Rabbi Zalman Schachter (later Schachter-Shalomi, also known as “Reb Zalman”) lived in Winnipeg from 1956 to 1975. He passed away in summer 2014 in Boulder, Colorado, aged 89. He was well known as the founding figure of the Jewish Renewal Movement, and is widely considered one of the most influential rabbis of our time.
Rabbi Schachter’s years in Winnipeg were important, the foundation of his later career, but they have not been well documented. This is an oral history project to record interviews with people who knew Rabbi Schachter while he lived in Winnipeg. We are looking for all perspectives and points of view, whether laudatory or critical. Brief memories are welcome; interviews so far range from five minutes to two hours. Please contact me if you would be interested in sharing any memories of Reb Zalman during his Winnipeg years.
The first 28 interviews are now available on line as the Winnipeg Jewish Renewal Oral History Project, through the online archives of the University of Colorado – Boulder. I find this site a little cumbersome to navigate, but it is worth it! http://cudl.colorado.edu/luna/servlet
