Amidst the celebration and fireworks of Independence Day, I mourned the death of my holy mentor, guide, and friend Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi who was buried that morning. We met almost 30 years ago, at a time in my life when I had pretty much abandoned the organized Judaism of my past and expressed my spiritual life through participation in Native American ceremonies and rituals.
I was introduced to Zalman by another Rabbi, Aryeh Hirschfield whom I met during a sweat lodge at a Lakota Sundance ceremony in the mid 1980’s. (I have written about that meeting and the intense friendship it created, in my book The Dancing Healers). Reb Aryeh, who was also a Yeshiva boy, had been ordained by Zalman, and he said his entire view of about Jewishness and how it could be expressed, was the result of R. Zalman’s influence…we had to meet he said.
It just happened to come at the perfect time, because the first gathering of the Jewish Renewal movement was about to take place outside Philadelphia; and my wife was making more and more noise about wanting to find a Jewish spiritual path we might walk together.
When I first saw him, he was of average height but looked taller than he was; had a shaggy, white-flecked beard, was dressed in a long caftan, colorful yarmulke (skullcap), rainbow colored tallis (prayer shawl), and a smile that was heart melting.
Reb Zalman was born in Poland in 1924, escaped from the Nazi’s, and came to the US in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in the Lubavitch Hassidic community, became a Hillel Rabbi on college campuses and slowly his ideas about how Judaism could be practiced with absolute kosher legitimacy, began to be expressed. He moved away from his ultra-orthodox Hasidic roots and founded the Jewish Renewal Movement. Jewish Renewal was about the transformation of spiritual expression. Like my Native relatives, he said you could pray in any language and sing any song because he saw the Great Spirit in everything and everyone, and everyone had a direct link to that energetic source. Zalman pioneered interfaith dialogue (hobnobbed with Ram Dass and the Dalai Lama); he was a passionate activist for women, LGBT community, and explored the sacramental value of hallucinogens.
He was one of a tiny handful of spiritual teachers I have ever known, who grabbed me by the throat and dragged me to face the power of Awe. After that first Kallah in Radnor, Pennsylvania, we saw one another and spoke periodically for the next 30 years. He was an anchor in my struggles, and the bridge to restoring my Jewish soul.
On July 4th , this day that we remember the visionary gifts’ of our founding fathers, I’m looking at the fireworks and seeing my Lubavitcher Rebbe. The death of a Tzaddik (a great teacher) does not extinguish his light, it only reminds us that what’s most important in life, is what you leave behind.
I feel your smile sweet Z, farewell, and I’m smiling with you.
Not to diminish the story of Rabbi Reb Zalman, who must have been a very good man, my comment here is concerning the last paragraph about the “visionary gifts of our for fathers”. Both 7/4 and Columbus Day present very little to celebrate for both Native Americans or African Americans. The Frederick Douglas speech of 1852 “What is the 4th of July to the African Slave?” sums up the pack of lies, racism, and religious hypocrisy of the Constitution, in that little real progress had been made in the 76 years following the Revolution. Today, 240 years later, racist tyrants of the Great White Aryan Brotherhood of the U.S. still rule in the form of religious bigotry and culturally institutionalized, even legalized racism, all mixed up with the feel good very racist New Age philosophies like Theosophy and Anthroposophy.
Hi Steve and thanks for your considered response. I surely agree that not all our founding fathers gifts were as visionary as others or that we still have institutionalized racism among a host of other inequities, but the vision of the principles of equality and its expression are surely models of what we can hope for. I appreciate your condolences at the loss of my friend, he was a model for humanity.
Carl, what a blessing you received in the personhood of this man! I stand with you and celebrate his life and ask comfort for you in your loss. I am reminded that if we are fortunate enough to have
ONE such friendship in our life we are rich indeed!…I am sure his presence is with you …
…..Shalom,
Warm regards Jane and appreciate your words, :O)
What a wonderful gift you were given by having Rabbi Reb Zalman in your life. My condolences on your loss.
Shalom.
Thanks for your thoughts and blessings, Z was a loss to all who knew him and a gift that transcends his passing.