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44/708 April 2014 | Nissan 5774

n response to the recent passage of a Knesset bill mandating that Haredim serve in the Israel Defense Forces, outraged ultra-Orthodox leaders argued that yeshiva students, by Inside Ifocusing on Jewish study and prayer, already perform a spiritual service that is crucial for Cultivating Spiritual protecting the country. No matter how we might weigh-in on this matter, or on the argument’s Intensity legitimacy, it offers a vivid example of how the term ‘spiritual’ carries in it both personal as well Arthur Green as communal implications. The many different meanings of spirituality are the focus of this issue Awakening the Heart...... 1 of Sh’ma. Rabbi Arthur Green, rector of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, opens up the Tzemah Yoreh issue with a powerful call for spiritual engagement that seeks to update the tropes of Hasidism Still Singing at Sinai...... 3 — where the focus of attention is on the personal encounter with the divine. I’ve invited several Joel Hecker rabbinical seminary heads and others to respond to his call with questions and arguments of The Torah as God’s their own. How spiritual practice works without a commanding God, and whether such exercises Garment...... 4 are serious — perhaps even narcissistic — are among the questions explored. Other writers Deborah Waxman ask whether a focus on a spiritual quest deflects attention from the concrete world around us. Multiple Some of us find ourselves returning to just these questions again and again over the course Conceptualizations of the Divine...... 6 of our lifetime. Others might be inclined to look beyond them, even flee from them. But it is Scott Perlo difficult to ignore how one’s relationship with God and prayer intersects with how we relate Comrades in Prayer...... 8 to others, how we grow families, build communities, and describe ourselves as Jews. Here, Asher Lopatin in these next pages, mysticism, a farm, the Shabbat dinner table, a painter’s canvass, and Beyond Ourselves, FaceTime, all play a role in this conversation. — Susan Berrin, Editor-in-chief the Community...... 9 Judith Margolis ‘Difficulty Praying’...... 10 Awakening the Heart Aaron Panken A Techno-Savvy ARTHUR GREEN Theology...... 12 Responses by Arthur Green mong my many sins in the course of My own turn toward an inward, religion- and Tzemah Yoreh...... 14 my life is the responsibility for making of-the-heart-centered reading of Judaism Yisroel Bass Athe word “spirituality” respectable in stemmed from a long love affair with the The Wheat Harvest the Jewish community. When I was soliciting sources of Jewish mysticism, especially Story...... 15 articles for my two-volume Jewish Spirituality Hasidism. That love was surely born of my Discussion Guide...... 16 collection in 1983 (part of a 25-volume World own temperament and needs. It was certainly Aryeh Bernstein & Spirituality series), several scholars dismissed not intended as a strategy for Jewish survival. Joey Weisenberg the idea, insisting that there was no such thing. But now, as I watch other rationales for an Music as Spiritual Practice: A Conversation...... 17 The concept was Catholic, they told me, and ongoing commitment to Judaism slip away, I distinctively not Jewish. I therefore articulated believe that this neo-Hasidic or spiritual orien- Gabe Greenberg, Sara Miriam Liben, a clear and tradition-rooted definition of what tation will become ever more important in our Gary Goldberg, I meant by the term: a religious life that recog- future religious language. Emilia Diamant nizes and cultivates the human soul, seeking in Traditional religion fought two great bat- NiSh’ma...... 18 daily life the holiness originally associated with tles across the earlier part of the 20th century. Jayne K. Guberman sacred space, time, and personhood. Over the One was the struggle against Darwinism, by & Jennifer Sartori years (especially with the help of my friends at which I mean not only evolutionary biology, Ethical Dilemmas in Adoptive Parenting...... 20 Jewish Lights Publishing), the language of spir- but also the whole emerging picture of the Jon Leener & Avram Mlotek ituality has gained wide credence. “Spiritual universe and the history of the earth as de- Reimagining Jewish but not religious” is now a very widespread picted by astrophysics and geology. The other Spirituality: Acts of Loving- self-categorization among Jews under 40. Even battle was focused on biblical criticism and the Kindness....Digital Edition those uncomfortable with the word now have human authorship of sacred scripture. This to pay attention. continued on next page battle engaged Jews more than the struggle to emerging generations? with Darwinism, for the authority of tradition Here, I return to the language of spiritual- seemed to stand or fall with it. Traditional ity. A radical spiritualization of Judaism’s truth, religion decisively lost both of these battles. begun within Hasidism some 200 years ago, Among college-educated people in the Western needs to be updated and universalized to ap- world, the conclusions were clear. And with peal to today’s Jewish seeker. This would offer this disillusionment, the twin pillars of classi- the possibility of a religious language that ad- SHMA.COM cal Jewish theology — Creation and Revelation dresses contemporary concerns while calling for — were challenged. This, combined with the a deep, faith-based attachment to the essential greatest of all challenges to Jewish faith, the forms and tropes of Jewish piety. It will do so Holocaust, left us reeling. How could we Jews (unlike traditional Hasidism) without insisting proclaim faith in a God of providence and his- on indefensible historical or scientific claims. tory, especially one who had chosen Israel for Mystical religion, by its very nature, shifts special love and protection, after 1945? the focus of attention away from the positive/ historical and inward toward the devotional/ “Do you experience God creating the world each day, experiential. Here, the question is not: “Do you encountering a divine presence in the natural world around believe that God created the world, and when?” but rather: “Do you experience God creating you? What does that encounter call upon you to do?” the world each day, encountering a divine presence in the natural world around you?” For the next half-century, we Jews were Such a religious experience also asks: “What mostly too busy surviving and rebuilding does that encounter call upon you to do?” We our lives to worry much about theology. The will not be concerned with whether the tale of emergence of Israel, especially the surprising Egyptian bondage and liberation is historically victory in the 1948 war, created some talk of verifiable or not. The question is rather: “Have miracles, and a certain combination of reli- you come out of Egypt?” referring to whatever gious Zionism and civic pride in Jewish people- it is that keeps the individual in the narrow hood and our accomplishments (including the straits of his or her own mitzrayim. Perhaps Rabbi Arthur Green is the remarkable rescue of Soviet Jewry) served as most transformative for Judaism, we will not founding dean and, now, a sort of ersatz religion, as described by Jacob ask, “Did Israel hear God’s word at Sinai, and rector of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Neusner and others. But that replacement how much of the Torah was given there?” but Newton Centre, Mass., and for faith had run its course by the turn of the rather: “Can you feel yourself standing before its Irving Brudnick Professor 21st century, largely for demographic reasons. the mountain as you hear the words of Torah? of Jewish Philosophy and American Jews raised after 1967, the fourth Can you say, ‘We will do and we will listen’ in Religion. He has taught and fifth generations after immigration, were this eternal Sinai moment?” Jewish mysticism, Hasidism, and theology to several no longer swayed by loyalty to the traumas of The “events” of Israel’s sacred narrative generations of students at the their grandparents’ generation. They felt fully are here read unapologetically as myth rather University of Pennsylvania, the at home in America, and were quite distant than history, but that makes their voice more Reconstructionist Rabbinical from the ancient faith toward which even the powerful rather than less. To be a religious Jew College (where he served as preceding generations had maintained such a means entering into that myth in a way that both dean and president), tepid and ambivalent relationship. Among the calls forth a deep personal engagement and Brandeis University, and Hebrew College. Green is the significant number who did have spiritual lean- commitment. founder of Havurat Shalom, an ings, newly imported versions of Eastern teach- The God of this religion is not the com- egalitarian Jewish community ings were often more attractive than Judaism. manding Other who rules over history, nor the in Somerville, Mass., and he Where, then, are we left? We know that God of reward and punishment. Rather, God remains a leading independent we are the bearers of one of the world’s great- is found in the still, small voice that calls us figure in the Jewish Renewal movement. He is the author est spiritual traditions, one often maligned and to open our hearts and turn our lives toward of more than a dozen books, misunderstood. We care deeply about its sur- goodness. This sort of new mystical or Neo- most recently Radical Judaism: vival; some form of “ve-shinantan le-vanekha” Hasidic piety turns toward the natural world Rethinking God and Tradition — “teach them diligently to your children” — as a source of inspiration, seeing existence (Yale University Press, 2010). remains the single mitzvah to which Jews re- and beauty as objects of wonder and devo- Each year since 2008, main most committed. But with what rationale? tion (even in the face of nature’s indifference Green has been named by Newsweek and The Daily Is there any truth-claim of Judaism to which to our individual human plight). This makes Beast as one of the top 50 we still adhere? Is there a framework, either it especially appropriate to the 21st century, influential rabbis in America. conceptual or experiential, that is meaningful when religion’s most vital task may be that of

