Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)

It is more like a love letter than a shopping list.

Moses Maimonides, once declared, “Listen to the truth from whoever said it.”

we pray not so much to please or change God, but to change ourselves—not because God needs our prayers, but because we do.

Providing a loan or job Giving in such a way that the donor and the beneficiary are both anonymous

Rabbi Harold Kushner notes, rather than suppressing our desires (like the folks who imprisoned the yetzer hara), or mindlessly indulging them, we can sanctify our desires with the mitzvot—elevating them and ensuring they’re in the service of something beyond mere bodily satisfaction.

Doing teshuvah is not so much about beating yourself up over what you’ve done in the past, but about changing yourself so that you act differently in the future.

Again, we’re partners, not pawns. We’re expected to act.

Judaism emphasizes our obligations to those on the margins.

As a rabbi once told me, “Judaism isn’t just taught, it’s caught.” You have to be willing to be surprised by Judaism. You have to give yourself a chance to catch it.