Hannah Nathans was born in 1944 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Jewish from patrilineal descent, she was a seeker for a long time. At last she found her home in Judaism. She converted and eventually became a rabbi. Hannah Nathans worked for the Dutch government as a policymaker, trainer, and consultant. After a number of years as senior consultant in a training and consulting firm she started her own business: Nathan's Consultancy in 1989. She was one of the first to introduce the enneagram in the Netherlands and wrote a book about it. The enneagram is a system of nine personality types, strongly related to the kabbalistictree of life, and meant for psychospiritual growth. In 2005, Nathans completed a training as Jewish Spiritual director, with Lev Shomea, Institute for Jewish Spiritual Direction. In 2007 Nathans Consultancy became part of Rijnconsult, and Hannah started HaMakor, Centre for Jewish Spirituality. Nathans got a master in Hebrew language and culture at the University of Amsterdam. She studied to become a rabbi with Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal, a neohasidic movement, founded by the late rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, where she received her smicha in January 2014. From 2012, she worked as rabbi of the congregation Beit ha’Chidush, affiliated with Liberal Judaism UK. In 2016, she became the rabbi of the Open Jewish Congregation Klal Israel in Delft, a Reconstructionist community with an outreach orientation: everybody with Jewish ancestry or a deep longing for a Jewish life is welcome. For this congregation, Nathans gives giyur training. In 2017, she co-founded the Virtual European Minyan, with online services, meant in the first place for those without any Judaism in their place of residence, or not the Judaism of their choice, but open to everybody interested.
Works
• Adviseren als tweede beroep, resultaat bereiken als adviseur • Werken met het Enneagram, naar persoonlijk meesterschap en sociale intelligentie, translated as The enneagram at work • Typisch ik, typisch jij; het enneagram, een handleiding bij mensen • Een wortel die alsem en gal voortbrengt; het 20e eeuwse Chassidisme van Shalom Noach Berezovsky •Werkboek Adviseren als tweede beroep • Can someone in the process of conversion serve as shali’ach tzibbur? in R.Daniel Siegel, Renewing ger toshav; opening the gates that more may enter to praise God part 2
