Chaya Kaplan-Lester
Chaya Kaplan-Lester is a Jerusalem-based Jewish educator, psychotherapist and writer. She is co-founder of the Shalev Center for Jewish Personal Growth. She holds an Ivy League BA in Religious & Jewish Studies, and an MA in Clinical Psychology. She also did extensive doctoral work on the theme of “Experiential Torah Study” at Oxford University in England.
Chaya has taught and inspired thousands through her unique classes and writings. Synthesizing Torah, psychology and the arts, Chaya has sculpted an innovative approach to personal transformation & healing in a Jewish framework.
Chaya has been widely published in magazines, books and online forums. Her writings are popular across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. Her multi-media poetic commentaries on the Torah have garnered considerable attention and are found weekly on the Jerusalem Post online as well as picked up by an array of online forums including radio.
Whether through her classes or her writings, Chaya offers a signature form of experiential, creative and compelling Jewish learning that focuses on the transformation of the individual and the enhancement of the collective Jewish spirit.
Chaya has taught and inspired thousands through her unique classes and writings. Synthesizing Torah, psychology and the arts, Chaya has sculpted an innovative approach to personal transformation & healing in a Jewish framework.
Chaya has been widely published in magazines, books and online forums. Her writings are popular across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. Her multi-media poetic commentaries on the Torah have garnered considerable attention and are found weekly on the Jerusalem Post online as well as picked up by an array of online forums including radio.
Whether through her classes or her writings, Chaya offers a signature form of experiential, creative and compelling Jewish learning that focuses on the transformation of the individual and the enhancement of the collective Jewish spirit.
Rabbi Hillel Lester
Rabbi Hillel Lester is co-founder of the Shalev Center for Jewish Personal Growth. He received Rabbinic Ordination from the Sulam Yaakov Yeshiva in Nachlaot and is currently a Fellow and teacher with the Isralight/Orayta Institute in the Old City of Jerusalem. He is a therapist trained in both Narrative Therapy and Jewish Spiritual Counseling. He also has extensive experience in meditation, receiving JMAT (Jewish Meditation Advanced Training) certification.
Prior to becoming a Rabbi and therapist, he spent nearly two decades as an avid bass guitarist and consultant in the field of acoustical engineering. He served as Principal Consultant at a major acoustical and audiovisual firm in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 16 years. Hillel's thirst for spirituality and meaning took him through several mystical traditions before he discovered the richness of a dedicated Jewish life and has now spent the past 15 years deepening his Torah learning and practice. He taught Torah, Jewish mysticism and meditation in numerous contexts in America before moving to Israel to pursue full-time Torah learning and training as a Rabbi. Hillel aspires towards learning and teaching a Torah-centered approach to personal growth and transformation.
Prior to becoming a Rabbi and therapist, he spent nearly two decades as an avid bass guitarist and consultant in the field of acoustical engineering. He served as Principal Consultant at a major acoustical and audiovisual firm in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 16 years. Hillel's thirst for spirituality and meaning took him through several mystical traditions before he discovered the richness of a dedicated Jewish life and has now spent the past 15 years deepening his Torah learning and practice. He taught Torah, Jewish mysticism and meditation in numerous contexts in America before moving to Israel to pursue full-time Torah learning and training as a Rabbi. Hillel aspires towards learning and teaching a Torah-centered approach to personal growth and transformation.
