SOM Pod 8/30/2019: Rabbi David Levin and Rabbi Simcha Raphael, hosts of the Philadelphia ‘Death Café’

Rabbi David Levin, left, and Rabbi Simcha Raphael, guests on the 8/30/2019 Seekers of Meaning Podcast
Rabbi David Levin, left, and Rabbi Simcha Raphael, guests on the 8/30/2019 Seekers of Meaning Podcast

In this episode of the Seekers of Meaning Podcast, Rabbis David Levin and Simcha Raphael discuss the Philadelphia Death Café, where participants discuss a wide range of topics related to death and dying.

About the Guests

Rabbi David Levin is a reform rabbi ordained from the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion (NY). David is the founder of the Jewish Relationships Initiative, formed to provide outreach focusing on the unaffiliated Jewish population of Greater Philadelphia.  We seek to create relationships through meaningful connection to Jewish wisdom, ritual, and community.  We do this through lifecycle events, study, and learning, conversation, and connection to others. David also devotes his time to special projects including Jewish Sacred Aging, teaching and free speech issues on the college campus. David worked with the Union for Reform Judaism in the Congregational Network as a Rabbinical Director serving the East Coast congregations. He also had the honor of working at Main Line Reform Temple in Wynnewood, PA. David Levin is a Fellow with Rabbis Without Borders, an interdenominational rabbinic group affiliated with CLAL. David Levin proudly claims to be one of Rabbi Louis Frishman’s (z”l) “Temple Kids”, from Temple Beth El in Spring Valley, NY. David attended the University of Chicago earning an AB in Economics. He went on to the New York University Graduate School of Business where he earned an MBA in Finance. Before becoming a rabbi, David enjoyed a career centered in banking and real estate finance, and he also worked in the family garment business.

Rabbi Simcha Raphael
Rabbi Simcha Raphael

Simcha Raphael, Ph.D., is the Founding Director of the DA’AT INSTITUTE. He has worked as a death awareness educator, bereavement counselor and hospice chaplain for over twenty-five years. Ordained as a Rabbinic Pastor by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he received a doctorate in Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and has written extensively on the topics of death, bereavement and the afterlife.

Be the first to comment

What are your thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.