I grew up as a reformed Jew, not far from a large Hassidic Jewish population. I often saw these Hassidic people in their traditional somber attire, going about their daily activities in the neighborhood or on the way to religious services.
Never could I have imagined I’d see one of those religious fellows “shooting the curls” at our beaches in Malibu.
Such is the case if you happen to spot Rabbi Nachum Shifren, author of “Surfing Rabbi: A Kabbalistic Quest for the Soul,” doing what he’s had a passion for since he was an adolescent growing up in Reseda, Calif. Now, of course, he’s not dressed in his everyday black and whites; he wears a wet suit like every other surfer. But with his long beard and curly side burns, there’s no mistaking the “Surfing Rabbi.”
He may be an ordained rabbi, but in Malibu he’s just another gladiator in the pit. He calls it the “gladiator pit” because there are 50 guys in the water, all fighting for one wave. And the rabbi can hang ten with the best of them. He walks right up to the edge of the board, arches his back and lets his long beard brave the wind, while dangling both feet over the nose. He says it’s a form of prayer to him. When he rides, he leaves his yarmulke and Torah in a cloth bag under a lifeguard station. After a long surf day, he will paddle to shore and say his evening prayers.
“Surfers understand prayer,” he says, “whatever the form.”
Shifren’s incredible journey to his present status as a spiritual teacher couldn’t have had a more unassuming start. His parents were not strict about Judaism, and all Shifren cared about after seeing the cult surfing movie, “Endless Summer” in 1966, was catching the “perfect wave.” He even risked missing his own bar mitzvah to go surfing.
He once took a 1,000-mile bus ride from Tijuana to Guadalajara in search of his own endless summer waves. I don’t know about you, but the thought of taking a 1,000-mile bus ride in the early ’70s, on unpaved roads, and no air conditioning in the sweltering Mexican summer heat, to surf huge waves in an isolated, desolate area all by myself, is absurd. However, for a true “waterman” like Shifren, it was a dream come true.
When it came time to work, the choice seemed obvious: become a lifeguard on southern California beaches. Ironically, that is where he learned the discipline that would help him later on his spiritual path. He also established a continuing lifestyle of physical conditioning. Because of his knowledge and mastery of physical fitness, he later became a conditioning expert for recruits in the Israeli Defense Force. He followed his little brother’s lead and lived on an Israeli kibbutz. Then he was drafted into Israel’s “all volunteer army.” He continued surfing, and his athletic abilities paid off during the intense army training.
After his marriage to a German girl (his mother was not a happy camper) ended, Shifren wanted to finish his schooling, so Hawaii was his next journey. He not only surfed with the legendary Eddie Aikau, but on his first day surfing the path shore, Shifren almost drowned. Fortunately, world surf titleholder Aussie Nat Young saved him. Shifren was so taken by Aikau that after his tragic death many years later, Shifren started the first Waterman Memorial, an epic 26-mile run-swim-paddle-board race in honor of his memory.
Eventually, he began to realize that even though he was free to live his endless summer dream again, intuitively he knew that something was missing from his life. He felt that he could not find that lasting joy and peace in any wave, no matter how perfect it was. The only place to find it was within. He decided to become a rabbi, and his spiritual journey began in earnest, a journey to release his ego and find his true self. His thoughts embraced the sea, the earth … he says his life is about riding the energy of the universe.
After receiving guidance from a rabbi in Santa Barbara, he decided to go back to Israel and begin his Talmud studies. After studying the Torah, Hassidic and Jewish law, he was ordained as a rabbi and returned to California. He married once again and has three children. His son also surfs, “waving” hello to his father’s dream.
“The ocean is so beautiful; it has this dynamic, unknown element of mystery … underneath the waves,” says Shifren.
Ultimately, Shifren would like to start a Sabbath surfing seminar in Malibu, specifically in Point Dume, which would include physical fitness.
Shifren’s book appeals to people of all walks of life and chronicles his spiritual quest around the world. The one and only Surfing Rabbi ultimately finds God by combining surfing and spirituality, and the vast power of the ocean–the path, for him, to enlightenment.
Gentiles, Jews, and secular beach rats of all stripes will find adventure here.