Hartman Institute

This week has been very busy and intense as I began my first study program at the Shalom Hartman Institute, in the Rabbinic Torah Study Seminar. I’ve been hearing from colleagues about Hartman for years, and have been looking forward to spending time learning there. They are right, it is a terrific learning opportunity, a chance to sit at the feet of great teachers and engage in Jewish text. It’s also a rare opportunity to learn with rabbis from different movements- There are over 100 rabbis here from Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Renewal. Our program is taught by some of the best scholars and thinkers in Israel, which makes me not want to miss anything, but the schedule is intense - classes begin at 8:30am and there are different classes and lectures throughout the day with a break for lunch and another short break in the afternoon. After an evening lecture, the day usually concludes around 10pm, by which point I am both exhausted and too wired to sleep because my mind is spinning with all of the material that we are learning. The theme of our learning for this year’s RTS (rabbinic seminar) is Engaging Israel: Bringing Jewish Values to the Dilemmas of Nationhood. We have been learning through the lens of Jewish text and values, about our relationship to Israel, the dilemmas facing Israel today and some of the challenges and responsibilities of being part of Klal Yisrael (the whole worldwide Jewish community).

Rabbi Donniel Hartman, the President of the Hartman Institute, gave the keynote address this Monday evening. He explained the the theme of our studies this year came out of a growing sense of crisis in the relationship between diaspora Jewry and Israel, and the question of whether the Jewish people will continue to function as one people is not self-evident anymore. He asks us to help begin a different conversation, to find common language through Jewish ideals and values for what Israel means and why it is important. He acknowledged that the basic narratives that we tell about Israel are part of the disconnect and that we need to be able to see Israel as a work in progress, which is not a justification of everything that already exists, but an understanding that we love Israel enough to want to make things even better. Our studies during the institute this summer focuses on five essential questions: 1)peoplehood; 2)the question of sovereignty; 3) the challenge of power and what is a Torah of power and Jewish values 4) what makes a Jewish state Jewish 5) the big ideas that Jews can bring to statehood and sovereignty.

Each morning after a brief introduction to the material, I sit with my chevruta (study partner, or in this case, small study group) and we prepare the textual material together, in the traditional way that Jews have studied text together for thousands of years. Then the whole seminar regroups in the bet midrash (study hall), and the teacher goes back through the material with us. We also have elective options which I have been enjoying immensely. I am also really appreciating being with friends and colleagues, and meeting new people and learning together. And, it’s good to know that although I haven’t had enough time to devote to text study over the years, the skills do come back (albeit more slowly than when I was twenty).

While I’m in classes, Phil is taking an intensive counseling course on Trauma and Resilience dealing with psychotrauma and PTSD through the Herzog Hospital’s summer institute, and has been biking Jerusalem. The boys are going to day camp at the Ramah Jerusalem Day Camp, a short Egged public bus ride away. They are having a great time with camp activities, sports, arts and crafts, Israeli dancing, Hebrew and swimming. Each week also includes a field trip. They have already met some new friends and are excited to return next week. In the mornings I have a short ten-minute walk to Hartman with Rachel in the stroller. Rachel is going to gan (daycare) with me at Hartman until 2pm when Phil picks her up and they catch a bus to pick up the boys. The work week and school week in Israel is Sunday through Thursday or early Friday. Since my classes meet Sunday through Thursday, Friday morning becomes our time to shop and clean up for Shabbat. Friday is a short day at camp, so everyone can prepare for Shabbat, and when we went to pick up Seth and Gil today we enjoyed an all camp sing-along, and performances from each shevet (group), that included Israeli dancing and a short play.