This website has been in the back of my mind for many years, and I am excited to finally bring it to reality. Let me start with a bit of my story.
When I was younger, I can’t say that ever knew what it was like to be bored, and I had seemingly every hobby and interest that I possibly could. I had a menagerie of pets, I loved art and gardening, I knit, I was a runner and guitar player. Looking back I am not sure how I managed to find time to do any of this. But the hobby that stood out above others was the juggling.
Like many people I got my start with that classic beginners juggling book, Juggling for the Complete Klutz, but I very quickly realized this was much more than a passing interest. Soon I was juggling clubs, going to conventions and local meetups, and began taking a weekly circus skills class where in addition to perfecting my juggling skills, I learned to unicycle. I loved the process of learning new tricks, and looking back, I think I also appreciated that juggling and unicycling made me stand out from the crowd. (Everyone knows that being a juggling and unicycling teenager with a lot of pets in middle school was bound to make me cool…)
During the time when I was immersed in my circus arts hobby, I also began preparing for my Bar Mitzvah. While I didn’t grow up with a strong Jewish education, my parents raised me with a meaningful connection with Jewish culture and community, and as I entered my teenage years, I also began exploring my own personal spirituality and Jewish identity. I dabbled in Buddhism and Yoga, and tried my best to create a regular meditation practice. But the more I learned about Judaism, I realized that the spirituality and wisdom found in my own faith and culture was deep and powerful.
Throughout my high school years, as I continued to juggle (and unicycle, and knit, and play guitar…) and became more immersed in my Jewish learning. By the time I made it university, I became active in the campus Hillel Jewish organization, and for the first time considered becoming a rabbi. I loved the way that Jewish wisdom was so honest, where questions where just as important as the truths which held the community together. I loved the music, I loved the holidays, I loved the food and the humor, and above all I reveled in the joy of helping people create meaning in their lives and bring them into community. I was truly hooked on the Jewish thing, and by the time I graduated from university, I knew that I was on my path to eventually being a rabbi. After a few more years of wandering (Jews wander, right?), I moved to New York, got a Masters in Jewish Education, met my wife (yay!) and then started rabbinical school.
Now many years later after living and working in Oregon and Poland, I am a congregational rabbi in Montreal, Quebec. While all the while, I have kept up my juggling, it wasn’t until the past few years that I realized how important these two parts of my life really were. Yes, juggling was always fun, and I knew it could also be a healthy hobby which kept my blood flowing during those hard practice sessions. But now that I was spending my life immersed in Jewish texts and community building, I started to see the inherent wisdom and spirituality found in juggling and the circus arts. The connections now made, it was time to spread the word and begin an exploration of how this ancient sport can inspire us to live more connected more meaningful lives.
I hope that this website, blog and connected Instagram page will be a source of joy and inspiration to people of all faiths and spiritual paths and that as we keep juggling, we at the same time can do our best to bring some healing to ourselves and to our world!
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