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As day school educators gather, focus is on investing in leadership and creativity
When Rabbi Adam Englander arrived at a recent national gathering in Denver of Jewish day school and yeshiva educators, he had a good sense of what conference sessions he wanted to attend and whom he wanted to meet.
But it turns out that one of the most valuable benefits Englander experienced at the Prizmah educators conference were the serendipitous encounters he had with colleagues and the new opportunities for collaboration and creativity they presented.
As head of school at the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, or HALB, in Woodmere, New York, Englanderโs main focus usually is whatโs happening at his school, not elsewhere. But at the conference he met with two colleagues with whom he shares a leadership coach, they created a WhatsApp group chat for sharing ideas, and Englander soon walked away with a new idea for a dynamic workshop to run with his leadership team this summer.
โAlready just from this group I have an amazing idea,โ Englander said. โThat kind of good stuff can happen where you might meet someone who is like, โOh, yeah. I have the same problem as you.โ Now you are connecting with some principal from San Francisco whom youโd never have met in a million years.โ
He added, โDay school leaders really need to take the time and energy to invest in themselves, and their own growth.โ
โCreative Spiritโ was the theme of the conference in January organized by Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, the national network organization that was created several years ago through a merger of five different day school organizations. The conference in Denver drew more than 1,000 professional and lay leaders from over 200 Jewish day schools and yeshivas across North America. It was the third-ever iteration of Prizmahโs national conference.
With tens of thousands of students spread out over hundreds of schools across the continent, day schools have become laboratories of creativity: for learning, for Jewish action, even for tackling societal challenges.
โJewish day schools are inherently creative places,โ said Prizmah CEO Paul Bernstein. โThe exceptional level of shared optimism and imagination around the bright future of Jewish day schools was palpable at the conference. Day school leaders clearly share a belief and innovative determination in the opportunity to grow enrollment in the next decade โ by promulgating the value proposition of Jewish day school, ensuring a pipeline of excellent educators and addressing the challenge of affordability.โ
A salient example of creativity in action is how day schools adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic, not just adjusting to remote learning and figuring out how to return to classrooms safely, but in reconfiguring teaching approaches to suit different kinds of learning.
โBecause of schoolsโ creativity, and because of the way that different stakeholders in schools โ from administrators to teachers to parents to students โ were able to work together, they solved these brand new problems we hadnโt seen before,โ Bernstein observed.
Another area of tremendous creativity is how Jewish schools are managing the challenges of affordability: Day schools are almost entirely privately funded, tuition is a barrier for many families, and yet tuition fees alone are insufficient to cover costs. In recent years, some schools have adapted innovative and flexible fee models, from setting tuition based on a fixed percentage of a familyโs income to using Jewish community grant funding to cap tuition for new families.
Much of the conference was devoted to ideas for the future of Jewish day school education, covering everything from curricula to leadership to finances. One main area of focus is recruiting and retaining quality educators and school leaders.
Debra Skolnick-Einhorn, head of school at the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington, D.C., who spoke on a conference panel about professional development, said she believes the key to better educator retention is improving compensation and benefits, providing more opportunities for professional growth, and expressing more gratitude toward staff.
Tal Ben-Shahar, an American-Israeli bestselling author who teaches about the psychology of leadership, spoke at the conference about the importance of investing in leaders.
โItโs important to focus on self-care for the teachers, invest in people in the field,โ Ben-Shahar said. โItโs critical to treat teachers well, keep them involved, treat them as professionals, and value their opinions.โ
โJewish day schools are inherently creative places,โ said Prizmah CEO Paul Bernstein at the organizationโs biennial conference in Denver, January 2023. (Courtesy of Prizmah)
John DโAuria, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of four books on leadership, spoke about how great leaders focus on mutual learning โ getting colleagues to share and learn from one another โ rather than top-down leadership. Itโs an approach embodied by many day school curricula, which focus on collaborative and experiential learning.
At the conference, Lisa Kay Solomon, Louie Montoya, and Ariel Raz from Stanford Universityโs d.school K12 Futures team offered an art project dubbed Hall of Descendants where participants could create a portrait and message for future children and educators.
