Guest Columnists

I tried to explain to my friend how people react to grief and mourning differently. Looking back, I wish I could take back my words. In a misguided attempt to make her “feel better” or “fix the situation,” I was negating her emotions.

So we’ve come to realize the subtle but potentially dire effects on our food, but do we ever consider our food’s spiritual “profiles”? Does the food or drink that we consume affect us on a spiritual plane, on a soul level, influencing our character and natural tendencies?

Our natural human desire to get close to G-d sometimes leads us to pursue methods of religious ecstasy. Yet our human desire to be close to G-d may well be at odds with G-d’s divine desire to be close to us.

Do you prefer some parts of Judaism over others? What do you do about the unexciting parts?

Even the uninformed are regarded as “pure” during the major festivals. Why?

The distinction between the permitted animals and the forbidden animals raises a question that has occupied many commentators.

Judaism isn’t only for the spiritual-minded or for those who more easily connect to the experience.