Mandel Colloquium Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of our mid-year colloquium. This event, as well as many others throughout the year, are sponsored by the Mandel Initiative. Below are my notes from our first day of talks, discussions, and speakers. It was an incredible day, if not one of the best days of learning I have experienced this year. I can't wait for the rest of this week's discussions!

The morning started with a talk from the Dean of HUC-JIR Jerusalem, Rabbi Na'ama Kelman.

• New word in the Hebrew language: עמיות (amiyut) - meaning, "peoplehood"
• Why was the Torah given outside of Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel? If it had been given in Israel, where would it have been given? Jerusalem? Beit El? Ramla?
• Difficult to use analogy of Israel (both the people and land) as a family considering modern families.
• Big question for this week: what is the glue that holds us all together?

We next heard from Dr. Sara Lee (no, not that one), the overall coordinator of the Mandel Initiative for HUC-JIR.

• Mandel's purpose: expand the student's Israel identity through our opening and closing programs, this colloquium, our study tiyulim (trips), the Israel seminar (once weekly class), and our Mabat inquiry groups (once monthly discussion groups).

Our first discussion session was about our sense of Jewish Peoplehood. 

• We were asked, "In what ways do I see myself as belonging to the Jewish People? What implications does this sense of belonging have to how I live my life? What experiences have I had that have strengthened or challenged my sense of connection to diversity of the Jewish People?" 
• In my answers, I talked about how I was born into a Jewish family and have always been engaged in the practices of the Jewish People, therefore, I also have an obligation to live a Jewish life and educate others on the possibilities of Jewish life. When it comes to experiences that have challenged my sense of connection to diversity of the Jewish People, I discussed two examples where I have felt like a complete outsider (I won't go into the details in this forum) and how these experiences taught me the importance and power of the inclusion/exclusion dynamic. 
• One of my classmates talked about a Facebook group called "Jews By Association." We had a good chuckle, then thought about the implications of that group.
• One of my classmates, who I'll only identify by initials, said, "Somehow, we are all under the same umbrella," and yet, "somehow, we are all part of a Jewish peoplehood." -EM
• We left the discussion asking ourselves what questions we would like to address throughout the colloquium. My questions were, "What makes our Peoplehood 'Jewish?'" and further, "Where are the lines of definition for Jewish Peoplehood?"

Our next speaker was probably one of the best speakers I've ever seen - Avram Infeld. I have a lot of notes, because he was just incredible.

• When he was growing up, the mantras and slogans of Jewish identity, specifically the non-religious messages, were music to his ears.
• "I am an Athiest, baruch hashes (praise God)." -His Dad
• "You're a Jewish youngster, there's a Jewish state. Goodbye!" -His Dad encouraging him to make Aliyah
• And as if he pulled it straight out of the famous George Carlin bit, "Judaism is not a religion! Look, nothing happened."
• "I know this because my father told me so."
• About the Jews: "We're not normal!"
• The two most important dates in Jewish existence: The giving of Torah at Sinai and the beginning of Emancipation. The former because it began Jewish uniformity, and the latter because it shattered that uniformity.
• "We are in the situation we are in today because different Jews responded differently to the offer to stop being different (after Emancipation)." Four responses:
• 1) Stop being different? No! Modernity frightens me, so I'm going deeper into my ghetto. Rejection of emaciation. (Think Haredim, broadly speaking)
• 2) Opposite reaction: The Messiah isn't coming. We're not waiting any longer. Solution to the Jewish problem is to stop being Jewish. Embrace emancipation.
• 3) Become just like them (the surrounding, non-Jewish communities) except in religion only. Judaism is only a faith. This is the point of creation of religious denominations.
• 4) I've tried to assimilate but have not been accepted. Therefore, since I can't be you, I will be like you. Be Jewish by being a modern nationalist. This is the beginning of Zionism.
• Thus, this marks the end of uniformity amongst the Jewish people.
• "Is it possible to be unified without being uniform? Not answering 'Yes' is more dangerous than the Iranian bomb."
• In talking about a conversation between a Jewish American and an Israeli when discussing Birkat Hamazon: American - "I said the Birkat because I'm Jewish." Israel - "Yes, but I understood it because I'm Jewish." Two sides to the same coin.
• "There is no right of religion to have a state." Except the Vatican, and we are not willing to accept that option.
• Nationalist mentality: Diaspora Jewry can make Aliyah, succumb to Anti-semitism, or assimilate - this is a nationalist approach, but not peoplehood.
• He tries to build a table with 5 legs. It's very sturdy. And if each person attaches to only 3, we may not be uniform, but we will be unified as a Jewish Peoplehood.
• 1) Jewish memory. Jews don't have history, they have memory (as he defined it, memory asks "who am I in light of our past?"). A Jew is forbidden to suffer from amnesia. If you cannot dream, you cannot develop a sense of future; and dreaming is a function and development from memory.
• 2) Family. Whose memory are we talking about? Not believing in Christ doesn't make a religion. We are family. How do we know? We're always fighting! Can't be converted, only adopted. Purpose is to become part of family. Don't remind a child that they were adopted, so don't remind a convert of their status. How to become a Jew? You are born or adopted in. A "Converted Jew" is someone who opts-out, but they don't actually leave the family.
• 3) Sinai. The giving of Torah at Sinai (which is an open ended place) is our earliest memory. When we left Egypt, we first visited Sinai. We are committed to be the witness that there is a God. This means that we are human, we are limited. Commitment to tikkun loam (repairing the world). Sanctity in Judaism demands human involvement.
• 4a) Land of Israel. Every square inch is the warehouse of Jewish memory. 
• 4b) State of Israel. Because of the state, there is no such thing as a Jewish refugee anymore.
• 5) Hebrew Language. What does it mean if God doesn't understand English or French or any other vernacular language? Does that mean that God is stupid? All people do important things in the language of their culture: Yiddish, Ladino, etc. In Hebrew, you don't "fall" in love, the word is להתאהב (L'hitaheiv) - which is reflexive - there is give and take. To "fall" in love is a Christian idea because of the original sin. We are not a "charitable people," we engage in tzedakah - righteousness.
• These are the 5 legs of Jewish peoplehood. What can you do to leave room for these 5 legs?

Clearly, this talk gave us a lot to talk about, so we had a session to process. And it led me to a lot of questions:

• If we're a family, who do we complain to / go to when issues arise?
• If Judaism is not a religion, to what end do we engage in rituals? And further, what, then, is a definition of "religion?"
• (note, not a question) You can be a better or worse Jew, but not more or less Jewish. You just are or are not.
• Are Jewish Peoplehood and Jewish religious practice two separate identities/questions/entities?
• What happens when you don't know or have a leg? Does the table fall?

Next, we heard from Steven Israel.

• The previous slogan for Jewish Peoplehood was Jewish Continuity.
• We need more than a Jewish survivalist instinct. Memory is necessary, but guilt trips and the holocaust cannot be the sole reason to go forward as a Jewish people.
• עם Am - means more than "people," means "collective." Collective aspect is the most important part in the Jewish story.
• Being Jewish is more about the "we" than the "I." Judaism is about the "I" in relation to the bigger we (being Nation/People/God/Community/etc.)
• Story as a Jewish people starts with Abraham. It is noted that his future will be different (as many as the stars in the sky…). In the Copper era, cynical time doesn't move forward; stories just go back to the beginning. Lech L'cha is a more linear story with purposeful movement into a better future with an ethical God.
• The story doesn't matter; the tradition is what's important. It is the foundation story of who we are.
• Prophets envisioned what a better future would look like.
• Rabbis tried to write a guide for how to make this better world happen.
• We are part of a tradition with moral obligations.
• People must behave as if they were and are created b'tzelem elohim, in the image of God.
• Better pitch from synagogues: Come because we have stuff to do. We are a doing people, not just a nice time.

It was an incredible day filled with wonderful, thought provoking speakers. It was the closest thing to being at Biennial that we could have received here in Israel.