Reconnecting with my faith and spirituality

[Anonymous]

When I was younger I very much felt G-d’s presence in my life. Now that I’m older, I have a harder time connecting to G-d and my faith and my spirituality and I miss these connections. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to practice regaining these connections? This was always a personal relationship for me. I was raised as a reformed Jew and we were not very observant nor did we attend services often. I am raising my children as reformed Jews and we belong to a synagogue and they attend religious school but we are not very active in the congregation. This is more about nurturing my own relationship with G-d and my own spirituality, if that makes sense. I just feel like there’s a null space there now, where I used to have a connection. I’m not sure how to nurture that.

[Anonymous]

Does your Synagogue have small group discussions? Or classes that interest you?

[Anonymous]

As a Jew I’ve never understood this G-d thing. Why don’t we just just write “God”? Some have told me that it’s because Hebrew has no vowels. Even if this were true, so what? God is English, not Hebrew. Secondly, Hebrew has vowels. The Alef and the Eyin are vowels. Before Ezra the Scribe recreated the Hebrew alphabet to look like Aramaic, the Hebrew alphabet looked like other Mediterranean alphabets. “Alpha Bet Gimmel Dalet” is Alpha Beta Gamma Delta.” It’s merely that as the centuries passed, how words were pronounced changed. Therefore, how an Alef or Eyin was pronounced in one word became different then how they were pronounced in other words. Therefore, it became more convenient to teach that the Alef and Eyin were “silent letters.” But that was not originally the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was younger I very much felt G-d’s presence in my life. Now that I’m older, I have a harder time connecting to G-d and my faith and my spirituality and I miss these connections. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to practice regaining these connections? This was always a personal relationship for me. I was raised as a reformed Jew and we were not very observant nor did we attend services often. I am raising my children as reformed Jews and we belong to a synagogue and they attend religious school but we are not very active in the congregation. This is more about nurturing my own relationship with G-d and my own spirituality, if that makes sense. I just feel like there’s a null space there now, where I used to have a connection. I’m not sure how to nurture that.

Maybe, as you matured, the null space became the reality and there is nothing left to nurture.

[Anonymous]

Start listening to “Super Soul Conversations “ podcast.

Start at the beginning and figure out what speaks to your soul.

Spirituality and Religion are very different.

The more evolved you are in your relationship with god the less you need Religion. You might be ready to run and if you are still walking with crutches it’s too hard to run.

[Anonymous]

Yeah just write God. You aren’t fooling anyone. It’s just like saying flipping instead if the word autocorrect makes into ducking.

[Anonymous]

What facets of religion do you connect with the most? For example...

- ritual?
- inspirational lectures and events?
- intense textual learning, with a partner or a group?
- social events and communal meals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was younger I very much felt G-d’s presence in my life. Now that I’m older, I have a harder time connecting to G-d and my faith and my spirituality and I miss these connections. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to practice regaining these connections? This was always a personal relationship for me. I was raised as a reformed Jew and we were not very observant nor did we attend services often. I am raising my children as reformed Jews and we belong to a synagogue and they attend religious school but we are not very active in the congregation. This is more about nurturing my own relationship with G-d and my own spirituality, if that makes sense. I just feel like there’s a null space there now, where I used to have a connection. I’m not sure how to nurture that.

Maybe if something momentous happened, e.g., the serious illness and miraculous recovery of a loved one, that feeling that came naturally as a child would return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your Synagogue have small group discussions? Or classes that interest you?

Agree with this suggestion. OP, sharing stories about religion and what it means to an individual is how I stay involved with faith. It makes it more "human".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Jew I’ve never understood this G-d thing. Why don’t we just just write “God”? Some have told me that it’s because Hebrew has no vowels. Even if this were true, so what? God is English, not Hebrew. Secondly, Hebrew has vowels. The Alef and the Eyin are vowels. Before Ezra the Scribe recreated the Hebrew alphabet to look like Aramaic, the Hebrew alphabet looked like other Mediterranean alphabets. “Alpha Bet Gimmel Dalet” is Alpha Beta Gamma Delta.” It’s merely that as the centuries passed, how words were pronounced changed. Therefore, how an Alef or Eyin was pronounced in one word became different then how they were pronounced in other words. Therefore, it became more convenient to teach that the Alef and Eyin were “silent letters.” But that was not originally the case.

