Jewish Spirituality

• Journeys in Jewish Spirituality*
• Afterlife and Eschatology in Judaism and World Religions
• Chapters of the Heart: The Power and Perils of Spiritual Autobiography
• Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Bereavement
• Death, Burial and Mourning in the Hebrew Bible
• Eco-Judaism: The Theology & Practice of Jewish Responses to Ecological Crises, Past & Present
• End-of-Life Counseling and Hospice Care
• Feminist Transformations of Judaism: A Twenty-first Century Perspective
• Jewish Rituals of Death and Dying
• Jewish Views of the Afterlife I: Immortality and Eschatology in Biblical and Rabbinic Tradition
• Jewish Views of the Afterlife II: Mythic and Mystical Teachings on the Post-Mortem Journey of the Soul
• Prayer as if the Earth Really Matters
• The Psalms and Jewish Spirituality
• The Spirituality of the Twelve Steps

Journeys in Jewish Spirituality*

Faculty: Rabbi Howard Addison (Profile)

*This course is appropriate as a point of departure for students in the D.Min. in Jewish Spirituality program. 

• To  further acquaint you, the student, with past and current sources and themes in Jewish Spirituality
• To stimulate reflection upon the state of your own spiritual journey as well as the vistas and perspectives that the readings and exercises might open for you
• To help  clarify, both cognitively and affectively, how your own spiritual leadership, including your doctoral project, should embody the knowledge, insight and experience gained along your continuing Jewish Spiritual Journey 

• Katz, Steven T. Jewish Ideas and Concepts. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1977.  (Written from a masculine perspective more common to its time, this text does provide an informed, accessible overview of the classical sources on a variety of Jewish Spiritual themes (with citations). This more traditional, patriarchal orientation will be challenged and complemented by contemporary works on these same topics in the online selections, including essays, poems, videos and podcasts by members of the GTF Jewish Spirituality Faculty.)
• Required readings and exercises for the various weeks, as well as supplemental selections, will be available online.

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Afterlife and Eschatology in Judaism and World Religions

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

Description: This course shall weave together an exploration of teachings on death and immortality in Judaism, and other great traditions of the world. As historians of religion we shall trace the evolution of Jewish ideas on dying and the deathbed, and the postmortem survival of the soul from earliest roots in Biblical tradition through to the contemporary era. Traversing continents and traveling through time we shall encounter an ever-changing panorama of Jewish texts – Torah, Apocryphal literature, Talmud, medieval Midrash, Kabbalah and Hasidism - documenting how scholars and sages of the past reflected upon their own encounters with human mortality. At the same time, within the varied cultural environments in which Jewish life evolved we also find teachings on death and immortality. We shall investigate these death traditions – of ancient Egypt; the ancient Near East; the Greco-Roman world; early and medieval Christianity; Islamic civilization; and medieval Tibet - exploring the inter-relationship between these traditions and Jewish belief and practice. 

• Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.
• Rinpoche, Sogyal. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1992.
• Segal, Alan F. Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion. New York: Doubleday, 2004.

• Kraemer, David. The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism. New York:  Routledge, 2000.
• Kung, Hans. Eternal Life? Life After Death as a Medical, Philosophical, and Theological Problem. Trans. Edward Quinn. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1984.

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Chapters of the Heart: The Power and Perils of Spiritual Autobiography

Faculty: Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell (Profile)

Description: Autobiography and memoir can be rich resources for sharing one’s journey towards, through, or away from a faith tradition or community. These forms also can serve as a powerful prism through which to view classical Jewish texts. In this course, we will meet a range of Jewish writers and thinkers who have used their own life stories to illuminate Torah and construct a meaningful personal engagement with Jewish textual tradition, while creating an entry point for others’ spiritual exploration. We will explore how, as teachers and guides living in a memoir-obsessed culture, exploring our own stories can enhance our spiritual journeys and open spiritual paths for others. 

• Elwell, Sue Levi and Nancy Fuchs Kreimer (Eds.). Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013.

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Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Bereavement

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

• Alexander, Eben. Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey in the Afterlife. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
• Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying. New York: Scribner, 1997.
• Singh, Kathleen Dowling. The Grace in Dying. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1998.
• Worden, J. William. Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy. New York: Springer, 2009.

• Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth and David Kessler. On Grief and Grieving. New York: Scribner, 2005.
• Kumar, Sameet. Grieving Mindfully: A Compassionate and Spiritual Guide to Coping with Loss. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2005.
• Levine, Stephen. Meetings at the Edge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1984.
• O'Hara, Kathleen. A Grief Like No Other: Surviving the Violent Death of Someone You Love. New York: Marlowe & Co., 2006.

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Death, Burial and Mourning in the Hebrew Bible

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

Description: Within the Hebrew Bible are to be found a variety of teachings and perspectives on death and dying, burial and mourning, and views of afterlife and immortality. This course shall investigate a tapestry of Biblical texts on death and dying with a dual perspective -- looking historically at how death was understood in the Ancient Near East of the 1st and 2nd millennia BCE, and looking with a contemporary lens at what we can learn from ancient Hebrew and Israelite civilization for responding to the reality of death today. The intention of this course will be to help students harvest from Biblical tradition philosophical wisdom and practical guidelines for dealing with all facets of the human encounter with death in our times. 

• Hallote, Rachel S. Death, Burial and Mourning in the Biblical World. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2001.
• Bar, Shaul. I Deal Death and Give Life: Biblical Perspectives on Death. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition. Boulder, CO:  Albion-Andalus, 2015.
• Selected readings from the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish literature.

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Eco-Judaism: The Theology & Practice of Jewish Responses to Ecological Crises, Past & Present

Faculty: Rabbi Arthur Waskow (Profile)

• Passages and essays of Tanakh, Talmud, Kabbalah, Zionism, Jewish-renewal / Eco-Judaism, as contained in Waskow, ed., Torah of the Earth  (2 vols, Jewish Lights) and  Elon, Hyman, & Waskow, eds., Trees Earth & Torah: Tu B'Shvat Anthology (JPS)
• Benstein, Jeremy. The Way into Judaism and the Environment. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008.
• Bernstein, Ellen. The Splendor of Creation: A Biblical Ecology. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2005.
• Eisenberg, Evan. 1998. The Ecology of Eden. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
• Schwartz. Richard H. Judaism and Global Survival. New York: Atara Publishing, 1987.
• Waskow, Arthur. Seasons of Our Joy. New York: Bantam, 1982. (2nd ed., 1990. Boston: Beacon Press; 3rd ed., 2012. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society).
• Waskow, Arthur. Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex, and the Rest of Life. New York: William Morrow, 1995. 

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End-of-Life Counseling and Hospice Care

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

• Brenner, Daniel, et al. Embracing Life and Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care. New York: National Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership, 2002.
• Jacob, Walter and Moshe Zemer (eds.). Death and  Euthanasia in Jewish Law. Pittsburgh, PA: Rodeph Shalom Press, 1995.
• Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Center for Jewish Ethics. Behoref Hayamim: In the Winter of Life: A Values-Based Jewish Guide for Decision Making at the End of Life. Wyncote: PA: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, 2002.

• Levine, Stephen. Who Dies? Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1984.
• Lobb, Shafir. To Life! Bedside Prayers. Seattle, WA/Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2011.
• Hurwitz, Peter Joel, Jacques Picard and Avraham Steinberg. Jewish Ethics and the Care of End-of-Life Patients. Jersey City, NJ: Ktav Publishing, 2006.
• Singh, Kathleen Dowling. The Grace in Dying: How We are Transformed Spiritually as we Die. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1998.
• Zohar, Noam. "Death: Natural Process and Human Intervention" in Alternatives in Jewish Bioethics. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997, pp. 37-68.

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Feminist Transformations of Judaism: A Twenty-first Century Perspective

Faculty: Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell (Profile)

Description:  In this course, students will read primary works of contemporary Jewish feminist theology and explore how these theories and philosophies have challenged and influenced contemporary Jewish practice, liturgy, and ritual. We will also pay attention to the role of feminists and LGBT individuals and culture in the transformation of Judaism and Jewish practice. 

