This wide-ranging conversation with noted teacher of spirituality Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg begins by recounting the influences that led her toward integrating meditation and yoga into Jewish spirituality. She then digs deeply into the essential interplay between spiritual experience (love received) and spiritually-rooted justice (love extended not only to neighbors, but to strangers, even in the face of trauma and fear.) We conclude by discussing of the transformative practice of spiritual direction.

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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg.

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Links:

• Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg homepage — Sheila Peltz Weinberg: Author, Poet, Rabbi & Teacher
• God Loves the Stranger: Stories, Poems, Prayers: Sheila Peltz Weinberg (Amazon link)
• Shalom Meditation – Institute for Jewish Spirituality — Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg for this meditation on shalom.
• In the Divine Image – Institute for Jewish Spirituality — Join Rabbi Sheila Weinberg for a meditation on, and exploration of, what it means to experience life as b’tzelem Elohim – created in the divine image. 
• Walking as Practice – Institute for Jewish Spirituality — This meditation is from Preparing the Heart: Meditations for Jewish Spiritual Practice. Rabbi Sheila Weinberg describes walking practice as a way of paying attention to the sensations in the body, gathering our attention and focus in the body.
• Sylvia Boorstein: That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist (Amazon link) — Sylvia Boorstein was mentioned in this episode as a teacher of meditation who embraces and integrates her Jewish identity into her work.
• Spiritual Direction | Reconstructionist Rabbinical College — The spiritual director serves as a companion and witness — someone who helps you (sometimes with questions, sometimes just by listening) to discern the divine where you might have missed it, and to integrate that awareness into your daily life.
• 10 Mindfulness Rituals and Meditations from Ritualwell — In support of Hashivenu we are highlighting rituals that have sustained the Jewish people throughout history. Below are 10 mindfulness rituals and meditations recommended by Ritualwell.
• Meditation Resources from Ritualwell
• Embracing the Stranger resources from Reconstructing Judaism — The pieces in this collection address the stranger we encounter inside as we grow in self-awareness, the strangers we meet in the world around us, and the intersection between the two.