About Josh

Welcome! I’m deeply passionate about exploring and teaching meaningful Tefilah experiences in educational settings, especially in schools and camps. I truly believe in the profound impact prayer can have when approached with sincerity and intention, and I’m dedicated to helping our community enhance this aspect of our spiritual lives. As an academic, I also love diving into the fascinating world of Jewish liturgy, with a particular interest in unraveling the mysteries of the Haggadah and other festivals. I’m excited to help you explore the beauty and depth of the Jewish prayer tradition.

I published the Yedid Nefesh Bencher in 2009, which has sold over 100,000 copies and is still in wide use across North America. My new Yedid Nefesh Haggadah is available now.

Main Publications

Professional Experience

  • The Leffell School, Hartsdale, NY, 2011-22
  • Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary, Professor of Liturgy, 2019-present
  • Zeramim.org: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought
    • Founder and senior editor, 2016-20
  • Northwoods Kollel Study Program,  Camp Ramah in Wisconsin
    • Founding Director, 2000-07
  • Congregation Har Shalom
    • High Holiday Hazzan, 2015-present

Education

  • Jewish Theological Seminary
    • Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature, 2012
    • Rabbinical Ordination, 2004
  • Yale University
    • B.A. in Philosophy, Yale University,1996

My first project was establishing a Jewish a cappella group at Yale, Magevet. They are still singing, and we just celebrated its 30th anniversary! I was the founder and director of the Northwoods Kollel Talmud program at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, the first fully egalitarian yeshiva program in the US, which helped pave the way for Yeshivat Hadar. While a doctoral student, I served as Director of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Beit Midrash study center, dramatically expanding its book collection and learning culture. I have also organized Judaic libraries at the Leffell School and my synagogue, making me something of a serial amateur librarian.

The bencher project had its roots with group of campers and staff at Ramah Wisconsin who, starting in summer 2000, brought yeshiva-style shabbat singing to the camp for the first time. The small group became a throng, and alumni of that group began bringing that music to other Conservative settings – other Ramah camps, USY Pilgrimage, and more. That tradition has grown to new heights under the amazing guidance of Rabbi Josh Warshawsky, who started singing with us as a camper in 2003. It became a book under the inspiration of my father, Rabbi Leonard Cahan z”l, editor of the Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat. My musical journey dates back to 1993, when I founded Magevet, Yale’s Jewish a cappella group, whose 30th anniversary I was privileged to attend. I have also served for many years as a High Holiday hazzan at my home shul, Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, MD, first with my father and now with Rabbi Irv Elson.

My doctoral thesis focuses on tracing differences in how the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds use and alter their source material, and how that suggests core differences in the process by which each Talmud was compiled. My amazing doctoral advisor, Richard Kalmin, still believes it will eventually get made into a book.

Besides Rabbinics and teaching, I enjoy playing ping pong and tennis, cycling, and reading books about behavioral economics – I consider Daniel Kahneman to be one of the most interesting people in the world.

Copyright 2024 Rabbi Joshua Cahan