Detail View: Winnipeg Jewish Renewal Oral History Collection: Interview with Paul Pascal, 17 March 2015

Collection Name: 
Winnipeg Jewish Renewal Oral History Collection
Title: 
Interview with Paul Pascal, 17 March 2015
Creator: 
Lewis, Justin Jaron, 1961-
Subject: 
Jewish renewal
Subject: 
Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman, 1924-2014
Description: 
Audio interview of Paul Pascal, born 1947, interviewed by Dr. Justin Jaron Lewis and [Alex Granky?] via telephone in Winnipeg. 00:00 Interview begins with an introduction of the interviewer and interviewee, as well as location information; 01:10 Paul begins by talking about his first two memories of meeting Zalman. He was ten years old when he met Zalman; 02:30 Paul talks about meeting Zalman again when he started as a student at the University of Manitoba; 06:15 Paul talks about spirituality and the things that Zalman taught him; 11:15 Paul talks about the wordless chants, known as niggunim, that Zalman taught him or would perform; 18:36 Paul talks about his parents. They were immigrants from Romania; 28:50 Paul talks about his first time learning the term halakha from Zalman and the strange fact that he never learned the word from his schooling; 30:15 Paul talks about his high school years as a Jewish student; 41:00 Paul talks about his best friend and how he met him through Zalman. He becomes emotional as he explains his last meeting with Zalman in Toronto. He wanted to say thank you to Zalman for the direction his life has taken because of the contact he had with Zalman; 45:00 Interviewer asks Paul to talk about the art pieces he recently created. Paul states the pieces reflect his spiritual father, being Zalman; 01:00:00 Paul talks about a Jewish fellowship created by Zalman that included both men and women. He continues to talk about the Jewish renewal movement; 01:03:00 Paul talks about his marriage in 1992 and how Zalman knew his wife before he did; 01:13:32 Paul tells a story about his job as a dishwasher and how Zalman introduced him to other opportunities he found fascinating. He mentions his parents were concerned about the spiritual direction he was taking and thought he was becoming too Jewish; 01:21:00 Paul talks about Zalman’s children and remembers seeing his family when he would visit Zalman. He talks about Zalman’s son, Shalom in particular because he ended up in Toronto and became friends with him. He met his wife through Shalom; 01:22:49 Paul talks about Zalman’s role as a rabbi, his role at the House of Hillel, and a professor; 01:28:20 Paul talks about his mother and the Litvish community. He also talks about the time he learned of “Fiddler on the Roof” by Zalman; 01:38:50 Paul tells a story about him, Zalman, and a few other friends who looked at the Torah during a congregation. He said his friends were so interested in the congregation they continued to stand and point and chant well after everyone sat down because it was such a deep, spiritual moment; 01:42:50 Paul talks about the type of people who hung around Zalman. He brings up Mary Lynn Patterson; 01:45:50 Paul talks about how different Zalman’s first wife was to Zalman; 01:47:40 Paul talks about the term lashon hara, meaning bad speech, and relates it back to the fact that so many people spread rumors about Zalman and Paul attempted to avoid the rumors; 01:51:00 Interviewer thanks Paul; 01:52:10 Paul finishes with one last statement about a person in Winnipeg.
Contributor: 
Pascal, Paul
Date: 
2015-03-17
Type: 
Sound
Identifier: 
WinnipegPaulPascal-Mar172015.MP3
Identifier ARK: 
https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/bg1j667930m4
Source: 
Rabbi Zalman Schachter's Years in Winnipeg
Language: 
English
Coverage: 
Winnipeg
Rights: 
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