Fridays With Zalman: The Spiritual Wisdom of Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
The legendary rabbi talks about free love, doing LSD with Timothy Leary, and mortality in a new book, ‘The December Project’
In a sense, Schachter-Shalomi is the Zelig of the Jewish world: He has been present at every moment in 20th- and now 21st-century Jewish history—whether in Poland or Boro Park, Berkeley or his current home in Boulder, Colo. In a new book, The December Project: An Extraordinary Rabbi and a Skeptical Seeker Confront Life’s Greatest Mystery, he tells his life story to veteran journalist and writer Sara Davidson. The book provides a nice interplay between the two, with the rabbi telling his story to the journalist during their meetings every Friday for two years, and the author sharing her own spiritual struggles as well. The book also includes a series of 12 exercises to assist readers with the task of getting a grip on their own mortality, ranging from “Give Thanks” to “Kvetch to God” to finally “Letting Go.”
