A rabbi of the human spirit

Where I stand

My work is rooted in Jewish learning and practice, with a commitment to human dignity, careful scholarship and encounter across religious and cultural boundaries. I work independently and welcome people whose lives and questions cross traditions.

This website represents my own professional practice. Midreshet Africa Academy has separate governance and an institutional voice.

A life across traditions

I have been a rabbi since 2004, when I was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. Since then I have taught, preached, written, made music, built communities and accompanied people through the moments that shape their lives.

My work began in Israel and Palestine, in peacebuilding, education, broadcasting and civil society. Since 2013, South Africa has been my home and the setting for congregational leadership, interfaith work, teaching and chaplaincy.

Africa transformed me. It brought me into relationships and traditions I could not simply observe from outside. Along the way, I trained as a sangoma, following the path of traditional ancestral healing. I remain a rabbi, and live with the questions between these traditions with as much honesty as I can.

What I bring

My academic formation includes an MA in Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University, undergraduate studies in History and Classical Studies at Tel Aviv University, and doctoral research on Martin Buber, without completion of the doctorate.

Today I work independently as a rabbi, educator, chaplain, writer and consultant. I teach Jewish texts and spiritual practices, lead ceremonies, offer pastoral conversations and work with communities on identity, dialogue, leadership and change.

Lineage

Nobody invents himself. We receive language, questions, practices and ways of seeing from those who came before us. Then life asks what we will do with them.

I carry the living teachings of my teachers and ancestors with the greatest fidelity and integrity available to me. The work is to receive a heritage, examine it seriously and transmit it in forms that remain alive.

Midreshet Africa Academy

I founded Midreshet Africa Academy as a home for Jewish learning, culture and community rooted in Africa. It is a separately governed educational institution. This website represents my personal professional practice.

On a personal note

I am a father, writer and musician. I care about texts and ideas, but also about meals, songs, places, friendships and the magic created when people come together.

The work matters more than the titles: meeting people where they are, listening carefully and trying to leave a little more meaning, courage and possibility than there was before.

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