MEET

Justin Goldstein

Justin is the Learning and Engagement Associate at Sefaria.org, which offers unprecedented free access to 3000 years of Jewish wisdom, as well as the co-founder of Yesod Farm+Kitchen, a small regenerative farm engaging ancestral Jewish agricultural wisdom on 16 acres of Cherokee and Catawba land in Fairview, NC outside of Asheville. After serving synagogues for eight years in Bangor, ME and Asheville, NC, Justin left the rabbinate to pursue full-time farming in 2020. A 2012-2013 Rabbis Without Borders Fellow, and selected by The Forward as one of the most inspiring rabbis in 2016, Justin currently chooses not to use the title "rabbi," and is exploring how Torah is still relevant to those of us who choose to engage deeply in our Jewish identities while not necessarily strictly observing Judaism in any of its religious expressions.

For over 20 years, Justin has been investigating, writing, and actively teaching about the intersections between environmental justice, sustainability, and the values of the Jewish tradition. In more recent years, Justin’s interest has turned to enlivening the deep teachings in ancestral Jewish agricultural wisdom and seeks to reveal the inherent wisdom so it may be applied appropriately, rather than merely replicated, to address our contemporary challenges and needs. Justin also possesses a wide and in-depth knowledge of Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah.