The ACE Festival 2021 Keynote, featuring Rabbi Niles Goldstein

Dreams, Drama and Dogma: Spiritual Writing Through the Centuries

This presentation will explore the rich and diverse legacy of writing and writers within the context of the Abrahamic faith traditions. It will highlight several works from antiquity to modernity, examining their content, style and purpose, as well as the personal lives of the writers behind them. What have been some of the literary forms of spiritual writing over the centuries? Do the texts function as transmitters of doctrine, or rather as expressions of the writer’s inner life and/or vocation? Can writing itself be a spiritual and devotional activity?

Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa Valley. Rabbi Goldstein, an experienced and dynamic Reform rabbi and educator, is also the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge. He was the founding rabbi of The New Shul, an innovative and independent synagogue in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, which he served for over a decade. He is also a founder of the Napa Center for Thought & Culture. Prior to his arrival at CBS Napa, Rabbi Goldstein worked in a variety of congregational, interfaith and academic settings while based in his native Chicago.

Additional information about Niles can be found on the ACE Festival Keynote page.