Beth Ashley
Marin Independent Journal
Jewish mysticism - so complex it is rarely shared by Judaism's uninitiated - is "alive and well in Marin," according to Rabbi Yisrael Rice of Chabad House, a Hassidic congregation in Marinwood.
Rice regularly teaches kabbalah one-on-one and in workshops in the county and across the country. Interest in the ancient tradition of interpreting the Hebrew Bible symbolically instead of literally took off eight years ago when Madonna and other celebrities began singing its praises.
Rice's students are mostly "kabbalistic wannabes," he says: people who seek the enlightenment of Jewish mysticism and the ability to practice it in their lives.
And enlightenment and personal awareness are attractive to many who call Marin home.
Rice says he has no idea how many Marin residents are actually practitioners - he suggests "100, 200" - but says he meets regularly with seekers and hears from many more. One of his students, Larry Spirow of Greenbrae, says Rice is an excellent teacher, "a major resource for anything having to do with kabbalah."
Kabbalah, Rice says, "brings together the many layers of human existence and awareness" and allows its practitioners to tap into the deeper level of "the infinite aspect," which other religions call God. The infinite aspect suffuses all existence and brings meaning and serenity to all who trust it.
Talking in his study at Chadbad House, Rice fumbles for metaphors that a non-practitioner would understand. A kabbalist, he says, "would have total equanimity when he stubs his toe. His response would be to say 'thank you.'" Such control over one's responses is at the heart of kabbalist practice.
Rice - who wears the yarmulke, beard and tzitzits (reminder strings) of Hassidics - says a kabbalist would endure the stresses of being caught in Highway 101 traffic by surrendering himself to the notion that there is a divine purpose to everything that happens - including what others might see as maddening delays.
Kabbalism calls upon its practitioners to feel gratitude and oneness in the infinite's purpose.
For Rice, the first moment of wakening each morning is a moment for gratitude - a moment when the soul, a part of which has departed during sleep, returns to the body. "The soul is the gift of life," Rice says. Each morning, he says the same prayer: "I am thankful before you (God), source and bestower of life."
Receiving this gift and feeling gratitude for it, "is a small example of how we transform our lives" in the practice of kabbalah, he says.
That kabbalah is infinitely more complex than these examples is illustrated by the charts that plaster his walls, charts showing the 10 streams of sefirot, aspects of God, that course through all existence.
At least one of Rice's students - Barbara Schwartz of San Rafael, who has studied with him for eight years - says kabbalah provided her with an "uplifting and earth-shattering" experience when she suffered a coronary attack and triple bypass surgery in March. She attributes her rapid and "perfect" recovery to the prayers of others and to her own understanding of the connections between the "upper world" and the world we live in. "It all came together: my soul is not something I just talk about, it's something that I feel," she says.
Spirow, a retired psychologist, says he considers kabbalah "the real Judaism, the deepest aspect of the Jewish religion. ... It is not another of the many Bay Area techniques for growth and development. It is the inner core of Judaism itself. It brings us closer to the Jewish divinity, it goes directly to the inner soul."
A clothing store owner who consulted with Rice mourned at the meaninglessness of his business until Rice told him that "you are offering people dignity; clothing is a very important aspect of human dignity."
Rabbi Lavey Derby of synagogue Kol Shofar in Tiburon also teaches kabbalah as well as Hassidic texts and mystical aspects of the Torah. He conducts kabbalah meditation workshops twice a year, and on the first Tuesday of each month leads a two-hour discussion of kabbalistic practice.
Kabbalah provides "a map of consciousness," Derby says, and teaches "how we can understand and grow closer to God." The practice is "no more difficult than meditation or chanting or any other kind of spiritual practice," Derby says. "It's quite simple and enormously complicated. Enlightenment is not an easy thing."
Kabbalah, says Rice, is often referred to as the "secret study" because only those already proficient in other areas of Jewish studies can interpret it correctly. "A lot of the teachings could be misunderstood."
It arose maybe 3,800 years ago in the Book of Formation, attributed by many to the patriarch Abraham. The most famous kabbalah work is the "Book of Zohar," written by Jewish scholar Rabbi Shimon about 2,000 years ago. Its ideas have been passed down through a religious elite and are now taught in religious schools and seminars.
Rice learned them in Chabad school, but considers himself like most of his students - "I, too, am a kabbalah wannabe," striving to incorporate kabbalah ideas into his life.
"Sometimes I am successful," he says. "Sometimes I am not."
IF YOU SEEK
What: "The Infinite Within," a seminar by Rabbi Yisrael Rice
Where: Chabad of Marin
When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 18
Cost: $69, including a buffet lunch
Also: "Understanding The Soul, Afterlife and Life," a three-part evening course by Rabbi Rice, begins at 7:30 p.m. June 15 with an introductory lecture
Information: 492-1666 or 388-1818
Beth Ashley can be reached at bashley@marij.com.
