Who Am I?

That's a really great question. To be quite honest about it, I have no idea who I really am. Does any of us?

But on a practical basis, I'll give you a short autobiography of myself, typical boilerplate stuff, so that you have, at least, some idea about the author of this blog.

I grew up in Canada in the 60s and 70s -- when life seemed so much less complicated than it is today -- and had a very enjoyable, and by and large, privileged, childhood. I became quite talented as a classically-trained musician, specializing mostly in violin, but also in piano, but my focus shifted over the years toward biomedical research. Don't ask me why, but I had this crazy idea of being the one who would 'discover the cure for cancer'. So, after my final year in high school (where I served as the Station Manager of our radio station, CKWR) I headed off to university to learn as much as I could about biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, etc. Yet, even though I was earnestly pursuing a career in science, throughout most of this period of time, I knew that something was seriously missing in my life.

Therefore, in my mid-20s, I moved from Houston (where I was working on my PhD) to a sleepy backwater town in East Texas where I immersed myself in Biblical and theological studies. Interestingly, I stayed in Texas for 12 years and, overall, really enjoyed life there -- except for the fire ants and the summer humidity. After being invited to join an archaeological dig in northeast Syria and touring around Israel in the summer of 1989, I got married to a marvellous girl from Minnesota who gave us two amazing sons. During those years in Texas, I ended up developing and teaching all kinds of science courses (biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, etc.) that were designed to prepare freshmen and sophomores for their medical studies. Although those were very fulfilling and professionally creative years, like most things in this world, they came to an end, and we moved back to Canada.

I went back into industry and worked in the human genomics field for a number of years. The details are not important here, but I shifted from one scientific focus to another over many years, all the while still trying to find my 'true path' in life.

To make a long story short, my wife and I were led to appreciate the richness and eternal truths within traditional Judaism and began learning more and more Torah. One thing led to another, and we ended up making aliyah in the summer of 2012. We settled down in Beit Shemesh, where we still live. Our sons are all grown up now of course, and baruch Hashem, we have one beautiful grandson.

Needing to find a way to provide for myself and my family, after making aliyah, I ended up back in education, teaching many high school mathematics and science classes to Anglos. Feeling highly dissatisfied for a number of reasons, I accepted a position as a Senior Research Scientist in a 'semi-pharmaceutical' company here in Israel. It seemed like a good career move, so I began shlepping back and forth from Beit Shemesh to Haifa for many years before giving it all up in the aftermath of the Covid years.

Moving from shul to shul and trying out different modi operandi within the orthodox Torah world, I found myself, although unknowingly at the time, being drawn toward Breslov Chasidut and to a path through the Yam Suf that finally made sense to my soul.

Inspired by a great Tzaddik and Sage in Yerushalayim, we began publishing The Shoemaker Report in April of 2022, and b'ezrat Hashem, with His help and guidance, we'll continue to do what we can to spread the light of Rabbeinu in a world that needs it to emerge from darkness to light.