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
Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking with Natan Margalit
Tapping into ancient wisdom to shed light on modern problems is essential for grounded cultural transformation. Today's guest is Natan Margalit—the author of The Pearl and the Flame—a book which synthesizes traditional Jewish insights and contemporary ecological theories to envision a more integrated, connected, and hopeful path for humanity.
Natan Margalit is a rabbi and scholar with 30 years of experience in teaching, writing, organizing and congregational leadership. Raised in Honolulu, as a young adult he spent 12 years in Israel where he received rabbinic ordination. He returned to the U.S. and earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies at U.C. Berkeley with focus areas in Talmud, Literary Theory, and Anthropology.
He has taught at Bard College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Hebrew College Rabbinical School, and now is chair of the Rabbinic Texts Department at the ALEPH Ordination Program. He is also Director of the Earth-Based Judaism track of the A.O.P., and is founder of the non-profit Organic Torah. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.