Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was in the Jewish Renewal movement

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi is a founder of the Jewish Renewal movement and is leading a series of teachings this weekend at the Havurah in Ashland.

By John Darling

Posted:2:00 AMApril 12, 2013

A prime mover in the founding of the liberal Jewish Renewal movement in the early 1970s, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, 88, will host prayers and teachings today through Sunday at the Havurah Shir Hadash, focusing on a mystic spirituality that is founded in peace, environmentalism and the divine feminine.

The famed author and spiritual leader is now 88 and living in Boulder, Colo., so his trips are few these days, said Havurah Rabbi David Zaslow.

"Reb Zalman blends mystic, Hasidic thought with a modern progressive vision that includes the divine feminine, the living planet and a faith that can touch all religions," Zaslow said.

Schachter-Shalomi has ordained eight rabbis in Oregon, including Zaslow and three others in the Rogue Valley, and has had a big impact on Judaism in the state, Zaslow said.

"Oregon is a place that honors the sea and earth and rivers," Schachter-Shalomi said in a phone interview. "I have a feel for it and they have a feeling for Jewish Renewal. What is it with Oregon and me that so many have felt they should study with me?"

Ashland Rabbi Jacqueline Brodsky, who was ordained by Schachter-Shalomi, said the synergy dates back to the 1960s, when many of young Jews migrated to Ashland and other parts of Oregon.

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Well-known rabbi to speak on mystic spirituality in Ashland