Ep. 42: Guide Dogs, Art, and Zen – with memoirist Ari Ashkenazi

Ari Ashkenazi was a professor of art at Cal State Los Angeles from 1972 to 1991. He took a disability leave due to the onset of blindness, earned a certificate in rehabilitation teaching for the blind, received ordination as a Zen Buddhist monk, and worked with AIDS patients who experienced blindness as a result of their illness. He is the author three memoirs: The Skeptic: Jews, Zen, and Blindness; About My Dog: Guide Dog Training at The Seeing Eye; and Mitzvah: A Memoir about Zen, Judaism, Pain, and Recovery. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren The Skeptic: Jews, Zen, and Blindnesshttps://www.amazon.com/Skeptic-Jews-Zen-Blindness/dp/B0BBY5DFXP/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=B0BmJ&content-id=amzn1.sym.cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_p=cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_r=142-9158865-9035219&pd_rd_wg=BK6V8&pd_rd_r=b5229d66-8e96-4e73-b11a-b925ca8c6ff2&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dskAbout My Dog: Guide Dog Training at the Seeing Eyehttps://www.amazon.com/About-My-Dog-Training-Seeing/dp/B0CLRP4WCD?ref_=ast_author_dp Mitzvah: A Memoir about Zen, Judaism, Pain, and Recoveryhttps://www.amazon.com/Mitzvah-Memoir-about-Judaism-Recovery/dp/1979927332?ref_=ast_author_dp Subscribe to the Amusing Jews podcasthttps://www.spreaker.com/show/amusing-jews Adat Chaverim – Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, Los Angeleshttps://www.humanisticjudaismla.org/ Cool Shul Cultural Communityhttps://www.coolshul.org/ Atheists United Studioshttps://www.atheistsunited.org/au-studios