Ep54. A Liberation Journey, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev

I sat down with Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev to talk about the Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets. We talk about the world's need for courage, wisdom, and vision, the three qualities inherent in every prophet: “an encounter with divine love and concern for the world, courage to name oppression, and a moral imagination to articulate an alternative future.” We also discuss the importance of art, imagination, and dialogue in the prophetic tasks, the overlapping concerns of the Hebrew Prophets and the Book of Deuteronomy, and the way biblical liberation themes are found in various contemporary figures. We end with a discussion on how the prophetic critique of stability and immutability as "currency of empire" and the importance placed on a liberation journey in increasingly mutual relationships speaks with hope and care into our current COVID19 climate, and an impassioned plea to join the work of birthing a new world.

Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev founded and leads Beit Midrash of Santa Fe, a multi-faith sacred learning community. He has led workshops at retreat centers, synagogues, churches and seminaries across the United States, including Union Theological Seminary, Ghost Ranch, Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey and Stony Point Center. His teaching invites learners into an adventurous exploration that engages the body, heart and soul as well as the mind. He is an experienced spiritual director, accompanying people of many faiths. Nahum is the Scholar-in-Residence at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, NM and a Fellow of the Rabbis Without Borders Initiative. Find out more: https://rabbinahum.com/

The book is The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets: Then and Now (available with Orbis Books)

Follow: @RinseRepeatPod and @liammiller87

Music by Fyzex