Detail View: Winnipeg Jewish Renewal Oral History Collection: Interview with Marshall and Gail Garland, 10 September 2014

Collection Name: 
Winnipeg Jewish Renewal Oral History Collection
Title: 
Interview with Marshall and Gail Garland, 10 September 2014
Creator: 
Lewis, Justin Jaron, 1961-
Subject: 
Jewish renewal
Subject: 
Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman, 1924-2014
Description: 
Audio interview of Marshall and Gail Garland, Marshall born 1948 and Gail born 1950, by Dr. Justin Jaron Lewis at the interviewees' home in Winnipeg. 00:00 Interview begins with an introduction of the interviewer and interviewee, as well as location information; 00:30 Marshall talks about the time he met Reb Zalman in the 1960s. He was in a religious teen group at the time; 03:18 Marshall talks about his next encounter with Zalman at the University of Manitoba. Marshall states he mostly had a student-teacher or boss-employee type of relationship with Zalman; 04:14 Gail also talks about her experience meeting Zalman at the University of Manitoba in 1968. She was a Judaic studies student at the university; 05:11 Justin asks Marshall to describe what Rabbi Schachter was like as a teacher. He had an amazing depth of knowledge and was always willing to guide students through an assignment; 06:00 Justin asks if Zalman’s approach to teaching was different than other professors. Marshall said back then, it was different while other professors were more traditional. Gail states that Zalman’s teaching style really emanated from his personality; 08:30 Marshall talks about the topics he researched with Zalman at the university. It often consisted of old text and scripts; 11:30 They talk about the tallit that Zalman created. It was radical for the time but beautiful and colorful; 13:28 Justin asks Marshall if he knew anything about Reb Zalman’s use of technology and computers. He was not sure how he became so involved with computer technology in the 1960s and 1970s; 15:46 Marshall tells a story about Zalman working with IBM to develop a Hebrew computer; 19:00 Marshall explains that Zalman was quite easy going and enjoyed puns; 23:33 Gail tells a story about serving Zalman food she cooked; 32:00 Gail and Marshall talk about how sensitive and calm Zalman was; 33:40 Marshall comments that there was no indication of drugs that Zalman or his students took; 37:14 Justin comments that he would have expected drugs to be more evident in the Jewish community in Winnipeg since Zalman was a leading spiritual leader of the 1960s and 1970s there; 38:40 Gail also comments that many of the Jewish people in Winnipeg have left so the influence is not as strong anymore; 39:19 Justin asks Gail and Marshall to comment on Zalman’s influence on their own lives; 41:50 Marshall was surprised by Zalman’s ability to accept everyone, no matter the different religious backgrounds, even though he was an Orthodox Rabbi; 45:00 Justin thanks Gail and Marshall for the interview.
Contributor: 
Garland, Gail
Contributor: 
Garland, Marshall
Date: 
2014-09-10
Type: 
Sound
Identifier: 
WinnipegMarshallAndGailGarland_10Sep2014.mp3
Identifier ARK: 
https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/02136m43b8zj
Source: 
Rabbi Zalman Schachter's Years in Winnipeg
Language: 
English
Coverage: 
Winnipeg
Rights: 
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