Not Yet Home (Ki Tetzei 5786)
The dramatic high point of Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey comes when, after 20 years, Odysseus speaks to his wife Penelope while disguised as a traveler. He does not reveal himself—not openly, anyway—but, after three hours of movie-watching, he finally opens up about what has kept him from coming home all these years. I was so struck by this scene that I bought the screenplay when I got home, because I think what Nolan does here is really significant. PENELOPE How did you make it home, when Odysseus could not? ODYSSEUS I’m not home. Not yet. PENELOPE Why not? ODYSSEUS It’s not always an easy thing, a homecoming. That’s as true for Odysseus as for me. PENELOPE The Odysseus I...
Holding Lightly (Shoftim 5786)
Before anything else, I want to say thank you to the many readers who wrote last week to offer their condolences on the loss of my cousin Julian. My family and I have been surrounded in love and support. It means the world to all of us. Thank you. Among the reasons I wish my father was still alive is that I know how much he would delight in observing me coming to appreciate lessons he offered—and that I resisted in my youth, when, like plenty of others, I was convinced I knew everything better than he did. There are small things, like waiting to run the dishwasher until you have a full load. There are bigger things, like the chart he once drew for me plotting left- and right-wing political...
![Richard Schwartz: “To be a presence that can possibly bring some healing [is] an incredible gift.”](https://www.jewishspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Richard-400x250.png)
Richard Schwartz: “To be a presence that can possibly bring some healing [is] an incredible gift.”
Our recent Evening of Gratitude was a valuable opportunity to recognize Jewish spiritual leaders of all kinds and their incredible impact on the people and communities they serve. We are so grateful for all they bring to our world, and so proud to be part of their stories. In one of the evening’s spotlights, IJS alum Cantor Richard Schwartz shared how pastoral care, mindfulness...
Alison Kur: “Spirituality is about nurturing my soul and giving my soul to others”
Hundreds of IJS supporters joined us on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 for our Evening of Gratitude, honoring and thanking Jewish spiritual leaders. We are eager to share one of the highlights of the celebration, and we hope that you will consider making a donation to support our work. Alison Kur, Executive Director of Jewish Living at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA, was one of the...
Of Black Swans and Sabbatical Years
If you haven’t seen it yet, take a minute to watch the finish from this year’s Kentucky Derby. It’s a sight to behold.The two leading horses are racing neck-and-neck (literally), jockeying for position (again, literally), as they make the final turn of the one-and-a-quarter-mile track at Churchill Downs. Slowly and then suddenly, Rich Strike, a horse no one even expected to be in the...
A Conversation with Joy Ladin, PhD and Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
We are grateful to Joy Ladin, PhD and Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler for sharing their insights with us! Please enjoy the conversation recording below. Joy Ladin, PhD is a teacher, widely published essayist and poet, literary scholar, and nationally known speaker on transgender issues. She is the author of twelve books, including 2021 National Jewish Book Award winner, The Book of Anna,...
Purim and the Pursuit of Wisdom
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of...
A Conversation with Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg
We are grateful to Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg for sharing his wisdom with us. Please enjoy the conversation recording below. Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg is one of the most influential Jewish thinkers and institution-builders of our time. Currently president of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life (JJGI) and Senior Scholar in Residence at Hadar, Rabbi...
Feel your breath: Mindfulness moving into the Jewish mainstream
The Institute for Jewish Spirituality is on the leading edge of spreading the Jewish gospel of meditation, as COVID has sparked a boom in the practice.
A Reflection on Jewish Mindfulness and Habits of the Heart
It often feels these days that we’re living through a Great Unraveling. Institutions, those deposits of trust that enable things to be—or at least seem to be—settled, are coming apart. News media, public health, elections, representative government, the weather, the forests, the shoreline, truth, language itself: In so many places, things I took to be more or less stable are...
How Spiritual Practices Impacted my Bearing Witness Outside the Glynn County, GA Courthouse
On Thursday November 18, 2021 I traveled to Brunswick, GA along with eleven other Jewish clergy to bear witness and offer support to the Black pastors, the community and family members gathering at the Glynn County courthouse during the trial for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery, 25, was shot while going for a run in a suburban neighborhood. The chase and shooting were caught on...
Resilient Writers Fellowship Feature Articles
I will pour out My spirit on all flesh Your children shall prophesy Your old shall dream dreams And your youth shall see visions. These words from the prophet Joel (made even more famous by Debbie Friedman) are a perfect introduction to the essays in the enclosed booklet, which are the product of the Resilient Writers Fellowship, a joint project of IJS and New Voices Magazine. Over...
To Prevent a Crisis of Clergy Burnout, Help Them Cultivate Their Inner Lives
As a spate of recent articles have proclaimed, clergy face a crisis. In his recent piece in eJewishPhilanthropy, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), warned of the real possibility of an exodus of rabbis from congregational life, due to the extreme additional emotional and professional burdens imposed upon them by the pandemic. He urges...
A Conversation with Dr. Lisa Miller
We are grateful to Dr. Lisa Miller for joining us on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 for a special evening.In conversation with Rabbi Josh Feigelson, Dr. Miller shared her insights and research on the new science of spirituality. Lisa Miller, PhD, is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality...
An Evening of Music with Joey Weisenberg
We are grateful to Joey Weisenberg for joining us on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 for a special evening. In conversation with Rabbi Josh Feigelson, Joey shared his music and insights. Joey Weisenberg is a virtuosic multi-instrumental musician, composer and teacher. He is the Founder and Director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating grassroots musical-spiritual creativity in Jewish...
It’s a Wrap
Episode 55: It's a WrapIn the course of seven months, we've offered 55 podcasts featuring a variety of prayer practices. These programs have been downloaded nearly 30,000 times. It is time to celebrate, and to take time to envision what might come next.Read the episode transcript
May I be safe
Episode 54: May I be safe This week we get to visit with Elana Arian, whose "Ken Yehi Ratzon" has closed our podcast. She shares her background, how she came to write Jewish music, her work as guest-artist in congregations and how that shapes her work, and how she came to write our closing tune. Read the episode transcript
Meet the Composer of “Open”
Episode 53: Meet the Composer of "Open" Each week we have been blessed to hear the first moments of the composition "Open" by Judith Silver. This week we meet her, and learn about how she came to write Jewish music, and how "Open" came to be. A true blessing! Read the episode transcript
Practicing with Psalm 27
Episode 52: Practicing with Psalm 27 We are blessed to be invited into the personal process of listening deeply to the words of Psalm 27 to open our hearts with Rabbi Debra Robbins. Her book and its practices are so rich, it is helpful to have it modeled for us, so that we can engage with the Psalm ourselves, beginning on 1 Elul (August 8, 2021), to open our own hearts along the way. Read the...
Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27
Episode 51: Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27 The period of time from the start of Elul to the end of Sukkot is about the same length of time from Passover to Shavuot. The former period is given focus through the recitation of Psalm 27 (and the chanting/recitation of selichot, or penitential prayers). Rabbi Debra Robbins provides us with tools to make the practice of reciting Psalm 27 a richer,...