1. When were you at Hadar?
I learned part-time at Hadar in the summers of 2008 and 2009, and as a full-time fellow summer of 2010.
2. Where are you now (physically)?
At my home in Ein Karem, in Jerusalem.
3. What are you up to now?
In this most recent chapter of my life I am finally really giving myself to my calling - to working with people in the ways that I love. For me this involves a combination of exploring, learning, and teaching the Torah of the inner life, of avoda sh'ba'lev - explorations and investigations in meditation and tefila, teaching meditation from a Jewish perspective, as well as Non-Violent Communication (I prefer its Hebrew translation of תקשורת מקרבת, the communication and intentionality around awareness, language, and listening that helps us stay close to life and the human experience, and find more intimacy, empathy, and movement within ourselves and in all our relationships. Adding to a variety of modalities for transformative personal change and growth, I am currently training in Hakomi: mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapy, an artful, holistic, and systematic approach I've fallen in love with, and excited about the cross-fertilization and learning happening for me around embodied Torah.
4. Is there a beautiful piece of Torah from your Hadar days that you keep close to your heart?
Yes. Learning Shir haShirim Rabba with Rav James, we learned: על דעתי דרבי חיננא בר פפא דאמר בים נאמרה, ישרי עלינו רוח הקודש ונאמר לפניו שירות הרבה According to the understanding of Rabbi Hinena bar Papa who said that at the sea it was said "let the holy spirit rest upon us and we will sing many songs before Him. I was really excited by the understanding implicit here of ruach hakodesh being inspiration, that movement we feel which moves us to expression, to creativity (in-spiration), and recently through my teacher Rav Daniel Kohn have been deepening an understanding of that mode in the root שר, of song, of soaking, of looking upon, and bringing those modes into my practice, discovering how the more deeply I can abide in a given experience in a moment while also maintaining an awareness of it, the more life/the Divine seems to sing through me.
5.Can you tell us a little about your micro grant project?
I'm really excited to be developing content and pedagogy around bringing the liberating teachings of Pesach into awareness and experience, particularly drawing on and translation work by Gabriel Strenger from his book Journey to Freedom, the Seder as a Path of Personal Growth through Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Psychoanalysis
6. Is there a time this past year when Hadar specifically came to mind?
I love participating in the alumni events here in Israel and really enjoyed facilitating a group exploration around teshuva and exploring the possibility of real, lasting change, and I'm profoundly grateful for friendships that have come through Hadar.
Learn more about Danny and the inner life work he guides people in here - http://www.thelivingheart.li
