Zen rabbi Alan Lew dies

January 13, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- Rabbi Alan Lew, who was known for his efforts to bridge Judaism and Buddhist teachings, died unexpectedly.

Lew, the retired spiritual leader of San Francisco’s Congregation Beth Sholom, died Monday while jogging, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was 65.

Synagogue officials told JTA that he was in Baltimore teaching at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s rabbinic training institute.

Lew was the author of “One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi.” Before joining the Conservative rabbinate he spent 10 years studying Zen Buddhism, and later pioneered the use of meditation to enhance Jewish spirituality.

The rabbi also was a social justice activist who protested executions at San Quentin penitentiary and argued for the homeless and poor at City Hall, according to Rabbi Micah Hyman, the current spiritual leader at Beth Sholom.

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richard dent

01/13/09 05:03 PM

We lost a good one.

Leo M Abrami

01/14/09 12:13 AM

Alan was still working in San Francisco as a tour guide for the Gray Lines Company. One afternoon, as I was in the city to attend a lecture, I happened to meet Alan at Union Square just after he had completed his tour of duty for the bus line. I asked him if he could spare an hour and as he nodded in the affirmative, I invited him to come with me. I wanted to introduce him to the director of the Jewish Community Library because they were looking for a part-time assistant-librarian. He was interviewed and immediately hired for the position. He was delighted to be able to work for a library which would give him access to scores of books on Jewish wisdom.
I visited the library a month later and I asked Alan if everything was fine. He said to me that he was exhausted and that he had not slept properly in weeks. I asked him what was the cause of his insomnia and he gave me the most unusual reason one could ever think of. He was borrowing many books from the library every day and he would spend the entire night reading them. I then said to him:
“Alan, I think the time has come for you to consider studying for the rabbinate so that you may be able to quench your thirst for Jewish knowledge. The only problem is that we do not have a rabbinical seminary in Northern California and you would have to study for a few years either in New York or Los Angeles.”
He was pleased with the idea. We discussed several possibilities and he started the whole process of applying for admission to several seminaries. He was accepted at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and he made plans to move with his family. He excelled in all the disciplines he was studying and he received a number of prizes and awards. He spent a year in Israel as required by the seminary and he was ordained as a rabbi a few years later. After three years of service for a congregation in the State of New York, he was elected the rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom, the largest Conservative synagogue of San Francisco. He created a Jewish Meditation Center next to the synagogue and attracted large groups of meditators to various classes and which were scheduled an hour before the regular morning service. He served as president of the Northern California Board of Rabbis. He wrote a book which soon became a best seller One God Clapping. The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi in which he narrated the amazing experience which had taken him from Buddhism to Judaism. He remained the spiritual leader of the congregation until he retired a few years ago. He wrote a few more books and he is invited today to lecture all over the country. I am grateful for the fact that Providence had placed me in a position to encourage this talented man to pursue his spiritual quest and eventually find his true vocation.

Leo Michel Abrami from The Adventures of Rabbi Arieh, a Destined Mission Around the World, soon to be published.

L. Moskowitz

01/14/09 01:53 PM

I’ll miss Alan very much. He was a friend, teacher and chevruta.

Leo: Who is this Rabbi Arieh and what is his connection to R. Alan Lew?

Len Moskowitz
Teaneck NJ

Howard Haas

01/14/09 02:19 PM

The Rabbis book, This Is Real and You Are Entirely Unprepared is one of the most inspiring books I have read. A must read. He will be missed.

Howard Haas

steve ornstein

01/14/09 02:53 PM