Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, better known as “Reb Zalman,” one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal Movement, died on July 2, at the age of 89.
Zalman with Ram Dass in 2008. Photo: Joan Halifax.
“Schachter-Shalomi believed in adopting and sharing spiritual traditions in order to create a world where distinct religions remain but are integrated with one another,” writes Shaul Magid in an obituary for The Jewish Daily Forward. “Adopting Buddhist meditation, Gregorian chants and Sufi zikher to Jewish prayer, Schachter-Shalomi sought to broaden the possibilities of Jewish spiritual life.”
Zalman held the World Wisdom Chair at Naropa University and was Professor Emeritus at Naropa as well as Temple University. Naropa was also the original home the Reb Zalman Legacy Project, designed “to preserve, develop and disseminate” his teachings. (Details about the archive, since relocated, can be found here: http://www.rzlp.org/.)
See also: “MY REBBE IS GONE!”, an appreciation by Bernie Glassman, from the Zen Peacemakers site.
