Harvard). Chaplains understand spirituality broadly to include not just someone’s religious beliefs, but how they find meaning, comfort, courage, and connection, particularly in times of crisis.

that there is one faith language and we both speak it.

Of the ancient Near Eastern civilizations in existence at the birth of the Jewish people—the Hittites, Ammonites, Edomites, and so many others—none remain, lost to history long ago. But Jews are still here, and I believe Jewish civilization still has something important to say, to us and to the world. This book is the story of how I learned to

For thousands of years, Jewish thought and moral wisdom have both shaped and challenged Western culture, and Jews’ impact has been wildly disproportionate to our numbers.

There is no one “right” way to practice Judaism; there are countless ways to be a passionate, committed Jew. And no matter how far you may feel from your tradition, it is still yours—your birthright, your inheritance.

I soon realized that there was nothing freely chosen about my former Jewish identity. It was, in many ways, the product of two thousand years of antisemitism and two hundred years of efforts by Jews to erase parts of ourselves and our tradition in the hope of being accepted and safe.

Judaism’s unique ethical wisdom, diverse spirituality, emphasis on studying and debating sacred texts, and many rituals and practices that take place outside a synagogue—were the very parts I most loved and admired when I discovered them as an adult.

you saw talking heads spouting the “great replacement theory,” a claim that “globalist elites” (a code phrase for “Jews”) are promoting immigration so as to replace white people with people of color. (This is why marchers at a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, were shouting “Jews will not replace us.”)

feelings about Judaism have been shaped by the overwhelmingly Christian country in which I live. How much of my understanding of Judaism has been on other people’s terms?