Reclaiming Judaism As A Spiritual Practice

A fresh and delightful quest to rediscover spiritual meaning for life, focusing on Jewish holy days and Shabbat. Grounded in a context of religious pluralism with careful attention to tradition and cutting-edge developments across the spectrum of Judaism.

Wake up your Jewish spiritual life and restore your soul. “Has your heart ever been broken—by loss, divorce, disappointment, awe, fear, hope? Have you multitasked, worked past the level of your endurance, accumulated possessions, jumped the hurdles, and gotten the grades only to wonder, “Is that all there is?” Do you wish for a life that is physically grounded, emotionally satisfying, intellectually expansive, and profoundly connected? These are the qualities Judaism can provide when you understand how to practice it.” —from the Introduction This inspiring guidebook is your wake-up call for understanding the powerful intellectual and emotional tools that are essential for a lively, relevant, and fulfilling Jewish spiritual practice. Designed to become a lifelong resource for holy days and Shabbat, it presents Judaism as an evolving tradition in which you are the entrusted heir. The exercises and practices draw from the foundations of Judaism and empower you to create meaningful, satisfying, contemporary Jewish experiences for how you live today.

Delve deeper into spiritual practice to find the power and meaning waiting there for you. “Spiritual practice reveals that the Garden of Eden is right where you are standing and helps you to be here, now. Therefore, Jewish spiritual practices cultivate joy, hope, resilience and understanding so that you can undertake your soul’s work in this lifetime with vision, passion and integrity.” from the Introduction This innovative guidebook makes accessible Judaism’s spiritual pathways, principles and applications, and empowers you to test their value within your own life. Each chapter provides step-by-step, recipe-like guides to a particular Jewish practice or group of practices, gives examples of how they might unfold inside your life, and shows how each can help refuel your spirit throughout the day. You’ll discover: Prayer practices for embracing the body and creation with awe, limbering up your mind, and preparing for compassionate action How to draw sustenance from the Great Mystery, the inexplicable and unknowable Source of Life How to mine the Torah’s stories, commentaries, symbols and metaphors for meaning Ways to develop your Hebrew vocabulary so you can formulate your own interpretations of sacred text How to explore and practice mitzvot as meaningful, compelling parts of your spiritual life How to view the Jewish people as a precious human resource and as a model for resilience ... and much, much more.

"This innovative guidebook makes accessible Judaism's spiritual pathways, principles and applications, and empowers you to test their value within your own life. Each chapter provides step-by-step, recipe-like guides to a particular Jewish practice or group of practices, gives examples of how they might unfold inside your life, and shows how each can help refuel your spirit throughout the day."--BOOK JACKET.

Charts a path to a spiritually rich Judaism, explaining traditional rituals and offering new ones for modern life. Encourages daily spiritual awareness as we seek the two fundamental goals of Judaism: to become better humans and to be in God's presence.

The spiritual tools you can use to infuse Jewish life cycle ceremonies with meaning, integrity and joy.

Drawing from decades of experience in connecting spirituality with daily life, offers traditional and contemporary ways to mark all sorts of important events in people's lives. For each of more than one hundred everyday events and holidays, it offers a meditation, a blessing, a profound Jewish teaching and a ritual.

Claim the Spiritual Freedom That Waits Beyond the Suffering and Slavery of Addiction “One of the important similarities between AA and Jewish spirituality is the statement in Step 12, ‘to practice these principles in all our affairs....’ There is no dichotomy of sacred versus secular. Jewish spirituality applies to how we eat, sleep, work, socialize and recreate. There is nothing that is external to the relationship of human being to God.” —from the Foreword A major new Jewish contribution to 12-Step spirituality. This easy-to-read exploration from a Jewish perspective is the first comprehensive approach to successfully integrate classic Jewish spirituality with the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other recovery resources. With clarity and passion, Rabbi Paul Steinberg masterfully weaves traditional Jewish wisdom with the experience, strength and hope of AA. He draws on Jewish resources—theological, psychological and ethical—that speak to the spiritual dimension of the disease, and shows how the principles of Jewish spiritual recovery directly align with those of the AA 12 Steps. Along the way, he courageously shares his own personal struggles with alcoholism and addiction in a way that will help others find guidance and a new life path—and stay on it.