From a Buddhist monastery to "Shema Yisrael": The tumultuous journey of Rabbi Yitzchak Panger

Rabbi Yitzchak Panger reveals in an interview with Oded Harush the personal journey that led him from a secular home in Herzliya, through combat service, the loss of a fellow soldier, studies in psychology and alternative medicine, becoming a Reiki master, and a stay in a Buddhist monastery in India – until the moment when reciting "Shema Yisrael" awakened a powerful spiritual experience that led him to return to religious observance.

Rabbi Yitzchak Panger, one of Israel's most recognizable lecturers on Judaism, faith, and returning to religious observance, reveals in an interview with the program "A Conversation with Oded Harush" on Channel 14 the extraordinary journey that led him from a secular home in Herzliya to the life he leads today. Panger grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors, and was named after his uncle who fell in the Six-Day War. After serving as a combat soldier in the armored corps and losing a fellow soldier in Lebanon, he began a search for meaning that led him to study psychology, Chinese and alternative medicine, and later Reiki, where he became a master. The search took him to India, where he studied Buddhism and meditation and even stayed in a monastery in a process of seclusion and silence. It was there, after breaking the silence with verses from his Bar Mitzvah Haftarah, that he experienced a pivotal moment: reciting "Shema Yisrael" from a travel prayer card he received from Chabad triggered intense physical trembling and a feeling he had never experienced before. Following this, he began to examine Judaism intellectually through the Arachim organization, and started a gradual process of returning to religious observance. Panger emphasizes that the journey continues even today, and he integrates tools from the worlds of psychology and personal development into his work.