The Spirit Behind the News extracts essence, expands the context

July 13, 10:17 AMSpiritual Living ExaminerMarlena Rich

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Amid the intensity of scanning huge volumes of internet information and news I have enjoyed islands of belly laughter, insights, tears and new perspectives via Rabbi Ben Kamin’s examiner.com column for the past year. But the impact of his stories in book form is significantly greater. Each and every page of The Spirit Behind the News promises to move your soul and shift perception of life with magnanimous heart. Ben Kamin is right on target with his life work of calling humanity to live to our highest capacity, to love with great ardor, to forgive the debts of our ancestors, to sing from our cellular level. And through his often personal stories we hear Ben the human walking his talk.

With poignantly articulate language Rabbi Kamin courageously challenges complacency, rigidity and prejudice with his sometimes gut wrenching truth. Occasionally, with disbelief, I am reminded that the English language is his second. No matter the subject or life situation he is commenting on, you can be sure he gets to the heart of the matter, elegantly escorting us along the high road with humor, sensitivity, and yes, the strength of his opinion, ringing the bell of resonance at the core of humanness.

He doesn’t preach from a pedestal, Ben Kamin rolls up his sleeves living among us, gracing his way through life’s challenges. “You know, most of us rabbis, ministers, priests, and other clergy came into this line of work with our eyes open and our hearts pure. We’re hardly perfect, but we arrived clear-eyed, idealistic, and not jaded…It’s hard not to be affected by the touch of so many hands, the press of countless huge hugs, the texture of tenderness, the breakthrough moments of study, the whispers of painful secrets shared in clinical privacy, the bitter tears of separation in the cemetery, the joyous tears of bride and groom, the satisfied weeping of parents blessing their children at Torah ceremonies – the salty waters of human life that define, say, a rabbi and a congregation much more than even the fine, consultant tuned ‘mission statement.’” from - Holiday memo to preachers: it’s God house, not your ‘edifice complex’

While a Rabbi through and through, Ben helps to dissolve the boundaries humans have created between themselves through the centuries. “You don’t have to believe in God to believe that the way you love someone is divine. Once you remember this, you’ve got Thanksgiving cooked, Hanukkah freed, and Christmas redeemed. And since these pressured holidays, with their pretense and their indulgence, their defiance of spirituality in favor of acquisition, are so at odds with the meaning of love, this is the time to consider how much your beloved means to you.” From - Love was the festival before the holiday became a chore

Ben Kamin is about bringing together humanity by helping us to recognize our shared capacity for love. “As is written in the Book of John, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’ In the Hebrew Scripture, Zechariah describes Sukkot as a kind of final ‘harvest of souls.’ Meanwhile, this Jew is hardly threatened and actually would be elated if a messianic event could indeed take place and unconditionally wed all Jews and Christians in a reconciliation that transcends both religions and sends us all back to God…Here we gather together, transparent and happy, visible to our neighbors, and we bless the grains and the produce of the earth and the warmth of sunshine. If it rains upon us, we are only grateful that the soils are replenished and the seeds of future blossoms are nourished…I love it when Jews and Christians are tripping all over one another with the same texts and dreams.” From – Jesus, if today is the Second Coming, please come to my sukkah

“We are all custodians of Moses [an orphaned child] and every child in this world orphaned by the current insanity [of war]. We will defeat their brutality with the power of love.” From - When you break the hearts of babies

At the end of the day isn’t that what we are looking for, truth, expansion of our capacity to love, grow beyond our vision and to be inspired to live fully. You are guaranteed a deeply moving ride through life wearing an interesting pair of spectacles via Ben Kamin’s powerful voice of Spirit and heart.
 

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