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Irwin Kula

Rabbi; President of CLAL

Known as both a provocative religious leader and a respected spiritual iconoclast, Irwin Kula has inspired thousands nationwide using Jewish wisdom in ways that speak to modern life. He is the author of Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life (Hyperion, Sept. 2006), which won a “Books for a Better Life Award,” and was selected as one of “10 Best Spiritual Books of 2006.” Featured in the public TV special, “The Hidden Wisdom of Our Yearnings,” and the acclaimed film, Time for a New God, he ranked No. 8 in the “Top 50 Rabbis in America,” listed in Newsweek, and was named by Fast Company magazine and “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” (PBS) as one of the new leaders shaping the American spiritual landscape. A regular on The Today Show, he is the co-host of Hirschfield and Kula: Intelligent Talk Radio (KXL, Portland, OR), and hosted his own public TV series, Simple Wisdom with Irwin Kula. Rabbi Kula is the President of CLAL, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.

Personal Growth

The great unbundling: Will organized religion go the same way as cable TV?

What could religion learn from cable television? A surprising amount, seeing as the younger generations are turning away from both in huge numbers.

Spirituality and Modernity

Since there is as much reason to despair and be cynical as there is to be hopeful and believe in the possibilities of the triumph of life, Kula sees heroism […]

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Religion: A Time of Change

There is a necessity to create evidence-based spirituality, tested through meditation, contemplation, and practice.

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1 min

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Religion in the media/Religion in the public discourse

The media likes to portray religion as as ugly, and violent, and exotic, and crazy, and nuts because thatÃ¯Â¿Â½s entertaining, or as trivial and ridiculous. Yet, in our modern world, […]

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5 min

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Re: Where are we?

“I would love to see an election that splits the differences between traditional Democrats and traditional Republicans that says we have a role in the world. ”

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7 min

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Re: Who are we?

Kula sees that society is shaped by spiritual, or religious evolution, as well as increasingly new technologies that use the mind to fashion objects that allow use of ever-evolving consciousness.

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8 min

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Where is Judaism today?

Judaism today is a microcosm of the world: there are fundamentalists as well as those who see the state of Israel as an example grand peace and interdependence, as well […]

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Re: If you had $100 billion to give away, how would you spend it?

Kula seeks to provide aid on three levels: local, and national, and international, from the most personal, case-driven, non-systemic individual person with pain to the largest systemic institution.

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2 min

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Re: Is the American political system broken?

What Democrats and Republicans don’t get.

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Re: What is the legacy of the Iraq war?

We’re never as strong as we think.

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Re: What forces have shaped humanity most?

Since technology is often ahead of consciousness, society manages to create weapons that are a serious detriment to our well-being. The deepest, most fundamental, spiritual insight is that we are […]

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3 min

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Re: What is the measure of a good life?

The measure of a good life is the cultivation of compassion as well as a deeper understanding of the self.

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Re: How do we make religion a force for good?

People must understand that they are neither as powerful as their fantasies, nor as powerless as their nightmares. There is a necessity to practice compassion, which flows outward, in a […]

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Unfortunately right now religion is being used to legitimate people’s group and political identities rather than actually destabilizing all identities so that new relationships can be developed across every possible […]

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Growing up Jewish in America

From his traditional Jewish parents, Kula learned that throughout any practice and ritual in any religious system or any theory about living, there must be people who can produce food. […]

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Growing up in New York City

Growing up in a traditional Jewish home and attending Columbia University, Kula cites the diversity of New York City in terms of people, ideas, food, and music, as an experience […]

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Re What is your counsel?

People need to be honored for doing their part.

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Re: What is your question?

Self-improvement with a purpose.

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Re: What is your outlook?

Reality, Kula says, is a giant connect-the-dots game.

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Re: What do you believe?

No one is totally true, nor are they totally false. Transcript:A personal philosophy? I don’t know. I don’t think I have any grand philosophical philosophy. I guess it would be […]

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4 min

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Re: What inspires you?

Quotidian heroism.

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Re: How do you contribute?

Toward evidence-based spirituality. Transcript: I think it’s . . . I use the ecological model in understanding how wisdom traditions ought to work in the world today. And the ecological […]

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11 min

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Re: What do you do?

Re-imagining Judaism. Transcript: Oh gosh. Well I’m sort of a futurist about religion and Judaism in the world. And I think about how to . . . I mean I […]

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9 min

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Re: Who are you?

What’s the point of religion if there’s no one to deliver meals?

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