Shefa Gold is an American rabbi, scholar, and director of C-DEEP, The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Gold is a teacher of chant, Jewish mysticism, Jewish prayer and spirituality who Rabbi Mike Comins described in 2010 as "a pioneer in the ecstatic practice of Jewish chant." Her chants have been used in synagogues, minyanim, and street protests, perhaps her most well-known being "Ozi V'zimrat Yah". Combining traditional Jewish liturgical music with Hebrew chant, she has worked to cultivate Jewish gratitude practice. Her "Flavors of Gratefulness" mobile app had as of December 2019 65 different chants for the morning prayerModeh Ani. Prior to becoming a rabbi, Gold was a musician. She said in a 2013 interview "what I was really trying to do with my music was create sacred space. I felt how powerful music is in opening hearts." Gold was ordained as a rabbi by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College as well as by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. She is a leader within Aleph: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Through a program called Kol Zimra, Gold has trained rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders in Hebrew chant practices. According to one Jewish Telegraphic Agency article, nearly all interest in Jewish chanting today can be traced back to Gold. She was included in Letty Cottin Pogrebin's 2007 list The Other Fifty Rabbis in America, and in a 2015 list of "America's most inspiring rabbis" by The Forward, and has been quoted in articles that discuss the intersection of New Age/Spirituality and Judaism. Gold has produced ten albums and her liturgies have been published in several prayerbooks. She is the author of several books on deepening spiritual awareness through sacred chant and meditation:
Gold's work was featured in the book Stalking Elijah: Adventures with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters by Rodger Kamenetz. In 2017, Gold was one of the rabbis who signed a statement by Jewish Veg encouraging veganism for all Jews. Gold has described Hebrew chant as effective for healing and transforming people of different religions, not just adherents of Judaism.