โWhile we canโt predict the future, we know itโs going to be filled with a lot of uncertainty, complexity and tensions that we canโt solve,โ Solomon said. โThe hall creates a relatability to that distant time travel and a sense of responsibility about what we might do today to serve that future descendant.โ
Brad Phillipson, head of school for the Jewish Community Day School of Greater New Orleans, said he found the Hall โa powerful exercise in prioritizing the values with which I most closely identify, personally and professionally, and in contemplating the world I want to pass along to future generations โ through our students, through my child, and, indirectly, through what my students, and my daughter, will teach their children.โ
Tal Grinfas-David, who led a session at the conference on creative leadership and Israel, said itโs important for leaders to take risks. More often than not, she noted, leaders can be โrisk averse to placate, to take safe pathways.โ
Grinfas-David, who is vice president of outreach and pre-collegiate school management initiatives at the Atlanta-based Center for Israel Education, turned to Israeli history for examples of leadership that educators could emulate.
โWhat I wanted them to see was examples of courageous leadership and risk taking and where that could lead,โ Grinfas-David said. โHopefully, they see that leaders of Israel have had to strengthen the future of the state regardless of the circumstances, just as the school leaders need to leave behind a legacy of a stronger institution.โ
Bernstein, Prizmahโs CEO, said that the recent gathering underscored how important collaboration is to Jewish education โ and that regardless of location or denomination, colleagues have a lot to learn from each other.
โWhat we are seeing is that when Jewish day school leaders come together, whether you are Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, pluralistic, or nondenominational, whether you are from the Southwest or the Northeast, from the U.S. or Canada and beyond โ there is so much more that unites than divides,โ Bernstein said.
Prizmahโs next conference will be held in the winter of 2024.
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The post As day school educators gather, focus is on investing in leadership and creativity appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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An Israeli poet was scheduled to do a reading in New York. Then her publisher called.ย
It was supposed to be a party to celebrate the revival of a nonprofit poetry press and to welcome a beloved Israeli poet back to an America quite different from the one she visited decades ago.
But politics in that new America intervened, canceling the party.
Hamutal Bar-Yosef, a contemporary icon of Israeli poetry, had planned to be in New York City this week to read from the new English translation of her collection The Miraculous Mistake.ย
Bar-Yosefโs book is one of three volumes coming out this fall by Sheep Meadow Press, an American nonprofit that had been dormant since its founder, renowned Jewish poet Stanley Moss, died in 2024.
The scheduled reading was also part of a new chapter for Poets House, a national poetry library and meeting place in Manhattan, which, after a four-year hiatus sparked by the pandemic, reopened in 2024 and began offering rental space.
But as conversations about the upcoming event unfolded, Greg Miller, the new head of Sheep Meadow, grew concerned. Bar-Yosef, who is 86, had just received one of Israelโs most prestigious literary awards, the Bialik Prize for a lifetime of achievement in poetry. But not everyone at Poets House seemed enthusiastic about welcoming her, he told the Forward.
Given her elevated profile and the anti-Israeli climate now pervading the literary world, Miller called off the event. He said select staff from the Poets House offered to help him find a new venue in the spring.
โAs a result of this conversation and others it was important for someone who is representative of Israel right now to have security,โ Miller said. โAnd so I made the decision we were going to postpone and find a more appropriate venue, the right spot for her that will give her the audience she deserves.โ
Poets House did not respond to the Forwardโs inquiries. Bar-Yosef declined to be interviewed for this story.
Sheep Meadow and Poets House have a long history, going back 40 years since Sheep Meadow founder Moss also helped found Poets House as a place that โexists to create a welcoming home for poets, poetry readers and for those who are exploring poetry.โ
Moss, whose Almost Complete Poems won the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry in 2016, founded Sheep Meadow Press in 1977 as a nonprofit press with a particular focus on international poets in translation.
Thursdayโs event was going to feature a reading of poems from Soon, Mossโs final collection of poems completed in his 99th year. Miller also planned to share the stage with Bar-Yosef to read from his own new collection Green Runs Through It.
Moss and Bar-Yosef appeared together for a reading at the 92nd Street Y when Sheep Meadow published an English translation of Night, Morning, one of her nine poetry collections.
But much has changed for Israeli and Jewish authors since then and especially since the Israel-Hamas War began on Oct. 7, 2023. According to a PEN America report published in July, editors have increasingly ignored submissions, rejected them outright or asked agents not to submit Israeli authors in the future.
