Related Blog Posts on Spirituality
How the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting and Processing Grief Led Me to Heller High – and Changed My Life
I became bat mitzvah on October 27, 2018. It was both one of the best and worst days of my life. At the same time I was on the bima at my home congregation of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, NC, a gunman at another community in Pittsburgh walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue and killed 11 Jewish people.
Finding Emunah Amidst Fear and Uncertainty
My Hebrew name is Emunah, and I have autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).
Honoring Korean Lunar New Year (Seollal)
Last year, I spent Seollal, or Korean New Year, with my family in Busan. The symbolism, the spirituality, and the elaborate order of charye remind me of Jewish holidays and rituals.
The URJ Reflection Project: Go Deeper on “The Spiritual”
As part of the URJ Reflection Project, a new set of offerings and experiences for the High Holidays in a time of social distance, we’ve also developed three short essays that allow you to go deeper into the essence of Jewish wisdom that grounds these rituals.
What is Juneteenth to a Black Jew?
Even though the Emancipation Proclamation declared all enslaved people free on January 1, 1863, it was not fully enforced until two and a half years later.
My Big Question: God, The Milky Way, Miracles, and More
The enormous question for me, then, has always been: Is God watching? When I began to understand computers, I realized that, yes, one thing could follow billions of people if those people were nothing more than data points on a revolving planet with polar icecaps.
Kabbalah, Tarot, and Delving into Mystical Judaism
Some Jews have extended their mystical journey into the world of tarot – like Heather Mendel, a Jewish mystic, author, artist, and speaker who has spent her life exploring this connection and has written extensively about it.
Distancing Closeness: A New Way of Mourning
Gathering in grief gives us a window into the blessings of life. Jewish tradition does this so well – which makes it all the more difficult to cope with loss in the time of COVID-19.
"I Will Be What I Will Be:" Finding a Jewish Path in Emerging Adulthood
As a Jewish autistic bisexual transgender woman, “I will be what I will be” is something I have had to tell many people throughout my life, as they have questioned, judged, mocked, and discriminated against me for who I am.
Finding My Way Home: How and Why I Returned to My Judaism
Not knowing if I would be shunned or accepted, I decided to give my religion another chance. I was not prepared for the warm and welcoming atmosphere I found at temple, where being gay was as acceptable as having brown hair.
