Rabbi James-Jacobson Maisels is the founder of Or HaLev: A Center for Jewish Spirituality and Meditation and has been studying and teaching meditation and Jewish spirituality for over fifteen years. He teaches Jewish thought, mysticism, spiritual practices and meditation at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, The Drisha Institute of Jewish Studies, and Yeshivat Hadar. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago in Jewish mysticism and has taught in a variety of settings in America and Israel on Judaism, Jewish mysticism and Jewish spiritual practices. He strives to integrate his study and practice and to help teach and live Judaism as a spiritual discipline.