Miller said it comes down to what the word Zionism means for audience members. Bar-Yosef believes in a homeland for the Jewish people and the state of Israel, Miller said. For years, she has helped transport Palestinian children from the West Bank to hospitals inside Israel. She has Palestinian family members. A prolific prose writer, literary scholar and translator, at least three of her poetry books have been translated into Arabic. She also has published in journals that include Arabic and Hebrew writers.
But because others have imposed their own meaning on the Z-word, finding a safe and welcoming space in the U.S. for an Israeli to read poetry free of indictment has become a challenge.
โI donโt want to be the shillelagh of the left or the right,โ Miller said. โI donโt want Hamutal to be that either.โ
Bar-Yosefโs latest collection of verse, originally published in Hebrew in 2020, explores grief through the various losses in her life including the death of her older brother in the War of Independence, the suicide of one of her sons, the murder of family members in the Shoah and choices that have become clear long after the fact and too late to right the wrongs.
โIt is poetry that addresses harsh realities directly, eschewing pathos and sentimentality, and refusing to hide behind musicality or fluidityโqualities that can otherwise veil the blemishes and scars of reality,โ one reviewer wrote in Haaretz when the original Hebrew edition was released in 2020.
A description of the collection by its distributor, Wesleyan University Press, describes it as โa glimpse of holy solidarity, of a time, perhaps some 500 years in the future, where there will be no need for steel doors and bomb sheltersโ โ a reference to the poem Five Hundred Years, which opens with: โItโs hard to believe, but five hundred years ago people like us had slaves.โ
It ends with: โThat is how they will talk about wars and terrorist attacks as a way of settling disputes or salvaging pride after five hundred more years, perhaps even less.โ
The post An Israeli poet was scheduled to do a reading in New York. Then her publisher called.ย appeared first on The Forward.
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The power of Sukkot to unite the Jewish people
ืืื ืืขืจ ืืืจื ืฉืืืื ืึทื ืืขืืขืจ ืืึดื ืงืขื โ ืืขืึธืจืขืืืฉ โ ื ืืฆื ืื ืืขืืืข ืกืืึผื. ืืึธืก ืฉืืจืฒึทืื ืืื ืืขืจ ืืขื ืคึฟืึทืงื, ืึทื ืืืจ ืืขื ืขื ืึทืืข ืืืฒึทื, ืืื ืึทืืขืืขื ืืึทืืจืืกื ืืขื ืืืฒึทื ืืื ืืขืจ ืกืืึผื.
ืืื ืืขืจ ืืืชื, ืืืขื ืืขื ืืืึธืื ืืขืืืื ืึท ืืขื ืื ืืึทื ืืข ืืื ืืจืืืืข ืกืืึผื, ืืืึธืื ืืึธืก ืืึทื ืฆืข ืืึดืืืฉืข ืคึฟืึธืืง โ ืึธื ืืืืกื ืึทื โ ืืขืงืขื ื ืึทืจืฒึทื ืืืื ืืื ืืืจ ืืื ืขืกื ืืื ืืขืจ ืืขืืืขืจ ืฆืฒึทื.
ืืขืจ ืืึธืืืงืขืจ ืืึทืืจืืฃ ืคึฟืื ืึทืืืืช ืืจืืงื ืืื ืืืื ืืืืก ืืื ืึท ืืึทืืื ืืขืจืขืจ ืืฆืืื ืคึฟืื ืกืืึผืืช: ืื ืึทืจืืขื ืืื ืื. ืื ืชึผืืจื ืืึทืคึฟืขืื ืืื ืื, ืึทื ืืขื ืขืจืฉืื ืืึธื ืกืืึผืืช ืืึธืื ืืืจ ื ืขืืขื ืึทื ืืชืจืื, ืึท ืืืืึฟ (ืึท ืฆืืืฒึทื ืคึฟืื ืึท ืืืืืึพืคึผืึทืืืข), ืืจืฒึท ืืืกืื (ืืืจืืึพืฆืืืฒึทืื), ืืื ืฆืืืื ืขืจืึฟืืช (ืืืฉืขื ืืช), ืึผืื ืืื ืฆื ืคึฟืจืืืขื ืคึฟืึทืจื ืืืืืขืจืฉืื.
