This morning I received an email from a guy over at the Awakened Heart Project (AHP) telling me about their new website. I decided to check it out and WOW, I am impressed with what I saw. It’s basically an online resource with the stated aim of enhancing peoples understanding and experience of Jewish meditation and prayer.

Here is a blurb from their about page.

The mission of Awakened Heart Project is to promote the use of Jewish contemplative techniques that foster the development of a heart of wisdom and compassion. Cultivating an awakened heart leads to acting in the world with loving-kindness towards all beings recognizing them as manifestations of the Holy One of Being.

The AHP provides opportunities for a focused effort at refining contemplative Jewish practices, such as meditation and prayer, as well as creating opportunities for intensive practice.

Also here is some of what the site offers, as listed on their welcome page.

• • Regularly updated podcasts
  • Essays and articles on Jewish meditation
  • Jewish meditation events calendar
  • Meditation and contemplative Jewish resources

I haven’t spent a whole bunch of time going through these resources yet but they do look good. So I’m sure to be, a frequent visitor to this site. If your interested in the contemplative side of Judaism this site is a must see. If you don’t know anything about contemplative Judaism but are curious, this site will get you up to speed in no time, so check it out.

Technorati tags: Contemplative Judaism, Online Judaism, Jewish Meditation, The Awakened Heart Project, Jewish Audio

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Last weekend ABC’s (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) program “The Spirit of Things” aired an interesting show looking at some of the schisms, opportunities and misunderstandings that exist within the Jewish/Christian dialogue.  I am listing to it now and thus far, it’s quite good.

Below is the show synopsis and a couple links for those of you who would like to listen to it for your selves!

SUMMARY: Since the parting of the ways 2000 years ago, are Christians and Jews any closer to bridging the gap of understanding and friendship? After a history of being persecuted by Christians, Jews feel they are still the object of antisemitism. Meanwhile Christians preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to an unredeemed world. How can these two traditions overcome the sibling rivalry and work for a better world? New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, and others from the International Council of Christians and Jews conference in Sydney point the way.

       1) Link  2) Enclosure

One thing that has really grabbed me was the interview with Amy-Jill Levine, a biblical scholar from Vanderbilt . I have a an excellent series of lectures by here on some of the great figures of the “Old Testament”. I had always assumed that she was a Christian theologian because that lecture series I have, used the term “Old Testament” instead of Torah in the title. I just thought that no Jew would do that. But nope she is in fact an accomplished (Modern Orthodox) Jewish academic.

One of her main points seems to be that we Jew’s need to develop a better understanding of who Jesus was and why he is so important to our Christians neighbors. More or less suggesting that we Jews a have been lazy especially since the Holocaust in terms of Judeo/Christian understanding. She goes on to to suggest many Jews seem to believe that Christians need to apologize and learn about us and our Judaism but we need do nothing but accept the apologies. To her this is not only a mistake but inappropriate. If you want to know why, well then you will have to listen for yourselves! 

NOTE: I just heard that Jesus wore “Tzitzit“. Nice!

Levine also briefly touches on how and why she wound up as a member of an Orthodox community, which is also interesting.

Oh, I wanted mention that she has written what promises to be a very interesting new book, titled “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus”. This is one, I’m sure to be reading in the not too distant future.

Anyhow, I haven’t even touched on the interfaith dialogue stuff but trust me it’s worth checking out!

Zed and Steg, if you guys end up listening to the show let me know what you think.

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Today a cool NPR program showed up in my RSS Reader on the subject of Jewish thought and practice as it pertains to marriage and family life. OK, actually it’s just the first half hour. The last 30 minutes focuses more on the Christian take and I’m not so into that. Not that there is anything wrong with the Christian take but its just not my cup of tea is all.

Anyhow obviously this is a subject which is of great interest to me both as an engaged (as in soon to be wed) and as a committed Jew. However I really enjoyed listening to this program for a few reasons above and beyond the obvious ones already mentioned.

The Jewish expert interviewed is Rabbi Elliot Dorff who just happens to me one of my favorite Contemporary Jewish Theologians. Incidentally he also teaches UJ here in LA which is a place I would eventually like to study at.

Another really cool and new thing I learnt listening to the show is that according to Rabbi Dorff a recent study looking at divorce showed that Jews who complete the UJ Marriage Preparation Course apparently only have an 8% divorce rate. I don’t know anything about how this study was conducted but 8% is a great number (even if only anecdotally) considering about 31% of US marriages end in divorce. More importantly is that Tamara and I have been planning on taking this course as soon as we can, so that 8% stats is very reassuring!

Rabbi Dorff ( in the extended interview - see below) also covers tons of other interesting stuff including sexual dynamics, the spirituality of marriage, homosexuality and divorce, to name but a few.  

There certainly is something of value here for anyone who is going to, is now, or has been married. So check it out!

Oh and if you do listen please feel free to share your thoughts on the topic!

Marriage, Family, and Divorce (July 5, 2007)

American ideals of courtship and marriage echo with Biblical imagery ? “bone of my bones” “flesh of my flesh.” But what does the Bible really say, and how has it been taught across the centuries in which the institution of marriage has changed dramatically? With a rabbi and a New Testament scholar, we explore nuances of biblical teachings about marriage, family, and divorce ? the surprising ambiguities of the New Testament and the striking practicality of Jewish tradition across the ages.

• Link
• Enclosure

Update: Click here to hear the full/unedited version of the Rabbi Dorff interview.

PS: TAMARA Check this out!

Summer 2007 Basic Seminars

Tue 7-9pm ? July 10 through September 11 ?  Wilshire Boulevard Temple (Olympic and Barrington) in West Los Angeles  

Wed 7:30-9:30pm ? June 13 through August 8 (no class July 4)

Thur 8:00-10:00pm ? May 10 through July 12

There’s not much time to think about this and it may even be too late to register but I thought I would put the the idea out there just in case you are into it!

Let me know what you think!

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I just wanted to whip up a quick post wishing everyone in the states a Happy Fourth of July.  This is my first one in the U. S. so I’m hoping to get out and do something festive a little bit later on today but only if I get some schoolwork done before hand.  Tamara and I have been invited to a friends house for an afternoon poolside get-together so that should be fun provided I actually get there.  Anyhow once again happy fourth to everyone in the states.

Also here is an FYI for those of you who are into Harold Kushner and or Jewish audio.  A few weeks back Kushner and was featured on Tapestry the Canadian public radio show about spirituality. The show is similar to NPR’s Speaking of Faith.  I haven’t listened to the entire interview yet myself but I thought it would quickly mention it now because it will probably be off-line in the next couple of weeks. 

Enjoy!

From the Tapestry Blurb

The psychologist Daniel Levinson writes that much of the unhappiness of people halfway through life is due to the “tyranny of their dreams.”We all start out with dreams for our lives, but what happens when those dreams are deferred, or go astray? Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” shows how we can weather the disillusionment we all face in life in his new book “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments.” The book is distributed in Canada by Random House.

• Link
• Enclosure

PS if the play button above doesn’t work try the enclosure link and if that one doesn’t work it probably means that the interview is no longer available online.

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Over the last couple of weeks several interesting news stories have come my way all sharing one exciting theme. How Progressive Judaism is forging its way into new territory all around the globe and sharing a vision of Judaism that is more in sync with the modern world.

The following are a few snippets on the subject which have caught my attention and I thought other might also enjoy reading about.

With the help of donations from British Jews Russia gets its first and only community owned Reform synagogue.

In Poland “There’s been a tremendous resurgence of (Progressive) Jewish life,” said Rabbi Joel Oseran, vice president of international development with the World Union for Progressive Judaism in Jerusalem. “We see young people searching for Jewish meaning, people who have come anew to their own Jewish identities. And Poland is the best example of that.”

In March ABC Radio (Australia) aired an excellent documentary entitled “ Who is a Jew” discussing the status of progressive Judaism in both Australia and Israel. Featuring interviews with Rabbi Uri Regev head of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio, Australia’s first (and I believe only) female pulpit rabbi. It’s definitely worth listening to and if you’re interested you can check out my uploaded copy here.

Now for something closer to home. In Berkeley Rabbi Yoel Kahn the rabbi-to-be at Berkeley’s Reform Congregation Beth El is saying “We don’t do Judaism as they do in the Bible, we don’t do Judaism as they did it in the Talmud and we don’t do it as they did in the Middle Ages. But each of those informed the Judaism we do today.”

And last but not least in Israel progressive and secular Jews are saying “It’s true, if you ask most secular Israelis if they believe in God, they would say yes,” says Rabbi Meir Azari, from Tel Aviv’s Beit Daniel, the city’s center for Reform Judaism. “But for secular Israelis, the question has become, why are the Orthodox the Jewish voice? We’re not less Jewish than they are.”

I realize that these stories reflect only tiny drops of change in a vast ocean, however nonetheless I view them as a positive sign and I am reassured by the potential they suggest. It is exciting to see that more of the world Jewry is hungry to embrace the Judaism that reflects the progressive values of equality, tolerance and modernity.

Be Well

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