Ellen Beth Berman was brought up in the Appalachian Hills of Southwestern Virginia.  She embarked in her teens on a spiritual journey back to her religious roots. Both her undergraduate and graduate education focused on comparative religion, philosophy, and educating the young child.

Of greatest significance, though, was finding in Jewish Chassidic philosophy a lens for seeing G-d in the “seemingly simple” aspects of everyday living. She compares her spiritual journey to going into the darkness of a coal mine and returning with diamonds.