About

I have been a rabbi since 2004, when I was ordained in Jerusalem. Since then I have consulted, taught, preached, written, made music, built communities, conducted family and life-cycle events, and much more.
Yet, after all these years, I am still learning and still open to the question of what the work of a rabbi is actually meant to be.

I am rooted in Judaism. That is my home base, my spiritual language and my primal inheritance. However, esteemed as it may be, Judaism is but one voice within our greater Human story.

This conviction has led me through many journeys. My life has taken me across geographical, religious and cultural borders. I first worked in Israel/Palestine, in peacebuilding, education, broadcasting and civil society. Since 2013, I have lived in South Africa, where I have done congregational and interfaith work, teaching, chaplaincy and community building.

Africa transformed me. It gave me another home and brought me into relationships and traditions that I could not simply observe from the outside. Along the way, I trained as a Sangoma, following the path of traditional ancestral healing.

I remain a rabbi. I do not try to collapse one tradition into another, and I do not pretend that the tensions between them are always easily resolved. I live with those tensions with as much honesty and authenticity as I am capable of.

Lineage

My rabbinic formation was shaped by my lineage: dear, brave and wise master-sages, whose living teachings were transmitted to me by those who initiated me, during my rabbinic seminary years and beyond. Some of my old teachers are still alive, although most of them are no longer with us.

This matters because nobody invents himself. We receive language, questions, practices and ways of seeing from those who came before us. Then life asks us what we are going to do with them.

Often I feel that I am but a pale shadow of my great ancestors. However, as long as I am alive, I will carry their voices with the utmost fidelity and integrity available to me.

When the time comes for me to be called to them, I wish to stand in their mighty presence knowing that I was all I could have been, and that I did all I could have done for the sake of our shared heritage: what I received from them and have, during all these years, strived to transmit to the many circles I have encountered and engaged with.

What I do

Today, I am an independent rabbi, educator, chaplain and consultant.

I teach Jewish and Western Esoteric texts, history, theology and spiritual practices. I accompany people through weddings, memorials, baby namings, house blessings and other moments that deserve to be marked properly. I offer pastoral conversations and personal and institutional consultations. I work with communities and organizations on identity, conflict, dialogue, leadership and change.

I have also established Midreshet Africa – Academy of Judaism, a home for serious Jewish learning, culture and community rooted here in Africa.

Learn. Gather. Mark. Create.

My work is set around the following:

Learn what has been handed down to us, while questioning its authenticity and relevance.

Gather people around what is shared and held in love and reverence.

Mark the transformative moments through which our lives are defined.

Create new expressions, methodologies and memories, capturing the singularity and richness of our human identity.

On a personal note

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

I have accumulated several titles over the years. They are useful, but they do not tell the whole story.

The work itself matters more: meeting people where they are, listening carefully, bringing what I know, and trying to leave behind a little more meaning, courage and possibility than there was before.

If you think I may be able to help, teach, accompany or build something with you, you are welcome to get in touch.

Yours,

Sa’ar Khai Shaked