Alan Lew (1943–2009) was a Conservative rabbi best known for establishing the world's first

Jewish meditation Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of Names of God in Judaism, divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accom ...

center and for his work bridging

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

traditions. Lew was often described as "the Zen rabbi," a phrase that he himself used in the title of his book ''One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi.''

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Lew grew up in a

secular Jewish Secular Jew may refer to: * A general epithet for Jews who participate in modern secular society and are not stringently religious * Nonreligious Jews, including nonaffiliated, agnostics, etc. ** Jewish atheism ** Cultural Judaism * ''Hiloni ...

household. In the 1960s, he experimented with Asian spiritual practices and eventually discovered

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

. When preparing for ordination as a Zen Buddhist priest, he had an epiphany regarding his Jewish identity which set him on a path to exploring

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

. Lew went on to become a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

rabbi, leading Congregation Beth Sholom in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California, and focusing on teaching

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

in Jewish contexts. He established the Makor Or meditation center at Beth Sholom, the world's first synagogue-based Jewish meditation center. He has been noted for his books and for his work on how meditation plays an important role in the process of ''teshuvah'' (repentance).

Selected works

*''One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi'' (1999)Google Books
''(Click on "p. iv" link for full data)'' *''This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation'' (2003) *''Be Still and Get Going: A Jewish Meditation Practice for Real Life'' (2007)

References

1943 births 2009 deaths People from Brooklyn People from San Francisco American Conservative rabbis Zen in the United States Buddhism and Judaism 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American Jews {{US-rabbi-stub