Rabbi Alan Lew, the Rabbi for fourteen years at San Francisco’s Congregation Beth Sholom and a leader with Religious Witness With Homeless People, died suddenly on January 12. Lew, a pioneer in the field of Jewish Meditation, collapsed while on a Meditation Retreat. The funeral service will be Thursday at 12:00 pm at Congregation Beth Sholom, 301 14th Avenue. Rabbi Lew told me at a September event honoring Sister Bernie Galvin that he was feeling better than he had felt in some time, though he was not someone to complain about his health. I had the honor of working closely with Rabbi Lew on a number of local and national housing campaigns. He was a giant of our time, a profoundly visionary spiritual leader, a tireless advocate for the homeless, disenfranchised and dispossessed, and a true mensch. His death comes as a terrible shock, and he will be deeply missed. We extend our greatest sympathies to his family.