Rabbiting Rabbis, ULEZ & Mystical Beings with Debbie Young-Somers - S3E7

15 June 2023

Welcome back y’all to Hope & Anchor, and this week to a previously unseen episode from the vault with such an uplifting personality, Debbie Young-Somers!

As we learn in this delightful episode of the podcast, Debbie is a community rabbi, lives by a theology of humility, and once was a Jason Donovan stan.

Join us this week to dive into what a ‘spiritual atheist’ means, conversations with the dead, & synagogues in the ULEZ.

This episode covers:

‘Conversations Against Mundanity’ tackling our celebrity crushes
The spiritual spectrum
What it means to be a spiritual atheist
Our relationship with the dead
Resistance to change and the ULEZ

Episode highlights

“My spirituality, I would define as a theology of humility, in that I think I can just learn from absolutely everybody, and their glimpses of God. Actually, I don’t know very much about God, but I can learn from everybody I meet.” - 3:45 - Debbie Young-Somers

“I think there are folks in AA, and many of my friends who are not in AA, who do not believe in God in any way, shape, or form. Push back if you wish, but I do believe human beings are spiritual people.” - 9:20 - Trey Hall

“My brother talks about himself as the most spiritual atheist. He found his higher power through understanding that the sun rises and things happen in the world beyond his making them happen, and it’s beautiful and connected.” - 9:45 - Debbie Young-Somers

“The core of why we’re asked not to talk to the dead, is that Judaism wants us to focus on this life, being present and making the most of being here.” - 16:30 - Debbie Young-Somers

“I feel like we are so resistant to change. Everybody wants things to be better. Nobody wants to change in order to do it.” - 25:10 - Jaz Ampaw-Farr