Rivvy Neshama •
Recipes for a Sacred Life •

While hospitalized with emphysema, Rivvy Neshama’s father—“our live-in Jewish comedian”—tells his family a raunchy joke about reincarnated rabbits. They laugh so hard that a nurse comes by to scold, “Some people here are critically ill!”—apparently forgetting that the joke teller is one of them.

Laughter is high up on Neshama’s list of ingredients for a sacred life, along with music, food, nature, friends, and gratitude. “I guess you could live a sacred life without laughter,” she muses. “But tell me this: Why would you want to?”

By her own admission, Neshama is not much of a cook. Points for honesty, plus I warm to people who aren’t any better in the kitchen than I am. (See Hungry Spirits for more on this subject.) But in Recipes she has concocted a rich broth you will want to dip into again and again. Her sources are as varied as the famous poem “Desiderata” (reproduced here in case you missed the sixties), Frank Lloyd Wright, the Dalai Lama, and Shakti Gawain. “My spiritual path became a smorgasbord that merged Eastern and Western religions, Native traditions, and my mom.” The mash-up is homey, appealing, and down to earth.

Much like Sylvia Boorstein, Neshama reminds us that what’s sacred doesn’t start and end at the door to a monastery. Tequila, hot fudge sundaes, Phillies games, and going barefoot show up alongside Sabbath candles, salutes to the sun, and tantric sex. Her essays touch on arguing with one’s spouse, feeling unworthy, obsessive judgment, and getting the words to prayers wrong. Wherever you are on your journey, you’re bound to find encouragement and practical suggestions for staying tuned to “the drumroll of synchronicity.”

In the words of the Sufi mystic Rumi, “There are hundreds of ways to kiss the ground.”