Alan's Autobiographies
Personal Presentations and Historical Inquiry
In addition to Alan Lew's personal papers, we also have access to several books that he co-wrote with his wife Sherril Jaffe Lew. Two of these, One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi (1999) and This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation (2003). These works each contain autobiographical information used in this exhibit (One God Clapping is primarily an autobiography while This is Real contains anecdotes about Lew's life).But, just as anyone writing history must ask questions about their archival sources, so should we consider what it means to rely on the words that Lew and his wife wrote? That is not to say that the accounts in each book are false. Far from it. Rather, the stories that Lew included about his life should be used with the same caution and care as any other source. Lew, especially in his later life, was a public figure. He openly spoke about the difficulties he experienced in his 30s and used them in sermons and anecdotes to discuss the prevalence of pain in the world. It is, perhaps, his ability and effectiveness using these stories that anyone writing about him should consider.
As we discussed in Cracks in the Chronicle, people are natural storytellers. And, Alan Lew was no different. In each of these books, he uses the facts of his life to tell a certain story. As we conclude our thoughts on how we can know what we know about Alan Lew, it is worth bearing in mind, that to a certain extent, we will never really know him at all.
