My classes at Ascent provide me with opportunities to meet, interact with, and get to know very special souls. Especially when it’s Elul time and, whether they know it or not, there is this “Elul spirit” in the air that gets people to look deeper into who they are and what they are.
Last week, one young lady in particular showed a deep interest in the class, asking questions about differences between Judaism and Buddhism. After our class trip to Amuka(1), she delved deeply into the concept of one’s soul mate. How do you know who is your soul mate, can you have more than one soul mate, how is Judaism so sure that the soul mate is known from when the person is born. She shared that she is a professional pianist and got stuck for a year and a half in India due to Corona, instead of the 6 months she had planned. When there, she was attracted to and studied Buddhism, even adopting an Eastern name.
After discussing current music, I explained that Jewish music has its own soul, and that it would be very meaningful for her to explore her Jewish background. It was clear that she was very affected by the classes, taking notes and asking deep questions. I invited her to come back to Ascent for Rosh Hashanah to continue her journey. Hopefully this story will continue in the next newsletter.
Wishing you a very good and sweet new year.
(1): Burial place of the 18th century sage Yonatan ben Uziel, where many singles visit to pray to find their soulmate.