Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!wuarchive!rex!ukma!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!eagle!data.nas.nasa.gov!news
From: moskowit@paul.rutgers.edu (Len Moskowitz)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Is there any truth in this?
Keywords: Eastern roots in Judaism?
Message-ID: <1991Apr24.201618.3725@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 24 Apr 91 20:16:18 GMT
Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 48
Approved: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov


I'm not sure if this the apprporiate forum for this question.  If not,
please ignore it.  I hope this question does not offend anyone, for
that is not my intention.

The following non-fiction account appeared in soc.culture.jewish,
posted by a representative of a Chasidic organization.  I was
wondering if the readers of soc.religion.eastern might comment on it.

 > Ilan Horowitz was very tense. Bewildered and spiritually troubled,
 > his problems had reached their peak, and he was at the point where
 > he had to decide in which direction to go. The session he would
 > have with his guru would surely clarify these matters and would
 > finally determine his place in the world. And then, the guru said
 > something that totally shocked him. "According to our tradition,
 > Moses received all the secret and esoteric knowledge on Mount
 > Sinai, and hid it in the Torah of the Jews. What we possess is only
 > the leftover crumbs. If you are a Jew, go and learn these secrets
 > from the Jews themselves!"
 >
 > Ilan says, "I was absolutely shocked by the guru's words. This was
 > after I had already spent several years studying the mystical
 > wisdom of the East. I was meditating and practicing yoga. The
 > guru--quite a famous one--was my teacher and guide. Judaism was the
 > furthest thing from my mind. I was really quite anti-religious.
 > When the guru directed me toward Judaism, I was stunned.  Here I
 > was, trying to escape from it, and the guru sends me right back!"
 >
 > The course of Ilan's life was rather conventional. He was born in
 > Israel, served in the army after his schooling, and continued
 > studying at the University of Tel Aviv. After that, he went to
 > Boston to study acupuncture. "I was very interested in the
 > philosophy of the East, and I found Chinese medicine to be a
 > fascinating and compelling field," he says. He studied under a
 > well-known Chinese expert, by the name of Dr. Soo.
 > ...
 > Today, Ilan is a Lubavitcher chasid. He lives in Jerusalem, works
 > in a private clinic, writes books, and also teaches the principles
 > of Chinese medicine.
 
Strangely enough, I have a friend in NY who also studied Chinese
medicine.  He related that his teacher told him roughly the same
thing.

Has anyone else come across this "tradition" or know its source?


Len Moskowitz