December 31, 2013
By bethmordecai
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Dear Hevreh,
Over the past two months, a small group of us have discussed plans for an adult education program for our community and out of that process has emerged two distinct themes: stories and shtickle.
First, stories. To anyone who has come to Friday night services or read some of my journals (like this one or that one), you’ll know that stories are an important aspect of my rabbinate. Not only is storytelling one of the most effective ways of communicating ideas, especially in our culture which has a storied oral tradition, but it also provides an access point for us to share the Unique Torah we’ve accumulated from our life experiences. And by sharing those stories to access our Unique Torah, we create the special sauce that tightens our relationships with one another and makes us a unique Jewish community.
While listening to and sharing these stories are critical to sustaining our connection to Judaism, at times all we need is a little Jewish wisdom. As Elliot mentioned to me yesterday when discussing the goals of adult learning, “it’s the shtickle (the small things) you learn that makes it interesting.” In other words, sometimes we just want to learn a little bit of where we come from, of the history, the theology, the facts about Judaism to sustain our Jewish identity. If the stories of our Unique Torah is the soul of Jewish learning — the deep, unique meaning of what it means to be a Jew — then perhaps theshtickle are the bones — the varied, separate (and sometimes small) pieces of Jewish tradition and wisdom that together provide the foundation for a meaningful and intellectually stimulating connection to Judaism.
Stay tuned for more details on how stories and shtickle will guide our communal Jewish learning. In the meantime, please share with us some of your thoughts on the kinds of stories and shtickle we should focus on.
Kol Tuv,
Rabbi Ari Saks
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Adult Education
Rabbi
Rabbi's Journal
Tag : adult education rabbi rabbi's journal shtickle stories storytelling unique torah
