Rabbi Mordecai Finley, PhD | Virtue, Rationality, and Wisdom in Conflict De-Escalation, Connecting with the World of the Soul with Depth

Rabbi Mordecai Finley at the derek loudermilk show

Written by Derek Loudermilk

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September 2, 2022

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“Virtue is a restraint of harmful actions and words” – Rabbi Finley

Rabbi Mordecai Finley, PhD is the worlds only Rabbi who is also a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He is a self described existential counselor. In this episode, I have a wide ranging conversation with the Rabbi about a 10 year plan to end gun violence in the United State, using his model of Virtue, Rationality, and Wisdom, then we move into a discussion of the different ways to achieve connection with your soul through the practice of depth.

Rabbi Mordecai Finley is the rabbi and co-CEO of Ohr HaTorah Synagogue. He co-founded the synagogue with his wife Meirav Finley in 1993.

Rabbi Finley received his doctorate in Religion-Social Ethics from the University of Southern California. In addition to his work at Ohr HaTorah, he served as a Professor of Jewish Thought at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California Campus , where he taught Liturgy, Jewish Mysticism and Spirituality, and Professional Skills. He is former president and former provost of the AJR. He currently on hiatus from his teaching at the AJR/CA

Rabbi Finley also has a small counseling practice, where he focuses on wisdom, virtue, and managing consciousness. He specializes is interpersonal relationships. As Rabbi Finley does not do traditional psychodynamic counseling, his clients are typically short term and see results immediately if they work the teachings.

Rabbi Finley integrates into his counseling practice insights from many schools and traditions, most notably: Philosophy, Stoic and Neo-Platonism) Jung and neo-Jungians (especially James Hillman) plus a range of modern psychological schools of thought, especially Roberto Assagiolli, William Glasser, Albert Ellis and Byron Katie. He also has background in object relations theorists as well as existential and humanist psychology.

Through his doctorate in Religion, as well as his own spiritual search, he has familiarity with other religious-spiritual traditions: Hindu (especially Patanjali and Raja Yoga), Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, and Sufi Mysticism.

Noted for his unique teaching skills, his eloquence and ability to simply and clearly articulate truths about the human condition through teaching Bible, mysticism, Kabbalah, spirituality, and moral psychology, he has changed many people’s lives.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

Rabbi Finley and Derek come up with a 10 year plan to end gun violence in the United States
How to apply Vitue, Rationality, Wisdom, and Depth in your life
New ways to think about poetry, magic, the soul, and spiritual experiences
How martial arts relates to spirituality
How to identify your spiritual personality
The use of the will
Parenting practice and problem solving