ืืืึธืก ืฉืืขืื ืืื ืืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืื ืึทืจืืขื ืืื ืื? ืืขืจ ืืชืจืื ืืึธื ืกืฒึท ืึท ืืืื ืืขืจืื ืกืฒึท ืึท ืืืื ืืขื; ืืขืจ ืืืืึฟ ืืึธื ืึท ืืขื โ ืืืืืืขื โ ืึธืืขืจ ืงืืื ืืขืจืื ื ืืฉื; ืืขืจ ืืืก ืืึธื ืึท ืืืื ืืขืจืื ืึธืืขืจ ืงืืื ืืขื ื ืืฉื; ืืื ืื ืขืจืึฟื (ืืืฉืขื ื) ืืึธื ื ืื ืงืืื ืืขื ืืื ื ืื ืงืืื ืืขืจืื.
ืืขืจ ืืขืจืื ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืืขืฉืืื ืืืึฟืื, ืืืืข ืืขืฉืืื, ืืืึธืก โ ืึทืืื ืืื ืึท ืืขืจืื โ ืืึธืื ืึทื ืืฉืคึผืขื ืืืืคึฟื ืึทืจืื; ืืฉืขืช ืืขืจ ืืขื ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืืืืื ืืชึผืืจื, ืืืึธืก ืืขืจื ืขืจื ืื ื ืฉืื ืึทืืื ืืื ืคึฟืืืืฉืข ืฉืคึผืฒึทื ืืขืจื ืขืจื ืืขื ืืืฃ.
ืืขืืขืจ ืืืื ืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืื ืึทืจืืขื ืืื ืื ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืึทื ืึทื ืืขืจ ืกืึธืจื ืืึดื: ืขืก ืืขื ืขื ืืึธ ืืึดืื ืืืึธืก ืฆืืืืขื ืขื ืืื ืืืืก ืืื ืืืืขืจ ืืืืช ืืชึผืืจื, ืึทื ืืขืจืข ืืื ืืืืขืจืข ืืืืข ืืขืฉืืื, ืึทื ืืขืจืข ืืื ืืืืืข, ืืื ืึทื ืืขืจืข ืืื ืงืืื ืขื ืคึฟืื ืื ืฆืืืื. ืืขืจ ืืขืืึทื ืง ืืื, ืึทื ืืืจ ืืขื ืขื ืึทืืข ืึธืคึผืืขื ืืืง ืืืื ืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืขื ืฆืืืืืื, ืืื ืืขืืขืจ ืืืื ืขืจ ืืขืจืืึทื ืฆื ืืขื ืึทื ืืขืจื. ื ืึธืจ ืืืขื ืืขื ืืึธื ืึทืืข ืคึฟืืจ ืฆืืืึทืืขื ืงืขื ืืขื ืืึทืื ืื ืืจืื ืืื ืืงืืื ืืฒึทื ืื ืืฆืืื.
ืืืื ืืืขืจื ืคึฟืึทืจืฉืืึทื ืขื, ืึทื ืื ืืขืจื ืื ื ืคึฟืื ืืขืจ ืืึธืืืงืขืจ ืืฆืืื ืืื, ืึทื ืืขืจ ืืืึธืก ืืขืคึฟืื ื ืืื ืืื ืืขืจ ืืขืืขืจืขืจ ืจืืื ืืืชืืืงืขืจ ืืืจืื ืคึฟืื ืขื โืืชืจืืโ, ืืืืกืืขืฆืืืื ื ืกืฒึท ืืื ืืืื ืกืฒึท ืืื ืืืืข ืืขืฉืืื, ืืึทืจืฃ ืืื โ ืึทืืืจืืึดืกืืืฉ โ ืึธืคึผืืขืื ืืื ืืขื ืืืึธืก ืืขืคึฟืื ื ืืื ืืื ืืขืจ ืงืึทืืขืืึธืจืืข ืคึฟืื โืขืจืึฟืโ, ืึธื ืงืืื ืืึทืืื ืืขืจืขืจ ืจืืื ืืืชืืืงืขืจ ืืขืื.
ืืืืื ืืขืงืกืื ืืืืืึทืืืืืฉืขืจ ืจืืื, ืจืื ืืืกืฃ ืืฆืืง ืฉื ืืืืจืกืืื ืืฆืดื, ืืื ืคึฟืึทืจืึทื ืึธืืขืจ ื ืึธื ืึทื ืึทื ืืขืจ ืืื ืึทืืืง: ืืขืจ ืืืึธืก ืืขืคึฟืื ื ืืื ืืื ืืขืจ ืืืจืื ืคึฟืื โืืชืจืืโ ืงืขื ืืื ืืึทืจืฃ ืืืื ืืขืจื ืขื ืขืคึผืขืก ืืืขืจืืคึฟืืืก ืคึฟืื ืืขื ืืืึธืก ืืขืคึฟืื ื ืืื ืืื ืืขืจ ืงืึทืืขืืึธืจืืข ืคึฟืื โืขืจืึฟืโ.
ืืขืจ ืืืึธืก ืืขืคึฟืื ื ืืื ืืื ืขื ืืฆืึฟ ืคึฟืื โืขืจืึฟืโ, ืึธื ืงืืื ืืึทืืื ืืขืจืขืจ ืจืืื ืืืชืืืงืขืจ ืืขืื, ืืื ืคึฟืื ืืขืกืืืืขืื ืคึฟืืื ืขืจ ืืื โืืืืขืจ ืืึดืืืฉืืขืโ, ืืจืืงื ืืืืก ืึท ืืืคึฟื, ืืืืืจืขืืืขืื ืืึดืืืฉื ืฆืืฉืืึทื ื, ื ืื ืืขืงืืงื ืืืืฃ ืืขื ืืืึธืก ืขืก ืคึฟืขืื ืืื ืืื ืืึดืืืฉื ืืืืืื ื ืืื ืืืืกื. ืืขืจ ืืืึธืก ืืึธื ืึท ืกื ืืขืืขืจื ื ืงืขื ืืืจื ืืฒึทื ืคึผืขืจืืขื ืืขืืขืจ ืึทื ืืืืืงืืื ื ืึท ืกื ืคึฟืึทืจืฉืืืื ืืื ืึท ืกื ืคึฟืืื; ืคืื ืืขืกืืืืขืื ืืื ืืื ืึธืคึฟื ืฉืืืขืจ ืฆื ืืขืจืืจืืืื ืืื ืืืืกืืจืืงื ืืขื ืขืกืขื ืฅ ืคึฟืื ืืฒึทื ื ืฉืื. ืฆื ืืขืจ ืืึธืืืงืขืจ ืืืื ื ืคึฟืื ืืฒึทื ืืืืืขื ืขื ืืืืช ืงืขื ืขืจ ืฆืืงืืืขื ืืืืงื ืืืจื ืืขืจื ืขื ืคึฟืื ืขื ืืึดื ืคึฟืื ืืขื โืขืจืึฟืโึพืืืคึผ, ืืืึธืก ืคึฟืืื ืืื ืืึดืืืฉ ื ืืฉื ืฆืืืื ืืฒึทื ืืึดืืืฉืขืจ ืืืืืื ื, ื ืึธืจ ืืจืึธืฅ ืืขื ืืืึธืก ืขืก ืคึฟืขืื ืืื. ืืฒึทื ืืึดืืืฉ ืืขืคึฟืื ืฉืืึทืื ืคึฟืื ืืฒึทื ืขืฆื ืื ืฉืื, ืืขื โืคึผืื ืืขืืข ืืึดืโ ืืืึธืก ืืื ืืื ืืึทื ืฆื ืืืืึธืคึผืืขื ืืืง ืคึฟืื ืงืืื ืฉืื ืกืืื.
ืืขืจ ืืืืืึทืืืืืฉืขืจ ืจืื ืืืดืข ืืืฒึทืื ืึธื, ืึทื ืื ืึทืจืืขื ืืื ืื ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืื ืึทืืืืช ืคึฟืื ืขื ืืึดืืืฉื ืคึฟืึธืืง, ื ืื ื ืึธืจ ืืืฒึทื ืืื ืจืขืคึผืจืขืืขื ืืืจื ืืขื ืฆืืืึทืืขืึพืคึฟืึทืจืืื ื ืคึฟืื ืคึฟืืจ ืคึฟืึทืจืฉืืืขื ืข ืงืึทืืขืืึธืจืืขืก, ื ืึธืจ ืืืื ืืืฒึทื ืืขืืขืจ ืืื ืคึฟืึทืจ ืืื ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ืึทืืืืช ืืื ืืฒึทื ืืืืืขื ืขืจ ืงืึทืืขืืึธืจืืข.
