Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi,, commonly called "Reb Zalman" (pr: rǎb) is considered one of the major founders of the Jewish Renewal movement.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Born in Poland in 1924 and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy French and fled the Nazi advance by coming to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as a rabbi within the Chabad Lubavitch community while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Joseph Isaac Schneerson, and served Chabad congregations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. After the death of his Rebbe in 1950, and the subsequent rise of the hippie movement in the 1960s, he began to move away from a strictly Chabad lifestyle.
[edit] Career and work
While pursuing a course of study at Boston University (including a class taught by Howard Thurman), he experienced an intellectual and spiritual shift. In 1968, on sabbatical from the Near Eastern and Judaic studies department of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, he joined a group of other Jews in founding a havurah (small cooperative congregation) in Boston, Massachusetts, called Havurat Shalom. He eventually left the Lubavitch movement altogether, and founded his own organization known as B'nai Or, meaning the "Children of Light" in Hebrew, a title he took from the Dead Sea Scrolls writings. During this period he was known to his followers as the B'nai Or Rebbe, and the rainbow prayer shawl he designed for his group was known as the B'nai Or tallit. Both the havurah experiment and B'nai Or came to be seen as the early stirrings of the Jewish Renewal movement.
In later years, Shachter-Shalomi held the World Wisdom Chair at The Naropa Institute; he is Professor Emeritus at both Naropa and Temple University. He has also served on the faculty of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Omega, the NICABM and many other major institutions. As founder of the Aleph Ordination Programs and Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, he is a major figure in the current movement to "revitalize" Judaism. His books and lectures present the central teachings of Hasidism and Kabbalah in contemporary language, making them accessible to Jews with limited backgrounds in Jewish studies. The seminary he founded has ordained over 80 rabbis and cantors, many of whom have pulpits and teaching positions within almost every Jewish denomination. Many rabbis and cantors ordained by more conventional seminaries have also associated themselves with the movement through Ohalah, the organization of Renewal rabbis and cantors.
Schachter-Shalomi was among the group of rabbis, from a wide range of Jewish denominations, who traveled together to India to meet with the Dalai Lama and discuss diaspora survival with him. (The Tibetans, being exiled from their homeland for three generations now, are facing some of the same assimilation challenged faced by the Jews. The Dalai Lama was interested in knowing how the Jews had survived with their culture intact.) That journey was chronicled in Rodger Kamenetz' book The Jew in the Lotus, now also a documentary film.
[edit] Themes and innovations
Schachter-Shalomi's work reflects several recurring themes, including:
- "Paradigm shifts" within Judaism
- New approaches to halakha (Jewish law) including "psycho-halakha" and doctrines like "eco-kashrut"
- The importance of interfaith dialogue and "deep ecumenism" (meaningful connections between traditions.)
- "Four Worlds" Judaism (integrating the Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, and Spiritual realms)
He is committed to the Gaia hypothesis, to feminism, and to full inclusion of GLBT people within Judaism. His innovations in Jewish worship include chanting prayers in English while retaining the traditional Hebrew cantillation, engaging worshippers in theological dialogue, leading meditation during services and the introduction of spontaneous movement and dance. Many of these techniques have also found their way into the more mainstream Jewish community.
Schachter-Shalomi encourages diversity among his students and urges them to bring their own talents, vision, views and social justice values to the study and practice of Judaism. Based on the hasidic writings of R. Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbitz, he taught that anything, even what others consider sin and heresy could be God's will. His detractors argue that he is too "far out" (extremely unconventional) and that the theology he promulgates borders on pantheism, which is not acceptable within Judaism. His supporters argue that his empowering approach is legitimate, and praise the range of Jewish ritual art, music and liturgical innovation that his work has seeded.
His major academic work, Spiritual Intimacy: A study of Counseling in Hasidim, was the result of his doctoral research into the system of spiritual direction cultivated within Chabad Hasidism. This led to his encouragement of students to study widely in the field of Spiritual Direction (one-on-one counseling) and to innovate contemporary systems to help renew a healthy spirituality in Jewish life. He also pioneered the practice of "spiritual eldering," working with fellow seniors on coming to spiritual terms with aging and becoming mentors for younger adults.
[edit] Works
Schachter-Shalomi has produced a large body of articles, books and cassette recordings. His free-association homiletical style, typical of Hasidic-trained rabbis, and his frequent use of psychological terminology and computer metaphors are appreciated by most first-time readers.
His publications include:
- Jewish with Feeling: a guide to Meaningful Jewish Practice (written with Joel Segel)
- The First Step (with Donald Gropman, 1983)
- Gate to the Heart (1993).
- Paradigm Shift (ed. Ellen Singer, 1993)
- Wrapped in a Holy Flame (ed. Nataniel Miles-Yepez, 2003)
- From Age-ing to Sage-ing (with Ronald Miller, 1995)
- Spiritual Intimacy: A Study of Counseling in Hasidism
- The Dream Assembly
