The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 


 

Rabbi David's teaching

Click here for selected events and publications. Click here for a brochure describing Rabbi Seidenberg's teaching and scholar-in-residence work.

Rabbi David Seidenberg, the creator of NeoHasid, teaches text and music, dance, and ecology, and all aspects of Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. Areas include Kabbalah and Chasidut, Talmud, Maimonides, Buber, davening and Chasidic nigunim, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, and most recently, astronomy (including telescope observations). David has smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and is one of the world's foremost scholars on Judaism and ecology. His book, Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World, was published in2015 by Cambridge University. David has also worked as an activist and community organizer, and he founded the first Chasidic-egalitarian minyan in the world on NYC's Upper West Side, which was the inspiration for neohasid.org. He has taught at well over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Israel), and is published widely on ecology and Judaism.

David's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. He brings not only expertise in science (ecology and cosmology) and texts (midrash, Talmud, philosophy, Kabbalah and Chasidus), but also engagement with spirit (mysticism, meditation, davening and nigunim), embodiment, and ritual. His personal practice includes a focus on the "shamanic" dimension of rituals and religious practices like Shabbat and Sukkot.

David does scholar-in-residence Shabbatonim across the country, and is also available for lectures, seminars, and Jewish Studies-related editing and writing. Here are some examples of Shabbaton themes:

  • "Tsfat Shabbat" - on Chasidus, nigunim and davening, with a special emphasis on embodied prayer, including dance; may include text study of Rebbe Nachman and Shneur Zalman
  • "Kabbalah and the Exuberance of Life" - on basic concepts of Kabbalah and Kabbalistic themes that relate to ecology and issues like biodiversity, climate change, fracking, and genetic engineering; this shabbaton may also include a session on "the souls of Animals in Jewish tradition"
  • "The Passions of Maimonides" - on Maimonides's teachings in the Guide for the Perplexed related to animal rights, organic cosmology, the Gaia hypothesis, as well as his significance in medieval philosophy, and what his work teaches us about the uncensored history of science
  • "The Embodied Earth" - on the Jewish Festivals, ritual, shamanism, the Shmitah (Sabbatical) year, and the human place in the cosmos (especially relevant to Sukkot)
  • "Love Your Neighbor/Love the Stranger" - on human rights, peace, halakhah and politics; this can include contemporary issues like immigration reform or issues concerning Israel, such as the situation of the Bedouin, and study of modern thinkers like Martin Buber or Yitz Greenberg
For more information about these shabbaton programs or about any of the classes shown below, write to: rebduvid86 at gmail dot com.

The following is a list of classes, workshops and lectures that Rabbi David taught from December 2006 through April 2008. It gives a good idea of the range of his work. For more recent activity, and for links to his online publications, click here.

Tel Shemesh, New York, Dec 7, 2006: "Is There Really Evil? Kabbalah, the 'Death of the Kings', Brokenness and Tikkun Olam"

Kehilat Romemu, New York, Dec 8: Shabbat Torah talk, continuation of "Death of the Kings"

The Carlebach Shul, New York, Dec 9: Seudah Shlishit talk

Rabbis for Human Rights Conference, New York, Dec 11: "Jubilee, the Land Ethic, and Human Rights", at the first national rabbinic conference on human rights

Mitziut, Chicago, Dec 12: "The Spinning Wheel: Reb Nachman on the Dreidl, Redemption, and Reincarnation"

Ohalah Conference of Renewal Rabbis, Boulder, Jan 9, 2007: "Ruach Hakodesh in Social Action and the Izhbitzer's Quest to Know God's Will"

Ikar, Los Angeles, Jan 17: "An Inconvenient Truth" - discussion of film, Torah and activism

Chochmat Halev, Berkeley, Jan 18: Beit Midrash Ruach v'Lev, monthly series

Milken High School, Jan 30: "Global Warming, Kabbalah, and Our Responsibility as Jews", Los Angeles

Congregation Beth Am Israel, Feb 2–4: Tu Bish'vat Shabbaton, scholar-in-residence, Penn Valley (Mainline Philadelphia)

Friday Evening: Chasidishe davening and Tu Bish'vat seder; Saturday Morning: "Evolution, Ecology, and our place in the Universe"; Davar Torah: "Ani v'Ata: Changing the World and Embracing the World"; Tisch: "The Earth as an Image of God"

University of San Francisco, Feb 12: Guest lecture on Judaism and the environment

Chochmat Halev, Feb 12: Beit Midrash Ruach v'Lev combined with Monday night meditation, Berkeley CA

Mitziut, Mar 6: "Unlocking the Mysteries of the Haggadah", Chicago

Torat Hateva, Mar 7–9: Scholar-in-residence at national conference on Judaism and the environment, Toronto OT

Chochmat Halev, Berkeley CA, Mar 22 & Apr 26: Beit Midrash Ruach v'Lev

Congregation Bet Haverim, Davis CA, Apr 27: "Tsfat Shabbat"

University of Judaism Continuing Ed, Los Angeles, Apr-May: "Blessing the Trees", "A Crash Course in Kabbalah"

Congregation Beth Shalom, San Francisco, May 5-7: Scholar-in-residence at Marin County retreat

Teva Learning Center, Jun 4-7: Scholar-in-residence at the annual Educators Seminar, Cold Spring NY

Elat Chayyim, Isabella Freedman, Aug 6-12: "Liberty In the Land for All Her Inhabitants: Justice, Ecology, Sustainability and Human Rights"

Adamah Farm, Isabella Freedman, Aug 8, "Rebbe Nachman and the Song of the Grasses"

Kohenet Training Institute, Isabella Freedman, Aug 8: "A Room of Her Own: The Place of the Divine Feminine in the Light of Kabbalah"

Teva Learning Center and Adamah Farm, Isabella Freedman, Nov 4: in-service training for interns and staff

Beit Midrash at the Jewish Community of Amherst, Weds, Nov 7-Dec 12: Seminar on Chasidic text and thought

Hazon Food Conference, Isabella Freedman, Dec 8: workshop on genetically modified foods and Jewish law

New England Regional Retreat of the National Havurah Institute, Dec 14-16: Kabbalah and eco-Torah at the annual winter retreat in Cape Cod.

Torat Hateva and Narayever shul, Toronto, Dec 18: "The Alter Rebbe's Divine Ecology and the Radiance of the Earth" in Toronto

Congregation Bonai Shalom, Boulder CO, Jan 4-5, 2008: Scholar-in-residence Shabbaton

Congregation B'nai Israel, Northampton MA, Weds, Jan-Mar: Kabbalah for Beginners and Mystics, weekly class

Chochmat Halev, Mar 17: "The Masks of Purim and the Authentic Self", text study and meditation class

Congregation B'nai Israel, Northampton MA, Feb 15, Apr 11, ongoing: Kabbalat Shabbat - egalitarian neo-Chasidic ecstatic davening



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Hi David! Looks like you are doing great work.

Posted by: Lisa Horvitz at February 5, 2007 4:46 PM

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