In this powerful reflection on the Jewish New Year, Rabbi Jacob Staub acknowledges that sometimes, it's difficult to accept the underlying goodness of Creation.
Topics: Spirituality, Rosh Hashanah
Type: Essay
Spirituality
Here are a few things I learn each year from my garden: I do not think of what I do as gardening. I call it “horticultural therapy” and it has become my most profound spiritual experience. It allows me to engage with nature in a primal and tactile way.
Topics: Spirituality
In this speech Strassfeld addresses many issues relating to a Reconstructionist approach to spirituality. He tells his own journey which goes from rejecting Hasidic texts to embracing them. He lauds a Reconstructionist "anti-fundamentalist" approach which asks its adherents to embrace life's unknown and not need or desire singular answers. The text and audio of this speech are both available.
Topics: Spirituality, Reconstructionist Judaism
Type: Speech
Understanding Limitations
A beautifully written observation about recognizing one's own limits. Certain things are within our control and other things are not; there's a peace that comes in recognizing the difference.
Topics: Spirituality
Type: Essay
Acknowledging the Hidden Light
Topics: Spirituality
Type: Essay
After Death
What happens to us and our loved ones when we die? Can the living continue to connect with the dead, and vice versa? In this touching piece, Rabbi Jacob Staub takes readers on his personal journey through these questions.
Topics: Death and Mourning, Spirituality
Type: Essay
If God Is Good, Why Do Pain and Suffering Exist?
In this essay, Rabbi Jacob Staub explores the question that's on everyone's mind: why does God allow pain and suffering to exist in the world?
Topics: Spirituality
Type: Essay
Unspeakable Circumstances
In this thoughtful piece, Rabbi Jacob Staub probes the messages in the play Bent, and ponders how the experience of Nazi genocide shared by the Jewish and LGBTIQ communities forged a lasting bond between those two groups.
Topics: Spirituality, Sexuality
Type: Essay
Gossip and Truth
Rabbi Jacob Staub reflects on an interaction he had with a plumber, through the lens of the Jewish ethical practice of not talking about other people (Shemirat Halashon).
Type: Essay
Questioning All Norms
Rabbi Jacob Staub invokes the idea of a Jubilee year as described in the Book of Leviticus as a lens through which we should view modern societal norms.
Topics: Gay/Lesbian Issues, Spirituality
Type: Essay