| Zalman Schachter-shalomi |
Article Index for Zalman |
Information AboutZalman Schachter-shalomi |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ZALMAN SCHACHTER-SHALOMI | |
| jewish renewal | |
| schachter-shalomi, zalman | |
| rabbis | |
| 1924 births | |
| living people | |
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, D.H.L., Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati; Brooklyn Chabad Ordination 1947. Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi, commonly called "Reb Zalman," is considered one of the major founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Poland in 1924 and raised in Vienna, he was interred 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. 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 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. 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. Schachter-Shalomi's work reflects several recurring themes, including:
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 thier 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. His detractors argue that he is too "far out" and that the theology he promulgates borders on Pantheism , which is not 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. 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:
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