Category: Jewish Innovation

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Preparing for the High Holidays: Broken Spirit, Broken Heart (Ru’ach Nishbarah, Lev Nishbar)

Preparing for the High Holidays - Broken Spirit, Broken Heart (Ruach Nishbarah, Lev Nishbar)

Over the past month or two, it has taken me some time to write about Tisha B’Av and preparing for the High Holidays, the sacred Jewish liturgical period of the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe and Wonder.

This is in part because of the day to day stresses and changes of life, but also because I have been genuinely wrestling with the meaning and place of brokenness and sacredness, new beginnings and endings, and sacrifice and atonement, especially from the perspective of a contemporary 21st Century Jew and American Zen practitioner. Continue reading “Preparing for the High Holidays: Broken Spirit, Broken Heart (Ru’ach Nishbarah, Lev Nishbar)”

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Are You a Jewish Millennial?: Jewish Mindfulness Meditation May be for You!

Are You a Jewish Millennial - Jewish Mindfulness Meditation May be for You

Are you a Jewish Millennial? Are you involved in more than enough to keep any “normal” person busy? All at the same time? Are you achievement oriented? Maybe more than is helpful? Do you value diversity? And each person’s extraordinariness? Are you in relationship with people of different faith traditions and spiritualities? And value each one? Do you enjoy being part of a team and collaborating with others? And maybe need a little more quiet time? Are you spiritual, but (perhaps) not religious? Jewish Mindfulness Meditation may be for you! Continue reading “Are You a Jewish Millennial?: Jewish Mindfulness Meditation May be for You!”

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SAVE THE DATE: Jewish Meditation Retreat in Los Angeles Scheduled for August 19, 2018

Save the Date - Jewish Meditation Retreat in Los Angeles Scheduled for August 19, 2018

Please join Mindful Judaism for a Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Daylong Retreat on Sunday, August 19, 2018 at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles this summer! This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about Jewish Mindfulness Meditation and contemplative prayer, ask any questions you may have, and practice in sacred community. All of the details are below! Continue reading “SAVE THE DATE: Jewish Meditation Retreat in Los Angeles Scheduled for August 19, 2018”

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A Jewish Heart Sutra: The Great Wisdom-Heart Prayer – Tefilat Chochmat Lev Hanorah

Jewish Heart Sutra - The Great Wisdom-Heart Prayer - Tefilat Chochmat Lev Hanorah

I have been playing a lot recently with the roots of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation in Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and traditional Buddhist meditation. As a Zen practitioner, I am familiar with the Heart Sutra, a liturgy that is chanted daily throughout the Buddhist world. I began to play around with what a Jewish Heart Sutra would sound like. Take a look below!
Continue reading “A Jewish Heart Sutra: The Great Wisdom-Heart Prayer – Tefilat Chochmat Lev Hanorah”

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Rabbinic Judaism and Halachah: One Fence too Many?

Rabbinic Judaism and Halachah - One Fence to Many

Over the past few months, I’ve been studying and practicing with the ideas, thought, and innovations of Jewish history. I especially marvel at the creativity of Rabbinic Judaism just following the destruction of the 2nd and final Temple in Jerusalem. This makes me wonder about the constant unfolding of Jewish history and tradition. Is there a period of Jewish life after Rabbinic Judaism? What comes next? Continue reading “Rabbinic Judaism and Halachah: One Fence too Many?”

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The Pew Study: Why Jewish Meditation, Contemplative Judaism, and the Necessity of Innovation

The Pew Study - Why Jewish Meditation, Contemplative Judaism, and the Necessity of Innovation

The Pew Research Center published its landmark study on A Portrait of American Jews in 2013. This important research – commonly called the Pew Study – presented a series of contradictions and what felt like an ever unfolding series of “bad” news for the American Jewish community. The Pew Study felt to many as a punch to the gut of American Jewry! But where does Jewish meditation and contemplative Judaism fit in? Any why now?! Continue reading “The Pew Study: Why Jewish Meditation, Contemplative Judaism, and the Necessity of Innovation”

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What is God?: A Reflection on Purim and Divinity

What is God? - A Reflection on Purim and Divinity

Understanding the world’s great religions and spiritual traditions is not an academic pursuit. It is a participatory sport! True study of the Way lies not in answering the great questions, but in asking them. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? Yet after many years of meditation and Zen practice, I have become less interested in the questions: Who is God?, Where is God?”, or Why doesn’t God…?. The question that I have grown to ask and appreciate is: What is God? And how can I live my life in this way? Continue reading “What is God?: A Reflection on Purim and Divinity”

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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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