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Practicing Imperfection: A Zen Rabbi and the Limits of Historical Inquiry Main Menu Alan Lew, Zen Rabbi Cracks in the Chronicle Beyond Biography Archives and Autobiographies The Limits of Historical Inquiry?

A Jewish Buddhist Community?

19251 Archives and Autobiographies
Alan Lew was more than a product of his environment. After completing rabbinical school, he actively worked to incorporate mysticism and spiritual practice into Judaism. But, he did not pursue this agenda alone. Lew worked alongside other Jews who had also embraced Buddhism in San Francisco to encourage his congregation and coreligionists to explore the power of meditation.

In 1991, Lew began leading Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco. He also reached out to Norman Fischer, his friend and fellow graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Fischer was also Jewish but unlike Lew, had continued practicing Buddhism, eventually becoming leading figure in the San Francisco Buddhist community. Together, Fischer and Lew campaigned to create a Jewish meditation center where long term practitioners and the curious could explore meditation and incorporate spiritual practices into their religious life. Their project, Makar Or, proved exceedingly successful and was constructed next to Congregation Beth Sholom.

Two years after returning to San Francisco as a rabbi, Lew began hosting Mosaic, a local religious talk show on San Francisco's Channel 5. As the host, Lew frequently highlighted the ties between the local the Jewish and Buddhist community by inviting leading figures in each community to share their thoughts. Norman Fischer and Sylvia Boorstein, author of That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist, expressed their belief neither Buddhism nor Judaism were incompatible, instead highlighting the ways in which each religious tradition enhanced the other. Together, the work of Lew, Fischer, and Boorstein, popularized a new way of practicing Judaism at both the local, and eventually national, level.

When Alan Lew passed away in 2009, it was four years after he had left his role as Rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom. Since then, he traveled the country - at times with Fischer - and at times on his own, speaking to Jewish congregations about the benefits and importance of both mediation and an openness to mysticism in Jewish spiritual life.
 

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