Spirituality

A Chasidic Gentile

and
Ex-Catholic priest discusses the role of
gentiles, according to Jewish philosophy.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

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hen Shabbat dinner is
over next week, and the
keynote speaker moves to
the dais, guests of The
Shul may be disconcerted at first by the
description of the man about to address
them.
Tom Foley will be introduced as a
former Catholic priest, founding presi-
dent and chief executive officer of the
New Jersey-based Atlantic Health
Systems — and a
member of the
Chabad Jewish
Center of Somerset
County, N.J.
Ita Shemtov,
whose husband Rabbi
*Kasriel Shemtov leads
The Shul, located in
West Bloomfield, has
no doubt that the
speaker will impress
congregants as he did
her. After hearing
about Foley from the
wife of Rabbi Mendy
Herson, his teacher at
the New Jersey
Chabad Center, Ita
Shemtov invited
Tom Foley
Foley to share his
story.
"I heard a tape of one of his talks and
I was fascinated," Ita Shemtov says. "He
did some serious learning and searching
and came to some powerful realizations
on the role of the Jews and gentiles,
according to Jewish philosophy. He will
share some anecdotes of his journey."
Calling himself "a chasidic gentile,"
Foley will speak at The Shul on Shabbat
evening, Friday, Sept. 22, in a program
organized by Chabad-Lubavitch, a
worldwide movement.
Although a non-Jew, Foley brings
with him a deep interest in chasidic phi-
losophy and believes strongly in the goal
of Chabad to encourage Jews to recog-
nize their Jewishness.
Actively involved with Rabbi
Herson's Chabad Center, Foley says the
rabbi "showed me clearly that, like all
human beings, I had a personal Torah
— that is, to be the Tom Foley that

God created me to be."
Haunted since childhood with the
mysteries of spirituality — the age-old
questions of "Who am I?" and "What is
life all about?" — Foley says, through
his Chabad studies, he has found some
answers.
"I am a manifestation of God in cre-
ation — me as I am, who I am — in a
gentile body, in a gentile home, a gentile
family."
Finding life's meaning in Judaic phi-
losophy, Foley describes his "soul's awak-
ening to the beauty and power of Torah
living" in a way that is
meaningful to both
Jews and gentiles.
"I began to realize
that our fragmented
world is an illusion,"
Foley says of his discov-
ery that the presence of
God is within all of cre-
ation.
Seeing his job as
uniting the pieces and
searching for godliness
in every experience, he
stresses tikkun olam
(repairing the world) as
a way to this realization.
"He did a lot of
study before coming to
that point," Shemtov
says, referring to Foley
as an inspirational,
unique speaker.
"He is able to make sense out of
where everybody's place is and where his
place is. And he encourages us to live in
the place God designed for us." ❑

oley will speak Friday,
22, at The Shul, following a
0 p.m. dinner. Candle lighting
is at 6:3() p.m.; Shabbat services
at 6:45 p.m. A simultaneous pro-
gram is planned for children,
including prayers and games.
Cost is $15/adult; $25/couple;
$36/farnily. Mail payment to: The
Shul, 6211 Quaker Hill Drive,
West Bloomfield, MI 48322. For
information, access the Web site
at www.theshul.net or call (248)
788-7131.