For those who are seeking a connection with G-d, with the wilderness, with Torah and Judaism, A Wild Faith: Jewish Ways into Wilderness, Wilderness Ways into Judaism, by Rabbi Mike Comins is an excellent resource, and beautifully written book. From meditations to exercises, we are given the footpaths in which to begin our journey into the natural environment and how it applies to Judaism. Nature has always been a primary facet of Jewish life.

The Exodus in itself is an event involving nature in all of its elements, from the harsh desert environment, to living within its confines.

Being within nature, whether it was Yosemite National Park, a river, Big Sur, the California coast, a simple pond on a farm, a lake, the Grand Canyon, the meadows of the English and Scottish countryside, or a simple leaf on the ground, a butterfly, and so on, opens up spiritual and environmental senses. The setting and quietude can bring you awe, wonderment, illumination, and a feeling of humility. Have you experienced spiritual realization at these moments in time? If so, then you are on the path to wild faith. Nature and Torah can bridge your connection to Judaism, and cement your religious and spiritual flow.

For those of us, and this includes me, who have spent hours or days in a wilderness setting, this book will add to your spiritual connection and realization with G-d and nature. For those who have not spent much time in the wilderness, this inspirational book by Comins will bring you insight, and give you the foundation to help you to transition from a strict “Torah-based” and religious background, to one that flows with the river of G-d’s illumination.

There is a difference between spirituality and religion. The two can live together within one body, one complimenting the other, in mutual harmony. For those who want a deeper understanding of the bond between nature and Judaism, this is a book for you. Torah and nature can coexist. They both coexist together in my own life.

Comins is our guide, as he treks through Judaism and nature, showing us how being within nature can bring us an incredible and emotional experience, and a personal Jewish journey, defining who we are, and what we value in the scheme of Judaism. The book is inspiring, illuminating, A Wild Faith: Jewish Ways into Wilderness, Wilderness Ways into Judaism, by Rabbi Mike Comins is a beautifully written book. It is filled with vivid imagery, poetic prose, exercises, meditations, word-paintings that fill your senses, and that will show you the way to wonder, to awe, to your inner spiritual self in ways you may not have thought about. I highly recommend it to everyone, whether Jewish or not.

As I said in a previous post, “Torah and nature can coexist in my world, in defining the Jewish being that I am. Each is a part of the foundation of my very Jewish essence. One cannot be without the other. The river of nature’s beauty and awe constantly flows through my Jewish heart, soul, and self.”

I personally own and have read this book.

This book is the first book (out of four of my choosing from my list), that I have read and reviewed, for the Jewish Literature Challenge 2009.
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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
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