Dear Friends,
I am entering my last week of my stay in Israel. The purpose of my visit has been to study at the Hartman Institute. We have kept to our rigorous schedule of studies, but even our teachers admit to severe distractability. When we are free we are watching the TV or looking for news on the internet. A war is like a black whole. It sucks everything up, your attention, your anxiety, your thoughts, your peace of mind. Jerusalem is calm, so I am not feeling the brunt of it like those in the North. We carry on and try to stay focused on our routine and our particular world of interest.
One of the themes for our month of study is Israeli spirituality. The theme was chosen to expose diaspora rabbis to spiritual trends arising amongst secular and moderately traditional Israelis ( who form the great majority of the Israeli population). We have heard from groups that are doing fascinating work. One group called Beit Knesset Israeli has created a community in Tel Aviv for prayer which combines traditional liturgy, modern Israeli poetry, and music. It is aimed at secular Israelis who seek a spiritual community but cannot find a home in a synagogue. Another group shared with us their efforts to revive classical Hebrew liturgical poetry, piyyut. There is a small but growing trend of Israelis who gather to sing and chant this body of poetry stretching 2000 years.
It is interesting to see the connection between Israeli and American attempts to create new spiritual and religious models. Panim Hadashot is one example. It is exciting to see the blooming of this creativity and searching in Israel and to form connections with them.
Please feel free to write me at rabbidov@panimhadashot.com.
I wish you a Shabbat Shalom and pray for peace.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg 7/20/06
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment