Rabbi Nachum Shifren has come a long way since he missed his own bar mitzvah to go surfing in Malibu. Nowadays, he’s melded the surfing bum lifestyle with Orthodox traditions, and inspires Jews and non-Jews to find God among the waves. His book The Surfing Rabbi: A Kabbalistic Quest for Soul chronicles how a hippie boy with little Jewish education became a yeshiva grad; we wish we could read on the beach in between surf lessons in Costa Rica. Shifren hopes his autobiography will make the big screen someday; perhaps his Malibu neighbor Mel Gibson will sign on as a producer?
Yo, Yenta!
From the edge of the Diaspora rises a new generation of Jewish mother
I’ve read about this guy. He’s rad. There’s like a cult of people who take his surfing classes. Jmerica peeps in LA should check him out.