When Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen was 4, her grandfather — an Orthodox rabbi — shared a story with her.
That story, from kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, was about the beginning of the world.
Essentially, the light, wholeness and holiness of the world broke into an infinite number of sparks that fell into all events and all people.
“The entire human race is a response to this accident, we’re all here because we’re able to uncover the hidden wholeness and light in people and events,” she said.
Remen, of Marin, is the speaker at this year’s “Choices” dinner Thursday, March 30 in Oakland. The event is put on by the Women’s Philanthropy Division of the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay.
Remen said that her grandfather told her this story in a way that her 4-year-old mind could grasp, yet it was only later, after he died, that she came to fully understand what it meant.
“The purpose of a human life is to restore the world to its wholeness, to lift [the light and sparks] up and make it visible again, to restore the wholeness of the world,” she said.
While the concept of tikkun olam originates from this story, Remen said that later in life, she took it to mean that we are all capable of becoming a blessing.
“That we could bless the lives of other people, bless the world around us and become a light in the world, this was the purpose of life, whether you were a doctor or a gardener.”
Remen, who often speaks at Buddhist events, is the best-selling author of “Kitchen Table Wisdom” and “My Grandfather’s Blessings.” A pioneer in the holistic health movement, she is also the co-founder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Bolinas.
She developed the course “The Art of Healing” as a member of UCSF Medical Center’s faculty, and still teaches it there, though the course is now taught at more than 40 medical schools around the country. Her own experience with Crohn’s disease has given her a unique view of being both doctor and patient.
Being a blessing is a concept that Remen talks about often.
“Blessing is an old-fashioned idea, and yet has great currency today,” she said. “I think, more than ever, each of us may need to remember our power to bless life, the life around us, and the life in us in order to make a difference to live well in these difficult times — and to be able to help others to live well also.”
This lesson is particularly important, Remen believes, because people often don’t recognize the potential they have to truly make a difference in someone’s life, or their greater community, or the greater world.
“So often, we give away our power to make a difference to our politicians, educators and experts, that somehow they’re going to create a good life for us,” she said. But if that was not a wise thing to do before 9/11, she adds, it certainly was not afterwards.
“The only safety lies in people recognizing their obligation to be a light in the world, and to recognizing the hidden light in all other people as well.”
Remen’s ability to tell stories is what propelled her books onto the best-seller list; they are stories that genuinely touch people.
She appreciates stories, she said, because they are “containers for meaning.”
Stories “strengthen us like a blessing does, they remind who and whose we are,” she said. “And a really good story, like those in the Torah, are often like a compass, pointing to what matters.”
She added, “Stories give us new life, change us and the way we see ourselves, the way we see others. They may help us recognize our worth, our power, our value and our purpose.”
“Choices” begins with a reception 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30 at the Oakland Rotunda Building, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. Tickets are $80 plus a minimum pledge of $200 to the 2006 campaign, payable through the end of the year. First-time attendees and women under 30 can give a $100 minimum gift to the annual campaign. Information: www.jfed.org/choices2006.