Spiritual Reflection, February 2022

Embracing the Rich Tensions of Conflict

So I live with the conflict. I live with it every day, in a thousand ways that pull me in one direction or another. I have come to realize that the conflict is a sign of my health, not of my confusion; the tension is a measure of the richness of my life, not of its disorderliness.

—Blu Greenberg

This quote has been like a companion to me over the past few decades as I have negotiated and re-negotiated my spiritual identity. Blu Greenberg is a leading Orthodox Jewish feminist, and while the “conflict” she is speaking of is the tension between Orthodox Judaism and feminism, the quote for me has spoken directly into my commitment to both Yeshua and a meaningful connection to Judaism.

So often, I have felt torn - between communities, calendars, liturgies, practices. But time and time again I return to this incredible conclusion made by Greenberg: indeed, the conflict and tension is a sign of health amidst the fractured body of Messiah, and it represents the deep richness of my life. It is not an indication that something is wrong, or that if I just work a little harder I will cease to feel the dissonance.

As I share in my forthcoming book, Finding Messiah: “The path I have found myself on, fraught with uncertainty and in-betweenness, has turned out to be the font of my life’s great joy. It is this path, with all of its toil and misunderstanding, tears and anguish, that has proven to be my meeting place with God—the God of my ancestors, the God of Israel, the God who is fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.”

So, may we press into the tension rather than seeking to resolve it – and may we find a deeper connection to God and to one another in doing so.

Jen Rosner