So you’re in LA (which would actually be quite nice) and you want to learn how to surf. But the problem is you’re
Jewish and most of those surf instructors seem so…well, unkosher. Well, here’s a solution. Head down to Venice Beach
(of course) and lookup a gentleman by the name of Norm Shifty Shifren. Shifren, AKA the
Surfing Rabbi, teaches surfing to all denominations, even atheists…well,
that may be pushing it…maybe keep that to yourself. Rabbi Shifren calls his classes a “Kabbalistic Quest for the Soul”,
which may be the first time surfing has been referred to that way. Though he does not yet claim Madonna as a client,
his classes have gotten props from all sorts of surfing luminaries.
If you want to learn more about the rabbi, he even has a book,
wherein he reveals that “G-d not in the synagogue, but in the majesty of Jewish mysticism and the vast power of the
ocean”. Deep, baby.
I wonder if G-d agrees.