• Adler, Rachel. Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.
• Hartman, Tova. Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism: Resistance and Accommodation. Lebanon, NH: Brandeis University Press, 2007.
• Plaskow, Judith. Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1991.

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Jewish Rituals of Death and Dying

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

• Diamant, Anita. Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew. New York: Schocken, 1999.
• Heilman, Samuel C. When a Jew Dies. Berkeley: UCLA Press, 2001.
• Rabinowicz, Tzvi. A Guide to Life: Jewish Laws and Customs of Mourning. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1967; Jason Aronson, 1989.

• Brener, Anne. Mourning and Mitzvah. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 1993.
• Charney, Leon H. and Saul Mayzlish. The Mystery of the Kaddish. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2006.
• Goodman, Arnold M. A Plain Pine Box: A Return to Simple Jewish Funerals and Eternal Traditions. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1981.
• Levine, Aaron. The Complete Yizkor Handbook. Toronto: Zichron Meir Publications, 1987.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. The Grief Journey and the Afterlife: Jewish Pastoral Care for Grief and Bereavement. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.
• Wieseltier, Leon. Kaddish. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

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Jewish Views of the Afterlife I: Immortality and Eschatology in Biblical and Rabbinic Tradition

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

• Gillman, Neil. The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997.
• Herschel, Matt. "An Outline of Jewish Eschatology." Judaism 17, 2 (1968), 186-196.
• Johnston, Philip S. Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2002.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife (2nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition. Boulder, CO:  Albion-Andalus, 2015.
• Selected readings from the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish literature.

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Jewish Views of the Afterlife II: Mythic and Mystical Teachings on the Post-Mortem Journey of the Soul

Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)

• Pinson, DovBer. Reincarnation and Judaism: The Journey of the Soul. Livingston, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1999, pp. 25-123.
• Gillman, Neil. The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife (2nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
• Raphael, Simcha Paull. The Grief Journey and the Afterlife: Jewish Pastoral Care for Grief and Bereavement. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.

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Prayer as if the Earth Really Matters

Faculty: Rabbi Arthur Waskow (Profile)

• Waskow, Arthur. "Jewish Environmental Ethics: Adam and Adamah," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality (Elliott N. Dorff and Jonathan K. Crane, eds.). Oxford: OUP, 2013.
• Waskow, Arthur. Seasons of Our Joy (Revised Ed.). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2012.
• Waskow, Arthur and Phyllis Berman. Freedom Journeys: The Tale of Exodus & Wilderness Across Millennia. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011.
• Waskow, Arthur. Godwrestling -- Round 2. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 1998.
• Waskow, Arthur and Phyllis Berman. A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.

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The Psalms and Jewish Spirituality

Faculty: Dr. Herbert Levine (Profile)

The Book of Psalms, the prayer book of ancient Israel, continues to be foundational to Jewish spirituality.  This e-tutorial will focus on how the Psalms can work for individuals in the context of spiritual counseling and daily spiritual practice.  

• Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
• Edward Feld, Joy, Despair and Hope: Reading Psalms
• Miriyam Glazer, The Psalms of the Jewish Liturgy
• Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Psalms in a Translation for Praying

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The Spirituality of the Twelve Steps

Faculty: Dr. Herbert Levine (Profile)

• Alcoholics Anonymous. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. (Also available on the AA website as an e-book or free of charge as a PDF)
• Katz, Ernest and Katherine Ketcham. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning. New York: Bantam, 1993.
• May, Gerald G. Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2007.

• Griffin, Kevin. A Burning Desire: Dharma God and the Path of Recovery. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2010.
• Nouwen, Henri. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1992.
• Shapiro, Rami and Joan Borysenko. Recovery, the Sacred Art: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice. Woodstock, VT:SkyLight Paths, 2009.
• Taub, Shais. God of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery. Jersey City: NJ: Ktav Publishing, 2010.

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