Finding My Way Back to Meaning-Full and Spirit-Full Practice

Spiritual practice should be meaningful

I hate to admit it, but over the last few years have found myself not practicing anything very spiritual. I haven’t practiced my religion. I haven’t practiced meditation. I haven’t practiced rituals. I haven’t practiced connecting to anything “higher” with my Tarot or Kabbalah cards or my pendulum. I haven’t observed Shabbat on a regular [...]

Do You Question Your Beliefs?

matisyahu_beardless

Do you ever question your beliefs about Your religion? Do you question God’s word, the value of the commandments, the teachings of the forefathers, the meaning of the rituals and prayers? They say the Jewish people are God wrestlers. We don’t always accept God’s word or anything to do with our religion without questions, without [...]

Putting the Universal Practices of Ramadan to Use in Your Life

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, usually falling near the end of summer. Based on a lunar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards about ten days each year. This year Ramadan begins on August 11th and continue for 30 days until September 9th. In North America, it begins on August [...]

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Have you ever heard the saying, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”? Sometimes the wish is fulfilled in usual ways. You have to be open to seeing the wish fulfilled no matter in what form it appears and to receive it even if it comes in a shape you didn’t [...]

Practical Spirituality: Touching the Mezuzah

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On the right doorpost of almost every Jewish home you will find a small rectangular box positioned on a slight angle. This box serves as a reminder to live by God’s commandments. Everyone can benefit from a spiritual yellow “post-it” note of some sort to remind them to live a spiritual or religious life, and [...]

Practical Spirituality: Using Your Hands in Service to God

hand washing

Starting today, about once a week you will find a practical spiritual practice here on As the Spirit Moves Me. The tip may come from the Jewish tradition or from other major religious tradition, such as from Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. These practical spiritual practices are meant to be adaptable by anyone, and they also [...]

Creating Rituals for Your Life-Cycle Events

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I turned 50 last week. Although I really don’t feel 50 and I didn’t have much psychological “stuff” around turning 50, I felt the need to mark this event in some way with a ritual. So, I asked a few friends if they might help me do so. The first friend took me off to [...]

Passover Questions–and Answers–Inspired by Matzah

matzoh

Tonight many Jews around the world will participate in the observance Passover. They will take part in a first night seder, or service, that commemorates the Israelites freedom from slavery in Egypt. (The word “seder” actually means “order”; the service has a specific order.) I see the seder—actually the whole week of Passover—as a time [...]

Tradition: Taking It With You Into Your Future

fiddler

It’s so easy to let the changes of modern day life eat away at tradition. Change happens, it seems, whether we like it or not. More often than not, however, we allow it to happen. I had reason last night to consider this. My family went to see Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein. I’ve seen [...]

Have You Become an Assimilated Jew?

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Today, after writing my most recent Jewish Issues Examiner column, I had to spend some time really considering how much I have allowed myself to become assimilated into secular culture. You see, my column was inspired by a JTA story I read about a Chabad rabbi in Russia trying to bring assimilated Jews there back [...]