About Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
Shoshana Meira Friedman is a late-diagnosed PDA Autistic rabbi, writer, coach, activist, and passionate creative. Her CV below reflects many years of high-achievement, and does not tell the story of being Autistic and PDA. For that story, see her writing, My Story section, & Instagram posts.
Current Work
In addition to unschooling her child full time, Rabbi Shoshana is the founder and creator of The PDA Safe Circle™ LLC, which provides life-changing content and community for PDAers and our family members, and includes a small private coaching practice. Her in-depth and honest posts about Autism and PDA have gained 22K followers on Instagram.
Before diving into the neurodiversity movement, Rabbi Shoshana was a public speaker for Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, and director of the The Artist Beit Midrash of Hebrew College & JArts, which ran from 2020-2024.
Writing
Rabbi Shoshana’s writing on parenting, the climate crisis, and Autistic identity has been published in many venues, including The New York Times, Tablet Magazine, YES! Magazine, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, and JewishBoston.com, as well as in the books Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet.
She has two picture book coming out in Spring 2025: The Tide Is Rising, So Are We!: A Climate Movement Anthem; and Playground Count-Along: For Young Children and Gestalt Language Processors, co-written by Brooke Ringler.
Music & Art
Rabbi Shoshana’s music has spread around the world through her climate anthem, “The Tide Is Rising,” co-written with her husband, Yotam Schachter. Her original album Guesthouse is available on most streaming platforms. Search "Guesthouse Shoshana Meira Friedman" to listen.
A lifelong amateur visual artist, she has an ongoing wild love affair with alcohol paints. You can see some of her work in the logo and background images on this website.
Climate
Rabbi Shoshana spent a decade taking leadership on climate movement campaigns. Highlights include organizing the largest interfaith clergy act of civil disobedience in Massachusetts history; organizing to pass renewable energy legislation in Massachusetts; consulting on the founding of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action; and raising over $100,000 for Sunrise Movement.
Education
Rabbi Shoshana was ordained by Hebrew College in Newton, MA, and is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, JOIN For Justice, and Oberlin College where she graduated with High Honors in Environmental Studies, and was also a Henry David Thoreau Scholar.
Employment
Rabbi Shoshana has served rabbinic roles at Hebrew College, Temple Sinai of Brookline, Shirat HaYam of the North Shore, Temple Beth of Portland, and the Jewish Community Day School of Greater Boston.
Family
Shoshana grew up in a musical family in Newton, MA., daughter of Rabbi Lev Friedman and Joyce Friedman, sister of Ari & Mia Friedman of the band Ari & Mia. She currently lives in Boston, MA with her husband Yotam Schachter and their son. Her son's special interest is gaming. He would like to point you to the following resource Autcraft, a Minecraft server for Autistics and family members that our whole family plays on!