Alan Lew


Alan Lew was a Conservative rabbi best known for establishing the world's first Jewish meditation center and for his work bridging Jewish and Buddhist 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, Lew grew up in a secular Jewish household. In the 1960s, he experimented with Asian spiritual practices and eventually discovered Zen Buddhism. 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. Lew went on to become a Conservative rabbi, serving as the rabbi of and then leading Congregation [Beth Sholom (San Francisco, California)], California, and focusing on teaching meditation 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