MEET

Rabbi Rishe Groner

Shalom! I'm Rishe (pronounced Ree-Sha) and I believe that almost everything in the world is Torah - after all, the wisdom of the Divine permeates pretty much everything from nature to art to our bodies. I grew up Chassidic, obsessed with Jewish liturgy, was a Tanach (Bible) geek in high school, and have spent many decades combing Jewish mystical texts to better understand mental health, healing, societal transformation, and day-to-day spiritual practice. I love fusing embodied practice with text study and reading between the lines to find the oral, unwritten traditions of women's at-home practices over the generations. I grew up in Australia, lived in the New York area for over a decade and took two years recently to discover the hidden learning options in Jerusalem. I spent over a decade in and out of Jewish non-profits and corporations in my former life in supply chain, marketing and digital strategy, before becoming a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. I write a weekly parsha email on my website. www.thegene-sis.com, (and sometimes on other fun sites like Hey Alma or Lilith) and send out Sefirat Haomer meditations that I call Soul Hacks. I have a podcast called Just Pray and am always curious about rediscovering new ancient practices for prayer, music, meditation and just living a more meaningful life! Some of my favorite topics to study / teach about lately have been psychedelics and Judaism, cannabis, Divine Feminine, trauma, ritual, and embodiment, particularly through a Chassidic and Kabbalistic lens. My focus on learning is not about the consumption but about the output - what do you want to get out of this experience, and how do you want it to have an impact on your life? I have a LOT of very random knowledge in Judaism and am up for learning pretty much anything with you! I have experience in a variety of Jewish contexts, having grown up Chabad, spent time across Orthodox, Jewish Renewal and Conservative denominations, and will honor and support your approach in whatever and however we choose to study together. I'd love to talk to you, find out more about what questions burn in you and what you're looking to gain in our learning together!