What does a meditation retreat have to do with the attacks in Paris? I asked myself this question as my co-teachers and I sat down to plan the details of the upcoming Elat Chayyim Meditation Retreat, a week of silence, meditation and davening that takes place around Christmas. It felt incongruous to mull over the…
Growing up in a Reform Jewish home in the Midwest, I loved Shabbat with my mother, lighting the candles and attending services. Usually we were only among five people in the front rows of the pews in an enormous Reform Congregation of 500 empty seats, or shall we say non-attending members. But it felt very…
It’s been a year since the Pew Research Center released its “Portrait of Jewish Americans.” I haven’t counted how many words have been written about the report since that time, from the Forward’s e-book to endless handwringing by the OJC (Organized Jewish Community). But somewhere along the line, Pew definitely turned into Phew. As in,…
It turns out that I’ve underestimated the spiritual importance of chairlifts. Give people a Rorschach test with an Austria-shaped ink stain (a spoon tilted to the right with an oversized bowl and a short handle), and skiing is likely to be among the terms associated with my alpine native country. Every winter holiday while I…
Janet Cardiff’s “The Forty Part Motet” is a transcendent work of art. Consisting of forty speakers arranged in an oval, each playing the separately recorded voice of a member of a choir, it envelops the listener in a sea of sound. And now, installed (until December 8) in a reconstructed 12th century church at The…
I admit, I am a BuJu. I admit, I am a BuJu. Of course, I am not alone. Not only do a disproportionate number of American Buddhist teachers come from Jewish backgrounds, but many Jews practice both Judaism and Buddhism, and many more practice a Jewish spirituality influenced by Buddhist-derived meditation practices and values. The…
Recently while talking with champion swimmer Diana Nyad, Oprah Winfrey expressed confusion over the concept of Nyad’s being both an atheist and a spiritual person capable of awe. David Edwards at Raw Story summarized their encounter Oprah Winfrey recently spoke to atheist long distance swimmer Diana Nyad and told her that she definitely wasn’t an…
A few moments before starting to say Neilah, the haunting prayers that conclude the Yom Kippur service, Rabbi David Ingber asked an unusual question of the members of his congregation. What were they praying for? As three volunteers passed microphones into the pews, the room fell silent. Then, one person stood up. And another. And…
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