Yitzhak Buxbaum

What is a "holy woman," or a holy man for that matter? According to the Jewish mystics, a holy person is someone who has not lost the holiness that every baby is born with. A holy person is someone who fulfills it. Stories about Jewish holy women have rarely been collected in such an engaging and entertaining form. The tales display a specifically female Jewish spirituality, giving us a peek into a world of devotional beauty that focuses on kindness. These stories of laughter and tears, humility and bravery, striving and trance, have an appeal spanning the denominational spectrum: they are spiritual nourishment for the soul. The rabbis say there are both male and female angels and angels are on earth as well as in heaven. These tales enhance our appreciation of the female angels on earth.

Jewish Tales of Holy Women

Lama Surya Das

Lex Hixon

Babaji Bob Kindler

Kyogen Carlson

Father Abbot Joseph Homick

Islam, Vedanta, Yoga, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism — one finds all these and more represented in Nectar of Nondual Truth. And never mind that there are points of difference with regard to practice and approach. You will find a nearly unanimous agreement around the Essence. On the cover, in the scriptural quote for this issue, we find the rishis of ancient India referring to this nondual Reality in terms of “something hidden.” It is indicated by religious traditions as the Pearl of Great Price, the White Dove Ascending, the Bourne of Freedom from Fear, the Ultimate Quest and other expressions which indicate both the beauty of and the difficulty involved in finding this Treasure, and infer the huge amount of self-effort that will have to be undertaken to succeed in this most excellent endeavor. But purity, practice, patience and perseverance — what can stymie the aspiring soul who approaches Divine Reality with such resolve? If one wants to see patina exude from a copper penny, one places it in a damp atmosphere and watches for days, weeks, even months, until that green substance finally issues forth. What a huge amount of work and effort is involved in gaining a few drops sesame oil from hundreds of seeds! Reality is “hidden,” then. Nature is Its sporting-ground, the universe Its Cosmic Mind, thought-force is Its power to create, revealed scripture is Its revelation, and forms and objects are solid reminders of both Its power to create and Its transcendent and unlimited nature. Yet, all of these are reflections, are insentient material principles. The one Spirit, though It pervades them, is independent of them, and they all get their existence and their ability to shine with reflected light from That. It is Svarupa, to quote the ancients, Essential Being, and everything, everyone else, is Svarupavishranti — always resting in this one essential Being.

Extracting Essence

Nectar #10

The Jewish mystic path and its practices to attain God-consciousness.

Jewish Spiritual Practices

'The purpose of this book is to elevate stories and storytelling in people's esteem, so they will understand their holiness and appreciate them at their full worth. There are those who enjoy stories and storytelling but in the back of their minds think, 'After all, they're only stories.'

Storytelling and Spirituality in Judaism

This is a life, in stories, of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760), the founder of Hasidism. The Baal Shem Tov, or the Besht, as he is commonly called, led a revival in Judaism that put love and joy at the center of religious life and championed the piety of the common folk against the rabbinic establishment. He has been recognized as one of the greatest teachers in Jewish history, and much of what is alive and vibrant in Judaism today, in all denominations, derives from his inspiration. Abraham Joshua Heschel, who was descended from several illustrious Hasidic dynasties, wrote: "The Baal Shem Tov brought heaven to earth. He and his disciples, the Hasidim, banished melancholy from the soul and uncovered the ineffable delight of being a Jew.">

Yitzhak Buxbaum

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