Vayeshev 5786: “You’re Still Here!”
Many years ago, during my first job out of college, I wound up at a meeting in the Fifth Avenue apartment of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. It's a long story for another time. But this was roughly 2000, and according to the internet that means they had been married for 42 years. The meeting was with Joanne (she was the board chair of the Westport Country Playhouse, and I was on a consulting team helping them with a business plan). Fresh-squeezed orange juice was served. At some point during the meeting, the apartment door opens and in walks Paul Newman, just returning from a run in Central Park. He had a towel around his neck. But what I most remember is the buzz of electricity that...
Lighting with Intention
Thank you to IJS Core Faculty, Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife, for a beautiful teaching and intention setting for lighting the Hannukah candles this year.Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see our full series of practices for lighting your Hannukah candles with intention!
Pinchas 5785: Finding Home
I was blessed to grow up in the same house my entire childhood. My parents moved into 1258 Crosby Crescent in Ann Arbor in 1969, and my mom only left the house after my dad died 49 years later. I have no memories of moving during childhood; the first time I packed a moving box was when I went to college. My father, God bless him, had a hard time parting with material things, and by the time he...
Balak 5785: Deeper Meanings
I was recently watching a television interview with a woman in her 60s. Her husband, about the same age, still works long hours, though they’re already quite financially wealthy. “If he says to me on his deathbed that he regrets working too much,” the woman said, “I’ll kill him.” It’s a funny line, of course. What makes it funny is that, in this imagined scene, the man is dying, so the words,...
Chukat 5785: In(di)visible
Earlier this week, my middle son and I woke up bright and early in order to beat Chicago rush hour traffic and make it to Champaign, Illinois in time for his orientation/registration day. While our older son is also a student at U of I, the new student process then was entirely online because of the pandemic. So this was a new experience. Having grown up in another Big Ten college town (Ann...
Korach 5785: Hit the Drum
If you were in band class at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor in the 1980s and 90s, you probably had Robert Albritton for a teacher. And if you had Mr. Albritton for a teacher, you probably remember some of his many colorful sayings. More than 30 years later, my brothers and I still find occasion to recite them to each other. One of our favorites was what Mr. A would occasionally say to a...
Shabbat Reflection – Shelach 5785
A few months ago, my dear friend and synagogue rabbi Ari Hart delivered a sermon that opened with a critique of an aspect of some (perhaps a lot?) of contemporary mindfulness practice: nonjudgmental acceptance. Now, I hasten to add that Ari is a participant in our Clergy Leadership Program cohort that launches next month, and he was not offering this critique to knock Jewish spiritual practices...
Rabbis, Cantors, and Kohanot Seek Spiritual Renewal in Mindful Practice
Announcing the 2025-2026 Cohort of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership ProgramOn July 20, 42 Jewish spiritual leaders from around the world will gather at the Pearlstone Retreat Center to meditate, pray, sing, study, and practice mindful movement, kicking off the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS) 2025-2026 Clergy Leadership Program (CLP). With nearly 600 alumni now...
Josh in Conversation with Yiscah Smith
We are grateful to Yiscah Smith for sharing her insights with us. Please enjoy the conversation recording.Renowned spiritual teacher and author Yiscah Smith has spent a lifetime guiding seekers toward deeper authenticity, inner peace, and connection with the Divine. In her newest work, Planting Seeds of the Divine, she offers a rich and soulful roadmap for cultivating God-consciousness from...
Beha’alotcha 5785: And/or
Like millions of people, earlier this spring I binge-watched the second and final season of Andor, the Star Wars TV series starring Diego Luna as the titular character: a reluctant, yet willful and highly effective agent in the growing rebellion against the Empire. For many Star Wars fans, Andor is probably the greatest thing the 48-year old franchise has ever made. The quality of the scripts,...
Naso 5785: “Zalman, what’s become of you?!”
