Lawrence Kushner is the Emanu-El Scholar. Prior to his move out to San Francisco, he was the Rabbiin- Residence at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. Before that, he served for twenty-eight years as the rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

He is the author of seventeen books including Honey from the Rock; God Was in This Place and I, i Did Not Know; Invisible Lines of Connection; Five Cities of Refuge, and has recently completed his first novel, Kabbalah: A Love Story. He enjoys biking and is trying to learn how to play the clarinet.