Welcome to Yedid Nefesh: a spin-off from my first blog, Shalom Rav. When I began SR back in 2006, I didn’t have much of a game plan other than writing posts about anything and everything I felt like sharing for what it was worth. For reasons I cannot fully articulate, SR increasingly began to focus almost exclusively on peace and social justice issues, with a special emphasis on Israel/Palestine.

So now I’m inaugurating Yedid Nefesh (in Hebrew: “soul mate;” and the name of a beautiful liturgical poem for Shabbat). Through YN, I hope to create an outlet for other subjects that are near and dear to my heart, particularly in the realm of Torah commentary, Jewish life and spiritual practice in general.

So if you’ve surfed over from Shalom Rav, welcome. I hope you’ll join the conversation here as well!