ืืขืจ ืืชืจืื ืืืึทืงืกื ืืื ืืืขืจื ืืขืจื ืขืจื ืืืฉื ืคึฟืื ืึทืืข ืคึฟืืจ ืกืขืืึธื ืขื ืคึฟืื ืขื ืืึธืจ. ืื ืืืขืืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืขื ืืืก ืืืึทืงืกื ืึทืืื, ืึทื ืืขื ืืืืืก ืืขื ืฉืืึทื ืงืืืขื ืึทืจืืืก ืืจืืคึผืขืก ืคึฟืื ืืจืฒึท ืืืขืืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืืขืจ ืืขืืืขืจ ืืืื. ืืฒึทื ืืืืึฟ ืืึทืจืคึฟื ืื ืืืขืืขืจ ืืืขืจื ืคึฟืึทืจืืึทืื ืืื ืฆืื ืืืคึฟืืขื ืืืขื ืืื ื ืื ืฆืขืฉืคึผืจืืื ืืืื ืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืขื ืฆืืืืืื โ ืึทืืืฅ ืืขื ืืืึธืก ืืขืืขืจ ืืืขืื ืืื ืฆืื ืืืคึฟืืขืืืืื ืคึฟืื ืฆืืืื ืืขืืคึฟืื โ ืืื ืื ืขืจืึฟืืช ืืืึทืงืกื ืฆืืืึทืืขื ืืื ืึท ืกืึธืจื ืึทืืืืช.
ืืึธืก ืฉืืขืื ืคึฟืึธืจ ื ืึธื ืึทื ืึทืกืคึผืขืงื ืคึฟืื ืึทืืืืช, ืืืฒึทื ืึท ืืึธื ืืื ืืจืื ืืขืจ ืืื ืฆื ืคึฟืึทืจืืืื ืืงื ืืื ืืืื ืขื ืืืึธืก ืืื ืึทื ืืขืจืฉ ืคึฟืื ืืืจ, ืืื ืืื ืืืื ืขื ืืืึธืก ืืื ืขื ืืขื ืฆื ืืืจ ืืื ืงืขื ืืืืกืืขื ืืื ืึท ืงืึธื ืงืืจืขื ื.
ืึทืืื ืึทื ืืืืฃ ืกืืึผืืช ืืจืืงื ืืืจ ืืืืก ืืจืฒึท ืืืจืืืช ืคึฟืื ืึทืืืืช ืืื ืขื ืืึดืืืฉื ืคึฟืึธืืง: ืืืื ืืืจืื ืืืึธืก ืฉืืึทืื ืคึฟืื ืืขื ืืขืืืื ืืืืขื ืขืกืขื ืฅ, ืืืึธืก ืืื ืืขืืขืจ ืคึฟืื ืคึฟืึทืจืฉืืื ืึทืจืืืงืืืื;ืืืื ืืืจืื ืืืึธืก ืืจืืงื ืืื ืืืืก ืืืืงื ืืืจื ืื ืคึฟืึทืจืฉืืื ืึทืจืืืงืืืื; ืืื ื ืึธื ืึท ืืืจืื โ ืื ืึทืืืืช ืฆืืืืฉื ืื ืืืึธืก ืืขื ืขื ืขื ืืขื ืืืื ืขืจ ืฆืื ืฆืืืืืื.
ืืื ืืขืจ ืืืชื, ืงืืื ืืืื ืก ืึทืจืืืก ืคึฟืื ืฆืืืืืื. ืืืื ืึท ืืขื ืืฉื ืก ืึทืืืืฆืืข ืืื ืขืืึธืฆืขื ืืจืืฉ, ืืื ืืืืขืจ ืฉืืืขืจ ืืื ืฆื ืคึฟืึทืจืืืื ืืงื ืืื ืึทื ืืขืจืข. ืืืื ืึธืืขืจ ืืฒึทื ืึทืืืืฆืืข ืืื ืืืืกืฆืืคึฟืืจื ืืขื ืึพืืืขืื ืฆืื, ืืืขื ืขืจ ืึธืคึผืฉืึทืฆื ืืื ืฉืขืฆื ืื ืืฆืืื ืคึฟืื ืืขืื ืืืึธืก ืฉืืขืื ืืื ืฆื ืืืืกืฆืืคึฟืืจื ืืขื ืืฉืืชึผืคึฟืืชืืืงื ืฉืืืืืช.
