? How do I pray? And can prayer be meaningful?

There is a Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quote in the introductory essays to the Koren-Sacks siddur (Jewish prayer book) that I absolutely love: Continue reading “What is Prayer?: How Do I Pray? And Can Prayer Be Meaningful?”

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WANTED: God (Alive Preferred!) – A Call for Jewish Innovation

Wanted: God (Alive Preferred!) - A Call for Jewish Innovation

A question came up in a Jewish email group that I am a part of about how to explore opening synagogues and synagogue life to those who don’t have spouses or children, given that over half of American adults now are single. What an interesting question! And invitation for Jewish innovation and a living, Jewish experience! Continue reading “WANTED: God (Alive Preferred!) – A Call for Jewish Innovation”

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The Chanukah Miracle: Not by Might, Not by Power, But By My Breath

The Chanukah Miracle: Not by Might, Not by Power, But By My Breath

A few hundred years before the events of Chanukah, Alexander the Great expanded his lands and the Hellenistic worldview from the city state of Macedon to one of the largest empires ever to exist in the world, reaching from the Aegean and Egypt to as far as India.

Just like today, the Judean world was replete with struggles and tensions about how to practice Judaism – a religion that has always been small in number – in a genuine and heartfelt way while living in the broader community and world. Continue reading “The Chanukah Miracle: Not by Might, Not by Power, But By My Breath”

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