וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹקים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹקים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑ו
And God created the human in God’s own image;
in the image of God, God created them. (Genesis 1:27)
I believe that each of us is a unique being of overflowing divine light.
I also know that many of us are not aware of this exquisite essence, that we have lost touch with our inner source of light and love, that it has been covered over by socialized constraints and inhibitions, by wounds and traumas and habitual patterns of protection so that we tend to live mostly from a place of smallness, self aggression and fear rather than from this higher place. We don’t know who we really are.
And so I see the work of redemption – both individual and collective – as an inner work of recovery and return, teshuva, a continual return to home, to Self, to God, to the sanctuary inside us where we meet the divine and from which we can offer care to the suffering parts of ourselves and others. .
I believe that as we each return home to ourselves and act from this place of inner alignment and integrity, our healing ripples outward and brings healing and redemption to the wider world. This is olam haba, not “the world to come,” but “the world that is coming,” on its way, through each moment of our return.
This website shares my reflections and struggles in this work of recovery and return. I see the path more clearly now but continue to stumble over obstacles. These, too, I believe — the “obstacles” and challenges — are part of the sacred process, and I honor them, allowing them to serve as conduits and compasses to guide me. I share with you my thoughts here in the hope and prayer that they are an aid on your own journey as the wisdom of others has been on mine.
Torah: I speak in the language of Torah, the tradition of Jewish texts that has accumulated from the Hebrew Bible to Rabbinic Literature (like the Talmud) and beyond. Torah is my native tongue. It is both the place I come from and the place I always come back to.
בן בג בג אומר: הפך בה והפך בה דכולה בה
Ben Bag Bag says: Keep turning it and turning it because it’s all in there (Pirke Avot 5:22).
The world keeps turning, my life keeps turning, and riding right alongside – as a trusty companion, an accompanying angel – are the Torah’s words, the words of my childhood etched indelibly into my psyche and the words of my ancestors of thousands of years, their pains and joys, their struggles and sorrows, all part of me and of the words themselves, the words both unbearably heavy with history, like bricks on my back sometimes, and at the same time, lighter than a feather, ephemeral, otherworldly and deeply nourishing. They are my Resting Place when I can find no other.
I am changing. I do not stay as I was. What I write, how I teach, who I read and talk to, how I listen, it all continually shifts. And I find that the Torah magically turns with me. I turn its pages and I discover that, as ben Bag Bag wisely said, kulah bah, it’s all there, all already there, as if waiting for me to see its light refracted through this new prism.
I carry the Torah with me where I go and the Torah carries me aloft as I make my way.
Torah And: I sit at the crossroads of “Torah and,” at the fertile intersection between these ancient words of my tradition and the wider world of spirituality, therapy, mindfulness, self help and awakening that is currently burgeoning all around us.
Some of the influences on my work are: Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, Buddhist therapeutic approaches (especially Thich Nhat Hanh, Tara Brach and Pema Chodron), Focusing (Ann Weiser Cornell), Mindfulness and Mindful Self Compassion (MSC), the Diamond Approach, Christian contemplatives like Beatrice Bruteau, Centering Prayer, Shadow Work (Matt Licata), Sufism, Unitarian Universalism, Person-centered therapy and various meditation techniques.
My Background: I grew up in a traditional Jewish home and community in Englewood, NJ, am the daughter of a holocaust survivor, attended yeshiva day schools (Moriah and Frisch) and seminary (Midreshet Lindenbaum), earned a BA in Religion from Princeton (1993) and a PhD in Rabbinic Literature from UPenn (2004).
I have been a Torah educator and writer for many years. I have taught in synagogues, universities, seminaries, day schools (middle and high school), and various adult education settings. I wrote weekly sermons on the Torah portion (divrei Torah) for my blog: “Parsha Thoughts and More” for 12 years before starting this website.
I am a grateful client who continues to heal and grow through IFS therapy, and I have also studied the model. I have for many years wanted to work one on one with people to support them in their spiritual-emotional growth. In 2022, I entered an interfaith/interspiritual Spiritual Guidance program, and in 2024, I completed the program and became a Spiritual Guide. See here for more details.
I currently live in Atlanta with my husband, Tim Lytton, after many years in Albany, NY. We have three marvelous children who are in various stages of leaving home and making their way in the world.
