January 2010
Dear Friends,
I've been considering the relationship of diversity
and unity this year at the Hebrew School. One part
that I love about Shir Heharim is our diversity.
Being Jewish does not mean the same thing for all
of us. Our community is made up of Jews who call
themselves Reform, Conservative,
Reconstructionist, traditional, neo-Hasidic,
Renewal, Buddhist, Wiccan, Shamanistic, and
several Jew-nitarians to boot. This is the Jewish
world that our Hebrew School students will enter--a
world where "not being Jewish enough" (Oy- how I
have grappled with this as I find my path) is
replaced with the deeply American values of
respect for differences. How does it shape the
ways in which we share our pride and joy in being
Jewish?
The more I learn, the more I realize that indeed,
Jewish life has always been very diverse. Being
Jewish in 1700 Poland, was very different from
being Jewish in 1700, post-renaissance Italy, where
the rabbis were known to have taught dance and
poetry and bare-breasted women appeared in
Judaic art. Or 1200 Spain, where the Zohar
(Judaism's main mystical text, an imaginative
commentary on the Torah that shares deep secrets
of the human experience coded inside lush
imagery) was written. Daniel Matt, the pre-eminent
scholar and current translator of the Zohar's
thousands of pages, describes the Zohar as "a
proto-novel of sacred fantasy with the Shechina,
the Goddess as the main character." Wow! How
about 1100 Kaifeng China, where Jews built a
synagogue and described halacha as "the Dao."
Baghdad in 800? The Jews were welcomed
teachers in the new Islamic community and a
commonly-used name for G-d in the Jewish
community was Allah.
You get the idea? This just scratches the surface.
Two wonderful books of history that share this new
understanding of our diverse history are The
Cultures of the Jews, edited by David Biale, and
Judaism in Practice from 600-1800. Leading
scholars take different chapters from ancient days
to current days in the first book. The second book
has shorter chapters, arranged by topic, and
features wonderful primary sources (a good
preview exists on Google Books). My favorite is an
Egyptian woman from the mid-1300's who writes a
letter for help to the head of the community (Maimonides' son) because her husband is spending
too much time at the Sufi Monastery. She worried that
her husband's devotional practices at the monastery,
while worthy, are taking him away from the synagogue
where he should be praying three times every day!
And, she was worried he might want to move the
family to the monastery community, which would
prohibit her son's attendance at the Hebrew day
school!
I would like to open for us all this question of our
community's diversity. What parts of the great
landscape that is "Jewish Identity" and "Spiritual Life"
do you love best? Where do you find your
nourishment? Can you think of one additional way to
communicate this directly with those you love? At
school, we are providing our kids with the basics of
holidays, Hebrew language, and Torah stories. Our
hope is that, with these solid landmarks, they will be
able to explore Judaism on the trail and off the trail in
an infinite number of ways as they grow and deepen in
their spiritual and religious lives, knowing that in our
diversity we unify together.
Now, here are a few highlights from a busy month of
Hebrew school:
Our Open House on Nov 30 was attended by a minyan
of parents, all of whom were able to sit in on their
children's classes and to hear about the activities of the
school and the education committee. This winter, the
education committee will work with the teachers to
create a sequential curriculum that is filled with best
practices and creative assessments. The committee is
looking for members, or you might consider being on a
sub-committee to work specifically on formalizing a
sequential Hebrew language curriculum.
Our Chanukah miracle on Dec. 14 was platters of
delicious latkes appearing as if by magic for our school
celebration. We lit the menorah together, sang a few
songs, ate delicious latkes and sufganyot (doughnut
holes), and enjoyed some high-stakes dreidle. Fun,
Fun Fun.
As of this writing, I'm preparing for a whole-school
program celebrating Shabbat... even though it is on a
Monday. We will begin with a game that introduces
prayer, and then meet at the table for blessings for
candle-lighting, Kiddush, challah, followed by lots of
songs, stories and teachings. This will be our send-off
as we head towards the secular New Year. May 2010
bring blessings to our school and to all of Congregation
Shir Heharim.
I look forward to your comments and questions at
school@bajcvermont.com.
B'shalom,
David
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