4/12/11

Hey Jewlicious: Where is Rabbi Ingber's Romemu Center?

We don't read Jewlicious that often. Not sure why, perhaps because we always have the feeling that the site seems to be missing something.

In the case of an article on the Romemu Center and its rabbi, the two simple things missing that we wanted and expected to know from the piece were (1) Where is the center? and (2) What is the rabbi's first name?

The article tells us a few things about Romemu:
Take the work of Rabbi Ingber, for example. Ingber is the grounded and dynamic young leader of the Romemu Center. His background is deeply orthodox and traditional, but he also happened to study psychology, Buddhism and healing at different points of his life...

“I understand all the reasons that there needs to be an authenticity (in temple) that we’ve done for centuries, but there is also like this prayer not to just be Jewish but to be a person who is having a spiritual moment,” he says. “Judaism has always been willing to borrow from other traditions, complementing areas that were not very strong in the Jewish tradition. Abraham, the son of Maimonides, borrowed Sufi techniques from the mystical branch of Islam. It’s hard not to see spiritual aspects to yoga practices, so we bring it into the shul,” he says.
Sounds interesting and we'd like to visit the place. But where is it?
“One if the biggest principles of Buddhism is that there is no such thing as the self. All you are is parts. What we call the self, or give ourselves a name — it’s our way of giving ourselves a handle on something that doesn’t need a handle. We are so much more complex than the simplistic labels that we use. Labels are important but often turn something fluid and complex, into something simple and solid.The shul, like Romemu itself, is very complex,” he adds.
More tantalizing now. Still no address, no links, no clues. And as to the rabbi, maybe his first name is Rabbi.

(FYI we found that the locations are: brick and mortar services: 165 West 105th St. @ Amsterdam Ave and office: 308 West 92nd St, Ste 5B; web site; the rabbi's first name is David; see his about page; a primary mission of the center is. "Romemu was created in 2006 and now offers Shabbat and holiday services infused with meditation and yoga, as well as a myriad of community groups, teachings, and events.")

And last point, the title of the post, "Mind, Body and Soul in Synagogue," we do believe this applies to every synagogue.

2 comments:

ck said...

"And last point, the title of the post, "Mind, Body and Soul in Synagogue," we do believe this applies to every synagogue."

Well, in theory. Maybe not so much the body part, but the rest of it for sure. Romemu is definitely not my cup of tea but I'm glad I got a kind of peak inside without having to actually go.

We added a link to Romemu and the Rabbi's name. We're not usually this sloppy but, ya know, Pesach cleaning is SO hard! But well worth it...

kohen tzedek said...

The yoga program at Romemu, which takes place at 8:30 Shabbos morning and lasts for an hour, is followed by meditation for a half hour, which is followed by davening at 10:00. The yoga program is great (I run it!). Try it out.

Howie