Exploring Spirituality

Like many, I used to insist that I was spiritual but not religious, seeking my own path to truth and the transcendent. Here’s why that doesn’t work.

Our traditional Jewish liturgies have helped to shape our identity as a people, and they still have that formative power.

I continue to celebrate Jewish holidays now that I am a believer in Jesus. But certain holidays carry different meanings for me than they once did.

Many of our people have only a “maybe” belief in any kind of life after death. But the Tanakh points us to the hope of eternal joy in God’s presence.

Giving to charity is a core value of Judaism. And the value of tzedakah is reflected in the New Testament too, especially in the teachings of Jesus.

The Psalms can give us great comfort in times of crisis. They record the faith and courage of our ancestors and remind us that God is still with us.

Why do we need a holiday where we do life in tents? Getting out in the elements, away from our normal comforts, helps us to let go and experience God.

Does Shavuot, which celebrates the gift of the Torah—i.e. God’s authority and rules over us—contradict the freedom we just celebrated at Passover?

What if the answers we need for well-being in modern life were already discovered in antiquity? Wisdom means living life in light of the truth.

When I was fifteen, I decided to ignore God through the rest of high school—thinking this would give me the freedom to live however I chose.

Life is filled with clues about God, and we all long for something beyond the ordinary. But what does seeking God in my life really mean?

Faith is not blind belief that you cling to without evidence. Faith is active trust in what you have reasoned to be true.

Redemption starts with Passover, which becomes the pattern for all Biblical history and God’s ultimate plan for the world.

Rosh Hashanah had a late start in taking its place in Jewish life and stirs up repentance and reflection—not answers.

I’m a person of faith but don’t observe much of rabbinic tradition. So, how can non-observant Jews like me celebrate the giving of the Law on Shavuot?

The Hebrew text of Exodus says that we saw the voice of God at Sinai. Rabbis interpret this visual manifestation as God’s words dividing into 70 langu...

Taking a deeper look at the meaning of the food eaten on Shavuot, we find a symbolic showcase of God’s promises to the Israelites—and to us today.

Meditation in the Jewish Scriptures describes a different approach to mindfulness meditation: in the Scriptures, mindfulness meditation refers to appl...

This type of meditation now used in psychotherapy is derived from an old Buddhist discipline. But the Tanakh has its own, God-centered version.

Interacting with a personal God who listens to our prayers and cares about our daily affairs feels foreign to many Jewish people. Thus the Jewish heal...

The issues relevant to the “spiritual but not religious” movement are so ancient that the Jewish Bible addresses many of them—and so did Jesus!

When the truth hurts, we must choose either to endure pain or avoid truth. What does this mean when we apply it to a spiritual reality?

The idea of a future resurrection from the dead comes from ancient biblical Judaism. But what do Jewish sources think about Jesus’ resurrection?

This mystical strand of Jewish theology has many surprising resonances with ideas seen in the New Testament—ideas often thought to be un-Jewish.