No one teaches you how to do teshuvah or to navigate the yamim noraim when you have self abusive tendencies. Just know that your friends and community members who deal with these things are not in need of being told how wrong or bad they have been, but need to take this time to rebuild and reaffirm their relationship with themselves. Their lives depend on it.
Welcome to a new chapter in Jewish American literature.
When I publish a post, I have an adventure, a game, and an OCD wonderland.
Many of us identify as spiritual people –We pray, meditate, and take hikes in the forest. We close our phones for hours and do nothing other than think about G-d. But how do I know if I'm doing it right?
Are we meant to think of self-sacrifice? Of the Akeida? Of listening to G-d no matter what?
Should I feel humbled? Full of awe? Is this raspy cry meant to remind me of my deeds? Of the things I've been running from?
From now on, I eat my bread washed down with gratitude.
When I open my eyes, I see the holiness in the water and in the everyday details of my life.
Between paternalism and passivity, solidarity and self-righteousness, the ever-process of understanding begins with an admission of irreparable ignorance.
