I recently decided to dive into a deeper study of Jewish practices and ended up reading two books simultaneously. It’s easier on a Kindle, because I don’t have to lug both books around. I found the experience of reading these two books together brought a very well rounded perspective to Jewish practice. I recommend both, and together if you can.
I decided to use God in Your Body
What both of these books do is open the doors of “observance” for the un-orthodox. It’s not about being observant, it’s about practice. Practice is a fundamental element of Judaism, and most religions and spiritual paths.
“A practice is done “no matter what” not for strictness’s sake, but so that it can be a prism that casts light upon the mind.” — Jay Michaelson, God in Your Body
This concept of practice is what both books are about. How and why to begin in Jewish spiritual practice. The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life
If you are looking to begin or deepen your understanding of traditional Jewish practices like food blessings, wearing tallit, kippah, and tefilin, daily prayers, or the mikvah then start with The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life.
[tags]religion, spiritual practice, embodied judaism, earth-based judaism, spirituality, reading[/tags]
Good choices it seems, Ketzirah! I read _God in Your Body_ about a year ago and was rather impressed. I probably would have adopted Jay’s practices had I not already been regularly following the practices from _Minding the Temple of the Soul_ by Tamar Frankel and Judy Greenfeld.
I mess around with the traditional liturgy the book uses, mixing Marcia Falk in with my own personal English ideas and some Chi Kung here and there. I felt drawn to the idea of traditional Jewish prayers, but always found them kind of passive, so the idea of body movement along with traditional forms really made sense to me.