Making Connections - Hasidic Roots and Resonance in the Teachings of Moshe Feldenkrais

MOSHE-PINCHAS FELDENKRAIS, founder of the Feldenkrais Method^®, was a student of life in its depth, a fierce and gentle warrior, a teacher of uncommon brilliance. His teachings move far beyond the usual divisions of science, religion, and art, and into a realm where grace, health, and effectiveness share one moment - and sometimes the same cigarette.

While much is known of his innovative mastery of the martial arts, his erudition in the sciences, and his interest in certain esoteric paths, Feldenkrais’s own intellectual, spiritual and cultural roots have remained largely unexplored. At the same time, there are aspects of his gift that defy our understanding.

In MAKING CONNECTIONS, David Kaetz introduces friends, teachers, and students of the Feldenkrais Method^® to a vanished world. There you will find a culture of passionate inquiry, paradoxical teaching, and warm-hearted storytelling. And you will meet Feldenkrais’s own Hasidic ancestors, for whom he had the greatest reverence. When our understanding is grounded in an appreciation of these roots, much that has perplexed us about the man, his wisdom, and his own extraordinary adventure, emerges in a new light.

“When a man makes such and such a motion with his hand, thus it is done in all the worlds, and when he makes another motion with his hand, so it is done in all the worlds … If we were able to see really deeply into a man, we would see that on every vein and fibre depend countless worlds.”
- Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz (1728-1791)

“That chap [Pinchas of Koretz] takes care of me all the time.”
- Moshe-Pinchas Feldenkrais (1904-1984)

David Kaetz practices the Feldenkrais Method^® on Vancouver Island and teaches workshops in Canada and abroad.
He is also a professional musician and storyteller.

Cover design: Jim Lemkin
Cover photograph: David Kaetz
Web Site © 2007 David Kaetz
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