“To wrestle with, or doubt, God is perhaps the strongest form of faith.
In the same manner that you may gently rebuke a loved one for not being there in a time of need, questioning the existence of God is about pointing out a lack for the sake of developing a stronger relationship.” -Rabbi Misha Clebaner
“Thy name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God (sar el) and with men, and hast prevailed.’ -Genesis 32:29
Welcome to the new season of the ‘Raising Holy Sparks’ podcast. This year, we will be focusing on Jewish concepts and will be experimenting with ways to take them out of the theoretical and turn them into the practical. Continue reading “Practical Judaism – Vayishlach”
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening.” – Genesis 24:63
Welcome to the new season of the ‘Raising Holy Sparks’ podcast. This year, we will be focusing on Jewish concepts and will be experimenting with ways to take them out of the theoretical and turn them into the practical. Continue reading “Practical Judaism – Chayei Sarah”
“And the floodgates of the sky broke open.” -Genesis 7:11
“People who pray for miracles usually don’t get miracles, any more than children who pray for bicycles, good grades, or good boyfriends get them as a result of praying. But people who pray for courage, for strength to bear the unbearable, for the grace to remember what they have left instead of they have lost, very often find their prayer answered.”
– Rabbi Harold Kushner in “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”
Welcome to the new season of the ‘Raising Holy Sparks’ podcast. This year, we will be focusing on Jewish concepts and will be experimenting with ways to take them out of the theoretical and turn them into the practical. Continue reading “Practical and Embodied Judaism – Parasha Noach”
Episode 39: It All Started in the Desert; w/Rabbi Mike Comins
“Ever-lasting life You have implanted with us.”
-Jewish Prayer
Rabbi Mike Comins grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from UCLA with a BA in Near Eastern Studies, and served as Rosh Eida at UAHC Camp Swig before making aliyah (moving to Israel) at age 26.
While guiding Jerusalem for American youth and serving as chairperson of Netzer Olami (the International Reform-Zionist Youth Movement), Rabbi Mike studied classical Jewish texts for four years at Machon Pardes, a yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1996, he was ordained by the Hebrew Union College – Israeli Rabbinical Program.
Rabbi Comins founded TorahTrek Spiritual Wilderness Adventures in 2001 while serving the Jackson Hole Chaverim in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The community’s first resident rabbi, Rabbi Mike helped the Jackson Jewish community establish itself while developing TorahTrek.
Rabbi Comins returned to Los Angeles in 2004, where he met his wife-to-be, Jody Porter. He continued to grow TorahTrek and turned it into a non-profit (2009).
A Wild Faith: Jewish Ways into Wilderness, Wilderness Ways into Judaism (2007) and his second book, Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer is Difficult and What to Do about It (2010).
In each, Rabbi Comins developed his “spiritual dynamics” approach to learning and teaching Judaism as a spiritual practice.
Episode 2: Extra Addition to Intro – Special Guest Anabelle Harari
“How do we deepen relationships with others and with ourselves? In this bonus supplement to the intro episode, I speak with Anabelle Harari about the transformative power of spiritual community.”
What started as a simple sound check to test the microphone before recording the first ever episode of the “Raising Holy Sparks” podcast – ended up being a really interesting conversation in and of itself about community, prayer, and how to be our truest selves.
Rabbi Misha Clebaner 