My summer of R&R&R - Day 1

Welcome to My Summer of R (Rest) & R (Relaxation) & R (Reflection)

Day 1 – Wednesday June 22, 2011  London Town Musings

    There is something so uniquely British feeling about a rainy day – especially a cold, grey rainy day in summer.  People should be shivering and staying indoors, instead there is a riot of colour out on the street as people go about their business under a canopy of umbrellas – solid colored, striped, patchwork, polka dotted, plaid, paneled, bannered, with or without words or medallions, with decorative edging, extremely large or so small one cannot figure out why they are being used at all. It’s totally cool!

I spent a period of time in a pub off Tottenham Court Road as I finished up a strange lunch that included minty mushy peas. As much as I enjoy peas, I deeply regret that I cannot recommend minty mushy peas to anyone. Even to people that I do not like. Enough said.  The waiter at the restaurant was very nice to me, noticed how exhausted I was from traveling so many hours (nearly 20 at that point), brought me countless refills of Coke and encouraged me to stay for as long as I wanted. So I did. I stared out the window, sipped my Coke, stared at the rain, and watched the parade of umbrellas pass by.


I also occupied myself with interesting reading – articles on the concept of devekut in Hassidut.
The readings don’t necessarily match the surroundings except that devekut (clinging or cleaving to Gd) is all about determination  and if going about in this chilly, icky, wet weather in not all about determination, then I do not know what is!


 Of course, I’m hard put to find a parallel between the plethora of umbrellas and ecstatic elevation of spirituality and devotion to the Kudsha Brich Hu – unless one really wants to stretch and reference Mary Poppins and her flights into the air of the Supernal Realm with her umbrella. I am in England, after all!
Interfaith Experience #1
    I did manage to daven (pray) Ma’ariv as we waited to take off last night and Shacharit this morning. Davened in the back of the plane (British Air) after having a chat with the 2 Irish flight attendants and explained what tefillin were. One of them had seen tefillin before, one hadn’t - both knew they were not bombs, B"H. They both had many questions including what are they for, what is in the boxes, what do the straps represent, why do you wear them, and of course the biggie – (no, not are they used for S&M but) we didn’t  know women could be rabbis.  Both were Irish Catholic and didn’t know of any female Catholic priests, so a woman clergy figure was outside of their experience. They were quite pleased.  I got out my handy dandy Tanach, showed them where in Deuteronomy the Shma can be found, showed the passages from Hosea 2:20-21 that we say as we wrap the straps around the middle finger and what that symbolizes. Discussed the marriage metaphor of Gd/Israel and man/woman and all in-between. Was fascinating. Only got a few strange looks from other passengers on their way to the bathroom (asher yatzar…).  Interesting way to pass the time before breakfast.

 

 

Interfaith Experience #2
    At British Museum, while waiting to meet my wonderful friends Sara Bucciarelli and her adorable son Dov (3 yrs, 4 mos old), I was asked to take the picture of a couple that was sitting on the steps of the museum. As we began to talk (because of course we had to begin to talk) I learned that the woman had just been ordained from the Fuller Theological Seminary in California and was about to being a Hospital Chaplaincy Program (yea CPE).  We seminarians are all over the place. She and I exchanged stories and email addresses and plan to keep in touch. Mazal tov to Karen Bolte! I wish you blessings and much luck as you find your way through your calling and do Gd’s work in the world. 

The day ended with a wonderful conversation with Sara about head versus hair coverings for liberal Jewish women – how we make these decisions and how other people view the decisions we make. 
    We also talked about how people with different religious practices interface. Life is different for those of us who live in the grey spaces as opposed to those who are able to see things quite concretely or are comfortable with black and white. I am very happy to have Sara back in my life
    I land in Israel at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Zari will pick me up and take me to Marissa and Barbara’s apartment. Where would be without friends in our lives?

Wall in Tube station at Tottingham Court Road Station. Cool, huh?

Look! They still have phone booths. And ones with style!

Okay, so maybe there not too much style or class on the inside but the outside looks good.

The British Museum. It was pouring!

Don't think I'll get to Afghanistan in real life so....

Jennie, this shoe is for you!

Soho - Gotta love it!

I love London! 

Interfaith Study of Sacred Text

Haven't blogged in months. Being back in the states, back at home, in school -- just being "present" in life has taken all that I have to give. But wanted to sharing a blog posting that talks about one of the wonderful things that I've been doing - learning sacred text with seminarians from the Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

This is from Multifaithworld.org: Leadership for a World of Religious Diversity a blog started by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, one of the Rabbis at RRC.  She takes leadership in all the interfaith initiatives at the school and has recently brought on Rabbi Melissa Heller to be part of the project. Melissa has been facilitating the wonderful Jewish-Christian Hevruta classes that I've been participating in these past two years. The blog I want to share is a posting by Melissa on our most recent class, along with a picture... if I can figure out how to do it.  I guess I'll just do it the old fashioned way - cut and paste - as I am not home where my 16 year old can show me the technologically correct method!

Room at the Table

May 2, 2010 by melissaheller

 

I was  pleased to be able to attend the conference in April sponsored by Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College Rabbinical School, “Educating Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Leaders for Service in a Multi-Religious World: The American Seminary Context.”

Like my colleague Nancy, who blogged about the experience below, I came away impressed and inspired, also noting many of the recurring themes that Nancy listed in her last post.

One of them- including Evangelical Christians in inter-religious dialogue- resonates deeply with me. A course that I am currently co-teaching with Professor Emmanuel Itapson at Palmer Theological Seminary (PTS) is doing exactly that.

“Jewish-Christian Encounter Through Text”- a course offered jointly by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) and PTS brings together 8 Rabbinical students from RRC and 8 seminarians from PTS to study in interfaith pairs. For a semester, the students engage deeply with one another, with Biblical text as a foundation for their explorations and conversations.

What happens when you bring these seemingly disparate groups of emerging religious leaders together?
A lot.

They seek commonality. They tell stories. They bring their vulnerabilities. They navigate issues of accessibility and ownership of the text. They are offered a new lens through which to view their sacred text. They are forced to articulate their beliefs and explain aspects of their traditions to their partners, helping them to clarify their relationships to their tradition, their sacred literature and to God. As the semester progresses and trust develops, they share their challenges. They question their partners. They practice humility. They come to understand their differences-and respect them.

As the relationships deepen between the pairs, and among the group, so too does understanding. What results is a broadening of the definitions of “Progressive Jew” and “Evangelical Christian” –to include nuance, personal narratives and diversity.

While there is much I could say about the ways this experience has been thus far transformative for the students (and the instructors!) I would rather share a few words from one of the Rabbinical students taking the course. She writes:

“Each study session with [my partner] takes us deeper into the text, into our curiosity about one another and each other’s faith tradition, and into the spaces where we differ, which is where the energy and excitement (and fear of what we will encounter) lie. When we first met, we were a bit shy and polite, almost like a first date when you are excited and want to make a good first impression, and most of all do not want to get off on the wrong foot. Now we jump right into our dialogue, not wanting to waste a second and I feel slightly annoyed when someone comes to the door of “our space” and says we have to stop!…Anyway, the conversations now are beyond intellectually stimulating – they are soul stirring!”

This is my class of 18 seminarians (RRC and PTS), Melissa and Emmanuel, at our last J-C Hevruta Class. We spent this class at Palmer, sharing a (kosher) meal, sharing text on social justice, and then sharing personal blessings for each other. A wonderful way to end a semester full of shared learning.