Sh'ma Now

Turning Memory into Moral Responsibility

Salem PearceOctober 8, 2019

Over the past few years, I’ve found myself thinking, writing, and talking a lot about the Book of Exodus as I learn to be a rabbi in situations I never could have imagined.Today, my work focuses on helping American Jews understand that our story of liberation is formative in developing our moral consciousness and should guide us to care more for the vulnerable among us. This is what comes to mind when I hear the Israelites’ enthusiastic affirmation of covenant, traditionally translated as, “All that God has said, we will do, and we will obey.” (Exodus 24:7) The verse (sometimes translated simply as “We will do, and we will hear”), is understood as the paradigmatic expression of Israel’s faithful adherence to God, a devotion to follow the law even before understanding it.

I Was a Rabbinic Psychonaut: Psychedelics and the Future of Judaism

Zac KamenetzOctober 8, 2019

In the spring and summer of 2017, I was invited to sit on a couch, get comfortable, and take a little blue pill containing a very high dose of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic” mushrooms. I was participating in a study conducted by the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at Johns Hopkins University, exploring the nature of consciousness and mystical experiences. The study brought together clergy for a profound psychedelic journey in a setting supported by expertly trained guides.* Even two years later, I am still integrating what I learned and experienced, and how those experiences have guided my personal, professional, and spiritual life.

Heartbeat of a Living Tradition

Sam Berrin ShonkoffOctober 8, 2019

When the Israelites at Sinai declared, Na’aseh v’nishma, “We shall do and we shall hear,” they expressed a profound principle: It is through doing that we hear divinity. Spiritual insight is inseparable from bodily action.

Yea. Sure. OK. Whatever!

Ross AndelmanOctober 8, 2019

Parent: “You’re a teenager, and I get it: You want unlimited access to the car, no curfew. But we’re your parents, and here are the rules you’re going to have to live by if you want greater independence….”