The Neo-Hassidic Lineage

of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Jewish Renewal

(Updated January 2021)

  וָאֶשָּׂא אֶתְכֶם עַל־כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים וָאָבִא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי

 I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to me (Exodus 19:4)

 כִּי מִי־גוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ אֱלהִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו כַּיהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּכָל־קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו

For who else is such a great nation that has god so near to it as Yhvh our God in all our calling? (Deut. 4:7)

We are the people called from the slavery of Egypt, carried on the wings of Sh’chinah, to be among those in this world who witness to the presence of the Divine in this world.

According to Pirkei Avot, Moshe received Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Y’hoshu’a, who in turn transmitted Torah to the elders who transmitted Torah to the prophets who in turn transmitted it to the men of the great assembly.

Over time, this linear transmission, the laying on of hands, s’michah, from one generation of men to another, became diffused as we wandered, spread out over the world, and as the number of our teachers who nourished disciples grew.

For many, being a rabbi eventually became a degree, a measure of the intellectual mastery of a body of material which, in turn, conferred power and authority.

For us, being a kli kodesh acknowledges belonging to a lineage. In this moment of a great shifting of paradigms, we express a willingness to serve others as a model and guide of spiritual practice and development, with a commitment to justice and the life of the earth.

Today, we welcome our latest initiates, rabbis, cantors, and rabbinic pastors into the new lineage of Jewish spiritual renewal – drawing deeply on the wisdom of all those who have preceded us, mi-yama va-kaydmah, tzafonah va-negbah / from west to east, from south to north, embracing their unique traditions and heritages, and weaving themselves into a special  relationship with the devotional mystics of Tzfat and Eastern European Hasidism, a lineage given first expression and form by our beloved Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Now, in our time, we lay the hands of s’micha, of trust and confidence, on all genders, with loving respect for multiple possibilities of sexual orientation and gender expression. This is in keeping with our commitment to voluntary negotiation with the dynamic, ever fluctuating balance between individual practice and communal cohesion.

According to the lineage of Pirkei Imahot, Miriam received Torah at Sinai and passed it to Machlah, No’a, Chaglah, Milkah and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelaphchad, who passed it to Devorah who gave it to Hanna who passed it to Michal bat Shaul, eventually received by B’ruriah, transmitted to Rachel Aberlin of Tzfat, Hannah Rachel of Ludemeria, Regina Jonas of Berlin and, now, surfacing again, to walk side by side and share the light equally with the parallel lineage of men with which we began.

We are humbly grateful for this moment of living in the fulfillment of our age-old dream:

May the light of the moon be like the light of the sun and like the light of the seven days of creation.

 May the lights of all people, in all their multiple, varied and wonderful forms, grow ever stronger in the bond of open partnership and service to the One.

Amen.

The Lineage of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Jewish Renewal: Notes

1. The first mishnah of Pirkei Avot provides a lineage which connects early rabbinic Judaism to an unbroken chain beginning at Sinai. Critically speaking, this is a mythic attempt at seeing biblical and rabbinic Judaisms as the same, much as the rabbinic view that Abraham observed the entire corpus of mitzvot as developed much later by the rabbis (even, as they say, eruvay chatzayrot). According that same rabbinic tradition, the lineage continued as long as smichah was passed without interruption through the generations and, at some point, that continuity was broken. From then on, rabbinic ordination has not technically been smichah and so it’s not surprising that, over the years and in different communities, being called a rabbi carried different meanings.

 2. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a movement to standardize the education of rabbis so that everyone would know what knowledge and skills every rabbi had learned. Reb Zalman sought to restore an earlier approach to the rabbinate in which the course of learning was adaptable to the unique qualities of the individuals called. This is why, still, each smichah we grant has in it something that points to the special gift of each musmach.

 3. In his later years, Reb Zalman undertook a pilgrimage to the graves of the Baal Shem Tov and other early chassidic masters. There he sought confirmation that the new lineage he began when ordaining Reb Daniel was acceptable to his predecessors and constituted an unbroken chain from them to us. He believed strongly that he did receive this confirmation.

 4. The next two sections of the lineage are those which have been modified most since this was first written. This latest version acknowledges that our students come to the AOP from a variety of different Jewish traditions and communities. Some come with only a limited experience in the practices of their communities and families of origin, while others bring with them a deep knowledge of those. This wording specifies that our students in fact come from all parts of the globe and are weaving what they brought with them into the fabric of our new mystical/chassidic lineage. Earlier versions were more limited in their inclusivity (men and women, gay and straight) and have been adjusted as we all learn more about gender.

 5. Pirkei Ima’hot: This section also has seen changes in the addition of women through whom mystical and rational, ashkenazi and sepharadi, are linked.

The five daughters of Tzelafchad approach Moses with the first question of the oral Torah, contained within the written Torah. They ask why the name of their father be lost just because he only had daughters and the apportionment of land goes only to sons. Moses doesn’t know the answer and so consults with God, leading to the first exception to a rule, a process which is truly rabbinic. So Miriam, who was present at Sinai, begins the lineage of women and the five sisters come next.

Devorah is called a judge and is also a military strategist. Rabbinic tradition, though uncomfortable with a woman judge, nevertheless claims that she taught Torah and resolved disputes and so clearly belongs in this lineage.

 Hannah, who becomes the mother of Samuel, is thought to be drunk when the high priest Eli sees her with her lips moving but no sound coming from her mouth. From Hanna, the rabbis of the Talmud derived the proper form of saying the amidah.

Michal, the daughter of Shaul, is said to have worn tefillin.

Bruri’ah, the wife of Rabbi Meir, is shown to be her husband’s teacher and spiritual guide.

Rachel Aberlin of Tzfat (and other places) was a patron of R. Hayyim Vital, with whom he discussed Torah and to whom he went for spiritual guidance and clarity.

Hannah Rochel was a chassidic rebbe in her own right.

Regina Jonas of Berlin was likely the first woman to be ordained as a reform rabbi.

 6. Our “age-old” dream is taken from Kiddush ha-Levanah where we pray that the light of the moon be like the light of the sun. I believe that this liturgical reference to the commentaries on the equality of the sun and moon followed by the diminution of the moon refers to an aspiration that the sun (i.e. men) will finally learn to accept the moon (i.e. women) as equal and that this acceptance brings the messianic age that much closer. (For a more detailed discussion, you might want to read my essay on naming ceremonies for girls, “Moon: White Sliver of Shechinah’s Return”).

 NOTE ON AUTHORSHIP

While this lineage now enters the public domain, it was first composed by Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Dayan, Founding Director of the Integral Halachah Institute, Rabbinic Director of ALEPH Canada, and Reb Zalman’s first musmach. He asks that those who use and/or modify it please acknowledge this.