Rabbi Toba Spitzer To Speak About New Book At Montclair Synagogue

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Bnai Keshet. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Bnai Keshet in Montclair invites the community to attend Kabbalat Shabbat dinner and a discussion on Friday, March 11 from 6 to 8 pm. led by Rabbi Toba Spitzer about her new book, "God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine," a transformative exploration of the idea of God, offering new paths to experiencing the realm of the sacred.

The event will feature a book signing at 6 p.m., a Middle Eastern dinner, a short Shabbat service and Rabbi Spitzer’s talk. Bnai Keshet is located at 99 South Fullerton Avenue. Advance registration for the meal is required at: https://www.bnaikeshet.org/event/kabbalat-shabbat-service-toba-spitzer-speaker.html

Most humans are hungry for a system of meaning to make sense of our lives, yet traditional religion too often leaves those seeking spiritual sustenance unsatisfied. Rabbi Spitzer understands this problem firsthand, and knows that too often it is traditional ideas of the deity—he's too big, too impersonal, and too unbelievable—that get in the way. In God Is Here, Rabbi Spitzer argues that whether we believe in God or fervently disbelieve, what we are actually disagreeing about is not God at all, but a metaphor of a Big Powerful Person that limits our understanding and our spiritual lives.

Rabbi Spitzer is a popular teacher of courses on Judaism and economic justice, Reconstructionist Judaism, new approaches to thinking about God, and the practice of integrating Jewish spiritual and ethical teachings into daily life. She served as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association from 2007-2009, and was the first LGBTQ rabbi to head a national rabbinic organization. She has received the honor of being included in Newsweek’s Top 50 Rabbis in America list and the 2010 Forward list of 50 Female Rabbis Who Are Making A Difference. Since 1997, she has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, MA.

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