Thank you, Rabbi Aaron Alexander

I had a brief but inspiring chat with a rabbi recently.

He asked me, "Are you a religious person?"

I wasn't exactly sure how to answer.  I don't quite want to say no.

"Well... I don't identify with any particular religion, exactly..."

"Let me ask you another way.  Do you practice religion, of your own kind, maybe, in the way that you live your life?"

He was telling me about how disappointed and saddened he is that people put so much emphasis on the labels of 'organized religion,' that there was so much importance placed in the minutia between one denomination and the next.  He lamented that so many people end up only feeling lost, unable to embrace even the semblance of their inherent spirituality because they don't feel comfortable with any prescribed vision.

He was there with me, helping me finish getting a dessert ready for service.  It was some kind of Jewish spiritual retreat for some 200 people, and the weekend they spent there was devoted to learning and prayer, all aspects of life guided by traditional Jewish faith.  Due to the strict nature of this group, about half of our kitchen was painstakingly converted into a working Kosher kitchen (with a separate "dairy" kitchen set up outside, as dairy- and non-dairy foods must be stored and handled separately).  He was there, with two of his students from the rabbinical school, to supervise this kitchen and ensure we adhere to the rules of Jewish law.  Every ingredient and method of preparation was closely inspected; every piece of equipment had to be specially prepared and kept in use in the Kosher area only.  During Shabbat, which takes place every weekend between sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, absolutely no cooking can be done whatsoever.  But, people still have to eat, which means everything for that time frame had to be prepared in advance.

And he, speaking freely from within these incredibly strict religious confines, told me he grieved that people don't realize that within them, each and every one, exists the path to "God."