Moving Forward

Cultivation of my own sabbath manifesto is moving forward! Participating in the National Day of Unplugging was quite an enriching experience. How amazing to be rather than to do, to connect rather than to crave connection! Last week’s Shabbat became an oasis in time, a haven for rejuvenation and investment in priorities. I spent this Shabbat in New York en route to Morocco, where I will be traveling next week with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to explore the history and sustainability issues of the Moroccan Jewish community.

This Shabbat afternoon I explored the Jewish Museum New York. The museum features a permanent exhibit “Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey,” detailing the multifaceted history of the Israelites and Judaism.  Throughout the exhibit, I was struck by the extent to which the history of the Jewish people and Judaism itself have been shaped by geographical, political, economic, cultural, and social contexts. Renegotiation and reinterpretation have profoundly shaped and reshaped who we are, what we stand for, and what we represent to the world.

As an invitation to dialogue, I ask, how do you negotiate walking Jewishly? What do you interpret, and how, if at all, do you re-interpret along your evolution?

I look forward to walking Jewishly through Morocco!

Starting Point

In exploration of my own “Sabbath Manifesto,” I am excited to participate in the National Day of Unplugging this Shabbat. This marks a starting point, a genesis in an evolution toward meaningful rest.

Throughout my exploration of the Jewish community, I have wrestled with and questioned starting points. Do we choose to be ritually observant (or not) out of respect/fear/desire to be like God? Or do we choose to be ritually observant (or not) out of a desire for human connection and meaning?

Here I stand, poised for a Shabbat of advocacy and adventure. What is your starting point, and where do you hope the journey will take you?

The New “Faux Mitzvah”? Non-Jews Embrace Ketubot

Last week the New York Times featured an interesting article on the growing use of ketubot by non-Jewish couples.  The story focused primarily on one Evangelical Christian couple who chose to purchase a ketubah as “a way of affirming the Jewish roots of their faith.”  Said the bride:

‘Embracing this Jewish tradition just brings a richness that we miss out on sometimes as Christians when we don’t know the history. . . . Jesus was Jewish, and we appreciate his culture, where he came from.’

But not all non-Jewish purchasers of ketbot are just trying to connect with the Jewish roots of Christianity.  According to the article:

The decade of non-Jews discovering the ketubah coincides with three relevant social trends: the rise of Christian Zionism, the growth of interfaith marriage, and the mainstreaming of the New Age movement with its search for spirituality in multiple faith traditions. As a result, an increasing number of gentiles have taken up Judaic practices: holding a Passover Seder, eating kosher food and studying kabbalah, the Jewish mystical movement.

You have to wonder what our Jewish ancestors, repeatedly persecuted by the mainstream culture for the practice of their religion, would make of all this. . . .

Change of Heart

What is the difference between a change of mind and a change of heart? What influences such changes, and what role does motivation play? Ultimately, what are we trying to prove?

This week’s Torah portion offers a challenging discussion of gaining glory and deliverance.

Journeying and Accountability

Spiritual journeys are sacred. What or who is our compass? Will we take the conventional path or the road less traveled? Delving deeper, who are we? What do we stand for? What will shape our journey, and what will not?

The choices (conscious or unconscious) we make about identity shape our experiences of accountability. There are consequences for our choices, the influences that shape our journeys, and the paths we take or forge. I believe authenticity is an important tenet of ethical living. The journey to know one’s self and to meaningful manifest that awareness as a blessing is sacred.

The “Real Jew” Debate

Does questioning Israel make one “less” of a Jew? Is there room for diversity in perspective for the rights and responsibilities of “our homeland”? Wrestle with Roger Cohen’s New York Times op-ed on “The Real Jew Debate.” What are your thoughts and experiences?

Judge Kimba Wood Takes a Stand for Jewish Girls

Take a second and read this real correspondence between a Jewish lawyer and Second Circuit judge Kimba Wood about the impending birth of the lawyer’s grandchild.  I promise you’ll be glad you did.