The Shalom Hartman Institute Presents:

The band Phish is one of the most successful touring acts of the last 30 years. They also have a surprisingly large Jewish fanbase including a significant number of rabbis. By looking at what draws religious Jews, especially clergy, to the band, we are provided insight into what counts as religion today. Based on his chapter “Phish Jews: Improvisation as Theology” in the book This is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity this session will look at contemporary Jewish voices, theory of religion, and traditional Jewish texts to explore the nature of engaged Jewish life today.

Rabbi Dr. Joshua Ladon is the Director of Education for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where he guides the content and curriculum of national and regional programs to help to ensure our cutting-edge offerings speak to the realities of the Jewish community and the challenges of the Jewish people. An award-winning educator, Joshua previously oversaw programming for Hartman in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to Hartman he served as the Dean of Student and Jewish Life at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay.

Joshua received a BA from Washington University in St. Louis and subsequently lived in Jerusalem for seven years, completing an MA in Jewish Thought at Tel Aviv University. He also received rabbinic ordination from the Shalom Hartman Institute and a doctorate in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Joshua also teaches in the Interreligious Studies Program at the Graduate Theological Union. His writing has been featured in The New Republic, Religion Dispatches, Shma: A Journal of Jewish Ideas and other publications.