Over the next few years, I studied with focused intent Jewish views on the character of God, suffering, and evil. After comparing Jewish and Christian concepts related to sin, grace, and atonement, I studied the reliability of the Bible, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and issues...
A question the Jewish community rightly asks is, “If Christianity is true, why has it produced such bad fruit for the Jewish people?” It no longer works to rationalize that anti-Semitic Christians could not have been authentic believers. A cursory reading of church history reveals...
During this time, I enjoyed a close relationship with the Linda and Glen Welsfords—my evangelical friends. They knew of my love for Judaism, however, not of my growing dissatisfaction. Once, I made a curious request of Glen, saying, “I know how much Jesus means to...
Judaism elevated me far above the secularism I had grown up with by expanding the boundaries of my heart and opening me up to an unseen reality. When I found the synagogue experience disappointing, I took refuge in prayer and reading the Bible. Rather than...
One morning in synagogue, I sat beside David Miller, a family friend and Holocaust survivor. His simple piety and translucent spirituality transported me. On his face, I saw an aura of divine calm and deep surrender. Through a process of osmosis, his very presence overrode my...
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s notion of “divine pathos,” God’s emotional involvement in the life of his people, became critical to my understanding of the Old Testament. Heschel wrote that we should live in radical amazement—looking at the world in such a way that we take...
I could see the difference between two worldviews. The Hebrew mindset assumes God’s existence from the existential fact of being in a relationship with Him. Greek thought, on the other hand--the foundation of Western philosophy--seeks to prove God through logic and reasoned analysis. Martin Buber wrote,...
Michael’s problems persisted throughout grammar school and beyond. I dreaded school conferences and winced every time a mother of one of his classmates called. My spirit broken beyond repair, I made what some might have considered a counterintuitive decision. I took part in a community-wide...
When our son Michael revealed that a traumatic event occurred in his childhood, my husband and I could finally connect the dots and understand what precipitated his 30- year struggle with depression, eating disorders, and drug addiction. Despite gaining closure, we agonized over what our...
Because Steve disbelieves as strongly as I believe, we both feel a separation. Though I have traveled a distance in his secular shoes, he has no way of fathoming mine. When on the rare occasion we discuss religion, I become tongue-tied and unable to articulate...