blogs/brentspodek

Many people who live a religious life, or aspire to one, pray that God will appear to them in a cacophonous moment of revelation.

We routinely offer the priestly blessing, which Aaron offered to the children of Israel.

May GOD bless you, and keep you;

May GOD make God's face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you;

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Every language is a lens, an optic, through which we see the world. 

Some things carry more or less the same meaning in one language as in another. There's not any real difference between a Spanish mesa, a Hebrew shulchan and an English table.

Sometimes though, there is a big difference in what languages call things. The English word prayer connotes asking, requesting, even begging. But this thing we call...Read more...

People were making sure they had working flashlights and bottled water, always good things to do, but there was more. One friend needed to take an emergency Oreo run before the snow came, and there were dozens of texts and emails figuring who was hosting a blizzard party...Read more...

My wife and I are both graduates of one of the most famously liberal colleges in the country. I learned many valuable things there, including how to read and understand theorists on racial violence and colonialism, such as Cornell West, and Franz Fanon.

That's part of why it's always so striking when I show my kids our wedding album. Most of the faces there are white, and most of the ones that aren't belong to friends of...Read more...

In the course of my spiritual journeys, I have been blessed with many rabbis, many mentors. Some I've been privileged to know personally and learn from directly; others, I know through their writings and their students. 

Among the most influential of mentors I've never met is Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1996). His name isn't commonly known, but his teachings have had a profound impact on spiritual seekers of all stripes....Read more...