Mindful Judaism – Jewish Meditation and Contemplative Judaism
A Living, Breathing Judaism for Today and Tomorrow
There is no way around it. No one can outfox God. No matter how smart we think we are or how hard we try, there is no outsmarting the Divine. Yet… we try! And try we do! Perhaps even must?!
Continue reading “Outfoxing God: The Tail End of Amends and a Warm Welcome to the Human Race”
When I was a student in the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training (JMMTT) program, one of my colleague students would write a weekly reflection on that week’s parashah – or weekly lectionary portion from the Hebrew Bible.
Each week, one of the other students would masterfully integrate the themes, symbols, and ideas from the weekly Torah portion with the fruits of their personal mindfulness meditation practice, telling a story so grand and marvelous that it could only be told through the individual lens of a Rabbi and gardener, an integral psychiatrist, a Hazzan and performer, an artist and activist, a mediator and DJ, a professor and neuroscientist, a singer-songwriter and liturgist, a social worker and yoga therapist, and others. Continue reading “Brit Shalom: A Covenant of Peace You Can Count On”
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)”
You may have heard or read stories about enlightenment in Buddhism. Much like Jewish midrash, these stories are filled with wonder, miracles, and awe. Is there such a thing as Jewish enlightenment? And what is our enlightenment story?
This upcoming Saturday, we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot (what is celebrated in Christianity as Pentecost). On Shavuot, we celebrate the giving and receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. Shavuot is also called Zman Matan Torateinu – or the Time of Giving our Torah – and is a commemoration of the gift of receiving the entire Torah. Yet what does this have to do with enlightenment? Continue reading “What is Jewish Enlightenment? Kan VeAchshav! Here and Now!”
Over three millennia ago, our Israelite forefathers and foremothers wrestled with their Gods and risked the perilous desert journey from enslavement to freedom. Seven Sabbaths later, God revealed himself, and on that day – as on this day – God spoke, and speaks, to each one of us and All that is Israel. Continue reading “All Alone Together With God: Passover, Shavuot, and the Path from Enslavement to Freedom”
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?”
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”
As the nights darken and grow longer and colder, I notice myself growing a bit more introspective. The New Year is soon approaching, and it is a natural period of contemplation and looking back and ahead. This is the time of Chanukah. This is a time of reflection, embracing the dark and light, and a period of rededication. But a rededication to what? Continue reading “What is Chanukah “Really”?: Rededicating the Temple and Sanctuary for Today”
I often reflect on the place of God in the 21st century. In this postmodern age of hyperrationality absent truth and meaning, it feels as if God is dying. Still, I am not yet ready – and will never be ready – to say Kaddish for God.
Each generation and individual person must struggle passionately with God and self and find our own unique way to do so, because it is not God’s life on the line, but ours.
While we don’t wrestle with emanations of God along the riverbank, like Jacob, we wrestle with the Divine each and every day – in each moment – through accepting our strength and limitation, struggling with our demons and seeing the Divine face in them, embracing life – our life – as it is with all of its complexities, and acting in the most compassionate way we know how.
Continue reading “Wrestling with God in the 21st Century: Ally or Adversary?”
One of the most important spiritual questions of our day and ages past is, “Where is God?” Following catastrophes, holocausts, and the traumas of ordinary life, there is no perfect answer. Yet I have slowly come to realize that God is right here! Just here! Wherever you are! Continue reading “Where is God?: The Gate of Heaven is Here”