When I began Shalom Rav 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. Over the years, 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.
While these issues are profoundly central to me and my own rabbinical work, I’ve become increasingly aware that I’ve been giving short shrift to many of the other issues I used to blog about: namely, Judaism, Jewish life and spiritual practice in general.
So now I’ve inaugurated a new blog: “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 for a variety of subjects that are near and dear to my heart. At the same time, Shalom Rav will remain primarily a social action/world issues/social justice- themed blog.
What can I say? I guess it’s never to late to find a little equilibrium. Please surf over to Yedid Nefesh – and if you like what you read there, I invite you to subscribe and join the conversation!
Shalom Rav 
Brant – I applaud you for pausing, reassessing how to go forward, and acting on what was clearly a need you had. I’m looking forward to reading both blogs.
Equilibrium/balance, Brant, is greatly overrated, but I welcome the birth of Yedid Nefesh. I was going to send you this petition from this morning’s Easter liturgy at my parish, but this is a most appropriate place to lodge it. “For all nations and peoples of the earth, to whom God shows no partiality, that all may be transformed by mercy to live together in hope, let us pray ….” I know we Christians think God likes us best, and at least some Jews think God likes them best, but the God behind all these gods we make out of our myths surely loves us all more deeply than we can imagine.
Brant, I am delighted and look forward to your ideas, insights and teachings. Thank you for broadening your scope on Jewish thought and life. That itself is a valuable lesson.