Luncheon and Lecture: 'Raising the Spark: Finding God in the Material World'

Daniel Matt, an expert on Kabbalah, will lead this weekend.

The lectures are sponsored by four Reform synagogues and the Hoffberger Foundation for Torah Study, according to a news release.

"Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World," will be held at 11:30 a.m. May 12, at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Pikesville.

A Shabbat Kiddush luncheon will also be held.

For more info on this event, call 410-764-1587.

Following is the lecture description, according to the release:

"How can God be encountered in daily life? Matt will explore this question with passages from Kabbalah and Hasidism on the nature of God, the act of creation and the challenge of discovering God in the material world."

Daniel Matt has published more than 10 books, including The Essential Kabbalah that is translated into seven languages, according to an event news release.

He is currently translating and annotating the Zohar, and has, so far, completed seven volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, covering more than two-thirds of the text, the release states.

Matt received the National Jewish Book Award and Koret Jewish Book Award for his work, it states.

He has appeared in Time Magazine, as well as on National Public Radio and The History Channel.

According to the release, Matt has served for 20 years as professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and has taught at Stanford University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He resides in Berkeley.

For information on the other lectures in this series, held May 11-13 in Pikesville, Reisterstown and Owings Mills, visit the article: