The Jewish Sufi Pilgrim

Welcome! This podcast is a journey between the shul and the shrine — a joyful exploration of the shared spiritual and musical worlds in Jewish and Islamic mysticism.Through history, poetry, musical modes, and philosophy, the podcast follows the living traditions that connect Kabbalist and Sufi devotional life. This page links to episode recordings, transcripts and other resources, housed on Substack.Follow the podcast online:Spotify
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Lastest Episodes

3 March 2026

Trailer | Welcome to the Caravanserai

Enjoy a brief intro to the podcast and its style of engagement, plus ney and drum accompaniment to the traditional Sufi tune Hakkı Seven Aşıklerın.

Listen and get the transcript

Writer, Musician & Scholar of Desert Devotion and Migratory Sound

About your host

The Jewish Sufi Pilgrim Podcast is hosted by Lisa England, a writer, musician, and independent scholar of desert devotion who follows migratory lineages of music across the Middle East and Silk Road. Her work explores intersections where the region’s many spiritual traditions meet through voice and instrument, influence one another, and reveal deeper continuities beneath their distinctions.Currently, she is focused on music as medicine across medieval Central Asia and the Ottoman world, with particular attention to voices and healing practices often overlooked in modern transmission — such of those of Jews and women mystics. She honors the legacy of Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç as a spiritual guide in this work, and a steward of medicinal music traditions from Türkiye and the Silk Road.