I've arrived in Jerusalem and "hit the ground running." Thanks to some very kind members of the congregation, I had easy flights and a very quick and wonderful transition through the airport and off to Jerusalem, where I arrived at the Hartman Institute.
I "hit the ground running," catching the tail end of a study session that talked about the authority to create law. The Torah itself mostly talks about God as the source of law (when Moses gets a question he can't answer, he calls on God). But sometimes the Torah offers the possibility that human beings are expected to take the Torah and run with it to answer new questions (I came late so I missed some of the specific sources).
Later in the afternoon was a dedication of the Hartman campus, which is being named in honor of Robert Kogod. So it seems I travelled all the way from Washington, DC, to see one of its major philanthropists being honored here in Jerusalem. What I found most striking in the tribute that Donniel Hartman (the son of the founder of the Institute, David Hartman) is that he thanked Kogod for pushing towards excellence in everything the Institute does -- its scholarship, its architecture, its staff, and its programs. This is something the synagogue really struggles with -- to create excellence within its resources. What I found particularly meaningful is that Donniel reflected that excellence "didn't always happen on the first attempt," but that rather than being discouraged, Kogod and other donors stuck with the Institute as it pushed forward towards excellence.
Finally, the evening ended with an outstanding presentation by two visionary leaders of cutting edge synagogue communities -- Rabbis Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom, and Sharon Brous of IKAR, both in Los Angeles. They spoke eloquently about the challenge of synagogue life and engagement today -- and the need to make it all about "relationships" (what we at Shaare Torah have been calling "connections."). If a program doesn't connect people to something (other people, God, Torah, whatever), it's not worth doing. They also talked about the challenge of creating a community of commitment out of people whose first instinct is to protect autonomy. They labeled this the key challenge of our time, and everything -- dues, education frameworks, resources -- comes down to how we move people towards a commitment to Jewish community life.
Both last night and in one of today's sessions, Ed Feinstein challenged us to think about how we define success as a community, and success as a rabbi. What are the benchmarks? How are they different than in previous generations, or even in earlier incarnations of our institutions or rabbinate? A great thought question.
This morning's session by David Harman's daughter, Tovah, was about prayer and "spiritual intimacy." It posed interesting questions about keva (the fixed form of prayer) and kavvanah (intentionality). When do we stick to the text of a prayer, for the sake of tradition, even if it means a radical re-interpretation, and when do we have to jump in and simply change the text? A key text we looked at was from Maimonides, who tells a righteous convert that he can absolutely say "God of our ancestors" in his Amidah (even though, of course, biologically he is not descended from Abraham), but that if he is more comfortable, he can also change certain phrases in the prayers if he does not feel that connection. I had read this letter before, but not with this particular sensibility. A real gift to re-read a text in such a relevant way, both in my own life (engaging prayers that often don't seem to say what I mean), and for so many of my congregants.
So I've been here 26 hours, and already am finding lots to think about and engage with. More tomorrow, I hope.
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