Dennis Prager writes: I have never surfed. I am not a rabbi and I am not a Chassidic Jew. So why am I writing a foreword to Surfing Rabbi? Because Rabbi Nachum Shifren is doing wonderful work on behalf of Judaism and all God-based religion. For too long religious life has been identified with asceticism, and Rabbi Shifren has decided to help undo that unfortunate association. The very fact that “surfing rabbi” strikes virtually all of us as almost an oxymoron shows how necessary such a rabbi is. Jews in particular identify religious Judaism with a lack of joy and with a retreat from worldly pursuits. This lack of identification of religious Judaism with the world and with earthly pleasure has been, unfortunately, often legitimate. Orthodox Judaism is a law-filled religion governing almost all of one’s behaviors. Add to that the amount of suffering in Jewish history and you have a recipe for a rather somber religious life. Then in the eighteenth century, along came Chassidism with an emphasis on “worshiping God through joy/happiness.” The most noted practitioners of this joyful Judaism are the Chassidim known as Chabad. Rabbi Nachum Shifren is a Chabad chassid who exemplifies this joy-filled Judaism. His vehicle is love of the oceans and surfing. Accomplished surfer and devout Jew that he is, Rabbi Shifren touches people who would most probably never encounter a rabbi, let alone an Orthodox one. By exuding a love of life and joy in the natural world as God’s creation, the Surfing Rabbi becomes a living ode to God the Creator. This is his story. It is a good and inspiring one.
