As a rabbi and a writer

I hope to reach the seekers, dreamers, questioners and strugglers among us who are tired of the status quo and who crave a bolder, more authentic approach to life, particularly in the spiritual arena. Through my books, articles and teaching, I always strive to face the challenges of the human journey head on, and to learn whatever lessons those trials might offer us.

My own quest for spiritual authenticity has taken me dogsledding in Alaska and sky diving in New Zealand; it has expressed itself in my longtime practice of the martial arts; it has led to the creation of a new and innovative synagogue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. And now it has brought me to northern California to lead Congregation Beth Shalom in Napa Valley.

I invite you to join me on the journey. It's going to be an interesting ride.


"Here is a personal journey whose signposts are biblical tales and spiritual insights of the masters. Niles Goldstein asks ever-deepening questions, leaving the reader both uplifted and enlightened."

Rabbi David Wolpe, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, and author of Why Faith Matters

Rabbi Goldstein’s new book available now

Niles Elliot Goldstein uses eight questions found in the Bible to explore the human journey from cradle to grave, confronting such important existential experiences and themes as mortality, responsibility, forbidden knowledge, sin, and the afterlife. By interweaving texts from the Bible, commentaries, philosophy, psychology, and literature with his own experiences, Goldstein also meditates on midlife. This book will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike and is aimed at anyone who has ever faced a challenge or wondered what life is all about.

"I have come to show you a new way that is ancient."

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav