What would it mean for people to live their Jewish lives in a way that was transformative for them, and for the world?

Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis · Nov 19, 2025 · 44m

About six months ago, I was speaking with a writer-friend who lives in DC, and she mentioned to me that she needed to finish a revision of her book before she flew out to Los Angeles, because then she wouldn’t be able to work on it. Why not, I asked. “It’s a week-long silent retreat,” she said. “You don’t speak, you don’t read, you don’t write.”

That sounded as about as far from my comfort zone as one could get, but it intrigued me. “What do you do all day?” I asked, knowing virtually nothing about the “mindfulness world.” “I could tell you,” she said, “but go on the website—it’ll give you a…