A New Path
on this Ancient Journey
There are so many wonderful ways to connect with and be inspired by others on the meaning-making Jewish spiritual path, from across the world.
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The common thread is that the wellspring of Jewish wisdom, rituals, texts and learning is accessible, refreshing, innovative, creative, meaningful and inspiring.
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Here are some resources and tips for exploring a new path to bring more Jewish into your life, your way:
School Run Shacharit
A great way to start the day, as it always has been in our tradition, is to pray.
The service is called Shacharit and in it, we thank God for the new day, for our working bodies, for the promise of the day ahead, and we remind ourselves of the bigger picture.
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Singing along to the prayers, with catchy melodies by contemporary artists, often in the car after the school run, can be a perfect start to the day!
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Here's a link to a Spotify playlist to try.
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Podcasts / Social Media /
People to Follow
The Jewish landscape in America is thriving with innovative leaders and projects. And with a lot of their content online, we are able to click through and listen, learn and be inspired by them also. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but gives you a flavour of what is out there, across and beyond current denominations of Judaism. I've included here some of my favourites from America and the UK:
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Rabbis:
top row (l-r): Reb Zalman Shachter-Shlomi (z'l), Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, Rabbi Benay Lappe
middle row: Rabbi Sandra Lawson, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rabbi Jericho Vincent
bottow row: Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Rabbi Michael Strassfeld
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Podcasts:
top row (l-r): Rabbiting On!, Identity/Crisis, The Oral Talmud
middle row: UnHoly, Judaism Unbound, Daf Yomi for Women
bottom row: Can We Talk?, Women's Gallery, Ikar Podcasts
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If there was one MUST SEE, one thing that inspires more times than anything else, it's this ELITalk
(think TEDTalk, but Jewish) by Rabbi Benay Lappe:
Finding Balance
in our Hectic Lives:
Mussar
Mussar is ancient Jewish mindfulness and practice that feels so contemporary and desperately needed in today's world.
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I first discovered Mussar with Rabbi Marcia Plumb (based in Boston) during the COVID lockdown, and have been learning, practicing, and teaching Mussar ever since.
The basic Mussar idea is that we all have character traits which we can strengthen, using Jewish sources and inspiration, to help us feel more centred, focussed and ready for life's challenges.
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Please take a look at our project website SoulBalance Mussar
BOOKS!
We aren't called the People of the Book for no reason!
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Take a look at my Goodreads profile if you want to see what I've been reading; and please also make recommendations if you've read something great recently too!
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Highlights have been:
The Heart of the Stranger by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl
Judaism WIthout Tribalism by Rabbi Rami Shapiro
If All the Seas were Ink by Ilana Kurshan
Surprised by God by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Here All Along by Sarah Hurwitz
The Amen Effect by Rabbi Sharon Brous
The Holy and the Broken by Ittay Flescher
Keeping up with the Torah portion
Another great habit that I have easily formed is to listen to the parasha (weekly portion) and some commentaries each week.
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You can find where we're at in the reading cycle here on HebCal and then find the reading either by clicking through or going straight to Sefaria.
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I've downloaded the JPS Torah (in English) via Audible and listen to it that way - whatever works for you!
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Then after I've listened/ read through, I'll find a few commentaries online - Rabbi Sacks Legacy is always worth a listen, and the Pardes Institute have a weekly podcast too.
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Sermons from many (mainly American) synagogues are often posted online too after Shabbat, so you can listen to/watch/read different rabbis' thoughts. My two favourites are:
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Online Services
So many shuls and Jewish gatherings are offering live streaming of their services, and there are also online-only minyanim (prayer gatherings) literally all the time!
It starts off feeling weird davenning shacharit (morning prayers) when it's my evening due to the time difference, but I've learned to embrace it, sometimes it even feels a bit magical and dare I say it transcendental! Other times I pray the words that are relevant to my time of day, alongside those saying the words for theirs.
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Embracing the online prayer spaces, along with their quirks, has really liberated my prayer practice.
Check out:
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Romemu (New York, 5 hours behind UK)
Ikar (Los Angeles, 8 hours behind UK)
Central Synagogue (New York, 5 hours behind UK)​
Exploring our Jewish Library
If there's one online innovation that I believe has transformed our Jewish life more than any other, it's got to be Sefaria.
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It's the virtual Jewish library, where you can find texts, and click through and explore topics, the Torah portion, the Daf Yomi (Talmud page-a-day project), you can double click on the Hebrew to find the translation - so much!
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It can be quite overwhelming at first, so reach out if you'd like some help with it, but seriously, the guys behind this came from Google and it's an unbelievable resource where you can find texts from our Jewish library so so easily