Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan

Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan is a scholar and spiritual teacher living in Vancouver, Canada, on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Her work is spiritual, religious, and sometimes political.

Rabbi Laura’s spiritual education has been eclectic. She studied western Philosophy (Ph.D.), Education (M.Ed.), Kabbalah and Jewish Thought (ordination), Christian spiritual direction (Graduate Diploma), Ayurvedic yoga (Professional Certificate), and Jungian depth psychology (9 grad courses).  

Rabbi Laura, a skilled facilitator and spiritual director, often brings people together for inter-religious and inter-cultural exchange. At work, she is the Director of Inter-Religious Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology. There, she hosts an annual multi-faith conference on a topic in current events.  She is also Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue and Professor Emerita of Philosophy at UNC Charlotte. 

Her most recent book, Mouth of the Donkey: Re-imagining Biblical Animals, is a creative reading of Biblical animal stories and exploration of urgent environmental themes (Cascade, 2021). Her previous book, The Infinity Inside: Jewish Spiritual Practice Through a Multi-Faith Lens offers an introduction to diverse spiritual practices (Albion-Andalus, 2019).

In collaboration with her colleagues, Rabbi Laura recently co-edited Spirit of Reconciliation, a multi-faith guide to participating in Indigenous Reconciliation in Canada (Canadian Race Relations Foundation, 2020), and Encountering the Other, a discussion of how religious traditions welcome neighbours and create strangers (Wipf & Stock, 2020).

Rabbi Laura loves teaching and has received many teaching awards, each with different criteria. For her work using philosophy to help students explore existential and spiritual questions, she was named a U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and received an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy from Niagara University.

When Rabbi Laura is not at work or exploring spiritual practice, she is usually volunteering at an interfaith or synagogue initiative, enjoying plants and animals outdoors, leading prayer services with her spouse, singing with Sulam: Jewish World Music Ensemble, laughing with her young adult children, hanging out with her companion animals, reading, or simply doing household work.

To learn more about Rabbi Laura visit her website https://www.sophiastreet.com