How Aish Changed My Life

Miles Guralnick was raised in a non-religious Jewish home and went to the University of Toronto where he took business management before pivoting and coming to Israel to do an internship in psychiatric research, studying the effects of psychedelic drugs on mice to prepare to apply for medical school. The trip would change his life.

“A component of the internship was taking some classes in a yeshiva, which I wasn’t so keen on doing,” Miles recounted several years later in an interview with Aish.com. “I was interested in doing medical research and liked the connection with other Jews, but studying Judaism per se was never my thing. But from a medical perspective, the internship was a great opportunity so I figured I would suffer through the yeshiva classes. I didn’t think it would lead me to an entirely new understanding of who I am.”

Miles had attended some Hebrew school on Sunday -- “until I could convince my parents to stop letting me go” and a reform Jewish camp. That was the extent of his Jewish upbringing.

In Israel Miles enjoyed learning about the conceptual elements of Judaism. “I loved the concept of Shabbat, of turning everything off and disconnecting but I didn’t keep any of the laws for the sake of keeping them. At the time, I didn’t connect to God or basic elements of faith. Throughout my life, I had wanted to make my religious journey my own and not something that someone else told me what to do. While I found some of the arguments intellectually stimulating, I needed to investigate more. I was planning to leave the yeshiva as soon as I could, and just focus on my internship, and then I heard about Aish.”

Coming to Aish

Two experiences sold him on switching yeshivas and going to Aish to fulfill the internship requirements. The first was reading a book by Rabbi Dov Ber Cohen, who was a lecturer at Aish in Jerusalem. “The book, Mastering Life, spoke about Dov Ber’s own spiritual journey to enlightenment and a lot of what was written there really spoke to me. And I was told that I would have the freedom at Aish to undertake my own journey, at my own pace. So I spent a weekend there checking it out. I sat in on a class by Rabbi Mikhail Dubov which was eye-opening for me, and I was so impressed by the students there. During the weekend, students shared some Jewish wisdom during the meals and each of them was so articulate and thoughtful. As the president of the Jewish fraternity AEPI in University of Toronto, I was very impressed by how articulate everyone was.”

During his time in university, Miles gained an appreciation for his religious friends who were able to be grounded in both their religious observance and make a difference in the world. “People were able to make religion a priority while still being involved in regular school and having a social life. It didn’t have to be one or the other. I saw this in Toronto, but I didn’t really grasp it until I was at Aish,” he explained.

Miles is now learning at Aish for the year. “I am taking it slowly and exploring the basics to understand the major principles that will guide me throughout my life. Aish has a unique way of looking at major principles that connect to all of its students, both the people who just walk in off the street, as well as rabbinical students who have been studying for a decade or more. That alone is inspiring.

“I thought that studying at Aish was going to be a pause from my medical studies, but it turns out that my time here is a part of my journey to medicine. I‘m very interested in holistic and passionate care, rather than ‘here’s a patient with a disease, let’s cure them,’ as well as how do I as a doctor confront decisions that aren’t so black and white. I made an effort to prioritize studying medical ethics and how Jewish Law deals with many of the issues in the world of medicine. One thing I’ve learned about Judaism and its take on medical ethics is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Judaism looks at each case and understands that there is a wealth of issues that are in play and factors that need to be accounted for in making decisions. This is where studying in Aish has really jived with the holistic side of how I view the world.”

Running a Marathon

When asked about the lost time and his future in medical school Guralnick responded, “It’s all in my name - Miles. I appreciate the marathon aspect of growth and progression, and that comes with challenges, just like running a marathon and if it takes a bit more time than a sprint to get a holistic view, then so be it.”

In addition to being a scholar, Miles is a dedicated athlete. When he heard about the Jerusalem Marathon last year, he seized the opportunity as way to help others. “I knew that I had to run the marathon while fundraising for an important cause. I wanted to do it with a team, and I looked around for a good charity to dedicate my energy toward and I got introduced to Tikvah for Parkinsons. This is a place where they offer all sorts of programming and exercise classes for people with Parkinson’s in Jerusalem. For people living with Parkinson’s disease, exercise is the only treatment that slows down the advancement of disease, not medicine. I was astounded when I learned that, and it spoke to me on a deep level so much so that I decided I was going to run the Marathon for Tikvah. I raised $3,600 for Tikvah and I am proud of my achievement.”

Miles, left, with some other Aish students, running the Jerusalem Marathon

After October 7th, Miles spent time volunteering in different war efforts before going back to the United States for a short time. While in the U.S. he decided to take on the task of running the Marathon in Jerusalem once again this year, but this time, he’d get other students at Aish to join him. “The founder of Tikvah, who has Parkinsons herself, joined our group and we built a team for Tikvah that raised over $15,000 to help support the organization’s efforts and weekly classes and events. Tikvah uses education and takes action to break down the stigma surrounding the disease. This is a malady that comes with a lot of stigma and often people don’t want to announce that they have the disease.”

Miles concluded by saying, “Aish changed my life. I grew up with a philosophy that my grandfather instilled in me, and that was to try everything once, and keep going back to the good things. This helped me keep an open mind throughout my life and I have always been willing to understand different perspectives. I grew up a bit estranged from Judaism but loving the Jewish community, and getting involved in social action initiatives. Then, later on, I enjoyed the mental stimulation of university and working toward medical school. Following this I gained a strong appreciation for the deeper meaning of life, spirituality, and how to stay connected in a very disconnected world.

“Aish ties all these things together for me and taught me that I can integrate all of those different chapters from the different experiences of my life through a Jewish lens in a very meaningful way.”

For 50 years, Aish has been at the forefront of imparting timeless Jewish wisdom, uplifting and inspiring people like Miles to live more thoughtful, spiritual, and impactful lives.

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