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Rabbi Seidel was born and raised in New Jersey and attended Oberlin College, the Jewish Theological Seminary, was a Hayes Fulbright scholar at Cambridge University and finished his studies at U.C Berkeley where he earned a doctorate in Judaic and Near Eastern Studies (1996). He was ordained as a Rabbi by ALEPH the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Dr. Seidel’s thesis examined magic and religion in late antiquity, and he has published articles on Jewish folklore, gender and witchcraft, ritual studies, mysticism, Jewish literature and history. He has taught Religion and Judaic Studies at UC ‘s Davis, Santa Cruz and Berkeley, as well as Stanford, the University of Arizona, ASU, Portland State, Oregon State U. and the University of Oregon. He has been involved with Interfaith and Environmental issues for 35 years and is also a trained Hazzan (singer/cantor) who uses chant and guided meditation in his work. He is currently teaching at Lane Community College and is the Spiritual Leader of Or haGan Synagogue in Eugene.