Spiritual Chutzpah

-tools and gear-

Imagine: a mosque in downtown Manhattan, a room with white painted brick walls and about sixty people kneeling on carpets, the walls still resonating with Sufi poetry of the evening prayers.

In the front of the mosque: a woman wearing a white cap and shawl, the sheikha, a female Sufi leader. With some opening blessings, the sheikha begins her sermon. It’…