Pathways of Teshuvah, 1of3: Identifying the Separation
This is ’’Pathways of Teshuvah, Part 1 - Identifying the Separation: Judaism's land-return.’’ This recording is part 1 of 3-part discussion with breakthrough academic, Dr. Pesach Chananiah, and youth mentor / gardener / war veteran, Mr. Marcus Kar, on reconnecting to Nature for sacred communion and emotional wellbeing. In this segment, host Chris Searles shares a synopsis of Dr. Chananiah’s primary points on the impacts of the Exiles on Judaism’s disconnection from Nature, and Mr. Kar relates his own experience, seeking to be a vessel for positive change.
About Our Guests
About Our Guests
- Dr. Pesach Chananiah (author) is a Jewish ecopsychologist, educator, and community organizer working in interfaith and environmental spaces. He writes about the psychological impact of disconnection from land, through a Jewish lens, and explores modes of healing through embodied spiritual practice in the natural world. Read his paper, Pathways of Teshuvah, on AllCreation.org.
- Marcus Kar (special guest) is a decorated veteran and a native of “North” Minneapolis, a predominantly African-descent (African-American) community struggling to overcome racism, economic poverty, and other forms of America’s institutional biases. Marcus is program director at Youth Farm, North Minneapolis, “a multi-faceted youth development organization growing food and young leaders, healthy bodies and minds, positive identity, neighborhood connections, community opportunities, and healthy relationships.”
PROGRAM
0:00 Welcome & Intro
2:30 Part I: Identifying the Separation from Nature: Judaism’s land-return
2:50 Temples were metaphors for homelands
3:30 Exiles were environmentally-harsh (from the Fertile Crescent to the barren desert)
4:25 Dr. Chananiah
4:50 Professional disclaimers, backstory, search for identity, field work
7:15 Teshuvah: ’’to return’’
8:45 Mr. Kar
9:35 Self-acceptance, identity, feelings
11:30 Being a vessel, not an expert, for positive change
12:10 The Separation from Nature
12:30 Benstein quote
13:00 Rev. Korngold quote
13:00 Dr. Chananiah: quick chronologies of the Exile
13:15 the Temple
15:00 from Rites to Teachings
16:15 Laws > Connection (to the lands, other life, and Earth)
17:30 Rabbi Nachman’s hitbodedut
19:00 The Divine IN Nature?
20:00 Dr. Chananiah: on “Diveykut“ and hugging, wrapping & “cleaving“ to the Divine
21:00 Nomads’ literal connections:
e.g. Abraham goes to the teacher tree
e.g. Moses and the Burning Bush