How do we carry the burdens and scars of the past? How do such wounds shape who we are, how we relate, and how we move through the world? And might these very struggles also deepen our empathy, wisdom, and capacity to heal?
Join MTOC for a thoughtful, honest, and timely conversation featuring some of our community’s most respected and acclaimed voices in Jewish spiritual life, psychology, and scholarship. Together, our panelists will explore individual and collective Jewish trauma–including how it is passed across generations and how we can better understand, share, and transform these inheritances in the complexity of our current moment.
This promises to be an enlightening and informative evening, with space for audience questions, shared reflection, and meaningful dialogue.
Meet Our Panelists:
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Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D., is an author, Jungian psychotherapist, and respected Jewish scholar and teacher. A leader in the Jewish Renewal Movement, she has helped shape a more inclusive, joyful, and justice-rooted Judaism through her teaching and writing. Rabbi Tirzah teaches internationally on Jewish mysticism, depth psychology, the feminine wisdom tradition, and intergenerational trauma healing. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, Jewish literature, and mythopoesis, she is the author of several books, including Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma, which received the 2020 Nautilus Book Award Gold in Psychology and a 2020 award from the Jewish Women’s Caucus of the Association for Women in Psychology. Ordained in 1992 by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, she is the founding rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder, Colorado. Read more about Tirzah and Wounds into Wisdom here.
Rabbi Dr. Caryn Aviv is the rabbinic and program director at Judaism Your Way in Denver, CO. She’s a recovering academic in sociology and Jewish studies, and (mostly) formerly anxious Jew. Rabbi Caryn teaches and leads rituals that offer healing and compassion for Jews, their loved ones and allies. As a professor and rabbi, she’s taught Jewish history and culture for two decades and now brings her books and teachings to communities across the country. Unlearning Jewish Anxiety is her fourth book. Using neuroscience and Jewish wisdom, Rabbi Caryn offers practical tools for how to spot when we’re in a Jewish anxiety loop, and how to respond with better habits. Learn more about Caryn and her recent book here.
Dr. David Sanders, Founder and Spiritual Director of Kabbalah Experience, combines over forty years of experience as both a psychologist and Kabbalist helping guide people to deeper awareness and fulfillment in their lives. His transformation from religious studies to mysticism intrigued him to broaden the study of Kabbalah to practical spiritual growth. David maintains an active therapy practice, specializing in working with adults, couples and families. He sees psychological and spiritual growth on a continuum of discovering who you are at your essence. Explore more about David’s work and Kabbalah Experience, here.
