Yisroel Bernath was 15 years old living in Chicago and doing what lots of kids in the windy city were doing back then, playing basketball. He and his kippah wearing friends were having a pretty good time. Then everything changed. There were threats, a gun was drawn, shots were fired as he fled. Justice was served but could Yisroel ever forgive the perpetrators? On this episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi we join Rabbi Bernath to talk about his book, The Forgiveness Experiment.

Not so long ago in Spokane Washington, otherwise known as the heart of the inland empire, there was a little boy named Josh, later to become Yoshi. His friends went to Hebrew school, he didn't. His friends learned how to write doo doo in Hebrew, he didn't. But he wanted to so he went to Hebrew school. Well now, living in Cleveland, he has moved far beyond the days of doo doo. Now he leads a movement that aligns the spirit with the body. Embodied Judaism, gets us out of our heads and into our hearts. The Mitsui Collective and the Mitsui Method are his life's work at this moment. Let's check in with Yoshi Silverstein.

In his latest book , Diary of a Low-Born Cleric, We travel with him through the ebb and flow of his new'ish life as an Anglican Priest. Born to a Jewish father and Christian mother Michael has gone from an adamant right of centre Catholic to a progressive Anglican minister. It's been quite a ride.

On this episode of NTKR I spend some earthy time with Tiferet Nashman. She's the Executive Director of something called Shoresh. It's the centre for Jewish environmental programs. As easy as it is to keep our spiritual life contained in four walls and only visited occasionally, what would happen if we knocked those walls down and connected instead with the heaven that is all around us? Let's find out.

Sometimes it's better to stop talking and even better, to stop arguing our strongly held views. Better to pick up a crayon or a paintbrush and with no agenda just splash about in the wading pool of abstract images. That's one thing that Jewish artist, facilitator and filmmaker Jay Ginsherman is doing. This week on Not That Kind of Rabbi we get out of our heads and into our creative souls. Have a listen.

Paige Lowenstein was on the path to becoming a Rabbi in the traditional way. The well respected Reform seminary. Two years in she had a psychedelic experience on psilocybin mushrooms. That changed everything. She packed up and moved to the majestic redwood forests of northern California and finished her Rabbinic studies with Jewish Renewal's Aleph Ordination Program. Question is, now that your mind has been blown, what's next?

When Rabbi Natan Margalit looks at a dead tree on the ground he probably doesn't see what we see. He sees a divine spark of the creator. Everything, you see, is infused with that cosmic power. Reb Natan has a book out called the Pearl and the Flame. We had a great talk on this week's episode of NTKR. Have a listen.

There is, shall we say, a lot of turbulence in the Jewish world right now. Sometimes that turbulence becomes toxic and conversations are polarizing. One person who wants to change all that is the Executive Director of a progressive Jewish thought leadership and lobby group called Jspace. Her name is Maytal Kowalski and she joins me from Vancouver on Not That Kind of Rabbi.