The Jewish Renewal movement (which considers itself more of a point of view than a denomination) sprang from the teachings of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1960s countercultural Berkeley. “Reb Zalman,” as he was affectionately called, wanted to show young disaffected Jews that their own religious heritage contained the ancient spiritual roots that they might have been seeking elsewhere. What came to be known as Jewish Renewal combined mystical teachings of the Kabbalah with feminism, environmentalism, and New Age psychology. He called himself a “spiritual Peeping Tom” in that he was interested in other faith traditions, and he believed in sharing them all. Renewal services might include dancing in the aisles, chanting, meditation, yoga, and live music. Following a workshop taught by Schachter-Shalomi in Berkeley, small Renewal communities started to sprout worldwide, and their influence has been felt by mainstream Jewish denominations.
This project started when I took my camera with me to a Renewal Simchat Torah celebration in Berkeley, California. That’s how I found the meaningful personal project I had longed for while working for daily newspapers. The project grew and, without planning to, I spent a good part of ten years documenting communities in the US and abroad.
Being Jewish has always been complicated and many of us have conflicted feelings about our religious backgrounds. My comfortable spot has been participating by observing. (Does that make me an observant Jew?) I don’t seek to make a definitive statement about Jewish Renewal, or to separate rabbis or leaders from congregants. I simply take my cameras and go, and I photograph what moves me. I hope to capture the spirit of being at a Renewal celebration.
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