PunkTorah

Independent Jewish Spirituality

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The Tattooed Rabbi: Patrick Aleph Goes To Rabbi School

December 29, 2011 By punktorah

That’s right. I’m going to rabbinical school. And I’m blogging all about it under the name “the tattooed rabbi”. Shock of the century, right?

It’s a decision I have gone back-and-forth on for several years. Soon, I will blog about why I made this decision, where I am going, the impact that I feel it will have on PunkTorah (none, but that’s a whole other story), and all the misadventures along the way.

Before I start shooting my mouth off with everything that is going on, here’s a fun video just to celebrate this new phase of things. Enjoy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-s3aw0GZKY&list=UUfbQnMMvRssrokknT-gHEXA&index=1&feature=plcp

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rabbinical school, videos

Are Lay Spiritual Leaders Second Class Citizens In Jewish Life?

October 9, 2011 By punktorah

I had the pleasure of spending second day Rosh Hashanah with Shalom B’Harim (Peace in the Mountains), an independent community in the North Georgia mountains, led by lay spiritual mensch and personal friend Mitch Cohen.

Fast forward, and I am at Chabad. The rabbi was nice. It’s Chabad…you kinda know what to expect.

Really, both guys did the same, good job, in their own unique ways. I have no criticism of either of them.

But today I realized something: if we were in a room and I asked a group of Jews to pick the guy they thought really knew his stuff as a spiritual leader, we’d pick our fine bearded friend the Chabad rabbi. Why? Because he’s a rabbi. Simple as that.

I was recently in a debate with a prominent rabbi about what it took to be a spiritual leader. I argued that the world doesn’t need more Torah scholars: what we need are social workers who can lead Kabbalat Shabbat. I told this great Jewish historian, who has written a billion books and is on the History Channel on a semi-regular basis, right to his face, “I don’t give a shiz what you know about ancient Israelite history and near east mythology. What I need from a rabbi is a warm hearted person who will comfort me when I am in pain and G-d isn’t there for me.”

That didn’t go over well.

But to be honest, it’s how I feel. Lay spiritual leaders are given the shaft when it comes to their contribution. Why? Who cares if you didn’t go to school for six years? Steve Jobs (of blessed memory) revolutionized the way we look at mobile technology and computing. I doubt we’d say, “oh what does he know, he’s a hippie vegetarian who dropped out of school!”

Listen, there are plenty of geniuses in the world…especially in the Jewish world. They are all fighting for tenure at lofty Jewish studies programs. They’re collecting unemployment as the pulpit jobs collapse. Heck, some of them are emailing PunkTorah looking for work. Meantime, guys like Mitch are carving out their own place in this world, because they have something important: the wicked combo of guts and heart.

So the next time you’re at a prayer service and someone without a diploma is helping you connect to G-d, ask yourself this question, “does HaShem care if they have a piece of paper and a mountain of school loan debt?”

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish spiritual leader, lay leader, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Rabbi Drew Kaplan: Men and Women Don’t Understand Each Other

September 12, 2011 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMnN3MpESD8

“If I were God for a day, I would make men and women understand each other.” The G-d Project is the world’s first social media platform dedicated to Jewish spirituality. We bring God back to the conversation.

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish feminism, men are from mars women are from venus, modern orthodox, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, the g-d project jewish, the god project jewish

Rabbi Drew Kaplan: What Is Jewish Theodicy?

September 11, 2011 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ZAkG2m8rY

Why do bad things happen to good people? This is the question of Jewish Theodicy. The G-d Project is the world’s first social media platform dedicated to Jewish spirituality. We bring God back to the conversation.

www.theg-dproject.org.

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: god project, jewish theodicy, modern orthodox, rabbi, rabbi drew kaplan, the g-d project, the g-d project jewish, the god project, the god project jewish, theodicy

Moshe Hecht: I Am Asleep, But my Heart Is Awake…

September 1, 2011 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-LMA5robNo

Even when we are not aware of it, we are connected with G-d.

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: G-d, God, god project, Jewish, Judaism, king solomon, Moshe Hecht, musician, punktorah, rabbi, relationship, the g-d project, the g-d project jewish, the god project, the god project jewish

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