Rabbi Zalman Kastel

Rabbi Zalman Kastel's first appearance on Story Room Aus was in May 2021. 

Rabbi Zalman Kastel is National Director of the Multi-Faith based Together for Humanity Foundation that fosters Intercultural Understanding in Schools. Rabbi Kastel was raised in the “ultra orthodox” Chasidic tradition in the racially divided Crown Heights area of Brooklyn New York. He saw the world through the lens of his absolute tradition and the narrative of his community.

This changed in 2001, when encounters with Christians and Muslims transformed him. He has had a lot of laughter surprises and dilemmas on his journey of interfaith cooperation and bringing positive experiences of diversity to 100,000 young Australians. He is still a Hasidic Rabbi teaching Bible study at Chabad House North Shore in Sydney. He was ordained as a Rabbi after study in the UK, Australia and the US and completed a Graduate Diploma in Education with the University of New England at Armidale. He is married to a Sydney accountant and is the father of 5 boys and 1 daughter.