ืขืก ืืื ืื ืึทืืืืช ืืืึธืก ืืจืืงื ืืื ืืืืก ืืื ืื ืืฆืืืช ืคืื ืกืืึผืืช ืืืึธืก ืืขืจืืขืืืขืื ืื ืืืชืข ืฉืืืืื ืคืื โืืฉืืืช ืืืืโ.
ืื ืฉืืืึทืืข, ืฆืึทืจืืข ืกืืจืืงืืืจ ืคึฟืื ืืขืจ ืกืืึผื ืืึธื ืืืืขืจืืขืืขืื ืืืืื ืืขืจ ืืึธืจื ืคึฟืื ืืขืฉืืืืข ืืื ืจืืืคึฟืืช โ ืืื ืื ืืืืึธืื ืืื ืืื ืื ืงืึธื ืฆืขื ืืจืึทืฆืืขึพืืึทืืขืจื. ืืฒึทื ืึพืฆืึพืืึธื ืงืขื ืืขื ืืื ืึท ืกื ืงืืืืืช ืืืืขืจ ืืขืจ ืืืขืื ืืขื ืืื ืืืืืึทืืืืืฉืขืจ ืืฉืืึฟืึพืืืืจืื ืคึฟืึธืจื ืืืืขืจ ืื ืืึทืกื ืคึฟืื ืฉืืึธื ืืื ืึท ืืึธืืืืขืจ ืกืืึผื, ืึผืื ืฆื ืคึฟืึทืจืืขืื ืืึดืืืฉืข ืืืจืืืืืขืจ ืืงืืื ืฆื ืืฒึทื ืื ืืฆืืืช ืคึฟืื ืขืกื ืืื ืืขืจ ืกืืึผื ืืื ืฆื ืืึทืื ืื ืืจืื ืืืืฃ ืื ืึทืจืืขื ืืื ืื.
ืื ืืืจ ืืืขื ืืื ืึธื ืืจืขืคึฟื ืืื ืืืื ืขื ืคึฟืื ืืื, ืืืืข ืืื ืืื ืืืืขืจ ื ืืจืืก!
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The Jewish soul and Hasidic inspirations of Annie Dillard
The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Annie Dillard, who died Sept, 15 at age 81, drew on Jewish inspiration past and present for her meditative books on humans and the deity, including the nature-imbued narrative Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Raised a Presbyterian, in young adulthood Dillard discovered Martin Buberโs Tales of the Hasidim, in which she found a kindred spirit among Hasidic rabbis who, according to legend, would turn somersaults and do cartwheels and flips in the synagogue before ritual acts such as reciting Kiddush, the blessing uttered to sanctify Shabbat and Jewish holidays; lighting Hanukkah candles; and weddings. As Dillard put it at Michiganโs Calvin College Festival of Faith & Writing in 1996, her introduction to Hasidism was through Buberโs books and she โreally, really, really liked them.โ
Herself exultant by temperament, fond of energetic dancing and sports, Dillard saw no contradiction between exuberance and serious consideration of moral and ethical questions. Indeed, she followed the Hasidic spiritual concept of Bitul ha-yesh (ego effacement) to become receptive to the divine by reading from a range of sources to find inspiration for her own books.
These included Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whom she described to an interviewer in 1992 as โthe great religious thinkerโ of the 20th century, and Simone Weil, the French philosopher. The latter two, โespecially Heschel,โ added Dillard, โhave everything I need.โ
What she needed as a writer was to fulfill her self-definition as a โChristian Hasid,โ as she informed a reporter in the year 2000. The English literature maven Lori Kanitz has observed tyhat Dillard drew on Hasidic notions to better mull over nature and creation. Dillard agreed with the concept that humans assist God in redemption by making everyday physical objects and moments into something sacred or consecrated.
