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Surrounded by sprawling walnut and prune orchards and 30 Catholic monks, a rabbi is deepening his relationship to Judaism.

Rabbi Charles Arian, 37, is serving as scholar-in-residence at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, located in the tiny Northern California town of Vina, halfway between Chico and Red Bluff in Tehama County.

At the monastery, he lectures the monks on such subjects as prayer, Jewish law and life on the Israeli kibbutz, which he experienced for two years. Once a week, he tutors one of them in Bible and Mishnah.

But mostly he reads, writes, prays and wanders through peaceful gardens and groves, considering questions of faith.

"I've become a lot calmer," he says. "I think my own personal faith has deepened."

The former Hillel director attributes the change not only to his idyllic surroundings on the banks of the Sacramento River but also to being surrounded by Trappist monks, followers of the rules of St. Benedict who pursue a strictly contemplative lifestyle.

"I think one of the things that is too often missing in Jewish life is a sense of spirituality, a sense of direct connection with God," Arian says. "A monk spends his whole life focusing on his relationship with God.

"I'm hoping," he adds, "that after having had this monastic experience, I can bring back to the Jewish community some of the monks' techniques of prayer and education."

It was Arian's long-standing interest in monasticism that led to his stint at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, which began in mid-October and will last until summer. After working as a Hillel director on the East Coast and then an administrator at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, he decided he needed some time off before accepting another position.

"I was pretty burned out," he admits, speaking by phone from his room at the monastery.

So the 1986 graduate of the Reform movement's Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion wrote to all the Catholic monasteries in California expressing interest in becoming a guest scholar. New Clairvaux responded quickly, inviting Arian to be its first-ever on-site rabbi.

"We thought it would be a beneficial mutual exchange," says the Rev. Thomas Davis, the spiritual father of the abbey. "It has certainly given us a whole new perspective on the Jewish belief."

Monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, who hail from as far away as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines and Canada, lead a self-contained lifestyle, supporting themselves by harvesting the fruits of their fields. When farming, they wear jeans or other comfortable clothes. They don long, white religious robes when praying, which they do seven times a day.

When Arian first arrived at the monastery, he tried to partake in the Trappists' strict prayer regimen; soon, however, it became too much.

"Between their seven services a day and trying to daven three times a day, I would go crazy," he laughs. But "I do try to go, so they know I'm here and a part of their community."

The monastery has proven a comfortable temporary home for Arian. Trappists' pursuit of an ascetic lifestyle calls for a vegetarian diet; this allows Arian — who in 1990 switched from Reform Judaism to Conservative — to keep kosher.

In deciding to live at the monastery, however, Arian had another concern regarding his Jewish observance. He wanted to spend at least every other Shabbat in a Jewish community. To do that, he accepted a part-time position at Reno's Conservative Temple Emanu-El, a three-hour drive from Vina.

During his twice-monthly visits to Nevada, he lodges at an unusual venue — a casino owned by a member of his congregation.

As different as his two bases may seem, "there are a lot of similarities between the monastery and the casino," the rabbi jokes. "Both are total environments where there's a lot of prayer."