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Showing posts with the label homosexuality and judaism

Splitting the Sea......Musings on Same Sex Marriage in Pennsylvania and Beyond

Today Pennsylvania, the state in which I now live and in which I was born and raised, made same-sex marriage legal. I am thrilled beyond words about this, even though I realize it is only one important issue facing the LGBT community (bullying and teen homelessness is at the top of the list, in my opinion) it is still an important victory. I am not thrilled because same sex relationships need to be recognized or validated by the straight community or the state. We already know that these relationships are real and valid. However, having state recognition allows same-sex couples to become legally married and receive the numerous benefits afforded straight married couples by the state. The most important one is probably spousal rights in the hospital, etc. Though marriage is only one model of relationship, it is the only one that needs state recognition (even though I think it should be a spiritual/religious ritual and not a state one. B...

Parshat Pinchas: Rejoice in our Victory, But Continue the Struggle - perspectives on this week's SCOTUS decisions

- June 28, 2013

This week's parashah/portion is Pinchas (Numbers / Bemidbar 25:10 – 30:1). It begins by recounting an incident from the end of last week’s parashah where Pinchas, son of Eleazar the priest, slays an Israelite man and Midianite woman after they enter a tent to have sexual relations. This takes place after the text tells us that the Midianites have led the Israelites into whoring, both in terms of women and also after other gods (especially the Midianite god Baal Peor). And so this act involving two people, represents what is happening on a greater communal level. At the start of this week’s parashah we are told that after Pinchas slew the “offending” couple the plague that was ravaging the camp ceased. Furthermore, God gives Pinchas a brit shalom /covenant of peace as a reward for his zealousness. After Pinchas receives this covenant, God instructs Moses to take a census of all the male members of the tribes. This is followed by it the plea of the five daughters ...

Bio

Rabbi Steve Nathan is a 1994 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, PA. He has also trained in storytelling with Peninnah Schramm and in mindfulness meditation with Sylvia Boorstein, Rabbi Jeffrey Roth, and Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg.

Steve has served in numerous Jewish communal settings and feels blessed to be able to share his thoughts and his writings with you. He always welcomes comments or questions regarding his blog posts and is also happy to visit your community (see information below).

Currently Steve lives in Bethlehem, PA and serves as Director of Jewish Student Life and Associate Chaplain at Lehigh University. He also leads services and teaches adults learning on regular bases at Reconstructionist Congregation Am Haskalah in Bethlehem.

Bring me to Your Community as a Scholar or Artist in-Residence!

BRING ME TO YOUR COMMUNITY!
All programs can be tailored for your community. This information is followed by some "reviews" of my work.

Hear
With Your Heart
Listen
With Your Soul

A Mindful Approach to
Jewish Spirituality and Life

Experiencing the Heart
and Soul of Shabbat
Discover new meaningful ways to experience Shabbat and create spiritual community through …
• Mindfulness meditation
• Chants, songs, and niggunim
• Poetic and other original Torah commentary
• Contemplative prayer and Torah study
• Creating original Torah commentaries, poetry or midrash

Preparing Your Heart and Soul for the Holy Days
Use meditation, chanting, prayer, study and other practices to prepare your heart and soul for the High Holy Days, Sukkot, Passover, Shavuot or other holy days.

Mindful Torah and Mindful Midrash:
Finding Yourself in the Torah and the Torah in You
• Enter the Pardes (orchard) of Torah through relaxation, meditation, chanting and contemplative Torah study.
• Discover and explore personal and group connections with the Torah text and the personalities within it.
• Create original interpretations and midrash using prose, poetry, music, art, or any medium to express your personal connection to the narrative and the people in them.
• PERFECT for adults preparing to deliver a d’var torah, or who simply want to experience the Torah in a different way.
• A UNIQUE way for educators of all experience levels to engage and excite their students through learning Torah.

For more information on how to bring me to your community e-mail me at mindfultorah@gmail.com or call 215-514-3463.

A Little About Me

I was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (www.rrc.edu) in 1994. In addition to serving as a rabbi and educator in synagogues and school, as well as on college campuses, I have studied midrash and storytelling with renowned storyteller Peninnah Schram at the Institute for Contemporary Midrash. I have also studied Judaism and mindfulness practice with Sylvia Boorstein and Rabbis Jeffrey Roth and Sheila Peltz Weinberg through the Meditation Leadership Training program at Elat Chayyim Spiritual Retreat Center (www.elatchayyim.org).

Read what others have to say about me as a teacher, scholar, writer and artist ...

"Your scholar in-residence program here was wonderful! I have heard from the community how the variety of teaching, meditation, drumming, and sharing your original poetry moved people from different age groups, interest groups, and varying levels and styles of spiritual and religious connection. Thank you!"

- Rabbi Sarah Rubin, Congregation Ahavas Achim, Keene, NH

“Steven uses a Jewish sense of play-on-words in creating new worlds through words. He transforms ancient stories through connections I hadn't realized until now. He brings the stories alive with a midrashic wonder and infuses them with creative imagination and passion in a sacred storytelling voice.”
- Peninnah Schram, author of Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another and Stories Within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition

“Steven has a wonderful way of integrating mindfulness insights into his interpretation of Jewish texts. He enables us to delve deeply into them and the characters within them in order to discover something new within ourselves.”
- Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, senior faculty, Institute for Jewish Spirituality

“Rabbi Nathan brought a deep sense of kavvanah and spirituality to our weekend together. He did this through Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat drumming and chanting, heart-felt prayer explanations, early morning guided meditation program, his poetic interpretation of the Torah portion and his interactive Havdalah midrash program. Rabbi Nathan is the one to turn to if you want to experience Shabbat in a whole new way!”
- Rabbi Michael Beals, Congregation Beth Shalom, Wilmington, DE

“It is clear that Steven knows and cares about Jewish spirituality. His mindfulness about the material as a teacher is matched only by his thoughtfulness in helping us uncover our own feelings about its meaning in our lives.”
- Janet Ruth Falon, author of The Jewish Journaling Book (Jewish Lights Publishing)