[2] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 transforming our attitude toward the natural will and dictate command the hearts of its world and working to preserve it. adherents, who face tremendous assimilatory This religion is about cultivating spiritual pressures no less great than the threats of mar- intensity and awakening the heart. Such a faith, tyrdom in prior ages? Are its devotees prepared especially in the context of Judaism, seeks ex- to submit and serve when there is no literal pression in traditional forms. It understands, king standing over them? Or is their alleged however (along with classical Hasidism) that spirituality perhaps just another personal ex- observance is not an end in itself, but a means perience they wish to taste, somewhat lightly, SHMA.COM of arousing the heart and an expression of that thank you, as part of their endless quest for heart’s fullness and desire to give, now both self-indulgence, even of the most refined sort? within and beyond the Jewish community. This challenge stands especially before the Perhaps the greatest challenge to such an spiritual leaders and teachers of the emerg- approach is the question: “Is it serious?” Can ing generations, as they seek to forge a Jewish a religion without literalist claims to divine language that will speak to their age. Still Singing at Sinai TZEMAH YOREH

n a conversation with Rabbi Arthur Green a in a personal encounter with an amorphous number of years ago, he remarked that our divine rather than in our rich and varied tex- Ireligious views differed by only a couple tual tradition? of inches. He and I both understood the tex- As a traditional Jew who has embraced tual reference; he was referring to the distance both Charles Darwin and Julius Wellhausen, I separating the upper and lower chasms accord- find it troubling that, according to Green, “… ing to the Talmud — or, in other words, the traditional religion decisively lost both of these distance between heaven and hell. Green is battles.” Green dismisses a traditional Judaism a panentheist, holding a worldview that sub- that is non-Darwinian, that sees the Exodus scribes to the notion that God is in everything. I subscribe to agnosticism, a materialist world- I do not stand at Sinai. I consciously emphasize the view that doubts if God exists in anything, or elements of Jewish law and tradition that I find compelling in any form. Rather than seeking a relationship and I interpret our tradition through humanist values. with the enigmatic divine, I derive my world of meaning from text and poetry, as well as as historic (rather than mythic), and that feels from celebration, family, and friendships. The anchored by halakhah (Jewish law) and texts. difference between us is akin to what Green Yet, as Green freely admits, his neo-Hasidism focuses on in his essay — namely, the notion has no anchor of this sort (his substitutes, of spirituality. I laud Green for making spiritu- such as a commitment to preserve the natural ality a valid self-definition for many Jews, but, world, are laudable, but they do not serve the as a textual scholar, Green may share some of same anchoring function). my dismay that many who self-define as spiri- Traditional Judaism is coherent, vibrant, tual are not cognizant of the textual fount from and expanding (in terms of sheer numbers). which their spiritualism springs forth. At a time when assimilation and secularism are This is perhaps apparent in what Green iden- on the rise, the growth of this sector can’t be tifies as a main weakness of his — the danger attributed simply to birthrate. Rather, we also of superficiality: “Perhaps the greatest challenge attribute its growth to the hold of authentic and to such an approach is the question: ‘Is it seri- enduring Jewish texts and traditions. Although ous?’ … Or is their alleged spirituality perhaps biblical criticism (my own bread and butter) Tzemah Yoreh, a resident at just another personal experience they wish to has challenged the historicity of most of the CLAL: The National Jewish taste, somewhat lightly, thank you, as part of Torah, and science has successfully disputed Center for Leadership and their endless quest for self-indulgence…?’” the notion that the world is 6,000 years old, Learning, earned his doctorate My question is: Why dismiss the Judaism traditional Jews who believe in the Torah’s ve- in Bible from the Hebrew University in 2004. His books that is tried and tested and that has endured racity are not self-delusional. Rather, they ex- include The First Book of God for centuries? Why exchange that Judaism for ercise a selective blindness, something we all and The Humanist Prayer an untested approach that locates the sacred continued on next page Omnibus.

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [3] “suffer” from. To live a halakhically prescribed emphasize the elements of Jewish law and tra- Judaism in the modern world reflects a prefer- dition that I find compelling, and I interpret ence for an internal coherence of a worldview our tradition through humanist values. I have built upon explicit expectations, established written humanist liturgy informed by the great authorities, and an extraordinary wealth of lit- agnostic poets Hayim Nahman Bialik, Yehuda erature and poetry. Perhaps the foundational Amichai, and Avraham Ben-Yitzchak, always ideas don’t accord with modern science, but striving with the Bible and rabbinic literature, SHMA.COM what does that matter, so long as it provides but focusing on the human condition. I am an communities and individuals with a mean- apikores (a heretic) in the learned tradition of ingful structure by which to live their lives? Ecclesiastes, Elisha ben Abuyah, and Baruch Green’s Neo-Hassidism “suffers” from selec- Spinoza. I am a scholar well-informed about Sh’ma tive blindness, too; it prefers “encountering a Jewish texts, yet constantly doubting. I have on Kindle divine presence in the natural world” to deriv- my place in traditional Judaism, a place with Find us at: ing meaning and practice from texts and tradi- which I am content, and it is not a spiritual kindle.amazon.com tions. To me, this is a rather large oversight in place. My sense of transcendence is the aes- The free Kindle relation to a religion that has been primarily thetic pleasure I derive from reading a sublime application lets you textual for upward of 2,000 years. poem with layers of meaning and allusion, read Kindle books on As a (Mordecai) Kaplanian, I see Green’s chanting from the Torah with a scythe-like your iPad, iPhone Judaism as valid (though I am skeptical that it precision, watching the sun setting over the or iPod touch—no can function as a blueprint for the future). But ocean, or feeling intense love for my child. As Kindle required. I do not think it supersedes halakhic Judaism Amichai, Israel’s poet laureate, once wrote in Sh’ma also on: or any other type of Judaism — my own in- “The Jews”: cluded — in the face of modernity. In my own “And what about God? Once we sang Jewish practice, I do not stand at Sinai; I de- ‘There is no God like ours,’ now we sing, fine myself in relation to Sinai. Like the popu- ‘There is no God of ours.’ lar atheist writer Alain de Botton, I consciously But we sing. We still sing.” The Torah as God’s Garment JOEL HECKER

abbi Arthur Green’s invitation to note of the Torah, each and every act of study, participate in a neo-Hasidic revision prayer, or ritual observance becomes a moment Rof pious mysticism has been resonat- of potential encounter with divinity. For me, ing with me since I bought my first scholarly deep engagement with Jewish texts and practice work 30 years ago, his two-volume edited col- can sustain an attachment to the myth of Sinai lection titled Jewish Spirituality: From the Bible without blinkering historical critique. Through the Middle Ages. Newly Orthodox, For Jewish mystics, the Torah was God’s and in rabbinical school at Yeshiva University, garment, and its stories and commandments I was seeking rigorous intellectual analysis as a were the lenses through which one could per- second anchor for emotionally imbibed beliefs ceive divinity. They recognized, though, that about God’s commanding voice at Sinai. The if we read the Torah’s stories for their surface thick culture of pious ritual observance had meaning, or if we perform rituals with legalistic Joel Hecker is a scholar of provided me with a solid religious scaffolding fetishism, the inner light, beauty, and truth of the the Zohar and medieval that could sustain an orientation toward com- stories would be obscured. The mystics’ spiritual Kabbalah. He is the author mandedness — but piety was not enough. vision spread beyond the four ells of halakhah of the forthcoming annotated On a personal theological level, my study and the covers of the Tanakh. These stories translation of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volumes of Kabbalah over the past 20-plus years has viewed the immanent spread of divine being 11 and 12, and of Mystical loosened my need for literalist interpretations throughout the material world — in our food, Bodies, Mystical Meals: of Judaism’s foundational myths, even as it in the faces of those we love, in the trees and Eating and Embodiment in has deepened my commitment to the effects of creatures that populate our world — as opportu- Medieval Kabbalah. Hecker those same myths. To put it plainly, because the nities allowing for constant interaction with the is an associate professor of Jewish mysticism at the Kabbalah, and the Zohar in particular, ascribes Mystery of Mysteries undergirding all of reality. Reconstructionist Rabbinical divine significance to every phrase, every com- A few examples are in order. According College in Wyncote, Pa. mandment, even every letter and cantillation to Zoharic Kabbalah, the four blessings of the

[4] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 birkat hamazon, the blessing after eating, cor- king as the grand letter lamed reflects the respond to the four letters of the tetragram- Zoharic intoxication with the profusion of maton — YHVH. As our blessings proceed to symbols (the very opposite of awed reverence articulate and complete the name of God, each before the utterly mysterious) that entice the one successively draws blessing down into our reader to contemplate the blessed Holy One. world through those letters that stretch across The kabbalists aim to satisfy two theological the chasm spanning ultimate transcendence to impulses at once: humble deference and the divine immanence. bold quest for intimacy. SHMA.COM In his book Sha’are Orah (Gates of Light), Finally, every time a person utters a bless- the thirteenth-century kabbalist Joseph Gikatilla ing, saying, “Barukh atah Adonai” while view- identifies the name Adonai (mentioned in Psalms ing the ineffable name YHVH on the page, one 51:17 at the beginning of the statutory prayer) with Shekhinah, the lowest of the ten rungs (se- It is only through repeated practice that one can firot) of divinity, and the word ratson (“will,” experience the full dialectical surprise and enchantment recited at the end of the statutory prayer from Psalms 19:15) with the topmost of the sefirot. that occur when a daily ritual is transformed. It is precisely Gikatilla explains that the trajectory of our prayer in this tension between the rote and imaginative that is a procession from the bottom to the top of glimmers of higher purpose emerge. God’s own being. These are not mere literary al- lusions, but an intimate identification with divin- communicates that God is both immanent and ity itself. The conclusion of Psalms 51:17 (“that transcendent; holding the two simultaneously, my mouth may utter Your praise”) is interpreted one speaks the unspeakable while yearning for to mean that Shekhinah Herself, signified by the the sublime. Maintaining this consciousness al- words “Your praise,” is what passes through our lowed the kabbalists to sustain a stance of rev- Upcoming lips as we recite the Shemonah Esrei. erence before inapprehensible divinity, even as in Sh’ma One Zoharic story (3:201b) relates that they reinterpreted the tradition with audacious Rabbi Pinhas was jubilant after hearing a creativity. Each of these examples (of which n What “selfies” kabbalistic homily from Rabbi Shimon about thousands more could be invoked) shows the teach us three miraculous biblical “mouths”: the mouth kabbalistic imagination at work, inviting its ad- n Neighborhoods: of Balaam’s donkey, the mouth of the earth herents to participate in sacramental intimacy local and global yawning open to swallow Korah and his band, with divinity at every turn of ritual-filled lives. Judaism and the mouth of Miriam’s well. All three are As embodied beings, we humans thrive not n Shlichut: being created miraculously by God (Avot 5:6) as only on the highs of spiritual ecstasy, but also “called” to serve part of the Creation of the world, a Creation on the spiritual athleticism that ritual provides. the Jewish that occurred through utterances from God’s Indeed, it is only through repeated practice that community mouth. Rabbi Pinchas kissed Rabbi Shim’on in one can experience the full dialectical surprise n Humility gratitude, exclaiming, “Let us kiss the mouth of and enchantment that occur when a daily rit- n Time out: the YHVH, aromatized with the fragrances of His ual is transformed. It is precisely in the tension many ways of garden.” Even the person teaching Torah is a between rote and imaginative transport that replenishing vessel through whom divinity itself passes. glimmers of higher purpose emerge. Decidedly the soul In an obscure homily explicating a parable not for all, a practice-rich lifestyle, I believe, n Generational in Ecclesiastes 9, the Zohar on Song of Songs may be most fruitful in helping younger Jews conversations: (Zohar Chadash 70a) explains that both the to feel both rooted and authentic. creating mean- largest letter of the alphabet, k (lamed), and Great comfort can be derived from the ingful discourse the smallest letter, h (yod), are manifestations impossibility of certainty. When theological n Prayer & the of divinity. Frequently, the Zohar will refer to beliefs, reams of biblical commentary, histori- use of multiple this diminutive letter as a point, and a point, as cal arguments, and contemporary critique can intelligences we know from high school geometry, occupies all be held at the same time (like gazing at a n Sustainability no space. The first letter of God’s name is thus star-filled night, replete with constellations), treated as literally unfathomable. This interpre- then one can begin to read every verse in the What Jewish conversation would tation of yod reflects the Maimonidean impulse Torah and seek out its underlying mysteries you like to have? Send to stand back and reflect on God’s ineffability, without concern for the contradictions. The suggestions for future mystery, and forbidding transcendence, reflect- kabbalists’ pious stance was anchored in tra- Sh’ma topics to SBerrin@ ing the humble stance of self-aware human crea- ditional piety, through the observance of the shma.com. tureliness. The interpretation of the parable’s continued on next page

