Dr. Rashi Shapiro is a prominent leader in the Orthodox Jewish world of psychology. He was born in 1953 in Washington, D.C. and was named after the great rabbinical sage and biblical commentary, Rashi. His father, Rabbi Aharon Shapiro, was a rabbi in Linden, NJ and Queens, NY and a professor of economics. His mother, Marta Berl Shapiro, was a professor of English literature and at age 50 became a lawyer.
Rabbi and psychologist
He was ordained rabbi at age 23 and taught in the Mesivta of Greater Miami. In 1978 he took his first pulpit at Congregation Ohr Hachaim of Miami Beach. He was also the director of the Horeb Seminary for Women, a division of the Talmudic University of Florida. The rabbinate required counseling intervention with families in the community, and Rabbi Shapiro trained in social work at Barry University, Miami. He founded and directed “Hypnotherapy and Counseling Centers of Miami”. During this time he perfected hypnosis for smoking cessation while researching past life regression. Upon coming to New York he became the director of the Tikvah Clinic, the Orthodox Jewish mental health center of the New Hope Guild. During this time he completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at Long Island University while also consulting at the Maimonides Mental Health Center and South Beach Psychiatric hospital. At New Hope, Dr. Shapiro founded the Institute for Psychological Services to nursing homes where he trained and supervised 50 psychologists who treated the elderly. In 1988 Dr. Shapiro created the day hospital at Pesach Tikvah – Hope Development in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn where he serviced the chassidic community of Satmar. He eventually became the executive director of the agency. Since 1991 Dr. Shapiro has been devoted to his private practice and founded the Institute for Technological Psychology in Brooklyn. Dr. Shapiro is currently training therapists in unique and unorthodox treatment strategies for the ultra-orthodox and chassidic community. He is singular in his promotion of group therapy for the orthodox Jewish community. Publications:
Psychological testing in brief psychotherapy: how testing, appropriately applied, can enhance managed care's "therapy of choice." : An article from: Behavioral Health Management by Paul R. Bindler and Rashi Shapiro - HTML
Orthodox Peer Supervision and Orthodox Group Therapy: Two Groups—One Religion
Journal Journal of Psychology and Judaism,Issue Volume 23, Number 4 / December, 1999 Rashi Shapiro
Musical career
Before receiving his PhD, he founded the first folk-rock Jewish music group named "Rashi and the Rishonim" at the age of 17. He gave concerts in the U.S. and in Israel often performing with the likes of Shlomo Carlebach, the Rabbis' Sons and Theodore Bikel and others of their ilk and reputation. The band received critical acclaim for their first album, but Rashi abruptly quit the band to pursue religious training in Israel. The album is, today, hailed by record collectors as one of the rarest and most desirable records in the genre of Jewish Folk Music.
"This band was a groupie’s dilemma. Four single guys. A rock and roll lifestyle. A thumping folk sound that dripped from their hits such as "Eshes Chayil." The liner notes explain: “There once lived a great sage named Rashi whose prophetic commentary on both the written and oral Torah shed glorious light on its cosmic intricacies. Rashi is truly the name of the arranger of this album. His parents named him Rashi in the hope he would strive to attain even some of the greatness of the great sage. He developed the ability to play nine musical instruments including the Cordovox.” For the record, the Rishonim are Josh, Shelly, Heshy, Abbi, Steven, and Yussie."
Personnel on the LP were Rashi Shapiro ; Heshy Gruenberger, Shelly Lang ; Josh Neustein ; with Abby Warshaw, Yussie Lieber and Steven Weiss on additional guitars, Yisroel Lamm and Sam Weiss on trumpets, Elliott Federman on drums, and Mickey Lane on bass guitar.