One of my favorite jokes in the (heilige/holy) Big Book of Jewish Humor is the one about a man from Warsaw who is in Chelm on a business trip. As he walks down the street, he's stopped by Yossel the chimney sweep. “Zalman!” cries Yossel. “What happened to you? It’s so long since I’ve seen you. Just look at yourself.” “But wait,” replies the stranger, “I’m—” “Never mind that,” says Yossel. “I...
Steady in the Storm: Celebrating Marc Margolius and Five Years of the Daily Sit
When the COVID lockdown began in March of 2020, IJS hosted the first Daily Sit to provide respite and comfort. Quickly we realized we’d tapped into a powerful yearning: By the end of the first week, more than 350 people were joining each day, finding 30 minutes of peace through meditation, Jewish wisdom, and community. Now, five years later, the Daily Sit is at the heart of IJS’s digital...
Shavuot 5785: Remembering Uncle Arthur
On erev Shavuot 1993, a Volkswagen van pulled up outside our house in Ann Arbor. I was finishing my junior year in high school, and we were preparing for the holiday. An unfamiliar older couple exited van and came to the door. I honestly don't remember the interaction that followed, but the long and short of it is that this was my father's brother Arthur and his wife Kate. They had driven from...
Behar-Bechukotai 5785: Arriving Home
Last Friday our family experienced a mini ingathering of the exiles: Our oldest came home for the summer, our middle one returned from nine months on a gap year program, our youngest didn't have a classmate's b-mitzvah to attend. And so, for the first time since last summer, our whole crew was around the table for Shabbat dinner. However briefly (I left on a business trip Sunday morning), we got...
Emor 5785: Da Pope
Last Thursday and Friday were, hands down, the best days in Chicago social media history. Why? Because, in the words of the ginormous headline in the Sun-Times Friday morning, the papal conclave had elected "Da Pope." Robert Prevost, born on Chicago's south side, became, overnight, Pope Leo XIV--and Chicago, where I live, was here for it. The memes were flying: The Wiener Circle, one of...
Hearing the Divine, in Silence
The holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the revelation of Torah at Mount Sinai, begins this year Sunday night, June 1. It is striking that despite the cacophonous scene of revelation described in the Torah in Exodus 19, there is a stream within Jewish tradition that emphasizes silence as the context for intimate encounter with the Divine. Rabbinic tradition offers an interpretation that at Mount...
First Cohort of 28 Spiritual Directors Graduate from Kol Dodi
In a famous Hasidic saying, the Kotzker Rebbe was once asked: “Where does God dwell?” to which he replied, “Wherever you let God in.” Spiritual direction is the practice of letting God in, of noticing the sacred thread woven throughout everyday life. Spiritual direction is a contemplative practice that invites one to grow in awareness of the sacred dimension present in every moment, no matter...
Torah from the Well: Standing at Sinai Here and Now
Hi friends. I hope this message finds you well. This month, we’re focusing on preparing spiritually for Shavuot—the festival that commemorates our collective receiving of the Torah at Sinai. Many of us were taught to relate to that experience as a one-time event in the distant past. And while this historical moment continues to reverberate through Jewish life, Sinai can sometimes feel far...
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5785: Of Conductors and Rabbis
My very favorite TED talk is by the Israeli conductor Itay Talgam. It's called "Lead Like the Great Conductors." In 20 minutes, Talgam shows clips of some of the greats of the twentieth century: Richard Strauss, Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Muti (who is still alive and well, conducting here in Chicago and around the world), Herbert Von Karajan, and ultimately Leonard Bernstein, who was Talgam's...
Tazria-Metzora 5785: Eye of the Beholder
In the weeks leading up to my physical this week, I was a little nervous. I had noticed a bit of pain in a sensitive area on my skin that's not easy to see, and I couldn't figure out what was causing it. There was nothing debilitating or life-threatening, but it was on my list of things to talk about with the physician. But then I made what those of us who grew up watching "The Princess Bride"...