She favored the argument by the 16th century rabbi Isaac Luria that divine sparks trapped in the material world might be liberated through intense spiritual awareness. Especially in books such asย 1999โs For the Time Being, she blended Yiddishkeit with heterodox Christian philosophers such as the Jesuit scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to address questions about faith, suffering and individual existence.
The result was an emotionally fraught style, rich with biblical allusions. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek likens a combative domestic felineโs ensanguined paws to the โmark of Cainโ and โblood sign of the Passover.โ In this exalted, highly artful prose with Judaism as part of its vocabulary, the Quran is mentioned in the distressing context of animals devouring one another in nature, followed by the French Catholic thinker Blaise Pascalโs implication that after creation, God more or less abandoned humanity. Yet this existential doubt is calmed by two further citations from Albert Einstein to remind the reader that โsubtle is the Lord, but malicious He is notโ and โNature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse.โ Bringing in Einstein, another example for Dillard alongside Abraham Joshua Heschel of the quasi-omniscient good grey Jew, shows her acute admiration for Jewish wisdom.
Characteristically, Dillard published in a 1998-99 issue of a University of Notre Dame publication for Catholic readers an essay insistent in its Yiddishkeit. The text begins by reminding readers of the execution of Rabbi Akiva by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Unsparing of gory details, this account is followed by quotes from the Nobel-Prize-winning Holocaust poet Nelly Sachs, Gershom Scholem, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Rabbi Pinhas of Koretz, Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twersky, and a rare modern too, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.
Blending nature with Jewish elements, Dillard recounts a trip to Lavi, a kibbutz in northern Israel near Tiberias, where she witnesses birds mating in mid-air. Juxtaposed with maxims by Christians, her narrative has an anthological aura, akin to that of Aldous Huxleyโs The Perennial Philosophy (1945) which by contrast contains almost no direct passages from Jewish mystics.
Overall, Dillard kept in mind, as she suggested to one critic in 1999, that her goal was to persuade โthe agnostic intellectualโ that all spirituality need not be discarded by a discerning reader. That said, in some of Dillardโs books, the transitions between different traditions, from Sufism to Inuit beliefs, could appear contradictory.
But then as friends observed, Dillard herself could seem to be a walking contradiction; she was obsessed with nature, but also a lifelong chainsmoker. And although according to Lori Kanitz and others, her works were redolent of such venerable Jewish ideas as tsimtsum (divine contraction) and shevirat ha-kelim (shattering of the vessels), she likewise surrounded herself with a self-created Jewish mishpocheh of literati.
Dillard achieved the latter feat by energetically supporting modern American Jewish writing, lauding authors with more sheer enthusiasm than they may have been accustomed to receiving from fellow Jews. Drawn to high spirits and celebrants among living Jews, she was a fan of Louis D. Rubinโs Small Craft Advisory about shepping nachas from boats; she termed Rubinโs book a โmoving account by a happy man.โ
Part of appreciating happy Jews for Dillard was relishing Jewish humor with a highly developed sense of the absurd. She provided a blurb for a book by Jewish chef Peter Kaminsky about how to prepare decidedly un-kosher pork products, noting: โI love ham and I love this book.โ She similarly kvelled at the inherent absurdity of describing how in 1982, the American Jewish Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was assigned the task of guiding a tour group in Disneyland composed of visiting Chinese communist authors. And she valued that a hybrid factual/fictional work by journalist Jake Silverstein was both โwarm and funny.โ
Dillard also persistently lavished serious praise on Jewish contemporaries such as the American visual artist and novelist Rosalyn Drexler for being โcommitted to a lifetime struggle for excellence.โ Dillard deemed Fortuneโs Daughter (1985) by Alice Hoffman โone of the bestโ American novels of the previous decade and in 2010 welcomed a debut story collection from Hester Kaplan as evidence of a โremarkable new writer.โ
Unsurprisingly, Jewish writer friends of Dillard expressed gratitude for her enthusiasm for their efforts. The biographer Phyllis Roseโs Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages includes an acknowledgement to Dillard for โprecious gifts of time, friendship, intelligence, and candor.โ Jewish readers can likewise be grateful to Dillard for her characterful investment of time, friendship, intelligence, and candor in conveying elements of Yiddishkeit in serendipitous contexts.
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