Testimonial letter from Michael Ziegler

From The Sannyas Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This letter is one of a remarkable series of over 2650 letters amassed in 1983 to support Osho's attempt to get permanent resident status in the US at the time of the Oregon ranch. The image is reproduced here with the kind permission of The Oregon Historical Society. Information about their collection of these letters and other supporting material -- the "Jeffrey Noles Rajneesh Collection", named for Osho's immigration lawyer Jeffrey Noles, who compiled them in 1983 and donated them to the OHS -- can be found at this page. The wiki is grateful to the OHS for making access available for these documents. For more information and links to all the letters, see Testimonial letters.

This letter is from Michael Ziegler. It is "Exhibit A-9" in the Noles collection.

The text version below has been created by optical character recognition (OCR), from the images supplied by OHS. It has not been checked for errors but this process usually results in over 99% correct transcription. Most apparent "errors" are correct transcriptions of typos already in the original. The image on the right in the text box links to a pdf file of the original letter, it has one page.

26 Calvert Court Piedmont,
Ca. 94611
20 July 1983

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

The presence of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in the United States contributes to the vitality of religion in America and adds to the texture of our country’s intellectual plurality. I have been familiar with the work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for the past five years and have used his books for discussion groups and workshops in a variety of Jewish and secular settings. In Northern California, Rajneesh is well respected among my colleagues as an articulate spokesman of Eastern religious traditions and philosophies. As a religious philosopher, Rajneesh stands head and shoulders above most of his Asian contemporaries. Out of respect for this man’s intellectual accomplishments, prestigiouseducational institutions like the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley are teaching classes on his thought.

I am aware that Rajneesh has recently drawn a great deal of flack from elements of the Southern California Jewish com­munity who are claiming that Rajneesh is anti-Semitic. From my experience, this is a claim that is being made without basis. The organized Jewish community feels increasingly threatened by the new religions which are attracting Jewish youth to their ranks. Certainly we feel threatened when our youth join other religions; however, the solution to this malaise is not achieved through ad hominem arguments against those in­dividuals or groups to which young Jews are attracted. This represents an internal problem within our own community. Any perusal of Rajneesh’s writings on Jewish religious thought would easily dispel these claims.

Rajneesh is a free thinking religious philosopher in our age who has sparked considerable debate over his views. Like Mahatma Gandhi in the previous generation, Rajneesh has provided the impetus for meaningful intellectual and religiou debate. Rajneesh’s presence in America provides this provoc­ative intellectual with a forum in which his challenges can be addressed. I am appreciative that such an erudite scholar as Rajneesh is in America. I am aware that this scholar’s visa is under consideration, and as a member of the American clergy I would hope that the United States will welcome such an exceptional man to our ranks.

Most sincerely
[signed]
Rabbi Michael Ziegler


(Please note: We assume that the above letter is still copyrighted, but we regard its historical interest to constitute a Fair Use exception for publication in this wiki.)