Nathan Farb

==Early life and education==

==Early life and education==

Farb was born in [[Konawa, Oklahoma|Konawa]] in Seminole County, Oklahoma, on January 18, 1941; his father, also named Nathan Farb, owned a jewelry and clothing store, and died by suicide before he was born. His mother was Bertha Eisen Farb, a music teacher who was a violinist and conducted the high school orchestra in Konowa. She and Nathan moved to [[Lake Placid, New York]] when she married Alfred Kahn, a rabbi and a [[Talmudic scholar]] who was 25 years older than she. There were few Jews in Lake Placid, and the family lived in the working-class section of town where anti-Semitic attitudes lingered.

Farb was born in [[Konawa, Oklahoma|Konawa]] in Seminole County, Oklahoma, on January 18, 1941; his father, also named Nathan Farb, owned a jewelry and clothing store, and died by suicide before he was born. His mother was Bertha Eisen Farb, a music teacher who was a violinist and conducted the high school orchestra in Konowa. She and Nathan moved to [[Lake Placid, New York]] when she married Alfred Kahn, a rabbi and a [[Talmudic scholar]] who was 25 years older than she. There were few Jews in Lake Placid, and the family lived in the working-class section of town where anti-Semitic attitudes lingered. When Farb was 11 years old, he was beaten and stripped naked by a gang of neighborhood boys.

When Farb was 11 years old, he was beaten and stripped naked by a gang of neighborhood boys. Kahn conducted services at the small synagogue in Lake Placid whenever there was a [[minyan]] (the required quorum of ten Jewish adults), which happened mostly in the summer. During the winter there were usually not enough Jewish men in town to read the [[Torah]]. Consequently, Kahn served as an itinerant Jewish chaplain to several sanitariums in the villages of [[Saranac Lake, New York|Saranac Lake]] and [[Tupper Lake (village), New York|Tupper Lake]], both within the boundaries of [[Adirondack Park]]. Because he didn't drive, Bertha drove Kahn to the various communities he served, and young Nathan had to come along. While his parents were at services, Nathan would retreat by himself into the nearby woods. He developed a deep connection with nature and spirituality as he camped and hiked in the Adirondacks, a formative part of his life. When his stepfather died in 1955, his mother moved with him to New York City, then across the river to [[Hackensack, New Jersey]]. He attended [[Rutgers University]], where he earned a degree in psychology.

Kahn conducted services at the small synagogue in Lake Placid whenever there was a [[minyan]] (the required quorum of ten Jewish adults), which happened mostly in the summer. During the winter there were usually not enough Jewish men in town to read the [[Torah]]. Consequently, Kahn served as an itinerant Jewish chaplain to several sanitariums in the villages of [[Saranac Lake, New York|Saranac Lake]] and [[Tupper Lake (village), New York|Tupper Lake]], both within the boundaries of [[Adirondack Park]]. Because he didn't drive, Bertha drove Kahn to the various communities he served, and young Nathan had to come along. While his parents were at services, Nathan would retreat by himself into the nearby woods. He developed a deep connection with nature and spirituality as he camped and hiked in the Adirondacks, a formative part of his life. When his stepfather died in 1955, his mother moved with him to New York City, then across the river to [[Hackensack, New Jersey]]. He attended [[Rutgers University]], where he earned a degree in psychology.

==Career==

==Career==