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Earlier this year, I took part in a Shabbat service where women from Temple Sinai wrote personal, modern versions of the traditional prayers. Sinai member Karen Marker wrote a version of the Mi...
Despite being a Jewish educator, I have never felt a strong, personal connection to our sacred texts. I read the Tanakh as one reads literature, though this particular series of books had way too...
Of all the parashot in all the Torah scrolls in all the world, that one – Sh’mini – had to walk into my life this year – not once, but twice. Because our Reform observance does not include the...
How often is family dinner a spiritual time? In our household, not nearly as often as I would wish. Especially now, with only one child at home, it is so easy for the conversation to devolve into...
I read with great interest Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s piece on the Huffington Post titled “Religious But Not Spiritual.” In his capacity as President of the Union for Reform Judaism and, especially, after...
I’ve been interested in meditation since college. The attraction began with a notion that I could achieve “inner peace,” though I’ve since come to realize the key is to focus on increasing...
I’ve been a mikveh guide for about a year. Because I work from my house and can make my own hours, I’ve been called on often for the many men who have used Mayyim Hayyim, Boston’s 21st-century...
This morning I received a text message from my Aunt Linda saying, “I am doing well… love being home after three weeks in the hospital and rehab.” I almost replied, as if on rabbi auto-pilot, “I’ve...
Gore For several days before I began chemotherapy for transitional cell carcinoma, I created and rehearsed a guided image of a boat that allowed me to relax and give myself permission to enjoy the...
Jefferson Bethke's YouTube video, "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus," has been viewed by more than 20 million people. Bethke raises questions about the intentions of Jesus and the nature of...
It’s been a while since last I posted. Between some personal and professional travel and responsibilities at work, it hasn’t felt like there was a lot of time. But the truth is, I’ve procrastinated...
I’d like to share a recent self- revelation: deep down inside, my soul is the soul of a None. No, I didn't spell that wrong. I’m not referring to a Catholic nun of course! Let me explain. A "None"...
Previously, on Facebook:We have broken two wine glasses in two days.Karen: I think this is God’s way of telling us not to drink so much.Paula: I think this is God’s way of telling us to drink from...
There is a moment during the N'ilah service on Yom Kippur that stays with me, always. I want to say that it haunts me, but that's really not the right image. It's more a flooding, a rushing-out-and...
Alfredo Borodowski: Rick, you are going to share your views of God with a lot of Jews. Are you concerned, maybe nervous?Rabbi Rick Jacobs: I’m not nervous, I’m excited because we talk about...
A deep spiritual life is hard to find. While opportunities abound for spiritual connections (yoga, meditation, retreats and the like), for most of us it doesn’t come easy. The noise, unfinished to...
Say what you will, but I prefer the Rosh HaShanah children's service to the adult one. It's a little under an hour, and it's lighter on the lengthy recitations of the full evening service. There's...
I believe in God. I try to feel the room before I blurt that out in conversation, but it’s a feature of my personality and a fact of my life. I’ve long wanted to do away with ideology and the...
I've been ruminating on something that happened late last month.
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As I write this I am doing the last minute things before I leave for Israel – packing, cooking a chicken for Shabbat and for my husband to eat while I am gone, learning how to use my new digital...
"Take a moment to settle in to being here," I say aloud. My eyes are closed, but I know there are three other people in the room this morning. I heard them walk in, each to their own place in the...
I walked to Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street toward the end of Shabbat, thinking that I was going to wait on a park bench until Shabbat ended and the stores opened, in order to try to buy a Spiderman...
One Friday evening, something remarkable and beautiful happened at my congregation. I’d never seen it before, but I hope I’ll see it many times again.
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The Hebrew month of Elul begins soon. During this month preceding the High Holidays, many Jews take time to reflect on the past year and to take stock of their actions.
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I had the recent pleasure to be invited by a friend on a hike in Los Liones Canyon of Pacific Palisades. It was gorgeous summer day and the trail was steep. We pretty much hightailed it up as fast...
During my first year as a rabbinical student, which was spent on the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, I began to see my homeland in a new light, a light that...
Purim is coming, a wild holiday that holds its place alongside Yom Kippur and Passover as a dramatic story in the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of redemption and revelation. But, unlike these other...
“It’s true. All of it: The Dark Side, the Jedi. They’re real.”
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Spirituality thrives in homes, offices, and synagogues, hiding in plain sight -- in small talk, and in extended conversations. Jewish thinker Martin Buber called this spirituality “I-Thou.”
Krista Tippett is the creator and host of the radio show and podcast On Being. Learn what draws her to conversations about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom.
Always a proud Israeli and Jew, I nonetheless felt something was missing in my life. Meeting religiously modern, dedicated Jews helped me see the missing piece.
The stars must be in alignment. A few thoughts have come together, and they leave me with a sense of awe.Recently, I was catching up on some of podcasts that I listen to with regularity. From time...
As Yom Kippur, our only holiday which focuses on our relationship with God, fades behind us, I am reminded of a 2007 article I read in Newsweek. Christopher Hitchens quoted these words Mother...
In Parashah Vayeitzei, Jacob names the place of his famous dream Beth El, House of God, because he senses God’s presence there. As a member of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck for 31 years, I find...
Even though my wife has visited the mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) and my daughter is the executive director of Mayyim Hayyim, a community mikveh in Massachusetts, it never occurred to me that I would...
I grew up Jewish. Simply Jewish.
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Several years ago, I launched an educational start-up. I left a wonderful position at a prestigious educational institution. It was a big risk.
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PBS’ new six-part series Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler premiered on December 16th, 2014. ReformJudaism.org caught up with Feiler, who is the author of six consecutive bestsellers...
When the words of liturgy are taken too literally, the sacred power of prayer is often lost. In his latest book, Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman offers a way worshipers can transcend the limitations...
Multi-instrumentalist singer songwriter Josh Nelson shares his passion for music and Judaism by organizing Shabbat happenings for unaffiliated young Jews, performing and recording albums with his...
With simple, everyday acts, I can keep alive the memory of our ancestors’ encounter with God and help perpetuate it into the future.
Judaism is where I found my home. As I learned more about it, I discovered that my dad had raised me with Jewish values; as a child, I just hadn’t realized it.
In service, the ring of a phone serves as a rude disruption to our worship. But that same ring can also serve as a powerful and effective reminder.
When our ancestors experienced darkness, they lit a fire. Today, as we battle apathy in response to fear and doubt, we seek direction in light.
Do you really think God talks to us? Hearing the Divine is not easy work, and we don’t have a map or a knowledgebase to work from.
Musar connects my Jewish learning and burgeoning spiritual awakening with what I used to call my “regular” life, the bridge between my two previously separated worlds.
When I first learned about stringing and restringing our beads based on life experiences, I began to see my relationship with Torah as an ongoing, nonlinear process.
This poem was written by a freelance writer, dreamer, and poet who is currently exploring the story of her Jewish ancestry and identity.
