Silberhartz, Allen (1947-)

Allen Silberhartz, the host of the national New Age television show Bridging Heaven and Earth, was born on February 28, 1947, in New York City. He grew up in a Jewish home and had his Bar Mitzvah at age 13. He completed his degree at the University of Pennsylvania (1967), where he majored in accounting, and earned a law degree at George Washington University (1971). He moved to rural Maryland, where he joined a commune residing on an organic farm. While there he learned to practice meditation which has subsequently remained a part of his daily schedule.

Having joined the bar in Maryland, in 1975 Silberhartz began practicing law, but in 1980 moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he became an investment counselor. During his Maryland years, he had had a profound mystical experience of oneness that changed his outlook on life and that he has since sought to manifest in all his various activities. In 1985 he began to teach meditation and spiritual development. He became close friends with another independent spiritual teacher named Wistancia.

In 1995, along with Wistancia and a group of spiritual friends, he launched a television show on the local community access station in Santa Barbara. The show grew out of a conversation reflecting upon the negativity that appeared to dominate many of the daytime talk shows then running on national television. Silberhartz and his colleagues attempted to put together a show that would be positive and uplifting and reflect his own experience of oneness which he had come to feel transcended any particular organizational expression. In the beginning, he and Wistancia served as cohosts, but since 1997 he has been the sole host.

By the end of the decade, Bridging Heaven and Earth had become a national show, having been picked up on a number of community access stations. Silberhartz continues his financial counseling work and role as a teacher.

Sources:

Bridging Heaven and Earth. http://www.heavenonearth.com/. March 23, 2000.

Manville, Rhonda Parks. "Local Metaphysical Talk Show Resonates with Viewers." Santa Barbara News Press (March 7,1999).