Rabbi Abraham Shainberg is the son of Holocaust survivors. His parents were from Warsaw, Poland, and they immigrated to America through different routes before raising their family the Lower East Side of New York. His father served as Rabbi of the First Warshauer Congregation for 27 years. With the urging of his father, Abraham studied at the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School on Henry Street in the Lower East Side from kindergarten through high school, and then attended Brooklyn College at the Flatbush campus.
“A lot of my friends went there,” he recalls. “We studied the Torah, and the more you study the Torah the more you live the Torah. Sixty of us started the three-year program to become an ordained Rabbi (Semicha) but only seventeen of us completed the program. A few of us became rabbis, but most became professionals or businessmen. We were always cognizant of our rabbinical training because it dwells in your soul. It never leaves you.”
Ten years ago, Rabbi Shainberg heard about the Transcendental Meditation technique from a friend. As a practicing Orthodox Jew, he was cautious but intrigued. “I wanted to know more, so I watched some videotapes of Maharishi’s lectures. Obviously, Maharishi is not my rabbi, but every tape I listened to, everything Maharishi said, was exactly on par with the Torah. I couldn’t believe it. Not a word was off. This wasn’t ‘new age;’ this is the wisdom of the ages. Maharishi came to the same conclusion arrived at by the greatest rabbis.”
Soon after, Rabbi Shainberg learned the Transcendental Meditation technique, and has been meditating 20 minutes twice a day ever since.
“Looking back over all these years, I can say TM has led me to better prayer, better service, and to be a better Jew. I’m more on my path to God than ever.”
“Transcendental Meditation is not a religion,” says Rabbi Shainberg, “and it doesn’t profess to ever be one or take the place of one. It is a technique for you to go inwards and find your soul, find your silence, find your bliss as a human being—and become the person God truly wants you to be.”
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Father Len Dubi: How TM enriches my religious life