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [5] vast array of Jewish ritual in its totality. Even as sense, they recognized the truth that “There’s they acknowledged the limited manifestation of no place like home.” divinity present in halakhah, they understood Green asks, “Can a religion without lit- that it was only through that dedication to the eralist claims to divine will and dictate com- “letter” that they could arrive at its “spirit.” In mand the hearts of its adherents, who face other words, while they constantly yearned tremendous assimilatory pressures…?” for new openings in their relationship with Drawing upon the philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s SHMA.COM the blessed Holy One, they did so in their will- notion of second naiveté — acknowledging ingness to trust, as in any long-term relation- the boat-tipping potential of historical criti- ship, that searching deeper in the vastness of cism, but affiliating with religion’s grand ho- Jewish literature and practice would invoke the rizons nevertheless — I venture to say that gushing flow of enlightenment and radiance. having faith in the voice calling out daily from Alternatively, abandoning troubling texts could Sinai, commanding observance but giving a bring about only the small satisfaction of an wide berth to mystical interpretation, can immediate resolution of conflict. In a mystical forge a path for an evolving spirituality. Sh’ma in your Inbox Take advantage of our Multiple Conceptualizations FREE Sh’ma e-letter. Every month, you’ll receive of the Divine updates on featured essays, S Blog posts, DEBORAH WAXMAN online art exhibitions, exclusive bulk copy offers, recently spent a Shabbat meal with a group Jewish without those ideas? If we don’t have to unique opportunities of university students, and I found myself do them, why would we?” for subscribers, and deeply engaged in a theological conversa- Rabbi Arthur Green eloquently describes much more! I tion. The student rabbi who serves this cam- the historical context that led to the eclipse of a Sign up now at pus and who organized the meal is from the conception of a personal, interventionist God, shma.com Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where and points toward one path that illuminates for she participates in our campus track — an op- some a new rationale for intensive Jewish liv- portunity for students to augment their inten- ing. Green’s mystical piety works for some of sive Jewish studies with discussions of such the rabbinical students enrolled at RRC, though matters as fostering autonomy among emerg- it does not for others, as it would not for my ing adults and building community among an conversation partner over dinner that evening. ever-shifting population. Some of our rabbinical students burn with Several trustees of the college joined us that enthusiasm to organize and work for justice; evening. I sat with one who is secular and skep- they are deeply sustained by the intersection tical in orientation, and who quizzed me about of personal sanctity/tzelem Elokim and social Reconstructionist approaches to theology. I de- restructuring/tikkun olam. Other students scribed transnaturalism, understanding God as discern their evolving relationships with God haMakom, the wellspring of the universe and through conversations with their spiritual the force that infuses and ultimately surpasses directors, or in chevruta study with peers — all things. I explained process theology, which through our many text classes — and with oth- experiences God in the constant change and un- ers — through our multifaith programs. folding complexity of our world. I spoke about When we revised the RRC curriculum re- Rabbi Deborah Waxman being open to immanence, and encountering the cently, our faculty returned again and again to is president of the divine in the faces of our families and friends. this question: How do we train rabbinical stu- Reconstructionist At each juncture, he nodded in somewhat sur- dents as effective leaders for 21st-century Jewish Rabbinical College and the Jewish Reconstructionist prised recognition, shared a few engaged com- life? Fostering multiple approaches — in theol- Communities. She is a ments, and asked yet another question. When I ogy, in practice, in outlook — is at the foundation graduate of RRC, where she made explicit that I was talking about a relation- of our efforts and emerges from our continued now also serves as the Aaron ship with a nonpersonal God, expressly setting commitment to the concept of Judaism as a civi- and Marjorie Ziegelman aside the idea of God as nonanthropomorphic lization. This embrace of diversity is as relevant Presidential Professor. in favor of commander or king metaphors, his in our day as it was when Mordecai Kaplan for- Waxman holds a doctorate in American Jewish history from energy shifted, and he tartly observed, “Well, mulated it in the 1930s as the founding insight Temple University. how are you going to get anyone to do anything of a Reconstructionist approach. Kaplan helped

[6] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 to create the reality of Jewish pluralism. Our other God ideas, or none at all. For many, the students, diverse in their beliefs and practices, deepest experience of God is in the questioning are educated in a method that builds and sus- and in the relationship among questioners. tains rich, substantive, and diverse expressions For me, and for many other of Jewish life, copious approaches to meaning- Reconstructionist rabbis, being Jewish means ful Jewish living, and manifold understandings that we live lives of meaning and connection of the divine. A commitment to Jewish plural- to each other, Jews and non-Jews like. Being ism requires, I believe, multiple and dynamic Jewish orients us toward this kind of life, and SHMA.COM conceptualizations of the divine. it helps us to achieve it with Jewish tools and Like Kaplan, Green seeks unifying, inspira- methods. We train our students in the rich tional language for being Jewish in an open en- breadth of modalities — text, liturgy, culture, vironment. Kaplan, writing in a period known and practice — used by Jews who came before as “the age of ideology,” sought to unify and us, and we support them in efforts to develop inspire Jewish life in the modern era through new modalities. We ask rabbinical students to the creation of an all-encompassing approach engage directly in consideration of the divine, that would capture the American Jewish imagi- in multiple expressions — as the wellspring of nation. Kaplan proposed the creation of an the universe, the foundation of moral behav- ideology around the concept of Judaism as the ior, the locus of community, the source of all evolving religious civilization of the Jewish peo- potential, and the continuous change-maker. ple, which would at once provide a common At the same time, we urge them to remember understanding and accommodate diversity. that belief in God is not a prerequisite for and But we no longer live in the age of ideologies. should not be a barrier to throwing one’s lot We live in the postmodern age of pastiche, when in with the Jewish people. However God is individuals are free to pick and choose from or is not experienced, Judaism aids us in be- among a rich banquet of interests and spiritual coming ethical human beings, living in part- expressions, and where boundaries and identities nership, and building with others a just and are fluid. “Civilization” and “peoplehood,” once ethical world. radical ideas coming out of Reconstructionist

Judaism, have become widely accepted. While Frankel Center for Jewish Studies, University the terms continue to have resonance, they do of Michigan; Taube Center for Jewish Studies, Stanford University; Lippman Kanfer Family not necessarily point toward a visionary future. Foundation; Carol Brennglass Spinner; Bruce I join with Green, who asks: What next? As Whizin; Marilyn Ziering SHMA.COM Green writes, many of our traditional Jewish Donations to Sh’ma are tax deductible. Editor-in-Chief: Susan Berrin Sh’ma is available in microfilm from University metaphors — the building blocks of our my- Founding Editor: Rabbi Eugene Borowitz Microfilms­ International, Ann Arbor, Mich., and thology — have broken down. For example, as Publisher: Josh Rolnick in audio format from the Jewish Braille Institute. The journal Sh’ma and the Sh’ma archive are Art Director: Emily Rich Reconstructionist Jews, we make explicit the text-searchable online at shma.com and bjpa.org. break from the literal narrative of revelation Market Development Director: Robert J. Saferstein Online Manager: Tamar Fox Subscriptions: $49/2 years in U.S.; $29/1 year; $59/2 years international; $39/1 year at Sinai, and thus the claim of an unbroken Budget Director: Neal Colby international; $21.97 for one year senior/ chain of rabbinic authority emerging from that Webmaster: Hyung Park student. Bulk subscriptions are available at moment. So our rabbis are not marai d’atra, Sh’ma Advisory Committee: reduced prices. Please notify the subscription Yosef I. Abramowitz, Aryeh Cohen, Charlotte office in writing if you prefer that your name halakhic decisors. We are asking our rabbis Fonrobert, Neil Gillman, Lisa D. Grant, Richard not be given out on rented lists. to be compelling, without, as my dinner part- Hirsh, Shawn Landres, Julian Levinson, Shaul Address all editorial correspondence to Sh’ma, Magid, Noam Pianko, Or Rose, Danya Ruttenberg, P.O. Box 8291, Berkeley, CA 94707, or E-mail: ner astutely observed, any of the compulsory Carol Brennglass Spinner, Devorah Zlochower [email protected]. power that the premodern myths offered. This Contributing Editors: Michael Berenbaum, Elliot For all Web-related inquiries, contact Tamar Fox: Dorff, Arnold Eisen, Leonard Fein, Barry [email protected]. is very challenging: We are engaged in an ex- Freundel, Rela M. Geffen, Neil Gillman, Irving Send all subscription queries and changes of Greenberg, Joanne Greenberg, Brad Hirschfield, tended experiment of imagining Jewish leader- address to Sh’ma, P.O. Box 439, Congers, NY Lori Lefkovitz, Richard Marker, Deborah Dash 10920-0439. Telephone: 877-568-SHMA. E-mail: ship in a context that is both democratic and Moore, Vanessa Ochs, Kerry Olitzky, Riv-Ellen [email protected]. open. We ask rabbis to lead by being educa- Prell, Harold Schulweis, Elie Wiesel, David Wolpe, Michael Wyschogrod We welcome your feedback. Send to Josh tors and moral leaders who serve as meaning Rolnick, Publisher, at [email protected]. The opinions expressed in Sh’ma do not makers, spiritual guides, and accompaniers on necessarily reflect those of the editors. Sh’ma is published by the Sh’ma Institute, an independent nonprofit established by Lippman Jewish journeys. They must find conceptual- Sh’ma Partners: Hebrew College Rabbinical Kanfer Family Foundation. School; Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute izations of the divine that nourish them. They 2014 Sh’ma Institute. All rights reserved. of Religion; Jewish Theological Seminary © must find ways to communicate this nourish- of America; Reconstructionist Rabbinical ISSN: 0049-0385 APRIL 2014. ment to others. And they must also be able to College; The Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns With all sponsorhsips, Sh’ma reserves complete Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University; editorial control of content. engage with seekers who will be sustained by

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [7] Comrades in Prayer SCOTT PERLO

“Might we do without religion entirely? Plenty of Old propositions of faith map poorly onto people have tried. Not in Communist countries, empirical reality, even as sacrosanct spiritual as I’ve already said, but here. A lot of people ideas now compete with each other in a global SHMA.COM have been forced to do without it because the marketplace. All religions are playing catch-up, old-time religions they know of are too supersti- expanding and adapting their belief systems in tious, too full of magic, too ignorant of biology order to understand the brave new world and and physics to harmonize with the present day. infuse it with holiness. They are told to have faith. Faith in what? This period of spiritual transition does not Faith in faith, as nearly as I can tell. That is lend itself to robust prayer. Many people do as detailed as many contemporary preachers not know what to believe. Even though we care to be...” may long for an active spiritual life with mean- —Kurt Vonnegut, commencement address ing, spiritual clarity is elusive without a clear to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 1974 sense of to whom or what one is praying. As teachers, our job is to clarify our own beliefs any of us teach that a person so we can offer compelling spiritual proposi- doesn’t have to have faith to daven. tions that speak to our times. Vonnegut calls MMembers of the clergy, myself in- us out, we preachers who only say, “Have faith cluded, introduce services with an invitation: in faith,” and avoid working through our own No matter where a person comes from or what unresolved difficulties with God and Torah. she believes, it is possible for her to make her We should illuminate the spiritual context home in prayer. This idea has a venerable spir- that explains how prayer connects a person to the itual parentage among other wise sayings de- divine — why saying these words or bowing here tailing the spiritual path: “Mitoch shelo lishma, matters. Each prayer’s words connect to spiritual ba lishma”1 — “Practice precedes intention.” ideas and emotions; ideas and emotions bridge the divide between the individual and God. So So many of us have traversed the ground between viewing we should heavily invest in revealing a prayer’s emotional and spiritual context: gratitude, cre- prayer as an obtuse traditional mystery and knowing prayer ation, awe, revelation, humility, grandeur, the to be as precious as breathing. miraculous, concern, anxiety, chutzpah, despair, redemption, hope, holiness. We must teach in- However, even as I write this, I know I teriority — the tricky, highly personal process of must challenge the proposition of belief-less intentionally encountering these concepts and prayer. In his essay, Rabbi Arthur Green writes: feelings. As we practice praying with students, “We care deeply about [Judaism’s] survival; we should encourage them to experiment with some form of ‘ve-shinantan le-vanekha,’ ‘teach these emotions and essential ideas. These exer- them diligently to your children’ remains the cises begin haltingly but gain speed as students Rabbi Scott Perlo is the single mitzvah to which Jews remain most gain awareness of this spiritual infrastructure. associate director of Jewish committed. But …is there any truth-claim of Lastly, we teachers should work to banish programming at the Sixth Judaism to which we still adhere?” spiritual loneliness. Spiritual activism (the best and I Historic Synagogue in Difficult prayer is a symptom of theological term I have for wholehearted prayer, as op- Washington, D.C., a unique institution that engages difficulties. Being unable to learn to pray does posed to spiritual spectatorship) takes a village; in post-denominational not reflect a failure of Jewish education. Rather, we need support so that our devekut (spiritual outreach to the district’s young it is an expression of deep spiritual ambivalence, intensity) is not out of place within our prayer professional community. Perlo as Art Green describes, which precludes Jews community. There is a particularly sad loneli- was ordained by the Ziegler from giving themselves freely to a holy relation- ness of alienation within communal prayer. School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University ship. Prayer is a bellwether; we struggle to pray Worshippers feel constrained from outward in 2008. because we struggle with belief. spiritual expressions, rather than free, and afraid Belief is difficult today because scientific of another’s judgment, rather than supported 1 “Even if one starts practicing without discoveries have challenged our fundamental by each other’s presence. While it may sound pure motives, the pure motives will come through practice.” (Talmud assumptions about the world and globaliza- absurd, I ask my students to practice praying Sanhedrin 106a) tion has exposed us to other belief systems. while looking each other in the eye. Cultivating

[8] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 an awareness of our “comrades in prayer” has they so unequivocally believed in the precept of an unexpected effect; we start to shyly smile at equality, their prayer came easily. each other. Communal connection reminds us Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook that we are not spiritually alone. teaches that it is incumbent upon all spiritu- The journey into meaningful prayer is ally minded Jews to undergo a process of spir- achievable. So many of us have traversed the itual birur (clarification).2 But, as we attempt ground between viewing prayer as an obtuse to find that clarity, we will likely bump up traditional mystery and knowing prayer to be as against the limits of certainty. And we have SHMA.COM precious as breathing. But kavannah (intention) not yet reinterpreted the truth claims of the requires one to wade through complexity and Torah that do not stand up to scrutiny. That 2 Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen difficulty until one arrives at points of spiri- process of reinterpretation — so the Torah Kook, The Light of Faith, tual clarity. By clarity, I do not mean dogma, speaks not only to individuals but also to en- “Faith and Science” 9 but rather the personal conviction that one is tire communities — will take time; we need to engaged in an essential spiritual act. With clar- be patient. There is no easy way to overcome ity, even people who generally live in spiritual legitimate skepticism. spectatorship can become vessels of holiness. This is the work of prayerful communities: Over a recent Shabbat commemorating the life to banish spiritual loneliness by creating rela- of Martin Luther King Jr., I saw otherwise cyni- tionships around compelling spiritual truths, cal daveners find clarity in a moral underpin- and to work together to find wholehearted ning — the grandeur of civil rights. Because connection to the divine. Communal Spirituality: Finding Holiness in Others ASHER LOPATIN abbi Arthur Green provides a beauti- spirituality asks us to look outside and beyond ful expression of the spiritual life, a ourselves to see the holiness in others — in Rparadigm of the spiritual human being, our families, our communities, our people, where almost all of the basic foundations of and the world. Judaism — Torah, Sinai, Creation, Exodus Looking inside at our souls, we may find from Egypt, and God — come alive with joy greed, bitterness, jealousy, pettiness, and so and passion. Our kabbalistic tradition teaches many other character traits that disgust us. that God, the Jewish people (Yisrael), and But the kabbalistic idea associated with look- Torah are one. The individual model of spiri- ing inward offers the hope that ultimately our tuality that Green portrays captures these dif- souls are beautiful and holy. If we could only ferent elements and supercharges them; the peel away the layers that cover our pure souls, Torah is reinvigorated in our spiritual lives we would find beauty and majesty underneath and God is reinvigorated as well. But one piece and the strength to then connect to God and is missing: the Jewish people, the community, godliness — to think about Sinai and freedom the other. Sometimes, spiritual people tend to from Egypt and all the great things in this life ignore the world around them, feeling that that are holy when viewed from the prism of once they have discovered God by looking in- the pure soul. Perhaps this work of personal ward, why would they ever dare to look out- spirituality needs to come first, before we open ward? At the end of his essay, Green raises the up and look beyond ourselves at a very imper- question of whether a spiritual quest can actu- fect world. Personal spirituality gives us self- ally become self-indulgent — focusing only on confidence and the ability to resist so many of the “me” and on how meaningful one’s rela- the superficial temptations of this world. But if tionship with God is. To prevent the spiritual personal spirituality is all we go for, then it is seeker from becoming self-absorbed, we must indeed greedy and the greatest lost opportunity. Rabbi Asher Lopatin is add another layer and another life goal to The Torah famously does not begin with president of Yeshivat Chovevei personal spirituality: communal spirituality. an act of personal spiritual perfection, symbol- Torah, a modern and open Orthodox rabbinical school Just as personal spirituality asks us to find ized by mitzvot and the holiness of the Jewish that trains men to be Orthodox holiness in what is normally mundane in our people — or even the holiness of Sinai. Rather, rabbis who serve the Jewish individual lives and activities, communal continued on page 12 people and the world.

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [9] “Difficulty Praying” – 65”x 42” mixed media collage (of assembled pieces explained in this essay individually), acrylic and gouache paint, oil crayon, colored pencil, and ballpoint pen on arches paper; in progress from 2008 to the present

Judith Margolis is an Israel- based American artist and ‘Difficulty Praying’ writer whose widely exhibited paintings, collages, and artist JUDITH MARGOLIS books often integrate text with visual images. Since ollowing my husband’s death eight years At home, I hung the drawing in my 2000, she has been the art ago, I was bereft over the loss of my soul bedroom. Night after night, I woke to it in the editor of Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s Studies Fmate. After 25 years of trying with David dark. Wherever I took up residence as an artist and Gender Issues (University to be authentic as Jews and artists, I found that — Los Angeles, New York, Berkeley, or Seattle of Indiana Press). Margolis religion no longer came close to comforting, — I brought the drawing with me. In the sphere currently serves as co-curator sustaining, or even interesting me. I was, it of personal reckoning, I continued to look at it, of Women of the Book: Jewish seemed in recovery from Orthodoxy. saw what it needed, and added to it. Women Recording, Reflecting, Now I know that surviving obliterative I also stopped going to shul. I never Revisioning, an international Torah midrash project. Her grief means bearing chaotic anxiety until you wanted to say Kaddish. But soon after the fu- illustrated book on counting somehow decide to keep on living. I cannot, neral, I began sewing, entirely by hand, a kriah the Omer, Countdown to in these few paragraphs, accurately represent quilt. As in the ritual of kriah, when a mourner Perfection: Meditations the complexity of reconstructing a viable life. on the Sefirot (Bright Idea But I can describe how a work of art guided Books/ text by Sarah Yehudit Schneider) has been acquired me spiritually and visually through the land- by numerous private and scape of traumatic loss. public collections, including I began this particular drawing while I the Beinecke Rare Book was an artist-in-residence at the 18th Street and Manuscript Library at Arts Center in Santa Monica in 2008, 2½ years Yale University, the New after David died. I call it “Difficulty Praying.” York Public Library’s Special Collections, and the University It started as a spare white surface with of Washington’s Rare Book images arranged sequentially. I had no idea Collection. what it was about.

[10] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 rends his or her garment, in seizures of fury I tore apart David’s shirts and pieced together the scraps. Though I stopped keeping Shabbat, I never worked on the quilt on the Sabbath. I maintained other rituals. At Tu B’Shevat I planted a tree in the drawing. It started out as a woman whose arms became leafy branches. She didn’t need a face. I hid SHMA.COM chametz and searched for it alone — a rit- ual that David and I had done together. I made a four-day seder with friends out in the desert. It wasn’t actually on Pesach and we broke Shabbat to prepare food and light fires. But it was one of the most meaningful happen, NO,” and “then we die, GOODBYE.” seders I had ever experienced. In between, we decide whether to adhere to The drawing progressed. I set two fighting belief and observance or not. figures within a cube — Jacob wrestling with I live by different rules now. I may not be an angel, I thought, or maybe he’s wrestling Orthodox, or light candles, or finish cooking with himself. The cube refers to a place in the Shabbat dinner before sunset, but the draw- upper heavens, described in the Zohar, where ing isn’t finished yet, either. It has been, in light and energy converge from six directions. its way, a witness to my struggle with faith. Where and when they meet affects what hap- And my truth is offered up to the listening pens here on earth, as the saying goes, “as heavens on the hand-written scrap, collaged above, so below.” onto the drawing: the musical notes of “Ani Ma-amin” — “I Believe.”

Eventually, I realized that all the figures in this drawing are me — the tree and the hands and the sparring couple and the bird bones. Even the androgynous person calling out “AHHHH….” She/he came to me in a night- mare more than 40 years ago; I used the figure in a lithograph and then forgot it. I found it while finally sorting through things in David’s office. I put it in the drawing, tangling letters among the roots, like unintelligible prayers. The section “YES NO GOODBYE” stands in for “life, YES” and “how anything can

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [11] continued from page 9 people, as a state that now contains the hopes, the Torah places us in a real world, where the dreams, and fears of our people. Israelis — reli- first human beings, and then the first Hebrews, gious, traditional, or secular — know how much struggle with connecting to the world around effort it takes to build a moral and healthy com- them. Abram is not told to stay where he is and munity. And those of us who aim to live a life of look inside himself; he is told, along with Sarai, personal spirituality need to help the state find to go to another land, to leave one community a way to bind itself to God, Torah, and Jewish SHMA.COM and to form another one. All the matriarchs peoplehood — to share this journey with us. and patriarchs are challenged by their families We sanctify God’s name, kiddush haShem, and communities, and each must learn how to when the inner sense of soul and the divine work with — or sometimes against — them. command us to do acts of kindness, or to Our tradition endows these biblical figures courageously stand up against a bully, or to with a spiritual dimension, but their struggle, join with a community in singing the Shabbat and humankind’s ultimate struggle, is about service. Our personal spirituality morphs into how to harness that personal spiritual dimen- communal spirituality. sion in order to impact the world around us. Moshe knows that he cannot remain in his The ability — the imperative! — to trans- own blissful palace. When he goes out to see form our personal spirituality into a force that his brothers and sisters, he sees their suffering enables the community in which we dwell to and responds. And, in Midian, he takes this connect with God and to imbibe the spiritual journey to its logical conclusion: He defends energy of its constituents can be termed “com- Tzipora and her sisters, none of them Hebrews, munal spirituality.” Communal spirituality asks from oppression. It is in Midian, and later at us to move beyond making our own relation- Sinai, outside of the inner palace of the Jew ship with God meaningful and holy. It asks us to or of the Holy Land, where the mission of the move toward enabling the community to enter Jewish people is given. Moshe and the Torah into that spiritual relationship. This means not offer us a model to consider: Start with building only that our souls are ultimately reaching for one’s personal spiritual life, but then address God, but also that the entire Jewish people is the larger gathering of Jews, and then, the peo- connected to and shares a destiny with God. ple we have never met before — the Midians, The imperative of communal spirituality far away from us — who inhabit the world that demands not only that we seek to grow the spir- God created. This enables us to fulfill our godly ituality of our own locality, but also that we, as mission as human beings and allows us to real- Jews, seek to reach out to ever-larger communi- ize the potential for good that our souls and our ties. For example, the State of Israel needs our bond with God contains. Let’s use that power- love and support and our leadership in order ful way of living to look outward and continue to grow in communal holiness and spirituality. to make this world a place of holiness and a We look to Israel, the historic homeland of our place for God’s everlasting presence. Want more Sh’ma? Visit shma.com each day to view our S Blog, featuring more than 30 A Techno-Savvy Theology of today’s leading thinkers, and join in on AARON PANKEN the conversation! While you’re there, make sure his year marks three decades since George that shared basic editorial objectivity and pro- to view our monthly online Orwell’s historic date of 1984 — the time duction styles. If I missed the news, I waited art exhibition. The chose as the setting for his dystopian for the newspaper or caught the next day’s Sh’ma on Kindle novel. Orwell’s trenchant exploration of dehu- broadcast. When I happened upon an interest- Find us at: kindle.amazon.com manization through technology, ominous and ing question at the dinner table, I went straight The free Kindle application omniscient government, and the constant po- to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, an impressive lets you read Kindle books liticized retelling of history, offered a menacing compendium edited by respected scholars on your iPad, iPhone, picture of government-controlled technology overseen by vigilant editorial boards. or iPod touch — no Kindle required. growing excessively influential and pervasive. I trusted the news anchor, the editorial In the 1984 of real life, my college television boards, and definitely our religious leaders. Sh’ma also on: station granted access to precisely twelve chan- Rabbis, as well as other clergy, spoke with nels, and I watched the nightly news at 6 p.m. authority, and we — at least outwardly — or 11 p.m. on one of three national networks accepted their guidance.

[12] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 Trusting authority, seeking meaning, and radical amazement every time Skype or Face pursuing truth are much more challenging in Time allows me to stand on the street in New our not-so-brave new world. This has serious York and see and talk with my child in Israel implications for those who would be Jewish (for free, no less) — and that this now verges religious leaders, and any worthy postmodern on the mundane. I am awed by the all-knowing theology must confront this epistemological nature of search engines and the omniscience of quagmire. As some recent Christian scholars a network that knows everything about every- have suggested, certainty is hard to come by, one immediately. The challenge, though, is that SHMA.COM and perhaps impossible in the new context. such experiences can also reinforce our concep- What, then, can theology do? tion of humanity as extremely powerful. What, I would suggest two starting points for creat- then, does that do to our conception of God? If ing a contemporary theology. First, it ought to our creations can appear to know everything, Subscribe! provide principles that help us to manage the de- what space is there left in our world for God? In Join the Sh’ma humanizing challenges presented by our contem- such a context, we run the risk of committing the conversation, stay porary, technology-laden milieu. Second, it must ancient idolatrous mistake of worshipping what informed, and serve as a countercultural influence that offers al- our hands have made, even when it is far from subscribe today! ternatives to what our current use of technology inerrant and ultimately quite limited. Theology Ten issues are privileges, and it must ensure that we continue to demands that we do better in selecting the ob- only $29. consider and reconsider the assumptions inher- ject of our faith and adoration. ent in this highly connected world. Furthermore, a darker side is also present, TO SUBSCRIBE: To the first point, let us begin to imag- and so we must craft a theology that demands CALL ine the highly creative and compelling Jewish more of us and that objects more overtly to the (877) 568-SHMA uses to which technology can be put. Some dehumanizing and distracting nature of tech- E-MAIL cutting-edge uses of technology — in educa- nology. Martin Buber’s theology of true meet- [email protected] tional settings as well as for ritual purposes ing, where individuals are entirely present for ONLINE — foster what most Jewish theology clearly one another, can easily devolve into objectifi- www.shma.com endorses: enhanced Jewish learning, thought- cation and disruption at the hands of technol- RETURN ful chevruta, communal dialogue, inclusion ogy. Can students truly engage with a teacher subscription envelope and remembrance of those suffering, and the or a text when a rapid train of messages ar- in this issue building of religious community. Consider a rives seriatim during class on the laptops they dying grandparent having an aliyah at a grand- use to “take notes”? Can individuals relate to child’s bar or bat mitzvah from a hospital bed, one another when electronic forums extend Israelis and Americans rethinking the future of the human penchant for the degradation and their communities’ relationships by video, or abuse of others, quickly turning “Thou” back families reuniting for a brit mila or baby nam- into “it”? Technology can distort human rela- ing that cannot afford to cross oceans — and tionships. A tech-savvy theology must remind we can begin to see the power at our disposal. us that every interaction with another human Technology used in this manner becomes rehu- being is not simply transactional — but that manizing to the committed student deterred by its success transcends our hunger for money, geographic distance, the American estranged prestige, or power. These interactions must from Israel, or the family member excluded by reflect the will of God as we best understand illness. In these instances, it nurtures an open it. They must take into account the idea that and progressive approach to the enhancement the individuals involved are, as our tradition of Jewish life. insists, “made in the image of God,” and they Rabbi Aaron Panken is To the second point, I turn to Rabbi Arthur must help us to give voice to the highest values president of the Hebrew Union Green’s insightful definition of spirituality: a of our faith. Such, after all, is the difference be- College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He formerly served “religious life that recognizes and cultivates the tween cognizance of God and worship of self. as a congregational rabbi and human soul, seeking in daily life the holiness Some final questions arise from Kaplan’s as dean and vice president originally associated with sacred space, time, theology: Would Mordecai Kaplan support or of HUC-JIR, where he now and person.” When technology can be harnessed excoriate the sort of techno-civilization we are also teaches rabbinic and to these noble goals, then it is unquestionably now building? Does it represent our core values, Second Temple literature. He worthwhile, and it has a place in any Jewish promote peoplehood, and continue the time- is the author of The Rhetoric of Innovation: Self-Conscious theological approach. Abraham Joshua Heschel, honored Jewish principles that have made us Legal Change in Rabbinic for instance, speaks of radical amazement as a community around the globe and throughout Literature and numerous a pointer to the divine. I must admit to such continued on next page scholarly articles.