It's because you're not supposed to throw away or erase G-d's name. So if you actually write out "God" there is a risk of it being erased or thrown out. So you substitute the dash. (Though personally I always wondered if it really counts in English, haha, but that's how I grew up doing it.)

Like so many other Jewish rules and superstitions, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I was entertaining myself the other day reading a book my dad got on the laws of Passover, which included gems like you can have a non-Jew cut your hair during Pesach but only if he has fasted. As my family always jokes, there's a reason so many Jews become lawyers ... these nitpicky legalistic formulas are part of our heritage!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jew I’ve never understood this G-d thing. Why don’t we just just write “God”? Some have told me that it’s because Hebrew has no vowels. Even if this were true, so what? God is English, not Hebrew. Secondly, Hebrew has vowels. The Alef and the Eyin are vowels. Before Ezra the Scribe recreated the Hebrew alphabet to look like Aramaic, the Hebrew alphabet looked like other Mediterranean alphabets. “Alpha Bet Gimmel Dalet” is Alpha Beta Gamma Delta.” It’s merely that as the centuries passed, how words were pronounced changed. Therefore, how an Alef or Eyin was pronounced in one word became different then how they were pronounced in other words. Therefore, it became more convenient to teach that the Alef and Eyin were “silent letters.” But that was not originally the case.

It's because you're not supposed to throw away or erase G-d's name. So if you actually write out "God" there is a risk of it being erased or thrown out. So you substitute the dash. (Though personally I always wondered if it really counts in English, haha, but that's how I grew up doing it.)

Like so many other Jewish rules and superstitions, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I was entertaining myself the other day reading a book my dad got on the laws of Passover, which included gems like you can have a non-Jew cut your hair during Pesach but only if he has fasted. As my family always jokes, there's a reason so many Jews become lawyers ... these nitpicky legalistic formulas are part of our heritage!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jew I’ve never understood this G-d thing. Why don’t we just just write “God”? Some have told me that it’s because Hebrew has no vowels. Even if this were true, so what? God is English, not Hebrew. Secondly, Hebrew has vowels. The Alef and the Eyin are vowels. Before Ezra the Scribe recreated the Hebrew alphabet to look like Aramaic, the Hebrew alphabet looked like other Mediterranean alphabets. “Alpha Bet Gimmel Dalet” is Alpha Beta Gamma Delta.” It’s merely that as the centuries passed, how words were pronounced changed. Therefore, how an Alef or Eyin was pronounced in one word became different then how they were pronounced in other words. Therefore, it became more convenient to teach that the Alef and Eyin were “silent letters.” But that was not originally the case.

It's because you're not supposed to throw away or erase G-d's name. So if you actually write out "God" there is a risk of it being erased or thrown out. So you substitute the dash. (Though personally I always wondered if it really counts in English, haha, but that's how I grew up doing it.)

Like so many other Jewish rules and superstitions, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I was entertaining myself the other day reading a book my dad got on the laws of Passover, which included gems like you can have a non-Jew cut your hair during Pesach but only if he has fasted. As my family always jokes, there's a reason so many Jews become lawyers ... these nitpicky legalistic formulas are part of our heritage!

God is not God’s name. God’s name is YHWH and we don’t put any dashes in that. “God” is Hebrew for “El” and we don’t put any dashes in El. For that matter, if what you’re saying is true, why do we only put dashes in English and never in Hebrew? Is it OK to erase God in Hebrew but not in English? For that matter, if what you say is true, why do French Jews never put dashes in “Dieu”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your Synagogue have small group discussions? Or classes that interest you?

Agree with this suggestion. OP, sharing stories about religion and what it means to an individual is how I stay involved with faith. It makes it more "human".

OP is looking for a connection with God, not people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your Synagogue have small group discussions? Or classes that interest you?

Agree with this suggestion. OP, sharing stories about religion and what it means to an individual is how I stay involved with faith. It makes it more "human".

OP is looking for a connection with God, not people

Sometimes the way to God is through people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your Synagogue have small group discussions? Or classes that interest you?

Agree with this suggestion. OP, sharing stories about religion and what it means to an individual is how I stay involved with faith. It makes it more "human".

OP is looking for a connection with God, not people

Sometimes the way to God is through people.

according to you, but this is not a known fact. God is supernatural.