About

Hi, I'm Madison, or in Hebrew, Margalit Rachel (מרגלית רחל). Some people joke that my name sounds like "medicine," and it tracks: I've dedicated my life and career to probing consciousness and spirituality as a vehicle for health, through methods informed by Jewish thought and practice, embodied techniques like yoga or dance, and psychedelics. When I got my start as a journalist back in 2014, in jest I would say my beat was "Jews & Drugs"—and, truly, my passion lies in exploring the ways people transcend themselves to connect with something greater and deeper, to get grounded and nourish the soul. For me, psychedelics were a "gateway" drug into Kabbalah and Chasidis, as I find my integration to be rooted in not only an expanded awareness of the physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, but also in a lifelong practice of embodiment, itself. 

Those are a lot of words to say, in short, that tripping isn't only where it's at—if you're not integrating, then there's no point to "the medicine" at all. And indeed, not every time a person uses a psychedelic substance does it have to be with "medicinal" intention. But that said, isn't the point not only to have "the experience" but also to live a life that keeps the consciousness of the psychedelic experience alive, that reflects that a person has, yes, been to the top of the mountain, and back down again with tales to tell and lessons to live by? In other words, let's just get to real talk: Acid's cool, but have you tried a daily yoga practice? Ayahuasca may rock your world, but cultivating the discipline to sit your ass down on the mat everyday, pay attention to your breath, or talk to G-d—even and especially when you don't feel like it—will actually be what changes your life. 

My work isn't really about psychedelics. It's about living a psychedelic life. It's about realizing that psychedelic moments are found just as easily through ritual and religion, partying and prayer, kabbalah and kale salad—that is, nourishment for the soul and the body. And yes, it's true—it took me a handful of trips to learn this. Because growing up behind the scenes of California's cannabis legalization movement and amongst "HinJews" of the community surrounding Baba Ram Dass (a.k.a. Richard Alpert) was, essentially, a childhood colored by the "results" of the hippie movement. My parents and all their friends had grown up in traditional post-Holocaust Judaism, yet found spirituality in weed or acid, India or the Rainbow Gathering. I was skeptical and traumatized by my family's own personal mishigas, so I left home, and by serendipity found my way into the underground of New York's Hasidic community—only to realize that where I was going was, in its raw spirituality, parallel to where I was coming from. 

Fast-forward about a decade, and today I'm an author, facilitator, and educator. I split my time living between the motherland and the homeland, or in other words, between New York and Tzfat—a mystical mountain town in northern Israel. Yet, always a wandering Jew at heart, I also spend a lot of time in my hometown of Los Angeles, and in the heartbeat of the world, a.k.a. Jerusalem. 

As a journalist, I've written hundreds of stories for dozens of publications, including Rolling Stone, VICE, Playboy, the Village Voice, High Times, and Ayin Press. As an author, I've written three books so far, although only the first has been published. That's Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass & Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground (Hay House 2023), a gonzo journalistic memoir about running and return; the intersection of Jewish and psychedelic consciousness; hippies, hasidim, and the feeling of home. My upcoming books will be released in the next year, which include Judaism is Psychedelic: A Practical Guide (Ayin Press), and a coffee table book that I co-authored with my former business partner, The DoubleBlind Guide to Psychedelics (Artisan Books/Hachette). Additionally, I host a podcast on the Be Here Now Network called Set & Setting; I co-founded psychedelic magazine and media startup DoubleBlind, The Jewish Psychedelic Summit, and heimish psychedelic harm reduction initiative Shomrei Nefesh; and I recently launched a Substack titled Judaism is Psychedelic.

As a facilitator, I am completing certification in a method of therapy called Lev Emunah, based in Kabbalistic and Hasidic methodology. I also have completed coursework in psychedelic spaceholding through ZendoSit, narrative therapy through the Jerusalem Narrative Therapy Institute, and the medicine wheel through Hila Dekel's medicine carrier training in Pardes Chana. Although I consider myself a lifelong student, I also hold a master's in journalism from Columbia University in New York, and a bachelor's in rhetoric and cognitive linguistics from University of California, Berkeley, where I also studied French, Russian, Yiddish, "Quantum Consciousness," and "Drugs and the Brain." I teach courses from time to time, including cohorts on psychedelic Judaism for platforms like LiveKabbalah and Shefa, so stay up to date through my website to find out about the next opportunity.

Having practiced yoga since the age of 12, in my "free time" you can find me flowing through asanas, dancing, hiking, spinning my hula hoop, scheming for the next Rainbow Gathering, or studying the wisdom of Rebbe Nachman.