Dreams, Drama and Dogma: Spiritual Writing Through the Centuries

This presentation will explore the rich and diverse legacy of writing and writers within the context of the Abrahamic faith traditions. It will highlight several works from antiquity to modernity, examining their content, style and purpose, as well as the personal lives of the writers behind them. What have been some of the literary forms of spiritual writing over the centuries? Do the texts function as transmitters of doctrine, or rather as expressions of the writer’s inner life and/or vocation? Can writing itself be a spiritual and devotional activity?

Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa Valley. Rabbi Goldstein, an experienced and dynamic Reform rabbi and educator, is also the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge. He was the founding rabbi of The New Shul, an innovative and independent synagogue in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, which he served for over a decade. He is also a founder of the Napa Center for Thought & Culture. Prior to his arrival at CBS Napa, Rabbi Goldstein worked in a variety of congregational, interfaith and academic settings while based in his native Chicago.

Additional information about Niles can be found on the ACE Festival Keynote page.

Each panelist will read an assigned section of the book. They will tell us about the ideas and/or images in their sections that most intrigue, move, irritate, or amuse them. After each person has spoken, Rabbi Goldstein will respond. Conversation will follow, with q & a in the chat as time permits.

Our panelists are:

Yonas Ketsela, senior nursing major
Caleb Shrock Hurst, seminarian
Tim Seidel, Asst Professor of Peacebuilding and Development, and Director of the Center for Interfaith Engagement
Fatimah Subdi, sophomore psychology major

Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa Valley. Rabbi Goldstein, an experienced and dynamic Reform rabbi and educator, is also the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge. He was the founding rabbi of The New Shul, an innovative and independent synagogue in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, which he served for over a decade. He is also a founder of the Napa Center for Thought & Culture. Prior to his arrival at CBS Napa, Rabbi Goldstein worked in a variety of congregational, interfaith and academic settings while based in his native Chicago.

Additional information about Niles can be found on the ACE Festival Keynote page.

Explore the meaning and symbols of Passover and the Seder Meal with , visiting Jewish scholar, prior to the invitation by campus pastors into the symbolism of bread and cup in what has come to be called Holy Communion for many Christians.

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is a rabbi and the award-winning author of nine books. He was the spiritual leader of The New Shul in Manhattan for over a decade, and he is currently the visiting Jewish scholar at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ’s . Rabbi Goldstein is published widely in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, including Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Huffington Post. He speaks frequently at universities and churches across the United States.

Rabbi Niles Goldstein, founder of the New Shul in New York City and author most recently of Gonzo Judaism: A Bold Guide to Renewing an Ancient Faith, presents a talk on spiritual writings.

Goldstein’s talk describes a course he teaches called “Spiritual Writing and Spiritual Writers” that draws on devotional literature from various religious traditions from the Hebrew Bible down to the present. He addresses such questions as: What, over the centuries, have been some of the literary forms of spiritual writing? Do the texts function as transmitters of doctrine or as expressions of the writer’s inner life and/or vocation? Can writing itself be a spiritual and devotional activity?

Rabbi Goldstein’s talk is sponsored by the Center for Interfaith Engagement and the at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ.