The author was born and raised in a small American town, with a marginal connection to traditional Judaism. At age 19, he embarked on a journey of investigating Judaism, starting with a wide spectrum of Jewish communities in Israel, then youth group work in the Conservative movement in the US. He studied at J.T. S. and U.C. Berkeley, and then returned to Israel to study in traditional Yeshivot and Bar-Ilan university (Jewish Philosophy and Ed. Counseling), before becoming a member of the Slonimer hassidic community in Jerusalem. All his children are serious hassidim. He has taught English and Jewish Thought in Israeli highschools and adult ed programs, as well as in various Jewish communities around the world as a visiting scholar. Today, he lives, studies and writes in the town of Beitar Illit.