Baal Shem Zen: Buber’s Hasidic Tales as Koans

Yerusha’s Institute For Deep Ecumenism
Presents:

Baal Shem Zen: Buber’s Hasidic Tales as Koans

Rabbi David Curiel & Roshi Ken Byalin

Wednesdays, October 25 - December 6
[no class on November 22]
7:30 - 9:30 pm, Eastern

The Course

A rabbi and a roshi sat down to read Buber... More than a set-up for another inter-religious joke, this real-life occurrence has given rise to a rich exploration of spirit, mystical tradition and menschlichkeit, that untranslatable Yiddishism pointing to the condition of human decency and skillful means.

Join Rabbi David and Roshi Ken in close readings of Martin Buber’s The Legend of the Ba’al Shem—stories about the founder of the Hasidic movement—with touchpoints from both Jewish mystical and Zen traditions. We’ll explain inherent kabbalistic concepts, as well as introduce Zen koans* that reflect similar (or divergent) viewpoints. Most of all, we will enjoy the stories and the thrill of deep learning and spontaneous insight.

Students will be encouraged to take the teachings into their lives and bring reflections back to class from week to week. No previous knowledge of Hasidism or Zen is necessary, and the stories will all be read in the English translation.

This is a 6-week course, presented by Yerusha’s Institute For Deep Ecumenism

With any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or visit yerusha.org.

*Koan: a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.

Tuition Policy

Yerusha offers our courses on a sliding scale. We offer these scales based on 3 core principles:

The fiscal sustainability of our organization
Paying our faculty and staff dignified and competitive wages
Ensuring that cost is not a barrier to participation

When you pay as high as you are able and willing, you are helping someone else who does not have the means to do so. Thank you for sustaining our work, ensuring we pay dignified wages, and giving others a chance to experience our transformative courses.

We offer prices at low, medium, and high ends of a range. If you wish to augment your tuition anywhere within those ranges, you may use the accompanying donation form during your registration.

The Instructors

Rabbi David Curiel [he/him]

Rabbi David carries ordination as Rabbi and Mashpi’a Ruchani [spiritual director] from the ALEPH Ordination Program and is a member of Spiritual Directors International. He has led prayer and meditation and nourished souls for over a dozen years, and sat multiple vipassana retreats with various teachers. Rabbi David assist Rabbi Nadya Gross in Secrets My Grandmother Told Me: A Wisdom School, is the Assistant Director of the AOP Hashpa’ah Training Program, and serves as adjunct faculty at Hebrew College. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan MBA from Indiana University, and is certified as a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, a body-based trauma healing modality. More information can be found at rabbidavidcuriel.com.

Roshi Ken Byalin [he/him]

Roshi Ken is the spiritual leader of the Zen Community of Staten Island. An ordained priest in the Soto Zen lineage and a member of the Zen Peacemakers, he is a Dharma Successor of Roshi Bernie Glassman. Ken also studied with Roshis Jishu Holmes, Robert Kennedy, S.J., and Kyudo Nakagawa. Ken was the founder and president of Integration Charter Schools, an educational corporation of four schools dedicated to providing pathways to college for students living with emotional challenges and other special needs. He also has broad experience in organizational leadership and education, as well as in mental health as a manager in the New York State Office of Mental Health. Ken earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University, a MS in Social Work from Columbia University, and a BA in English from Carleton College. He lives on Staten Island with his wife, Diane “Dee”, and their daughter, Morrigan.

Yerusha’s Institute For Deep Ecumenism
Presents: