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

•  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

 
23:00 Could I, a modern person, also experience Divinity in the wilderness?  

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#Teshuvah

#hitbodedut

#diveykut

#lechlecha