REB ZALMAN LEGACY PROJECT: ALEPH

Back in 1997, ALEPH was looking for a new executive director and, at that moment I also was looking for a new job (a story in itself). I applied and was offered the position. However, as the first person who really needed to live off the salary (previous directors had served without pay and/or loaning their personal funds to keep ALEPH afloat), we committed to raising three years in advance so that I would have time to build more effective fund raising.

Reb Zalman was among the people who contributed to this effort on the understanding that I would manage ALEPH’s Reb Zalman Legacy Project and begin by preparing what he called his foundational works for distribution. And so we birthed Credo of a Modern Kabbalist, The Kabbalah of Tikkun Olam, Renewal is Judaism NOW, and Integral Halachah. Each of these was carefully reviewed by Reb Zalman, down to punctuation, so that we could be sure that I could continue this project without him when the time came.

In his initial talk to the Rabbinic Cabinet (the precursor of both the AOP and OHALAH), he said the following:

I believe that the stuff I have squirrelled away over years, talks that I have given, things that are on tape, things that are in writing. these are not things that I can take to a publisher and say, I would like to have them published by Warner, because they are in house things. I have many things that are not for outer publication but it is in house material, SO I want to have these people help me to produce these things.

If challilah, I were to die today, and people would go over what is left over, the likelihood is that a lot of it would look like junk. It is a pity because it has to be worked out enough so that the notes that are there, scribbles by hand over the years, that these become at least accessible enough so they can be worked out – edited and passed through the process again.

Over a year ago, I posted about 200 teachings that Reb Zalman and others had recorded, representing at least 300 individual cassettes. Slowly, I made digital copies of them all and made them available to everyone via the ALEPH Canada website and my personal Dropbox account.

Now, I am sharing with you the completion of the last phase of my commitment to my beloved rebbe, the uploading of at least 1500 individual word files. Many were quite old and, whenever I could, I updated the version and did light editing. I left some files which were written by others which R. Z. had saved. If you come across any of them which you like, please do your best to contact the writer.

There are treasures in these files, writings and musings of R. Zalman that didn’t make it into books. For example, there is a series of talks on Chabad  Kavvanot as well as many descriptions of the sephirot. There are messages to his klei kodesh and documents on the creation of the rabbinic chevre which later morphed into both OHALAH and the AOP.

Important lesson to absorb: As R. Art Green said, Zalman can’t be easily compartmentalized nor can authoritative pieces be written about his beliefs because he changed so often and expressed his thinking in relation to who was asking and the moment. I think this makes these files of particular value in helping us be aware of Reb Zalman’s process as well as his conclusions.

The files which he uploaded to me were free of the personal. At the same time, there are a few in which he expressed his concern over his own inadequacy and yearning for God’s presence. Some of this can be found in his poetry. I think it’s important that these are present and accessible so that we can see Reb Zalman as close to being a full human being as we can.

For the time being, I hope people will listen and read these files while online. How the files will be made more easily accessible and how they will be used is up to ALEPH and all of you.

With this, I affirm that I have fulfilled my promise to my rebbe and the many years that I have devoted to this project, both while on salary and as a volunteer, have come to an end.

Daniel

To access the sound and word files:

Go to https://www.alephcanada.ca/new-page and use the links you need to proceed.

Responding to the Call

“Blessed is the people who know the sound of teru'ah.” – Psalms 89:16

The sound of the shofar is that primal, gut-wrenching, heart-piercing sound that has the power to change us, rouse us into life and action, demand our full and present attention, and command us to respond to a shattered world that is in profound need of healing. The sound of the shofar is a not-so-subtle reminder – a flamboyant awakening call – to choose and decide what it is we must do with our precious lives. It’s as if the voice of Creation is sounding out instructions for us, since we don’t come into the world with a Get Started manual. The sound of the shofar demands a response on the human level – a response in the form of both intention and action. It’s a call to return to our unique “deployment” in this world – the work we were meant to do. 

In Rabbi Daniel Siegel’s blog post below, he shares a process that he initiated over a year ago, a labour of love and respect in which he invited Renewal clergy and others to identify their callings – their “deployments” – some from Reb Zalman, some from other sources. Each person who responded is someone who has responded to the call of the shofar at some point – someone who has carefully considered their calling and who has been able to articulate it. It is remarkable that over 70 people responded to Reb Daniel’s invitation. We are certain there are people who have not yet identified themselves or who wish to stay anonymous, like the thirty-six tzaddikim. And there are others who are just now emerging into their calling, whose calling is not yet fully formed but is in process. Below, Reb Daniel shares the unfolding of the process, and the living document that resulted, a work in progress. Wishing us all a wakeful, vibratory, heart-opening High Holiday season filled with love and generosity and compassion. 

Rabbi Sherril Gilbert, Executive Director, ALEPH Canada

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Dear Friends,

In the weeks preceding the OHALAH conference last January and continuing through the conference itself, I explored the idea of developing a list of the spiritual gifts members of our chevre were willing to share with others. I received overwhelming support and encouragement, both from “formal” entities including the boards of ALEPH and OHALAH, as well as from many individuals.

This project originated in the concerns we had as well as our experiences during the first years after Reb Zalman’s passing, which included confusion over this question of where our spiritual leadership is located. In my humble opinion, to the extent that Reb Zalman was our spiritual guide, he performed this function from just outside our formal structure.

While Reb Zalman often told us that it was not his deployment to determine who, if anyone, would be his successor, it turns out that he was interested in influencing the process. He did this mostly in private and so one of my goals was to discover how many people he had deployed and in what capacities. In addition, I wanted to know who else felt a sense of deployment that they wanted us all to know about. Finally, all this is based on the assumption that, however we may view Reb Zalman’s role and leadership, none of us wanted to have only person in that role.

Here, then, is a brief overview of how I understood this process as it became revealed over about a year. Reb Zalman offered to give me semicha as a dayan, which I accepted only after learning the basics of gittin including how to write a get. This happened in public at the OHALAH conference in 2007. Then, in 2008, Reb Zalman gave a “rebbe” semicha to five people in private. Sometime after that, he gave the same semicha to three others who did not know who the other five were nor did the five know about the three, and this he also did in private. In 2012, he sent a private letter to about 40 people, including those who had already received a second semicha, in which he urged them to “hold the center of Aleph and Ohalah together so that the work might continue without being taken off its right Kawanah.” For various reasons, this group did not congeal.

The deployments list which you can access below is the result of this project to uncover other charges which Reb Zalman gave to individuals as well as making public those whose callings come from other sources to which they feel deeply committed and willing to share with others. I am grateful to everyone who replied (and who may still reply). I am amazed that 70 people came forward and even more amazed and grateful that our movement has generated so many spiritual guides in a few decades.

The list is now on my Google site. You are invited to view it and use comments to let me know what changes you might want to make in your own listing as well as letting me know if you want to add your own name and focus to the list. For now, I will maintain the list.

I believe that Reb Zalman was correct in saying that rebbe is a function rather than a person. This list provides a resource for finding colleagues and teachers who can function as rebbes for us when we need them over the coming years. At the bottom, you will see that the list can be sorted both by last name and by category.

May 5779 be a year of healing for us all, for ALEPH, OHALAH, the ordination program, our boards, and for our countries and the human species.

With love and in gratitude for living to see the expansion of our chevre

Daniel

The List of People and Their Deployments