"Surfing, and the ocean, has always been like a life-force for me, and I like to share it with my kids at school," he says. A bilingual fourth-grade teacher, Shifren has taken many troubled youths for their first surfs, and is often amazed by the results: "You wouldn't believe the effect it can have on kids from the barrio who don't know anything beyond the oppression and violence they grew up with. They're so stoked when they see there's another world out there. The ocean is neutral turf- no gangs, no drugs, no authority figures. When they learn to interact with the ocean, to ride waves, it's the beginning of self-esteem. And that's beautiful."

Shifren fondly remembers getting hooked on the beauty of surfing as a kid 30 years ago, sitting cross-legged in the sand at Malibu's fabled First Point. "Lance Carson and Dora, they were the ultimate Malibu stylists, and I wanted to emulate their moves in the water to a T," he recalls. Shifren spent most of the next seven years doing just that, then headed off to college at the University of Hawaii. In the epic winter of 1969, Norm first cruised down Kam Highway and checked Sunset. He was not ready for what he saw: "The world's best big-wave riders, just playing with a solid 15-foot swell. I was blown away by the raw size and power of the North Shore, and by the courage and skill of the Hawaiians, especially Eddie Aikau."

Aikau so impressed him that in 1980, a few years after Eddie's death, Shifren organized the "Waterman Memorial," a paddleboard race in honor of Aikau from Zuma Beach to the Malibu Pier. Norm ran the event for six years until 1987, when he moved to Israel to study the Jewish faith full time. He was ordained as a rabbi in 1990 and returned home to California not quite sure of the reception he'd get as a surfing holy man.

"People can't believe I'm both a rabbi and a surfer," he says. "They think a rabbi is out of touch with his physical environment, sitting indoors all day. Not me. I find time every day to slip away it it's surfable." Norm believes his steady wave diet helps him in his role as counselor within his synagogue: "Surfing helps me to relate to people, because they see that I know what's happening in the real world. A lot of kids today are so cynical, and I don't see religious people reaching them much. I try to show them that what I believe is real-I live my beliefs."

And if the old-timers in the synagogue don't approve of the surfing lifestyle? "I won't lose sleep over it," he laughs. "At this point in my life, I know what works for me, and I know how to keep my balance." With that, Norm heads for his car and the day's next commitment, his eyes trained on the palm fronds twitching high above the parking lot. Offshore tomorrow morning!