{"id":117,"date":"2011-01-11T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/2011\/01\/love-is-my-religion.html"},"modified":"2011-01-11T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-11T01:00:00","slug":"love-is-my-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/01\/love-is-my-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Love Is My Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home…to clarify, not politically conservative, but rather a middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism.  Synagogue on Friday nights as a family, holidays celebrated in the home, our Passover Seder table included friends from various faith traditions. I attended Hebrew school until I was 16; even now reciting the Shema before bed..the signature prayer of the religion <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

“Shema Yisra’el <\/em>YHWH<\/em><\/font><\/a> Eloheinu YHWH E?ad<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

“Hear O Israel, The Lord Our God, The Lord Is One”<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

The translation that best resonates for me was offered by my friend Rabbi Rami Shapiro<\/em>:<\/font><\/p>\n

“<\/font>Hear O Israel, That Which We Call God Is Oneness Itself”<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

and the Modeh Ani upon arising<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

“Modeh anee lifanecha melech chai vikayam, she-he-chezarta bee nishmatee b’chemla, raba emunatecha.”<\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

“I offer thanks to You, living and eternal One, for You have restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, to their credit, my parents supported my exploration of other beliefs.  I attended services with Christian friends, and my parents, sister and I spent Christmas with my mother’s dear friend Miriam and her family.  I always wondered how Santa knew to bring gifts there for two little Jewish girls. That tradition continued into my 20’s.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I told my parents about becoming an interfaith minister, my mother had one question: “Are you converting?”  My response echoed that of my friend Alan Cohen who when asked if he was a Jew For Jesus, he replied with words to  the effect:  “I’m a Jew for Jesus, an Alan for Allah, A boy for Buddha, A Man for Moses, A Cohen for Confuscious.”  I did not convert, I expanded my belief system to include various teachings.  <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motto of The New Seminary, founded by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, from which I graduated in 1999 is “Never instead of, always in addition to.”  Those powerful words encouraged us to come from our spiritual roots and branch out from there.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ziggy Marley’s song Love Is My Religion  <\/em><\/strong>speaks so beautifully, the concept I embrace that religion is meant to be unifying, not divisive.  <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home…to clarify, not politically conservative, but rather a middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism.  Synagogue on Friday nights as a family, holidays celebrated in the home, our Passover Seder table included friends from various faith traditions. I attended Hebrew school until I was 16; even now reciting the Shema…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blissfull-thinking","category-inspiration","category-music"],"yoast_head":"\nLove Is My Religion - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/01\/love-is-my-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love Is My Religion - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home…to clarify, not politically conservative, but rather a middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism.  Synagogue on Friday nights as a family, holidays celebrated in the home, our Passover Seder table included friends from various faith traditions. 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http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-8oAGvFxevw<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"