Scholar-in-Residence Programs

Rabbi and desert guide — trained in philosophy, Talmud and meditation — Mike Comins brings his diverse experience and unique perspective to your community. An intellectual and spiritual seeker, steeped in Jewish tradition and shaped by wilderness, Rabbi Comins teaches "Torah-from-the-heart" with passion and integrity.

Study programs in your community can be offered on their own, or integrated with outdoor activities. For instance, Rabbi Comins can deliver a dvar Torah (sermon) at Friday night services, teach Shabbat morning Torah study or conduct a spirituality workshop, and lead a Shabbat afternoon or Sunday hike. References are available upon request. Get a taste of Rabbi Comins' teachings by sampling his writings. See the Scholar-in-Residence Gallery and Testimonials page.

To date, Rabbi Comins has served as Scholar-in-Residence at congregations in Albuquerque, Bellingham (WA), Berkeley, Bozeman (MT), Calabasas (CA), Davis (CA), Fresno, Miami, Milwaukee, New York, Los Angeles, Orange County (CA), Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Rochester, San Bernardino (CA), Sun Valley, Tucson, San Diego, Seattle, Sonoma (CA), and the Hazon Jewish Environmental Bike Ride.

SAMPLE THEMES

The Nature of Judaism
So many Jewish practices relate us directly to the natural world. But as Jews were exiled from their land and became increasingly urban, the historical side of Jewish holidays and ritual became dominant. Rabbi Comins shows how Judaism is, in fact, an “indigenous” religion — thoroughly connected to the earth and ripe with physical practices that connect us to the natural world. We’ll discover how Native American rituals, such as the Four Winds ceremony, have Jewish parallels (the shaking of the lulav and etrog). We'll see how Kabbalistic and Hasidic understandings of God and the universe ground a responsible, environmental ethic and provide the framework for a Jewish "deep ecology."

Finding God in Nature (t'filla and hike)
Revelation continually came to our ancestors in wilderness settings. Reading the siddur and the psalms, we know that their experience of God in nature was powerful. Following in their footsteps, we explore the connections between God and nature — in our tradition and in our hearts. We'll integrate a Shabbat morning t'filla and Torah study with a hike.

Toward a Jewish Environmental Ethic
Many people blame the Judeo-Christian ethos of Western Civilization for the current, environmental crisis, citing God's command to Adam, “fill the earth and master it.” Is this true? How can we respond to this charge? What does Judaism contribute to the burning ecological challenges of our times? Drawing on a variety of biblical texts, we tease out and discuss Judaism's ideals regarding the human relationship to the "more-than-human" world.

Sinai and Jerusalem
In the desert, God sought out people. Moses was accosted by a burning bush. The Divine voice directed the Israelites to Mt. Sinai and “came down” to reveal Torah. In Jerusalem, a civilization was built on the foundations of that revelation. On Jerusalem’s Mt. Moriah, however, the Temple rite “reached up” to the heavens through ritual and prayer. We shall discuss the relationship between the universal, unmediated experience of God and the religious-cultural life of a society that tries to preserve and cultivate that experience. How should the spiritual dynamics of the wilderness experience (“top-down”) and our cultural experience (“bottom-up”) inform our communities today? What do we lose when we lose wilderness? How can we recreate the wilderness experience in our own lives?

DESERT TORAH I
The Voice of Fragile Silence:
The Desert of Elijah
Does it make a difference to read Torah in the place where the events occurred? So much of the formative history of the Jewish people happened in the desert, yet classical Jewish commentators and modern Bible scholars wrote in Europe or North America. Israeli desert guide Rabbi Mike Comins brings his experience of walking the Sinai and Negev deserts to the interpretation of Jewish texts.

Together we study and discuss the famous journey of Elijah to Mt. Sinai where he hears the “still, small voice.” Why did this famous revelation occur in the desert wilderness? What does God teach Elijah? Rabbi Comins offers a unique desert reading that speaks to contemporary Jewish concerns and spiritual living today. For a preview, read Rabbi Comins' article, "Elijah and the 'Still, Small Voice', a Desert Reading."

DESERT TORAH II
Justice, Suffering and Nature:
The Desert of Job
In a pagan world, Judaism insisted (and insists) that God is just and all creation is an expression of God's will. So why do “bad things happen to good people?” God answers Job out of the whirlwind by giving him a desert tour. With Job, we study nature as a model for understanding the randomness of human suffering in a Divine world.