Reflections in the Well

A friend recently forwarded me a video discussing the work of Simone Weil. In this particular piece, she detailed a kind of extreme, spiritual exhaustion. An exhaustion that goes beyond simple physical exhaustion; more than being tired from the day’s trials, demands of home, office, and other obligations. An all-encompassing exhaustion where every borrowed meaning […]

A Line We All Know “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put childish things away.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) Sometimes, a verse from an ancient text transcends itself to become a common expression, essentially assimilated

Every durable belief system, religious or secular, must answer one particularly uncomfortable question: What do we do about what’s broken? This may be broken people, actions, even worlds. We have many words to describe this state of brokenness — sin, karma, trauma, oppression, ignorance — while the label changes, the problem does not. Some systems

Over the course of my life, I’ve spent time studying many belief systems with their origins in both the West and the East. They really do have more in common than different, but one thing that stands out is how they tackle the concept of reality. First and foremost, we need to ask ourselves: what

At this point in the cycle, the weekly parashot have been focused on the story of Joseph. It is a great story—rich, layered, and enduring. It was even adapted into a Broadway production (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), and I have yet to meet a rabbi who can preach through these weeks without at

I thought I’d stray into the land of hippies and New Age today. Everything around us—every last bit of existence—is comprised of energy. It sits at the center of religion and science alike. The atoms that make up every object you touch are themselves forms of energy. Without it, you wouldn’t be reading this article,

Those familiar with the Judeo-Christian traditions will no doubt have heard of this whole “day of rest” thing. The way the story goes, G-d created for six days and then rested on the seventh. This is the origin of the practice of Shabbat within Judaism, and the Sabbath day within Christianity. Judaism takes Shabbat very

I’ve spoken before about charity (tzedakah), and giving is certainly important. But there’s another side to that coin — receiving. Allowing yourself to receive help from others can be unsettling. Pride gets in the way, and the very word charity carries its own stigma. But once you’re past that initial hurdle, the real work begins:

Many of us (perhaps most) are raised with a belief system that includes a divine presence. Likewise, there are ways for us to communicate with this divine presence. The most common method is through prayer. Every tradition includes some form of prayer, albeit with different names. It can be in the form of speaking, listening,

I’ve spent a significant portion of my life studying the various belief systems of the world. Along the way, I’ve picked up more than a few customs and practices that different traditions use when speaking of the divine. One in particular seems to catch people’s attention: the way I write the Holy Name. Many traditions