where the heart is

18,000 -the facets of the gem Torah
Each brilliant and unique
Look closely at what is reflected

nutshell

To discover who I am.
To forget who I am.
To discover who You are.
To forget who You are.
My practice, sitting on one pillow.

Rabbis and Intermarriage

Rabbis and Intermarriage

Preventing the decline in active congregants in the shules by up-playing the value of Jewish marriage has been a valiant and worthy effort of the past few generations. But it's not working so well. I urge the URJ an the HUC-JIR to consider allowing the very people who have experienced intermarriage and have chosen to return to or remain a part of Judaism a chance to become leaders and reach out with unique insight to others like themselves.

I am a mid-life convert to Reform Judaism. My wife, with full support of my conversion, chose not to convert. My children, born before my conversion are being raised reciting the Shema at least twice a day, lighting Shabbat candles and saying blessings. I love Judaism and the Jewish people. I write a blog about Jewish Mindfulness and meditation, am naturally spiritual advisor and have considered the possibility of becoming a Rabbi or chaplain. Yet I would be automatically turned down by the HUC-JIR even though a Reform Rabbi, a congregation and a Beit Din have all accepted me as Jewish.

Although my case is different than many intermarried Jews, I urge the URJ and HUC-JIR to not base their decisions on who to allow to study for the Rabbinate on such a broad policy. To lose potential new leaders who can reach out to others like them should be as distasteful to Reformed Jews as the exclusion of women, people of color or the LGBT. Let every candidate be judged by what is in his or her heart and not on the never ending argument about what outward appearance makes one Jewish. Torah is not written about people who kept the letter of the law. It is about imperfect people who felt a desire for relationship with Hashem and each other. It is about leaders who came from unexpected places and backgrounds.

Mindful Emailing

Mindful Emailing
Shavua Tov!  May you all be at ease.  A great article from the teacher, Sylvia Boorstein, who first showed me the way of Zen Judaism.

Spirituality in Science, G_d in Shadows

(Written 4 July, 2012)
Dale Arends > Temple Beth Or
This week at the CERN particle-physic­s center in Geneva, it was announced that evidence of the Higgs boson sub-atomic particle, sometimes also called the “God” particle, had been discovered. Physicists say this may be the final piece needed to complete the puzzle of the Standard Model of physics. The discovery of this particle is believed to be the key to unlocking the mysteries of how an ordered universe could come to exist after the Big Bang and solve physics dilemmas surrounding dark matter, dark energy, black holes and wormholes.

I am endlessly fascinated by these fuzzy areas of quantum and theoretical physics and have become a fan of the Science Channel programming regarding these topics. Watching shows such as these feed my mind and nurture my soul in the same way hearing a great D’rosh at synagogue or reading a book on ethics that opens my heart to a new way of thinking does.

For me, science is a perfect model for spirituality. There is always something, we have faith, smaller or greater than we can currently prove -something we know to exist just beyond our grasp. We continue to reach for it and, as we succeed in discovering more and more, we learn about our selves and our universe. In succeeding to release that which is mystery one spark at a time, we deepen our connection to it. Every discovery leads to further questions, greater mysteries, more things within our reach but as of yet beyond proof.

For me, this too is Hashem. This too is G-d.

The Great Mystery is always close enough to be felt and sought but always just the next step beyond our comprehension. When we discover that which was previously unknown, we discover something else, a Great Mystery, just beyond our new understanding. If G-d/Total Scientific Understanding/­the Great Mystery were to be attained, what purpose would humanity have to exist? We would become the apotheosis of complacency, both apathetic and directionless -a Yetzer Tov without a Yetzer HaRa to keep us balanced.

We are creatures of contemplation, creative and wisdom seeking. Without Mystery to goad us toward improvement of our understanding, our selves, our community and the world, we would have no release for our natural curiosity. I rather think that this would lead us towards self destruction because an artist with nothing left to create, a scientist with nothing left to study, a theologian with no G-d to contemplate has no purpose and no direction. What purpose would devoting ones life in pursuit of what has already been attained serve. Rather with nothing left to pursue we would turn inward, become obsessed with our shortcomings, become self loathing and turn towards hatred of self and others. A G-d just beyond our current reach gives us purpose. A G-d who can be fully grasped, identified, labels, catalogued and put on a shelf is no G-d at all. It is what scientific evidence points towards that energizes the researcher, not the micro-fiche of cataloged data.
Religious groups who believe in a world here-after or world to come, a heaven, and those who believe we will finally solve all of he mysteries of science will disagree with me here I suppose but I can embrace that.
It proves there is still Mystery to seek and sparks to uncover.

Still, Small Voice Haiku

now listen closely.
the present is all around.
there it is again.

The Name

Listen for the still, small voice,
a name, the sound of breath through parted lips
a word reserved and holy.

Samsara

Once, on my cushion I dreamed of this day.
Today in zazen, I remembered it.
Dreaming in time, no center in circles.