As if the traditionalists didn’t already have their panties in a wad over combining Jewish practices with other forms of faith (as if God an all-you-can-eat buffet,) here comes Rabbi Joseph Gelberman with “Kabbalah In Motion,” a meditative exercise routine that combines yogic traditions with Hebrew mantras. (Personally, we’ve been eating at said buffet for years, so we welcome new and creative combinations of Judaism and other.)
Rabbi Gelberman helped found the country’s first interfaith temple in the 70’s with Sri Swami Satchidananda and the Rev. Jon Mundy and is the author of Zen Judaism. He doesn’t act much like a traditional rabbi from the old country, and he calls any distinction between religions is “an insult to God.” Now he’s 92 and still kickin’, and swears his form of meditation is what keeps him alive.
“It’s not how much you know, it’s how much you feel,” he says. “The mind can be a little bit flaky. Listen to your heart.”
Dig the message, rabbi, but our mornings are flaky enough without yoga.