Levi Ben-Shmuel

In part one of this series, I talked about an insight I had regarding bringing my spirit into the workplace via my video, "Stop Working and Start Playing!" In short, a powerful way to bring spirit into the workplace is via a shift in attitude. In...

Over lunch last month, my friend Martin Rutte encouraged me to enter a global video contest promoting spirituality in the workplace. (Martin is chairman of the board of the sponsor of the contest, The Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace out of Saint Mary's University in Canada.) At...

Ever since my wife introduced our young son and myself to the movie Titanic a few years ago, I have been fascinated by the story of what happened the cold, clear night the R.M.S. Titanic ran into an iceberg and sank.

There are many reasons why her wreck holds...

Purim commemorates the Jewish people's miraculous delivery from destruction in ancient Persia as told in the Book of Esther. It is a holiday of joyous celebration unlike any other on the Jewish calendar.

The Talmud counsels that one should drink on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between the...

While watching Roger Federer lose his recent Australian Open semifinal to Raphael Nadal, I was struck by his seeming unwillingness to play the obvious strategy to have the best chance at winning. (The current world number one, Novak Djokovic, showed Federer and the world a successful way to do it...

Proverbs 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." There is wisdom in this statement. Having vision implies having hope that things can be different and better. There is also the hint in the verse that having vision energizes the will to turn a vision into reality. No...

For millions of Americans, this Thanksgiving will require people to dig deep within themselves in order to truly give thanks. The spiritual teaching on gratitude, celebrated in great style on Thanksgiving, is not an easy one to follow if you are homeless, broke, sick without health insurance or have exhausted...

I recently wrote a post titled, "Finding New Purpose on the Age Wave," that explored how baby boomers can use the next phase of their lives to make major contributions to society while doing things that are deeply satisfying personally. For many, the core motivation in finding a...

Getting older has been on my mind a lot lately. It isn't my own relentless march through time that has obsessed me; it is the coming age wave that will engulf society in the coming years. My obsession started after reading the book, A New Purpose, then interviewing its author,...

As we know, life is seldom a smooth road. Our dreams do not always manifest in the form we had hoped or in the time we imagined they would. As you reflect on why your dreams have not been realized, and perhaps look to place blame for them not working...

When I lived in Jerusalem in the 1990s, the archaeological excavations in what is known as the City of David were being developed as a major tourist site. The City of David is the core of ancient Jerusalem, located on an elongated ridge that descends southward from the Temple Mount....

Shavuot, the Jewish holiday marking the anniversary of the Israelites receiving the Torah, is also the anniversary of the cosmic marriage between God and the Jewish people. Underlying their collective choosing to say "yes" to this marriage is a love story anyone can learn from.

The biblical...

Anne* was working hard trying to master an exercise in one of my recent tai chi classes. Her concentration was evident by the frown on her face and her rigidly held upper body. To help move her into a more relaxed state, I said two words: "Anne, smile!"

In the movie Don't Mess with the Zohan, a superhero Israeli soldier named the Zohan and a legendary Palestinian terrorist called the Phantom find their way to leave warfaring behind and make peace between themselves. In this comedic parody, the two protagonists find inner and outer peace through following their...

Israel is well known for sites sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims but on a recent trip there, I had an unexpected spiritual experience in a surprising place: a tourist boat on the Sea of Galilee.

As my wife, son, and I set out to enjoy a beautiful mid-March afternoon...

While preparing for a recent Tai Chi class, I was struck by the importance of space in generating power in Yang-style Tai Chi. This led me to think about how critical space can be in generating powerful results in anyone's life.

Many principles are in play while doing Tai Chi,...

The stunning news that the Egyptian people successfully removed Hosni Mubarak through peaceful means offers tremendous opportunity in many respects. One of them is to begin transforming the Middle East into something that is hard to image: a green oasis.

The book How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth...

Recently, my wife and I saw "The King's Speech." We were both moved by the true story of a British royal with a stutter who was suddenly thrust into the role of king at the start of World War II. His perseverance in fighting to find his voice and commitment...

Are you tired of making New Year's resolutions? I stopped making them a long time ago. No matter how good my intentions were, the resolutions lost steam soon after the New Year began. January 1st never had the power to motivate transformation as much as other life-changing events did.

Nevertheless,...

The expression "let's get to the heart of the matter" is well ingrained in the English language. When it comes to the heart itself, what is the heart of the matter? The question arose while thinking about open-heart surgery. Recently, two close relatives underwent the operation. One needed his aortic...