About the author
Inspired by Kabbalah, Zen, poetry, and myth, Richard Seidman breathes on the glowing ember of Jewish renewal to help raise a fire by which we can warm ourselves, tell our stories, and feed the spirit of life.
Although Seidman’s Jewish education began in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1950′s, his studies in the 1990′s with Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, zt’l, in Portland, Oregon wakened him to the indigenous voices of his ancestors.
In the environmental community, Richard Seidman is nationally recognized for his role as founder and former leader of the non-profit organization Friends of Trees for which Mr. Seidman received the field’s highest national award.
Mr. Seidman has a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a M.Ed. in teaching the deaf from Lewis and Clark College in Portland. In addition to being a teacher of the deaf and leading Friends of Trees, he has worked as a college writing instructor, technical writer, janitor, farm hand, and ice cream pushcart vendor. He currently serves as president of Catalyst Group, helping non-profit organizations develop strategic plans and raise funds.
Mr. Seidman holds a brown belt in Shotokan Karate, and has studied for years with author and teacher, MartÃn Prechtel, and seer and energy-worker, Paul Richards.
He is married to Rachael Resch and lives in Ashland, Oregon.