We're In This Shift Together
As a rabbi, Matthew Ponak knows the significance of community in the good times and the bad. We’re in this Shift Together explores the meeting place between ancient spiritual teachings, cutting-edge research and innovation, and the needs of our era. The conversations cover insights and experiences that improve our world and give us hope during these tumultuous times. In our secular society, millions of people are dedicating themselves to the work of innovation. Simultaneously, camps of traditionally religious people are tending the fires of insights and practices which have sustained them for thousands of years. Leaders and thinkers from all arenas benefit from cross-pollination and there is much more common ground between these two camps than is often acknowledged. When approaching any new problem today, religious and spiritual insights can offer a sense of how our ancestors grappled with similar issues. At the same time, inherited wisdom is, by definition, from a prior era. In dialogue with scientific expertise and new circumstances, the storehouses of human knowledge inevitably grow and mature. Together these different perspectives help us navigate our transitioning world. Host Rabbi Matthew Ponak is a teacher of embodied mysticism, a spiritual counsellor, and the co-founder of the Mekorah Institute — an online spiritual centre. Also holding an MA in Contemplative Religions from the Buddhist-inspired Naropa University, Rabbi Matthew weaves world wisdom with ancient Jewish insights. He received ordination from Hebrew College where he specialized in the study of Hasidic spirituality and Kabbalah. Visit matthewponak.com to learn more.
We're In This Shift Together
Mama Earth and Joyful Service with Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
Being of service to the world means more than just working for a cause you believe in: it's also about striving to live harmoniously with who you truly are.
In this episode, Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman describes her own journey to becoming a climate activist and spiritual leader. Through many years of seeking and searching, she discovered the best ways her talents could be utilized to help a planet which is struggling. In this conversation, Rabbi Shoshana and Rabbi Matthew also delve into the benefits of spiritually-based activism and Rabbi Shoshana shares some personal lessons from parenting a neurodiverse child.
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is a writer, mother, and climate activist in Boston. She serves as a rabbinic ambassador for Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, and as the Director & Co-Founder of The Artist Beit Midrash of Hebrew College and JArts.
Rabbi Shoshana’s song “The Tide Is Rising,” which she co-wrote with her husband Yotam Schachter, has spread widely as an anthem in the climate justice movement. Her writing has been published in various venues including The New York Times, Tablet Magazine, YES! Magazine, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, and Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her original album Guesthouse is available on streaming platforms.
She is currently at work on a book of essays, a picture book version of “The Tide Is Rising,” and a project with Sunrise Movement to build out a new fundraising initiative.
Rabbi Shoshana is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, JOIN For Justice, and Oberlin College where she was also a Henry David Thoreau Scholar. She was ordained by Hebrew College in Newton, MA and lives in Boston with her husband and son. She spends much of her time humbly doing her best to parent through a creative and neurodiversity-affirmative lens.
Her essay "Becoming a Mom During the Climate Crisis" is available at: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/becoming-mom-climate-crisis