Wearing a black beret covering shimmering silver hair and sitting on a wooden stool, Schachter-Shalomi shared his “spiritual hobby” of translating T’hillim, or psalms.

“In Judaism, psalms are the ‘surefire method’ of reaching God,” he said, illustrating with a story: “When Jerusalem was under siege, a little old lady walked the streets, telling everyone not to pray for a religious miracle, but to rigorously recite psalms.

“The point was that you don’t leave God alone, you bug him about it,” the rebbe said with a full-bearded grin.

Lubavitcher chosid and founder of Jewish Renewal, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, catches up with the Boulder Daily Camera, and announces that he is stepping down from his post as World Wisdom chair at Naropa University in order to pursue the monumental task of archiving his life’s work.