“Hasidism.” You hear the word, and it conjures up all sorts of rich images: bearded men in dark caftans and fur hats walking the streets of Brooklyn; long winter nights in the shtetl towns of Poland and Ukraine; dozens of Jews sitting around a long wooden table singing Shabbat songs. Rarely, if ever, does the word “Hasidism” conjure up images and ideas related to feminism, environmentalism, or ecumenism.

However, for a growing group of Jews worldwide, “Hasidism” means exactly that. Over the past few decades, the growing interest in Hasidism and Hasidic philosophy among the likes of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Michael Lerner, and Arthur Green has led to the creation of a movement known as Jewish Renewal. Members of this movement seek to spiritually reinvigorate Judaism by bringing kabbalistic and Hasidic philosophy into an egalitarian framework. The result is a Judaism infused with spirituality and liturgical creativity, blended with elements of Sufism and Buddhism, and stridently supportive of feminism, LGBT rights, pacifism, and the environmentalist movement.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org

Perhaps the most recognizable name associated with the Jewish Renewal movement is that of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Reb Zalman, one of the major founders of Jewish Renewal, has propelled the movement forward through the promotion of ecumenical dialogue and the establishment of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. He is an expert on Jewish mysticism and psychology of religion, and has published many books on those subjects, including Spiritual Intimacy: A Study of Counseling in Hasidism, Credo of a Modern Kabbalist, and – his most recent – A Heart Afire.

The Jewish Renewal community has been abuzz over the recent publication of A Heart Afire, “an intimate guided tour of Hasidism and Hasidic storytelling,” which Reb Zalman co-wrote with his disciple, Netanel Miles-Yepez. The book has received particular attention in the Boulder, CO area, where Reb Zalman lives and teaches (he is World Wisdom Chair holder emeritus at Naropa University). I hope that the Jewish Renewal community in Boulder (and all other fans of Reb Zalman in the area) truly enjoys Reb Zalman’s upcoming reading and book signing of A Heart Afire at the Boulder Book Store this Tuesday!  In the meanwhile, I’ll be biding my time, hoping that someone in far-off Colorado records the event so that I can watch it here in Philadelphia!

-Naomi