à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Judaism
God as Fashion Director?
“Religion is just a costume party,” argues the formidable mystic and author Caroline Myss. The first time I heard her take-no-prisoners tone in one of her recorded lectures, I was stunned by her sheer irreverence. How could she trivialize or reduce hundreds if not thousands of years of tradition and customs to the garb worn … Continue reading
Counting Cats in Jerusalem
“I’ve counted 78 cats so far,” my niece, who recently became Bat Mitzvah, told me a few days ago. Three of us, the Bat Mitzvah gal, her eight year old cousin and I were walking back to our temporary Jerusalem “home” from an impromptu swim at the pool. “Look! There’s more!” she said, her face … Continue reading
A Pilgrim Goes “Royal”
Arab men fill the airy and glass-walled lobby of the Royal Rimonim Hotel. They sit on upholstered chairs around low tables and play cards at this gleaming tower along the shore of Israel’s Dead Sea. Some rotate rosaries through fidgety fingers. Women in diaphanous white head scarves and black outfits cluster around other tables, drinking … Continue reading
Born Again. Die Again. Repeat.
The Camino offered opportunities to experience the full arc of a day, a subtle but profound satisfaction I’ve been missing. When I began the pilgrimage in early October, the sun didn’t rise until after 8 a.m. That it was still dark so “late” was, at first, disconcerting but it meant I was already moving when … Continue reading
Shabbat in Santiago
Yesterday (Friday) I returned to Santiago from Finisterre; the distance that took me three and a half days to walk was covered in just two and a half hours by bus. For the last several weeks and 880 kilometers, I have followed waymarks, mostly yellow arrows (from faded to fresh) that are either spray painted … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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