Sacred Texts as Doorways: Turning Words into Wisdom with Rabbi Chava Bahle

Academy Podcast

In this month’s episode, we hear from Rabbi Chava Bahle at a Two-year Academy in Nebraska on the topic of Hebrew Spirituality and Holy Texts. Chava Bahle is a twice ordained rabbi and maggid, a Jewish inspirational storyteller. Her current work is to live into the teaching of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, her teacher, of blessed memory, who taught that we can and should find nourishment in traditions other than our own. She earned her Doctor of Ministry from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, where she focused on mystical aspects of interreligious dialogue. Chava writes book reviews for academic journals, and since a brain injury in 2018, focuses her life on study and prayer. She is currently pursuing study for an ethical biography of German expressionist actor Conrad Veidt. Rabbi Chava explains that to imitate God is not only to give life, but to Sustain, nurture, and enhance life. Our host, Shalom, asks, “Perhaps sacred texts are doorways, invitatioons the Holy One urges you to pass through into an experience with the mystical. Perhaps there are Living Words around you even now, not text but image that is drawing you in in the same way. Can we pause long enough to first receive the invitation and then follow through?”