20th anniversary sequel to a seminal book of the Jewish renewal movement. Deals with spirituality in relation to personal growth, marriage, ecology, feminism, politics and more. Outlines original ways to merge “religious” life and “personal” life today.

... Ancient wisdom of texts, history, and experience, so we can move forward and recognize the future paths open to us.

A Probing and Powerful Look at the Role You Play in Shaping Your Relationship with God "No matter how hard we look, the God of Israel cannot be seen. Looking is not seeing, and seeing God is not like seeing an apple. It is much more like making a medical diagnosis on the basis of looking at a complex set of symptoms. Each of the symptoms is a dot. We can look at the dots and still miss the pattern." --from Part I The Torah is replete with references to hearing God but precious few references to seeing God. Seeing is complicated. What we look for and see are traces of God's presence in the world and in history, but not God. In order to identify those traces as reflections of divine presence, we need to re-examine how we see, what we see, and how we interpret that information. In this challenging and inspiring look at the dynamics of the religious experience, award-winning author and theologian Neil Gillman guides you into a new way of seeing the complex patterns in the Bible, history, and everyday experiences and helps you interpret what those patterns mean to you and your relationship with God. Examining faith and doubt, revelation and law, suffering and redemption, Gillman candidly deconstructs familiar biblical moments in order to help you develop and refine your own spiritual vision, so that you are able to discern the presence of God in unanticipated ways.

"In The Empathic God, Frank Woggon constructs a clinical theology of "at-onement." Woggon calls for a caring participation in God's ongoing work of salvation through a praxis of spiritual care. The book will help practitioners and students of spiritual care as well as clergy to critically reflect on where spiritual care practice and theology meet"--

Heal from the sense of separation that pervades human consciousness and awaken to the true oneness of all things. Many of our human existential struggles stem from the sense of disconnection, alienation and loneliness that comes from a fragmented view of reality. The typical concept of “self” creates a profound sense of isolation from other beings, leaving us feeling lost and hopeless. But the practice of mindfulness, combined with the teachings of Torah, offer a direct path to liberate ourselves from alienation, awaken to the truth of the present moment and create a new relationship with God. Drawing on the insight and audacity of Jewish mystics, and rooted in a rich understanding of Torah, Rabbi Jeff Roth helps readers overcome this sense of separation and reconnect with a more harmonious flow of life. He equips spiritual seekers of all faiths—or none—with powerful techniques rooted in Jewish mystical practices: using the raw material of sacred texts as building blocks for the construction of new worlds, and experiencing the present through mindfulness meditation and loving attention to each moment. By letting go of our old notions of reality, we can recognize the undivided nature of the world and enter into a transformative divine awareness.

Hear the Voices of Ancient Wisdom in the Modern Language of Science Ancient traditions, whose only claim to authenticity is that they are old, run the risk of becoming old-fashioned. But if an ancient tradition can claim to be not only ancient but also timeless and contemporary, it has a far greater chance of convincing each new, young generation of its value. Such a claim requires that each generation’s retelling use the new metaphors of the new generation. —from Chapter 1 In our era, we often feel that we can either speak about God or think scientifically about the world, but never both at the same time. But what if we reconciled the two? How could the basic scientific truths of how the natural world came to be shape our understanding of our own spiritual search for meaning? In this provocative fusion of religion and science, Rabbi David Nelson examines the great theories of modern physics to find new ways for contemporary people to express their spiritual beliefs and thoughts. Nelson explores cosmology, quantum mechanics, chaos theory, relativity, and string theory in clear, non-technical terms and recasts the traditional views of our ancestors in language that can be understood in a world in which space flight, atom-smashing, and black holes are common features of our metaphorical landscape. Judaism, Physics and God reframes Judaism so that it is in harmony with the conquests of modern scientific thinking, and introduces fascinating new ways to understand your relationship with God in context of some of the most exciting scientific ideas of the contemporary world.

Mysticism and science: What do they have in common? How can one enlighten the other? By drawing on modern cosmology and ancient Kabbalah, Matt shows how science and religion can together enrich our spiritual awareness and help us recover a sense of wonder and find our place in the universe. Drawing on the insights of physics and Jewish mysticism, Daniel Matt uncovers the sense of wonder and oneness that connects us with the universe and God. He describes in understandable terms the parallels between modern cosmology and ancient Kabbalah. He shows how science and religion together can enrich our spiritual understanding. We “embody the energy” of the big bang, writes Matt. Furthermore, “God is not somewhere else, hidden from us. God is right here hidden from us.” To discover the presence of God, Matt draws on both science and theology, fact and belief, and on the truths embodied in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, as well as Judaism. A rich dialogue between the physical and the spiritual, God & the Big Bangtakes us on a deeply personal, thoughtful and inspiring journey that helps us find our place in the universe—and the universe in ourselves.

Jewish Polity and American Civil Society is a study of the civic and political engagements of American Jews as mediated by their communal and denominational institutions. The book explores how the various branches of the organized Jewish community seek to influence public affairs. Over the course of the last century, Jewish agencies and religious movements have tried to shape public debate and public policy on such issues as civil rights, church-state relations, and American foreign policy. The book sets the history of Jewish engagement in these areas into historical context; analyzes the motives, strategies, and tactics of various Jewish groups, and evaluates their successes and failures. The book also explores the underlying idea--the public philosophy--that informs American Jews' understanding of civic and political engagement.

Spiritual direction for today's spiritual seeker from the wisdom of the Hasidic rabbis.