Rabbi’s Brain

Andrew B. Newberg is Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Medical College. Dr. Newberg has been particularly involved in the study of mystical and religious experiences throughout his career, in addition to the use of neuroimaging studies in the evaluation of neurological and psychiatric disorders. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurotheology which seeks to link neuroscience with religious and spiritual experience. Dr. Newberg has published over two hundred articles, essays and book chapters. He is the author or co-author of eight books including the bestselling, How God Changes Your Brain (Ballantine, 2009), and Why God Won’t Go Away (Ballantine, 2001). He has presented his work at scientific and religious meetings throughout the world and has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, ABC’s World News Tonight, Book TV, National Public Radio, Fresh Air, London Talk Radio, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the BBC, National Public Radio, and the nationally distributed movies, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” and Bill Maher’s movie “Religulous.” His work has been written about in the Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, Discover Magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. David Halpern is a resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at The Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to attending medical school at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, David spent two years studying Jewish texts and philosophy at Yeshivat Hakotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. He then returned to New York to earn a B.A. in Psychology at Yeshiva University, where his graduating thesis focused on the intersection of the philosophy of free will as interpreted by Jewish and Christian Theology. David received Rabbinic Ordination in March 2014 from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. There he created a capstone project exploring the intersection of medical practice with Jewish medical ethics and law. Additionally, David completed rabbinic internships at the Puah Institute, helping Jewish couples navigate infertility, as well as the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, assisting women in obtaining a Jewish writ of divorce and preventing domestic abuse. As a medical student at Jefferson, David was particularly interested in the intersection of Judaism and medicine, as well as Jewish medical ethics. As the President of the Jefferson Jewish Student Association, David coordinated and gave monthly talks on Jewish-themed topics, including: Jewish Holidays, the Jewish Patient, and Judaism and Genetics. Most relevant to this book, David worked with Dr. Andrew Newberg, M.D. at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital on a theoretical research project exploring topics related to Jewish Neurotheology. While currently he has less time to devote to active study and research in Jewish topics, David remains actively involved in Torah study and Jewish communal leadership in the suburbs of Philadelphia, giving shiurim, lectures, and studying together with others whenever possible. David is married and lives with his wife and their two children in suburban Philadelphia.

"The Rabbi’s Brain is a provocative and original contribution to the science of what it means in the brain to have religious, and especially mystical, experience." - Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger, Author of Our Religious Brains (Jewish Lights, 2012)