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [13] the millennia? Is what we are doing now serv- nurtures rather than obscures God’s presence ing what we perceive to be God’s purpose in in the world. Such concerns must inform our the world? As the new president of a seminary every action, hovering over us partially unan- with a long and vibrant history, I am keenly swered and challenging all that we do. aware that the techno-civilization we build can Technology (teknia+logia, in Greek, origi- reach new audiences, inspire greater commit- nally, “the study of an art or craft”), ultimately ment, and welcome new adherents. I hope to has enormous power to change us in both positive SHMA.COM use technology in support of enhanced edu- and negative ways. But such power must be tem- cation for our students, alumni, congregants, pered and shaped by theology (theos+logia, “the and the greater Jewish world. But I am keenly study of God”), to ensure that it is used for good. aware of the potential costs to such utilization, Only then will we ensure that it remains a tool for and I know that we must ensure that technology bringing the presence of God into our world. A Response by Arthur Green thank Sh’ma and its editor for the rich consciousness down to a core where individual assemblage of responses to my essay. ego is transcended and the universal self or IIt is a pleasure to have stirred up a mo- Godhead is encountered, will be as familiar to ment of relative consensus that ranges across readers of Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo or Sufi the lines from Kabbalah scholar to Modern poet Rumi as it is to devotees of Hasidic masters Orthodox rosh yeshiva and on to leaders of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav and Sefat Emet. The Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism. Maybe tradition, with all its forms, is a chariot in which our post-denominational mashiach is indeed to undertake that journey. Spiritual claims are on the way. I gladly accede to Asher Lopatin’s meant to address a level of mind different and call for attention to community; I am a havurah more profound than the narrow ridge of ordi- person from way back, after all. So, too, do I nary consciousness that we have deemed to recognize the importance of Aaron Panken’s crown as “rational.” Yes, there are dangers in call for adapting to the world of technology, plumbing those depths; Rabbi Nahman himself though I personally am an unlikely contributor broadly hinted that mystics and psychotics have to that effort. something in common. But we have the guide- However, Tzemah Yoreh sits outside that posts of historical experience and community, consensus. I really don’t know what he wants of the Yakhin and Boaz, twin pillars of our inner me. I find it more than a bit of postmodernism Temple, to help keep us safe. run amok to say that invalid claims about scien- In our post-critical age, historical claims tific matters are not self-delusional, but are as le- based on peshat (literal reading) are lost to us gitimate as any other point of view. If he wants and philosophical remez (allegory) is awfully to be a halakhah-observing self-proclaimed sec- hard to sustain. We are left with a religion ularist and agnostic, I send him my blessing. But of drash and sod, creative, imaginative, and whether many will be convinced to follow such esoteric re-readings of tradition. (Here, I nod to an eccentric path remains unclear. my friend Michael Fishbane, who leads us to I want to add a few words of explanation see these four as a fulcrum, indicating an ulti- to my claim that this mystical and neo-mythi- mate meeting of sod and peshat.) Fortunately, cal approach may make the claims of tradition it turns out that drash and sod are where most “more powerful rather than less.” In doing so, of the fun lies. Creative reinterpretation is once I need to take a step back into the context in again our lifeblood. which I propose it. Two of the most exciting The path I lay out here is indeed an elitist intellectual adventures of our time are the philo- one, requiring mental suppleness and stabil- sophical/spiritual meeting of east and west and ity as well as knowledge and patience. But it the growing scientific study of the human mind, can be translated for popular consumption, rooted in brain physiology but reaching beyond much as the vaunted mystical intellectual- it. The combination of these two endeavors ity of Dov Baer of Mezritch was wrought by challenges our conventional western notions his disciples into a dynamic religious move- of both self and consciousness. Spirituality as a ment that brought light and joy to the hearts journey inward (rather than upward, as I have of many thousands some 250 years ago. It’s insisted), through the multiple levels of human worth the challenge.

[14] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 A Response by Tzemah Yoreh would like to take issue with Arthur Green’s texts remain a source of inspiration and depth response. I do not proclaim myself a secu- even to an acknowledged doubter such as my- Ilarist at any point in the essay and I am in self. I am not sure why Green says, “I really fact not a secularist. I am a deeply religious per- don’t know what he [Tzemah] wants of me.” I son even though that is not rooted in a sense want to see in the spirituality movement some- of God and spirituality; this is one of my main thing that he himself admits is a potential lack SHMA.COM points. I recognize that for others spirituality is — a deep anchor in our vibrant textual tradi- a central part of religious life but Green needs to tion rather than a dismissal of our tradition as acknowledge that this is not true for everyone. irrelevant to modernity. Most important, what At no point do I claim that everyone should be I want is a respectful debate, which is central like me, but rather I simply draw on my own to our Jewish discourse on ideas rather than a Jewish journey to offer ideas on how traditional glorification of consensus. The Wheat Harvest Story YISROEL BASS here is a saying in Yiddish that a farmer fields, long summer afternoons plowing on has God for a business partner: all the the tractor, lively shaleshides tishn (third Tmore so a Jewish farmer. The farmer meals), winter silence, and spring regenera- works hard to prepare a planting, nourish its tion have all contributed to my being able to growth, and finally reap its blessings. There transcend doubts and misgivings and embrace is, however, no guarantee that the crop will faith and mitzvos. grow or that a harvest will occur. How can he possibly muster the fortitude to go on? The It was a very real and current fear of having our wheat farmer has faith that his or her “partner” will improperly stored, and thus in danger of being maintain one end of the deal and deliver a unusable as matzo, that created our urgency to work. successful season. Similarly, for the Jewish people, success is linked with an active pro- We wouldn’t have felt that urgency if we lacked faith, cess — a Jewish performance in the form of if we didn’t believe that these things matter. mitzvos. Fulfillment of the mitzvos requires a similar faith in God and God’s commitment if Guests and students, coming from a wide we hold up our end. array of backgrounds, find our semi-isolated Faith in the modern age has found itself Jewish farming context a place to push through largely replaced by a disarray of observances, personal and societal constrictions in pursuit identities, guilt-infused traditions, practices, of connection and faith. Here, I have seen and doubt-plagued beliefs connected to little American Jews lighting Shabbos candles and Yisroel Bass was raised in more than a memory of faith. If this shift is engaging with a siddur for the first time. I’ve Sea Cliff, Long Island. Before understood as problematic and flawed, then, watched as Hasidim lay tefillin and go on his- helping to found the Yiddish Farm Education Center in critical to correcting its trajectory would be to boydedis (meditative walks), screaming out to Goshen N.Y., in 2010, Bass build visions of Yiddishkeit that rescue faith God, “Tateh!” (“Daddy!”) on their way down served as an executive board from a fading memory and place it back in to the fields. In addition to the meta-experi- member and secretary of the center of current reality and necessity. ence, the crops themselves serve as reminders Yugntruf—Youth for Yiddish Farming is not a panacea; plenty of Jews have of our partnership with God. An example of in New York City. During the summer of 2010, he used farming to distance themselves from this was our wheat harvest this year. participated in the Adamah faith. However, I have seen how, in the farm- It was erev Shabbos when I received a rab- Jewish Environmental ing context, faith can be shifted from a distant binic approval that our wheat was ready for Fellowship to learn the skills memory to a current reality. harvesting. The cutting was under rabbinic necessary to launch the During the past three years, working at supervision in order that the wheat harvested Yiddish Farm. He graduated the Yiddish Farm Education Center in Goshen, could be certified as “shmira matzos ketzira,” summa cum laude from the City College of New York in N.Y., I have developed a faith steeped in ex- (guarded from the time of cutting) and thus December 2011, having periences common to this corner of exile. usable for making shmura matzo. The wheat majored in philosophy and Walks through the woods, davening in the continued on next page Jewish studies.

