Rabbi Zvika Krieger is the Spiritual Leader of Chochmat HaLev, a progressive spiritual community in Berkeley, CA for embodied prayer, heart-centered relationships, and mystical experiences. He co-leads radical Shabbat services for thousands of dusty seekers at Burning Man; is co-founder of Shevet: Jewish Mindfulness Collective and ThirdHouse: Sacred Leadership Lab; and has served in board and leadership positions for Wilderness Torah, Jewish Studio Project, DC Minyan, Temple of the Stranger, and other organizations dedicated to nourishing the mind, body, and soul. He is the author of the forthcoming books The God You Don’t Believe In: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living, Loving, and Letting Go (Penguin Random House, 2027) and Speak to the Bones: A Book of Jewish Spells (Ayin Press, 2026).
Zvika has worked on mitigating some of the most damaging impacts of new technologies on individuals and society as Facebook/Meta’s first-ever Director of Responsible Innovation, creating and leading the World Economic Forum’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and as the US Department of State’s first-ever “Ambassador to Silicon Valley.” He has taught courses on ethical design and social impact technology at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Zvika previously served as Senior Vice President of the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington DC, and was Newsweek’s Middle East correspondent, based in Egypt and Lebanon and covering most of the Arab world. Zvika’s work and writing have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, and New Republic, and he has appeared as an analyst on NBC News, CNN, and Fox News.
He has a BA from Yale University and studied at the American University in Cairo and Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion. He is a certified Shadow Work facilitator, a certified Design Thinking facilitator by the Luma Institute, certified as “God” with “Talk to God”, and trained as an ecstatic dance DJ by Embodied Sound. He received rabbinical ordinations in the Hasidic and Jewish Renewal lineages and is a Rabbinic Entrepreneur Fellow at Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation.
Originally from Los Angeles, Zvika lives in Berkeley with his son. In his spare time, he loves to surf, dance, backpack, rock climb, and sing karaoke occasionally on-key.
Read this fun profile to learn more about Zvika’s approach to spirituality and community: NOT YOUR BUBBE’S RABBI: Zvika Krieger brings traditional texts, radical self-expression to Berkeley’s Chochmat HaLev
Read a selection of Zvika’s drashot (teachings) below
High Holy Days:
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- Turning Toward, Erev Rosh Hashanah Teaching, September 22, 2025
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- The Ram Was the Hero, Rosh Hashanah/Shofar Teaching. September 23, 2025
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- Remembering and Forgetting in Uncertain Times, Yom Kippur Teaching, October 1, 2025
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- Crying with Our Enemies’ Mothers, Rosh Hashanah Teaching 2024
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- Brushing God’s Teeth: A New Take on God and Prayer, Yom Kippur Teaching 2024
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- Remembering Yourself, Erev Rosh Hashanah Teaching 2023
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- Sarah’s Trauma and Our Own, Rosh Hashanah Teaching 2023
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- Firemen and Troubled People: The Paradox of Prayer, Yom Kippur Teaching 2023
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- On Being Understood, Rosh Hashanah Teaching 2022
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- On Falling Apart, Yom Kippur Teaching 2022
Israel/Palestine:
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- Make A Window in Your Ark, Drash on Parshat Noach, Delivered on October 20, 2023
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- Crying with Our Enemies’ Mothers, Rosh Hashanah Teaching 2024
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- A Heart of Many Chambers, Lag B’Omer Teaching, May 15, 2025
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- A Fire Consumes Our Foundations, Tisha B’Av Teaching, August 1, 2025
- Forgetting and Remembering How to Listen, Parshat Va’era, January 16, 2026
Other Teachings:
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- “What does it feel like to believe in God?” Listen to Zvika in this intimate and vulnerable interview on Search Engine (named a best podcast of the year by Vulture, Time, The Economist, & Vogue), where he weaves together his professional and spiritual journey. He shares wisdom on dispensing with childhood notions of God, finding a deep sense of belonging, and discovering the Divine in the most unexpected places. You can listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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- Bitter Waters: How to Cope After the Elections, Cheshvan Teaching, November 6, 2024
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- Three Steps to Prepare for Difficult Family Encounters, Teaching on Parshat VaYishlach, December 1, 2023