Marin Independent Journal
Jewish mysticism - so complex it is rarely shared by Judaism's uninitiated - is "alive and well in Marin," according to Rabbi Yisrael Rice of Chabad House, a Hassidic congregation in Marinwood.
Rice regularly teaches kabbalah one-on-one and in workshops in the county and across the country. Interest in the ancient tradition of interpreting the Hebrew Bible symbolically instead of literally took off eight years ago when Madonna and other celebrities began singing its praises.
Rice's students are mostly "kabbalistic wannabes," he says: people who seek the enlightenment of Jewish mysticism and the ability to practice it in their lives.
And enlightenment and personal awareness are attractive to many who call Marin home.
Rice says he has no idea how many Marin residents are actually practitioners - he suggests "100, 200" - but says he meets regularly with seekers and hears from many more. One of his students, Larry Spirow of Greenbrae, says Rice is an excellent teacher, "a major resource for anything having to do with kabbalah."
Kabbalah, Rice says, "brings together the many layers of human existence and awareness" and allows its practitioners to tap into the deeper level of "the infinite aspect," which other religions call God. The infinite aspect suffuses all existence and brings meaning and serenity to all who trust it.
Talking in his study at Chadbad House, Rice fumbles for metaphors that a non-practitioner would understand. A kabbalist, he says, "would have total equanimity when he stubs his toe. His response would be to say 'thank you.'" Such control over one's responses is at the heart of kabbalist practice.
Rice - who wears the yarmulke, beard and tzitzits (reminder strings) of Hassidics - says a kabbalist would endure the stresses of being caught in Highway 101 traffic by surrendering himself to the notion that there is a divine purpose to everything that happens - including what others might see as maddening delays.
Kabbalism calls upon its practitioners to feel gratitude and oneness in the infinite's purpose.
For Rice, the first moment of wakening each morning is a moment for gratitude - a moment when the soul, a part of which has departed during sleep, returns to the body. "The soul is the gift of life," Rice says. Each morning, he says the same prayer: "I am thankful before you (God), source and bestower of life."
Receiving this gift and feeling gratitude for it, "is a small example of how we transform our lives" in the practice of kabbalah, he says.
That kabbalah is infinitely more complex than these examples is illustrated by the charts that plaster his walls, charts showing the 10 streams of sefirot, aspects of God, that course through all existence.
At least one of Rice's students - Barbara Schwartz of San Rafael, who has studied with him for eight years - says kabbalah provided her with an "uplifting and earth-shattering" experience when she suffered a coronary attack and triple bypass surgery in March. She attributes her rapid and "perfect" recovery to the prayers of others and to her own understanding of the connections between the "upper world" and the world we live in. "It all came together: my soul is not something I just talk about, it's something that I feel," she says.
Spirow, a retired psychologist, says he considers kabbalah "the real Judaism, the deepest aspect of the Jewish religion. ... It is not another of the many Bay Area techniques for growth and development. It is the inner core of Judaism itself. It brings us closer to the Jewish divinity, it goes directly to the inner soul."
A clothing store owner who consulted with Rice mourned at the meaninglessness of his business until Rice told him that "you are offering people dignity; clothing is a very important aspect of human dignity."
Rabbi Lavey Derby of synagogue Kol Shofar in Tiburon also teaches kabbalah as well as Hassidic texts and mystical aspects of the Torah. He conducts kabbalah meditation workshops twice a year, and on the first Tuesday of each month leads a two-hour discussion of kabbalistic practice.
Kabbalah provides "a map of consciousness," Derby says, and teaches "how we can understand and grow closer to God." The practice is "no more difficult than meditation or chanting or any other kind of spiritual practice," Derby says. "It's quite simple and enormously complicated. Enlightenment is not an easy thing."
Kabbalah, says Rice, is often referred to as the "secret study" because only those already proficient in other areas of Jewish studies can interpret it correctly. "A lot of the teachings could be misunderstood."
It arose maybe 3,800 years ago in the Book of Formation, attributed by many to the patriarch Abraham. The most famous kabbalah work is the "Book of Zohar," written by Jewish scholar Rabbi Shimon about 2,000 years ago. Its ideas have been passed down through a religious elite and are now taught in religious schools and seminars.
Rice learned them in Chabad school, but considers himself like most of his students - "I, too, am a kabbalah wannabe," striving to incorporate kabbalah ideas into his life.
"Sometimes I am successful," he says. "Sometimes I am not."
IF YOU SEEK
What: "The Infinite Within," a seminar by Rabbi Yisrael Rice
Where: Chabad of Marin
When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 18
Cost: $69, including a buffet lunch
Also: "Understanding The Soul, Afterlife and Life," a three-part evening course by Rabbi Rice, begins at 7:30 p.m. June 15 with an introductory lecture
Information: 492-1666 or 388-1818
Beth Ashley can be reached at bashley@marij.com.
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