PAUL KOHN S La Difference his two marriages, and his journey, with his second wife, back to Judaism. Hospitalized with Ten years of doing intense meditation, a serious illness, he was visited by a 10 years of developing focus on my Jewish chaplain who breath and my posture, finally illuminat- balked when Lew mentioned he was ed my own unconscious material for me. studying to become I was very familiar with precisely what a rabbi. "What? it was that kept rising up and carrying You're too old to be a rabbinical stu- my consciousness away from the present dent," the chaplain moment of my life. I had been watching told him. Lew dis- missed the chaplain's this happen for 10 years, and what skepticism, remem- amazed me in the end was how Jewish bering Rabbi Akiva, who became a rabbi so much of this unconscious material at age 40. was how much of my unconscious At the Jewish Theological was absorbed with the Jewishness I had Seminary, Lew flour- held at such distance for so long. ished; the study came naturally to And the more I became aware of this him and he graduat- unconscious material, the more it ed in 1988. Before moving to San became apparent to me that I had to Francisco, he led a turn toward it, that it was significant, congregation in Monroe, N.Y. that it was neither random nor inciden- In the past few tal, but rather, the key to my soul, the years, many Jews have been drawn to map to the path I had to travel next. exploring Buddhism. What's distinctive about Rabbi Lew is that he is some- social activism "flows directly from a thing of a pioneer in bringing to sense of connectedness I get from Judaism the influences of a Buddhist meditation, combined with a clarion meditation practice. call for justice that Judaism enunci- ), Now, he's one of the leaders in the ates so clearly. Jewish meditation movement. He's About his pastoral work, he says, also decidedly Jewish — not both "The most important thing is being Jewish and Buddhist as some present with people in hospitals, "JewBu's" describe themselves. deeply listening. That's when I feel He explains that Zen meditation the most benefit from my meditation has "opened me to the great richness training." of ordinary Jewish prayer, a richness Meditation is increasingly a part that was no longer apparent to most of his congregation's life. The San Jews. The work we've been doing is Francisco synagogue sponsors four an experiment in how to be a reli- meditation groups every week, gious person in this new age of total including two before the morning instant communication we live in. minyan. "McLuhan is outdated. We no With the help of a major grant to longer live in a global village. We live be announced shortly, the congrega- in a global apartment house and the tion is planning to open the first walls are very thin. The idea of her- meditation center connected to a metically sealed religious traditions is synagogue. Housed in a building impossible," he says, adding that adjacent to Beth Sholom, it will be Judaism has a long tradition of tak- an urban meditation center, with ing on influences of other cultures. daily meditation groups and Torah Rabbi Lew spends much time study. tending to the needs of his congre- "This is about daily practice," says gants, visiting the sick, conducting Rabbi Lew. "That's the most essential funerals, and is also committed to element I brought from Buddhism to helping the city's homeless. His Judaism." fl An Excerpt ••• LUNCH • DINNER • COCKTAILS This week featuring: Sous Chef Scott Swamba's gold medal winning Barbequed Ahi Tuna LUNCH: Monday - Thursday DINNER: Sunday - Thursday Saturday Dinner / Reservations starting at 7:00 p.m. SUNDAY BRUNCH 7295 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322 Robins Nest Plaza 248-932-8934 Reservations Suggested VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: www.ladifference.com r — IN= ■ 111 ■ I:1 MIMI NMI IM=1 INIIIIII Il■ IIMM NNE! FAMILY ITALIAN DINING & PIZZA "RATED #1 BY THE ONES WHO COUNT— OUR CUSTOMERS" 4033 W. 12 MILE, 3 Blks. E. of Greenfield, Berkley 548-3650 DAILY LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS PIZZA - RIBS - FISH HOMEMADE GARLIC BREAD ROUND PIZZA SMALL - MED - LARGE SQUARE PIZZA SMALL OR LARGE ON FOOD PURCHASES OF $6 OR MORE DINING ROOM, CARRY-OUT • 1 COUPON PER TABLE • ONLY ONE COUPON PER PURCHASE • NO SEPARATE CHECKS JN • EXPIRES 12-31-99 •COUPON NOT VALID WITH DAILY SPECIALS I • BANQUET ROOMS. BE E R • W,INE • COMPLETE CARRY-OUT • COCKTAILS I WE HAVE 1-1 This lace is recommended b the owner, Marvin Q. Ya oda 4 Quarters Free! With ma Ad Sun. noon- 9 p.m. I Coupon Per Person MARTELoorn MINAL xfusr ui tiA Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m.- 1 I p.m. Free quarters for use only on games at Marvin's 1W1 31005 ORCHARD LAKE RD. BEHIND F&M, SOUTH OF 14 MILE • 626-5020 Make IT Di MOaeSTa - Expires 12/2/99 Again. We invire you hack To R ► sToizanTe Dl ModesTa. Wberze we weLcome you TO a Lonq STC1110Il1q TRaarrion 01: Fine Fine wines ano FRienas. Make IT DI ModesTa's CaTER111L; PIZ►VCITC PaRTIeS Spec ► aL EvenTs (RISTORflnert giootsm 29410 NORTHWESTERN HIGHWAY / SOUTHFIELD 12 4 S. 3 5 8. 0 3 4 4 11/26 1999 85