Farewell to a great rabbi and kabbalist

SUZANNE BELLING

Rabbi Mirvis is the father of Commonwealth Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who spoke out recently, asking people not to vote for the Labour Party in England.

Rabbi Mirvis made a name for himself through his unique method of teaching kabbalah, which he began more than 50 years ago. His method involved going back to the source, the Sefer Hayetzirah, the Book of Formation.

He later developed his method into graphic kabbalah, which he called, “the truth of the Torah, starting with the earliest, in Genesis, to the latest, in science”. He has lectured widely on the subject, and produced a popular series of DVDs.

He drew people, Jewish and non-Jewish, to his lectures at the Sephardic Kabbalah Foundation in Sea Point. He also addressed many groups at his home, widening people’s thinking from the confines of Calvinism, the Dutch Reformed Church and other churches, to embrace universal and holistic views.

Rabbi Mirvis was a thinker of deep significance. His approach was as far removed from what was popular – or what one of his students termed “Hollywood Kabbalah” – as North America is from the African continent.

One would not have seen a “wannabe” Madonna at his lectures, or those wanting a quick fix of spirituality.

His approach related to the modern world, his compelling thoughts and interpretations developed through a fusion of Talmudic, mathematic, and scientific knowledge.

Until Rabbi Mirvis’ opened his approach to general consumption, only academics and students of mysticism had access to the kind of learning he offered.

He developed his system, in which he used two-dimensional drawing to scale, to promote thought change and as a means to resolve current problems. He said in an interview he was helping people cope through Jewish teachings and kabbalah.

“The world in general, and Western civilisation in particular, is struggling to deal with rapid change,” he told me a while back. “People fear the tomorrow, and have difficulty making the correct decisions about crucial issues that have an impact on the future.

“Today’s rapidly-changing world is a consequence of the information explosion. It’s ironic that the genius of the mind that has brought about all these changes knows everything about the external world, yet knows nothing about the world within.

“In contrast, the ancients knew about the inner workings of the human mind and little about the world at large,” Rabbi Mirvis said.

Rabbi Mirvis taught of life beyond life. “I don’t use the word ‘death’, as there is no death,” he said.

The Pretoria-born rabbi’s command of religious teaching and scientific theory stems from his eclectic background. Brought up in an observant home – his father was a shochet (kosher slaughterer) in Pretoria – he qualified as a civil and structural engineer, before turning to the rabbinate in the early 1960s.

Apart from engineering, he had four academic degrees in the humanities, which expanded his knowledge of metaphysics. His early Jewish learning provided his initial knowledge of kabbalah.

After obtaining smicha in Israel, he was spiritual leader of three major congregations, and was also a dayan (religious judge) on the Cape Beth Din. He lectured in the department of religious studies at the University of Cape Town, designing courses which included Kabbalah.

He was known for his outspoken anti-apartheid sermons, and even took kosher food to Robben Island to a black political prisoner who professed to be Jewish.

He is the author of a book, The Gem of Many Facets, which he wrote under the name of “Yahalom”, which means “diamond” and is the Hebrew acronym of his name, Yehuda Leib Mirvis.

Rabbi Mirvis, who was to be buried in Jerusalem on Thursday, leaves his wife, Raisel. (He lost his first wife, Freida, in the early 1980s.) He also leaves his children, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (London); Dr Jonathan Mirvis (Israel); Lynette Silverman (London); and Howard Mirvis (Israel).

He had two sisters, Dorothy Mandelzweig, and the late Berenice Slasky.

He leaves 14 surviving grandchildren, and 48 great-grandchildren.