Meet our Key Presenters
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan
Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan is a professor, author, mystic, animal lover, and interfaith activist. Currently, she is Director of Inter-Religious Studies and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vancouver School of Theology, Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue, Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and faculty
member at ALEPH Ordination Programs.
She holds a B.A. in Philosophy (Brandeis University), M.Ed. in Adult Education (Cambridge College); Ph.D. in Philosophy and Education (Claremont Graduate University), Rabbinic Ordination (ALEPH), and Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction (Vancouver School of Theology). Rabbi Laura loves to bring people together for learning and community dialogue. Her work has been recognized with the American Academy of Religion’s Katie Geneva
Cannon Award for Excellence in Teaching, Visioneers Lifetime Achievement Award for Peace and Community Well-Being, American Association of Philosophy Teachers Award, Carnegie Foundation’s U.S. Professor of the Year, UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, and nomination for BC’s Multiculturalism Award.
Rabbi Laura’s scholarship draws on philosophy, kabbalah, depth psychology, bible, educational theory, and current events. She is author of Shechinah Bring Me Home: Kabbalah and the Omer in Real Life (2023), Mouth of the Donkey: Re-imagining Biblical Animals (2021), and The Infinity Inside: Jewish Spiritual Practice Through a Multi-Faith Lens (2019). With her colleagues, she recently co-edited the scholarly anthologies Multireligious Reflection on Friendship, Visions of the End-Times, Spirit of Reconciliation, and Encountering the Other. Rabbi Laura, a dual Canadian-American citizen, is married to psychologist Charles Kaplan. Together they are musical partners, parents of two young adults, and caretakers of a changing array of companion animals. Rabbi Laura blogs at www.sophiastreet.com.
Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan is a professor, author, mystic, animal lover, and interfaith activist. Currently, she is Director of Inter-Religious Studies and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vancouver School of Theology, Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue, Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and faculty
member at ALEPH Ordination Programs.
She holds a B.A. in Philosophy (Brandeis University), M.Ed. in Adult Education (Cambridge College); Ph.D. in Philosophy and Education (Claremont Graduate University), Rabbinic Ordination (ALEPH), and Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction (Vancouver School of Theology). Rabbi Laura loves to bring people together for learning and community dialogue. Her work has been recognized with the American Academy of Religion’s Katie Geneva
Cannon Award for Excellence in Teaching, Visioneers Lifetime Achievement Award for Peace and Community Well-Being, American Association of Philosophy Teachers Award, Carnegie Foundation’s U.S. Professor of the Year, UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, and nomination for BC’s Multiculturalism Award.
Rabbi Laura’s scholarship draws on philosophy, kabbalah, depth psychology, bible, educational theory, and current events. She is author of Shechinah Bring Me Home: Kabbalah and the Omer in Real Life (2023), Mouth of the Donkey: Re-imagining Biblical Animals (2021), and The Infinity Inside: Jewish Spiritual Practice Through a Multi-Faith Lens (2019). With her colleagues, she recently co-edited the scholarly anthologies Multireligious Reflection on Friendship, Visions of the End-Times, Spirit of Reconciliation, and Encountering the Other. Rabbi Laura, a dual Canadian-American citizen, is married to psychologist Charles Kaplan. Together they are musical partners, parents of two young adults, and caretakers of a changing array of companion animals. Rabbi Laura blogs at www.sophiastreet.com.
Musician-in-Residence: Sofer Kevin Hale
Sofer Stam Rabbi Kevin Hale a teaches about Judaism’s sacred scribal traditions, evaluates, appraises and restores Torah scrolls, writes megillot, mezuzot and. A RRC graduate and Aleph musmach, he is authorized to restore rescued Czech scrolls from the London Memorial Scrolls Trust. A deeply curious tinkerer, gleefully grounded in the world of Assiyah he builds (and invents!) musical instruments, bakes matzah, delights in learning and sharing life stories as well as the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet wherever they are found.
Sofer Stam Rabbi Kevin Hale a teaches about Judaism’s sacred scribal traditions, evaluates, appraises and restores Torah scrolls, writes megillot, mezuzot and. A RRC graduate and Aleph musmach, he is authorized to restore rescued Czech scrolls from the London Memorial Scrolls Trust. A deeply curious tinkerer, gleefully grounded in the world of Assiyah he builds (and invents!) musical instruments, bakes matzah, delights in learning and sharing life stories as well as the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet wherever they are found.
