Nonprofit offers study and connection for spiritual seekers
Jews often view Christians as idolaters. Christians often view Jews as unsaved. Within both Judaism and Christianity are many denominations and debates. Yet the One Almighty God is the Source of life and hope of all! For the sake of ourselves and the watching world, let’s delve deeper and ascend higher, beyond our differences to the truth that transcends.
This is the premise of How Great Are Thy Works, a nonprofit organization that attempts to bring people of different faiths together to study the concepts that bring them together. Through social media, parsha study, small groups, and monthly meetings, the aim is to connect people with the source of life and with eternity, according to the group’s founder, Diane Schlesinger, who also serves as a trustee of the Anderson Children’s Foundation in the Coachella Valley and a psychiatrist in Irvine.
The daughter of a secular Jewish father and a Unitarian mother, Schlesinger was doing her own spiritual seeking. At the age of 25, she began to explore Christianity, then Messianic Judaism, then eventually Judaism. She studied with Rabbi Yisroel Ciner and Uzi Yair at Congregation Beth Jacob in Irvine.
“I looked for the root of faith and wondered if we have a revelation from beyond,” Schlesinger explained. “I wanted to promote the idea of a personal relationship with G-d and with each other. The idea is that G-d is one, G-d is the source of the word and spirit through which we connect.”
Schlesinger noted that the group does not purport to be a congregation, nor does it work with clergy. She sees the group as a way to help people feel connected with the Creator, “like the Mishkan in the desert.” She believes that the phrase, “Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your G-d,” brings people together and unites believers.
For more information on How Great Are Thy Works, visit https://www.rootsandfruit.org/.
Ilene Schneider has been chronicling Jewish life in Orange County for five publications since 1978. She has served as a communications consultant for a number of Jewish organizations. She is a contributing writer to Jlife Magazine.