1. Meshullam Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, commonly called "Reb Zalman", was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and an innovator in ecumenical dialogue.
17 Facts About Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was married four times and had eleven children.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's father was a liberal Belzer hasid and had Zalman educated at both a Zionist high school and an Orthodox yeshiva.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the Chabad Lubavitch community, and served Chabad congregations in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
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From 1956 to 1975, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, though he travelled extensively.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi eventually left the Lubavitch movement altogether and founded his own organization known as B'nai Or, meaning "Sons of Light," a title he took from the Dead Sea Scrolls writings.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was among the group of rabbis, from a wide range of Jewish denominations, who traveled together to India to meet with the Dalai Lama and discuss diaspora survival for Jews and Tibetan Buddhists with him.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi served on the faculty of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Omega, the NICABM, and other institutions.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was co-founder, with Rabbi Arthur Waskow, of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, bringing together P'nai Or and The Shalom Center.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was the founder of the ALEPH Ordination Programs.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi died of complications from pneumonia in 2014 at the age of 89.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was married four times and was the father of 11 children.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was committed to the Gaia hypothesis, to feminism, and to full inclusion of LGBT people within Judaism.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi encouraged diversity among his students and urged them to bring their own talents, vision, views and social justice values to the study and practice of Judaism.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi pioneered the practice of "spiritual eldering", working with fellow seniors on coming to spiritual terms with aging and becoming mentors for younger adults.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was honored by the New York Open Center in 1997 for his Spiritual Renewal.
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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was recognized as a shaikh in the Sufi Order of Pir Vilayat Khan in the United States and in the Holy Land.