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [15] was to be cut with an old combine that I had urgency if we lacked faith, if we didn’t believe acquired earlier in the year. The combine is that these things matter. a machine that cuts, threshes, and partially The Kotzker rebbe teaches that, as Jews, winnows the wheat all at once. This operation we cannot rely on inherited faith or tradition dragged late into the afternoon, coming very alone. In Shiras HaYam, the poem recited in close to Shabbos. The combine finally made parshas B’shallach, we first say, “This is my its way back down to the barn with less than God, and I will glorify Him” and then we say, SHMA.COM an hour to spare before nightfall. The pump- “This is my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” out auger, which would have nicely moved First comes one’s own God and then the God the grain out of the combine and onto a cart, of one’s father. Yes, there is a tradition and a failed, so the transfer of the grain into a drying memory to uphold, but, first and foremost, we wagon had to be done by hand. Frantically, I must commit to and glorify our God. A faith called the farmhouse to summon help, and I that is based on tradition alone would have was greeted by a crew of enthusiastic Yiddish us at the seder table eating matzo because our students who had grabbed cardboard wine parents did and their parents did. That is ob- boxes and short handled shovels in order to servance. What Judaism really is, or needs to get the nearly half ton of grain safely spread be, is a faith-based performance. God is the out on the drying wagon before Shabbos. Creator, our rabbis are the directors, and we The drama of this experience contrasted are the actors. The wheat harvest story is one sharply with the harvesting of garlic later in the of performance in the present. season. Garlic processing, which slowly dragged Another Kotzker teaching translates as on for weeks, was a time filled with socializ- “Molo hooretz kinyonecho” — “The world is ing, when there was no urgency. Harvesting full with paths and ways to make God yours.” wheat for matzo, however, was infused with A farm is neither more nor less full with ways a historical directive that seemed to transcend to make God one’s own than a city. But here, the mundane. Matzo is itself supposed to be a the paths and ways to make God one’s own memorial to our hasty exodus from Egypt. But are more visible. The environment is less more than the overlay of history and memory, developed; the paths aren’t hidden behind it was a faith in the present that guided the ex- concrete walls. On the Yiddish Farm, we con- perience of our harvest. It was this Shabbos, this nect Jews to their tradition through teaching Passover, and a very real and current fear of Yiddish and history. More important, we bring having our wheat improperly stored and thus in these teachings into the present and connect danger of being unusable as matzo, that created them to contemporary issues. our urgency to work. We wouldn’t have felt that Through farming and living in an im- mersive and intentional environment, the paths to ownership and faith are highlighted. Faith is an exercise in not being preoccu- pied with ourselves, and many of the tasks Discussion around the farm, and the mitzvos associated Guide with them, force us to put our own needs and 1. Do spiritual questions change along the lifecycle? As you grow egos aside. We feed the animals before our- older, have your questions about God changed and, if so, how? selves, and though we may have showered 2. Where and when do you find your most intense spiritual moments? already for Shabbos, we roll up our sleeves to 3. Are we a nation of seekers? What role does technology play in your get the shmura wheat put away safely before spiritual life? Can a spiritual core be nurtured in children, teens, or nightfall. Students often come here because a young adults, or is it something inherent that either emerges or not parent or grandparent spoke Yiddish. Often, over time? they leave with a feeling that Yiddish and 4. How do you handle reciting a prayer when the words are offensive, Yiddishkeit are a part of their story and their outdated, or simply not what you believe? “Jewish performance.” 5. Can a religion without a literal claim to divine will command the At the end of the day, that is exactly what I hearts of its adherents? Are we prepared to submit and serve when, want to see happening here — flipping the role literally, no ruler is standing over us? tradition plays so that “This is my God and I 6. What have been the greatest challenges to your own personal will glorify Him” is returned to its proper place theology and your relationship with prayer? before, but yet deeply connected with, “This is my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

[16] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 Music as Spiritual Practice: A Conversation ARYEH BERNSTEIN AND JOEY WEISENBERG

Aryeh Bernstein: Joey, you’ve put maniacal one’s self while also hearing the intricacies of energy not only into making music, but also into everyone else. We then blend those divergent teaching laypeople to make spiritual music. Why sounds into a cohesive whole. It’s a constant is music so important to our spiritual lives? process of reaching deeper inside and farther SHMA.COM Joey Weisenberg: Music teaches us how to outside at the same time. listen — if we let it. It is through careful listen- ing that we learn how to get “in tune” with the Aryeh Bernstein: You’re a virtuoso professional people, spaces, and spiritual energies around musician, yet you direct your musical creativity us. Moses was the last prophet to see the divine largely toward laypeople. How do you translate face-to-face, but we are all given opportunities to that expertise for people who have no training? hear the divine voice — both through the loud, Joey Weisenberg: I’m intrigued with how a shofar-like sound of God that overpowers us group of people in a room can spontaneously cre- and through the “still, small voice” that speaks ate music together. When I’m asked to perform, to us with nuance and subtlety. It is through I generally reset the theater or synagogue so that Aryeh Bernstein, a Chicago intentional listening, our tradition teaches, that I can sit offstage and out of the spotlight. I am native, lives in Jerusalem, where he teaches Torah at we are able to close our eyes and better hear trying to get as close as possible to all the singers Yeshivat Talpiot’s TAKUM beit the unity that underlies all of creation, “Sh’ma and more directly in contact with the communal midrash for human rights. Yisrael…” And it is through singing that we re- energy. The room and the people become the He has taught at Drisha, the turn the breath of life to the Creator in praise performance, and the performer is inconspicu- Hartman High School, and and gratitude, “Nishmat kol chai…” ously nurturing the collective’s creative process. Mechon Hadar, as well as at Musical training, at its best, includes learn- Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, where he co-founded and Aryeh Bernstein: Is music a spiritual path for ing to be more sensitive to what’s happening at directed the Northwoods Kollel. everyone? Can everyone access that unity and the periphery of the experience — making the He is an editor-translator for breath of life through music? What if I’m tone-deaf? periphery central. Many laypeople have no train- the Koren English edition of Joey Weisenberg: When our hearts are ing in playing instruments, but they have de- the Steinsaltz Talmud and an opened through music, we are more vulner- veloped a sense of menschlichkeit and wisdom, editor-at-large of Jewschool. com. He is on the development able, but we are also more receptive to insight. and they have become virtuosos at listening to team for Open Quorum, a Indeed, traditionally, before opening the ark to their surroundings and responding — often bet- project of Jewish Public Media, read the Torah, we sing together, “Tiftach libi ter than many professional musicians. which sponsors the Sermon b’oraita,” asking that our hearts be opened up Slam series. In 2011, he along with the ark. When we close the ark, we Aryeh Bernstein: Does it makes sense to talk independently released a hip- sing more, hoping that that process of “open- about different genres — niggunim, opera, punk, hop album, “A Roomful of Ottomans.” ing” would have allowed us to receive the wis- reggae, hip-hop, R&B, and chain gang freedom dom that can lead us toward the paths of peace, songs — in the same conversation? When you Joey Weisenberg, creative “...netivotecha shalom...” talk about the relationship between music and director of the Hadar Center Opening the heart is the process of becom- spirit, do you mean specific types of music? for Communal Jewish Music, is the author of Building Singing ing curious, of wondering what might come next, Joey Weisenberg: A culture’s music tells Communities: A Practical of discovering and then softening the boundaries the story of the strivings and ideals of its peo- Guide to Unlocking the Power of our beings. Music helps that story of wonder ple. Music may be ordered or chaotic, fixed of Music in Jewish Prayer. A unfold. For most people, turning away from cyn- or spontaneous, danceable or sit-able. But all singer and composer based in icism, quieting discomfort (and their iPhones), music can be intriguing and powerful if ap- New York, he has performed and allowing insight to enter is more difficult. proached with curiosity and openness. I grew and recorded internationally with dozens of bands, up hearing my mother playing Bach on the and he travels widely as a Aryeh Bernstein: Including insight about who piano, my father playing flamenco guitar, and “musician-in-residence” to we may be. Singing different kinds of music that the chazan singing in shul — but the first music provide workshops that create evoke different emotions pushes me to inhabit that I ever really noticed was blues, when I was “spontaneous Jewish choirs.” a wider range of my emotional potential. If I sing 11 years old and heard James Cotton’s wailing He is the music director and ba’al tefillah (prayer leader) at joy and pain, and so on, I tap into who I might harmonica. Different types of music open up Brooklyn’s oldest synagogue, be in those experiences and become a more different parts of us. All music — indeed, all of the Kane Street Synagogue. empathetic version of myself. life — has a spiritual story to tell, and we just He can be reached at Joey Weisenberg: Yes, musical art is hearing need to find it. joeyweisenberg.com.

APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 [17] s someone who does not wrap straps of te- social experience. Through tefillin, we physically gnab Afillin every day when I pray, I am forced to bond the rosh (head) and yad (hand), priming consider: What rituals do I partake in that reaf- action that is mindful of covenantal guidance. firm my commitment to living a life of holiness? Motivated by the powerful confluence of Moreover, if I do something hastily in the morn- erotic yearning and the drive to rise above the LET US HEAR ing when I am groggy-eyed and focused on my profane, we seek what philosopher Emmanuel day’s to-do list, is that Lévinas termed the insa- SHMA.COM the most opportune time tiable metaphysical de- SHMA.COM to think about what “You hk lh,artu ;okugk ,hk lh,artu sire for the infinite Holy shall know God” means? .ohnjrcu sxjcu ,ypancu esmc Other, the Ein-Sof, all re- Rabbi Gabe Greenberg will I believe that we find flected in the gloriously move with his family to New the divine in daily acts, .vuvh-,t ,,gshu ;vbuntc hk lh,artu unassailable countenance Orleans in June to become the “bein adam l’havero,” of the one directly facing religious leader of Congregation that occur between us And I will betroth you unto Me us. V’Ya-da-ta et Adonai: Beth Israel. In the meantime, and those around us. forever; I will betroth you unto Me in And you will come to the Greenbergs make their Responding to Rabbi righteousness, and in justice, and in know HaShem. Through home in Berkeley, Calif., where Gabe Greenberg’s ques- covenantal action, banal the rabbi can often be found tion, “To what am I com- loving-kindness, and in compassion. existence is transcended, harvesting rainbow chard in mitting myself?” I reaffirm And I will betroth you unto Me in which unleashes the flow the garden, learning Masechet my relationship with of love and justice into Berachot with Hillel students faithfulness; and you will know God. God by giving tzedakah the world. This is what at the University of California, — Hosea 2:21-22 every day. After a long Lévinas meant in claim- or playing soccer in a beautiful day of work, stopping to ing that “ethics precedes Berkeley park. Many observant Jews utter these lines each morning put some shekels in my ontology.” We are re- as they wrap the straps of tefillin around their hands Sara Miriam Liben holds tzedakah box provides sponsible, therefore we and fingers. The lines serve as a commitment made bachelor’s degrees in sociology a necessary pause from are. The “prime direc- from Columbia University and my day. This opportunity anew each day to a life of righteousness, justice, tive” is to be the other’s in women’s and gender studies to reflect reminds me of loving-kindness, and compassion. keeper. from the Jewish Theological those individuals who The latter verse is more difficult: Can I truly — Gary Goldberg Seminary. Currently working showed divine qualities sign on for a day of acting in full faithfulness? Faith in Israel on issues at the of compassion, justice, is a hard-won victory, which I find only in fleeting expe- t’s interesting that this intersection of religion and and loving-kindness that riences, in the forest and in rabbinic commentaries, Iis what Rabbi Gabe state, she is interested in oftentimes go unnoticed abundant during moments of ecstasy and scant Greenberg wrote about nonprofit consulting and in in the bustle of daily life. during periods of glumness. Faith is not something faith. This is my chal- creating a pluralistic Jewish Those minutes at my tze- in which I can wrap myself to wear throughout the lenge when it comes to future in Israel and the dakah box are my com- day. “justice.” While it may Diaspora. She can be reached mitment that I, too, will And what does “You shall know God” mean? not be something I expe- at [email protected]. try to keep the faith that I Bracketing the theological questions — what or who rience in large or small Gary Goldberg, a physician see in others. is this God that I will (supposedly) come to know — doses, it is something I specializing in brain-injury — Sara Miriam Liben how is this statement actionable? To what am I com- struggle with: When do rehabilitation for veterans and mitting myself as I wrap tefillin and recite this line? I wear my commitment active-duty service members, he prophet Hosea’s I have reconciled this troublesome pasuk to justice, and when do is the medical director of Ttragic life experiences by reframing it — at least for myself: Rather than I leave it behind? Can I the Polytrauma Transitional add significant meaning understand it as a commitment, I approach it as ever really take it off? Rehabilitation Program at to this text. Faithfulness a prayer. “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness”: As we explore our the Hunter Holmes McGuire is inextricably bound to various commitments I hereby declare that I am still open to, and hope- Veterans Administration action based on loyalty and relationships — ful for, a continuing relationship with the divine. I Medical Center in Richmond, and trustworthiness. with our families, our may not have experienced that flash of insight and Va. He is also a professor Words are cheap. A cov- faith, and our surround- of physical medicine and enant is actualized only connection yesterday, or in this last week, but nev- ings — are there times rehabilitation at the Medical through concrete ethical ertheless I choose to re-enter into that relationship when some of our attri- College of Virginia. He actions within interper- today. And this is precisely what constitutes my butes will be more im- maintains a lifelong interest in sonal relationships — not “knowing of God” — not an ontological awareness, portant than others? And bringing science and faith into by professing any partic- not a spiritual awakening, but a commitment, day if that’s the case, if we closer alignment. ular belief. Such a cov- in and day out, that I will try to keep the faith. privilege one commit- — Gabe Greenberg Emilia Diamant is the director of enant entails, as Rabbi ment — such as justice programming and initiatives at Gabe Greenberg writes, — over another, are we the Prozdor of Hebrew College righteousness, justice, betraying those things in Newton Centre, Mass. She loving-kindness, and compassion — all in the that fall away temporarily? When I “take off” my has a master’s degree in social experiential immediacy of social relationship and justice values, when we question our faith, does work from the University of North enacted through embodied intersubjectivity, in it mean we are leaving these parts of us behind? Carolina at Chapel Hill. which the physical body serves as the ground of — Emilia Diamant

