By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Rabbi Lazer Brody has shoulder-length gray peyot, a long gray beard, a white-knit kippah topped with a tassel in the style of Breslev Chassidim, and a nose that extends normally before taking a sharp turn to the left. Despite his age, Brody conjures an image of a playful, innocent child in a snow hat. In halting Hebrew, he asks his assistant if he can talk to a journalist.
Breslev Chassidim, the religious followers of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, who are known for their impermeable happiness, personal conversations with God and ecstatic dancing, are a rarity in Seattle. Rabbi Brody was brought to Seattle by congregants of Sephardic Bikur Cholim, Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath and Congregation Shevet Achim. He presented several talks over the weekend of June 24 on the topic of emunah, popularly translated as “faith.”
Brody travels the globe sharing the message of his spiritual guide, Rabbi Shalom Arush, whose books he has translated from Hebrew into English. Arush has published several books in the spirit of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, including The Garden of Emuna, The Garden of Peace (for men) and Women’s Wisdom. Brody hosts his own teachings through CDs and his blog, “Lazer Beams.”
“Personally, I’m interested in figuring out ways that Judaism can inspire and challenge me,” said Randy Kessler, of Shevet Achim, on why he helped bring the Breslev rabbi to Seattle. Kessler had read Garden of Peace and was intrigued by a Jewish perspective on relationships, something with which he had not been terribly familiar before becoming observant.
“Instead of asking the question, ‘Why have a Breslev Hasid come and speak to our shul,’ the question is, ‘Why not?’” said Kessler.
Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Brody turned to Rebbe Nachman’s teachings after a near-death experience while fighting with the IDF in Lebanon in 1982. “Something was missing,” he said.
Brody casts aside philosophy in favor of a faith-based spiritual Judaism based largely on Nachman’s teachings and Kabbalah.
“If your connection with God is based on intellect,” explained Brody, “tomorrow morning somebody can come, and he’s an atheist with a stronger intellect than you, and he can confuse you with all these questions and you lose faith. That’s why we put intellect aside and we plug into God with simple emunah.”
Brody’s talks at the Shabbaton in Seward Park received a record numbers of attendees, with each meal and talk seeing between 100 and 150 people. On Sunday at Shevet Achim, his talk on “How to Prosper in a Recession” drew substantial numbers again.
Brody emphasized four levels of achieving financial success: One needs emunah that God is the source of absolutely everything; the husband needs to “illuminate his wife’s soul,” that is, uphold a good marriage — and in turn, the wife must do the same; one needs to personally grow and develop; and last but not least, one has to work. But the overall message is that everything comes from God, everything happens for a reason, and God is listening.
Larry Adatto, a member of Sephardic Bikur Holim and one of the Shabbaton’s organizers, said he has wrestled with his own faith issues.
“I knew that faith was my biggest downfall, my biggest shortcoming, and all the things that I was doing wrong in my life I could trace them all back to my lack of faith,” Adatto said. “So I’ve been looking for some way to help me improve.”
Had he improved? Adatto, wearing a baseball cap with “Life is Awesome” stitched in rainbow colors, broke into a grin. He gave an example: As a dentist, he used to worry about the money his practice lost when clients would cancel on short notice or didn’t show up. This anxiety affected his staff and himself. Now, he trusts that every loss will make itself up. And it has, so he says: “It comes back somehow.”
Jack and Adina Almo were also instrumental in bringing Brody to Seattle. Adina, who hosted approximately 120 women in her home Saturday afternoon to hear Brody’s take on “creating a soulmate union,” said she and Jack began reading Arush’s books at the behest of her mother, who was on a spiritual journey following the death of her parents. According to Adina, one day Jack said, “‘We need to bring [Brody] out. We need to enhance the spirituality in the Seattle community.’”
Adina Almo, a childhood cancer survivor, said she has always been spiritual and has benefited from Brody’s and Arush’s ideas of focused prayer.
“I always had this kind of informal dialogue constantly with Hashem,” she said, “but I like the idea of fashioning — tailoring — your personal prayers even more so.”
Ruti Younker, a member of Ezra Bessaroth, left the talk uplifted.
“It’s good to release tension over the control you think you have in life,” she said.
Brody appeared to falter when asked if he had personally experienced a crisis of faith.
“I ask Hashem for faith every single day,” he said. “I wish I were perfect on faith — I try to be — but I go to Hashem with simple emunah.
“I do spiritual Aikido with crises.” he added.
Brody said he uses the momentum that comes from the bad to thank and serve God. “There’s no bad in the world,” he said. “It always turns out for the best.”
Though he has achieved success as an internationally renowned speaker and a growing spiritual guide, Brody shrugs it off.
“I’m just a mailman,” he said. “I don’t attribute my success to myself. I attribute all my success to my teacher, Rav Shalom Arush, and I thank Hashem for giving me the privilege of being the mailman and bringing these wonderful teachings to the English-speaking public.”
But he does have one message that he feels it is important to impart: “If you don’t have a smile on your face, it’s not Judaism. You’re missing something,” he said. “And that missing element is that number one: that’s emunah. Emunah is going to bring you happiness and inner peace, and that’s what you want in life. It’s not the money. It’s not the garbage…just go for emunah.”