J

onathan Omer-Man, a rabbi 
and pioneer in Jewish medita-
tion whose meeting with the 
Dalai Lama in 1990 was described 
in Rodger Kamenetz’s bestselling 
book The Jew in the Lotus, died May 
2, 2023. He was 89.
Omer-Man was part of a dele-
gation of Jews, including rabbis of 
various denomina-
tions, who went to 
Dharamshala, India, 
as part of an inter-
faith dialogue with 
the exiled leader of 
Tibetan Buddhism. 
Kamenetz’s 1994 
book focused in large 
part on rabbis and 
Jewish thinkers like 
Omer-Man who were 
looking to infuse Jewish practice 
with techniques and insights drawn 
from Eastern religions, and perhaps 
understand why many young Jews 
were drawn to traditions other than 
their own.
To that end, Omer-Man was also 
the founder of Metivta, an egali-
tarian, nondenominational Jewish 
community based in Los Angeles 
that emphasizes learning Jewish 
texts and meditation. Omer-Man 
rooted his lessons and techniques in 
Jewish mystical traditions, including 
the Kabbalah and the teachings of 
Hasidic masters.
“There have always been Jews 
who followed a traditional mystical 
path, and there’s never been a rab-
binic consensus,
” he told an inter-
viewer in 2004. “
All there has been 
is ‘our group versus their group.
’”
Born Derek Orlans in 
Portsmouth, England, in 1934, 
Omer-Man spent years working on 
a kibbutz in Israel before his legs 
were paralyzed by polio. He moved 
to Jerusalem where he found vari-
ous jobs as an electrician, a teacher 
and in the publishing industry 

before he was captivated by the 
study of Jewish mysticism in his 
mid-30s.
He received a private rabbinic 
ordination from Rabbi Zalman 
Schachter-Shalomi, the founder of 
the Jewish Renewal movement, and 
in 1981 he moved to Los Angeles, 
where he was invited by the Los 
Angeles Hillel council to 
set up an outreach program 
for “religiously alienated 
Jews” — specifically those 
interested in faiths like 
Hinduism and Buddhism.
“He worked for a number 
of years on a one-on-one 
basis,
” Kamenetz wrote 
in The Jew and the Lotus. 
“Jonathan had struck up 
a conversation with some 
Jewish kids from Los Angeles. 
When they heard that Jonathan 
would soon be opening a school of 
Jewish meditation, they immediate-
ly signed up to study with him.
”
Omer-Man was one of the found-
ing teachers of the Institute for 
Jewish Spirituality, an organization 
founded in 1999 that develops and 
teaches Jewish spiritual practices 
including meditation, yoga, Torah 
study, song and niggunim, or the 
singing of wordless melody. He was 
the author of multiple essays, short 
fiction and verse, and taught and 
lectured widely,
Omer-Man, who resided in 
Berkeley, California, was married to 
Nan Gefen, a fiction and nonfiction 
writer. Their blended family has 
seven children and 10 grandchil-
dren. The family recently welcomed 
a great-grandson.
“People are very much into bring-
ing more fun into Judaism,
” Omer-
Man told Kamenetz in The Jew in 
the Lotus. “But fun is not joy. Joy is 
ecstatic knowledge with all parts 
of one’s being, an integrated way of 
knowing. It’s truly a quest.
” 

Leader in Jewish 
Meditation Dies at 89

JACKIE HAJDENBERG JTA.ORG

MAY 18 • 2023 | 109

NORMAN 
ROSENBERG, 
94, of West 
Bloomfield, died 
May 4, 2023. 
He is sur-
vived by his daughter, Robin 
Bloom (the late Richard 
Bloom); son and daughter-
in-law, Mark and Lisa; loving 
grandchildren, Jenny and 
Andrew Moel, Courtney and 
Evan Malkin, Alex and Rick 
Rigutto, and Ryan Rosenberg; 
two adorable great-grand-
children, Monroe and Briar 
Malkin; many other fam-
ily members and devoted 
friends. 
Mr. Rosenberg was the 
beloved husband of the late 
Ina Rosenberg; brother of the 
late Milton Rosenberg and 
the late Jack Rosenberg. 
Interment was held at 
Clover Hill Park Cemetery in 
Birmingham. Contributions 
may be made to a charity of 
one’s choice. Arrangements 
by Dorfman Chapel.

DR. LAWRENCE 
J. USHER, D.O., 
83, of 
Farmington 
Hills, died May 6, 
2023. 
He is survived by his 
beloved wife, Lucinda Usher; 
siblings, Sam Butterfly, Misha 
Bowman, Sonia (Michael 
Mcinery) Haack; many 
loving nieces, nephews, 
great-nieces and great-neph-
ews, great-great-nieces and 
great-great-nephews, many 
other family members and 
devoted friends. 
Dr. Usher was the dear 
brother of the late Michael 
Usher; uncle of the late 

great-great-nephew, Rowan 
Charles Keanu Hansen.
Interment was held 
at Great Lakes National 
Cemetery in Holly. 
Contributions may be 
made to Haven or to the 
Zekelman Holocaust Center. 
Arrangements by Dorfman 
Chapel.

c. 1977

BONNIE 
WEINSTEIN, 78, 
of Farmington 
Hills, died May 
7, 2023. 
She is survived 
by her husband, 
Dr. Robert 
Weinstein; daughter and son-
in-law, Elisabeth Weinstein 
and Craig Pacernick; son and 
daughter-in-law, Michael and 
Colleen Weinstein; grand-
children, Rachel, Dylan and 
Justin Pacernick, Max, Asa 
and Jesse Weinstein, and 
Allison and Drew Joseph; 
brothers and sisters-in-law, 
James and Ilana Schmier, 
and David Schmier and Lisa 
Young. 
Interment was at 
Beth El Memorial Park. 
Contributions may be made 
to Be Well in School, 2817 
West End Ave., #126-340, 
Nashville, TN 37203, bewel-
linschool.org, Email: hello@
bewellinschool.org; Planned 
Parenthood, P.O. Box 3673, 
Ann Arbor, MI 48106, 
plannedparenthood.org; 
or JARC, 6735 Telegraph, 
Suite 100, Bloomfield 
Hills, MI 48301, jarc.org/
give. Arrangements by Ira 
Kaufman Chapel.

Rabbi Jonathan 
Omer-Man, pictured 
in 2011. 

SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE