Gershon Winkler is a Danish, non-denominational [1] rabbi, scholar, teacher and author whose special interest is indigenous Judaism.
In 1997, he founded the Walking Stick Foundation, an educational entity dedicated to the restoration of what he calls "Aboriginal Judaism," conducting retreats and seminars as well as special "Jewish Shamanic" tours across the Land of Israel.
He is also a Vietnam-War Veteran, having served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1970 as a chaplain's assistant and as an infantryman with fourteen months of overseas duty in South Korea.
[citation needed] He has received media recognition, including a front-page feature in The Wall Street Journal,[citation needed] a segment on the PBS series Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and detailed coverage in Israel’s Ha’aretz, Chayyim Acherim Magazine, and The Jerusalem Post.
In 1997, he founded the Walkingstick Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the recovery and preservation of indigenous Jewish spirituality — currently headquartered in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.