[18] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774 Ethics continued from page 20 Sh’ma invites a plurality of voices to in directions that do not feel comfortable to us, challenge the norms of engage with matters critical to contemporary our Jewish communities, or push us to re-evaluate our own sense of Judaism. We aim to inspire Jews and fellow identity? travelers to think deeply, act responsibly, and Many parents of children adopted transracially and/or transnation- better our communities. ally address these dilemmas by listening to music, learning languages, Who are Sh’ma Readers? traveling to their children’s places of origin, or eating traditional foods “They are deeply committed to Jewish tradition — all activities generally compatible with Jewish identity. Witness, for and Jewish continuity; spiritually curious and at example, the prevalence of bat mitzvah celebrations for Jewish girls times adventurous; at home, at least to some ex- adopted from China that feature “kosher-style” Chinese cuisine. tent, with the world of Jewish texts and the tex- Many adoptive parents of white American children, by contrast, ture of Jewish rituals; appreciative of the many simply do not believe that their children have a birth heritage different genuine intellectual, ethical, and political ben- from their own. If they do acknowledge a different birth culture, they efits of secular modernity though not unaware of its fraught relationship with Jewish life; people often associate it with elements of the broader American culture that are for whom their Jewish identity is a vital compo- rooted in Christianity (for example, Christmas trees and Easter bunnies) nent in an ongoing process of self-creation and and that, to many, seem distinctly irreconcilable with Jewish identity. In expression by the light of their understanding of either case, full engagement with a child’s birth heritage is often chal- morals, community, and spirituality, a process lenging, and it may bring up fears about fostering identifications that they share with other families of humanity, and could “compete” with the child’s Jewish identity. with concerned individuals everywhere.” There is no one-size-fits-all ethical response to these questions, any Yehudah Mirsky, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, more than there is one way of being Jewish in the world today. As 21st- Brandeis University century Jewish adoptive parents, however, we do have one clear ethical Our Vision responsibility to our children: to engage actively with these issues from Each month, Sh’ma creates a “conversation” in the moment we first consider adoption through all the years of parenting. print, digital, and online forms that bring to- gether an array of voices around a single theme. We know that we are not alone in addressing the challenges of crossing These voices cross the spectrum of Judaism boundaries of race, nationality, culture, and religion in the creation of our — secular and religious, communal and non- families, as interfaith and interracial families can attest. But ethical par- partisan, engaged and striving — and expose enting of adopted children, we believe, compels us to think deeply about readers to challenging, sometimes conflicting the question of “otherness” — both the ways in which we try to erase it ideas. We are guided in this approach by the and the ways we recognize and even foster it. wisdom of elu v’ elu, both these and also these are the words of God. We raise relevant ques- tions thoughtfully and wrestle lovingly with Jewish concerns as we attempt to navigate the intellectual, communal, and spiritual challenges Upcoming May 2014 of contemporary Judaism. Our focus is on ideas — their complexity and range, and how they The Self and Creativity inform action. Sh’ma hosts intelligent and cre- ative conversations that reside outside of any n Jonathan Krasner on inserting the self into research on particular institution. Our readers turn to Sh’ma surrogacy – the advantages and pitfalls to find what they cannot find elsewhere — con- n Josh Lambert on changing patterns in memoir writing cise, accessible, informative, and intelligent discussion and argumentation. At the intersec- n Vanessa Ochs on women’s voices in textual analysis tion of tradition and change, Sh’ma helps read- n Sarah Seltzer on “selfies” ers confront modernity with a deep respect for Jewish values and accumulated wisdom, bring- n A letter exchange between Joan Roth and Shulamit Seidler- ing to bear the richness of Jewish sources, texts, Feller on the art of portraiture philosophy, and experience. n David Bryfman on what the search for meaning among Are You One of Our Readers? millennials means for Jewish educators Join us as we pursue a multivocal Judaism. Use n Rachel Adelman on the eclectic methodology of Avivah Zornberg Sh’ma as your vehicle for study, your tool and resource for a lifelong Jewish journey. Read n Mara Benjamin on the forces that shape our lives, and when Sh’ma each month and visit our online S Blog Buber’s “I” meets the “Thou” daily to view the world through a Jewish lens that n Basya Schechter, S. 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Ethical Dilemmas in Adoptive Parenting JAYNE K. GUBERMAN AND JENNIFER SARTORI

Ethics s a Jewish adoptive parent, how should is coming to be seen as natural and healthy. Sigi Ziering I respond if my child wants a Christmas American Jews today adopt children from tree, in part because she sees it as a around the world and from many ethnic, ra- This year, our Sigi Ziering A column focuses on the connection to her birth family? What if she cial, and religious backgrounds in the United ethics of parenting. Each later goes through a prolonged stage of want- States. Our families are thus increasingly month, an esteemed ing to wear a large rhinestone cross as part of “multi,” both in fact and in self-conception: guest columnist will her adolescent struggles with identity? What if, multiracial, multicultural, multiethnic, multi- wrestle with what Jewish as an adoptive family, our celebration of the national, perhaps even multireligious. texts and our interpretive Lunar New Year, which we established when This boundary crossing has prompted a tradition teach us about the multidimensional we adopted from China, makes some fam- new kind of ethical soul-searching for Jewish understandings of family ily members uncomfortable because it involves adoptive parents. Adoption experts today em- and the ethical questions the “Kitchen God”? What if the child’s Hebrew phasize the need for adoptees and their fami- that are raised as parents school switches the class day to Sunday, which lies to engage actively with the adoptees’ birth take on parenting with conflicts with the Chinese school the child has heritage and/or family of origin. Yet the Jewish serious reflection. This column is sponsored attended for years? community, concerned about continuity and by Bruce Whizin and These dilemmas, drawn from our own even long-term survival, often seems to be Marilyn Ziering in honor experiences, are common for Jewish adop- pulling in the opposite direction, sending force- of Marilyn’s husband, tive parents today. Indeed, they are becom- ful messages about the importance of inculcat- Sigi Ziering, of blessed ing both more urgent and more prevalent. For ing a strong and exclusive Jewish identity in memory. Visit shma.com much of the 20th century, the reigning para- our children. to view the series and responses. digm for adoption was “matching” — that is, What, then, we ask ourselves as adop- attempting to match children with prospec- tive parents, are our ethical obligations to our tive adoptive parents (by appearance, person- children, to ourselves, and to our Jewish com- ality, intellectual ability, religion, and more) munity? Many of us desire to instill in our chil- Jennifer Sartori and Jayne to create families that could pass as “natu- dren (the vast majority of whom are born to Guberman are co-directors ral.” Adoptive parents were then encouraged non-Jewish birth mothers) a sense of Jewish of the Adoption and Jewish to raise their children as if they were “their identity and comfort in the Jewish community, Identity Project. Guberman is own,” and adoptees who wanted information but we also wish to find ways to integrate their an independent scholar and oral history consultant. Sartori about or contact with their birth families were birth heritage into our lives and to provide is associate director of Jewish often seen as ungrateful. strong role models and access to real people studies at Northeastern In recent decades, adoption in the United from their cultures of origin. How can we bal- University. For a book, they States has been transformed. Not only has ance these sometimes-conflicting needs and are collecting stories of young “matching” been supplanted by adoptions desires? When push comes to shove, does one adult adoptees raised in Jewish families. More info: across every conceivable boundary of iden- take priority over the other? And how do we, adoptionandjewishidentity@ tity, but secrecy is giving way to openness, as parents, react when our children experiment gmail.com. and adoptees’ curiosity about their origins continued on page 19

[20] APRIL 2014 | NISSAN 5774