Gathering the Exiles
Naama, Arnan, Yoni, Dana, Daphna and Misha glowing after the first meeting of Kibbutz NYC last week
Dear friends,
We started something different and amazing last week. In English we call it Kibbutz NYC, and in Hebrew Kibbutz Golim, meaning the gathering of exiles.
It’s true, we are all in exile. Even Jews living in Israel feel in exile much of the time. But the exiles we are gathering into the Kibbutz are Israelis living here in New York. Fifteen years ago, I opened the School for Creative Judaism, a different type of Hebrew school where (almost) all the teachers are Israeli artists living in New York. One of the greatest aspects of the work has been seeing the changes that teaching Judaism has brought to these teachers.
It follows a similar pattern. Like I needed a gig to support my theater career in my twenties, these mostly secular Israelis needed some way to make money. So they call me up. They don’t have much of an interest in Judaism initially, coming from a place where the faith is controlled by the orthodox and ultra-orthodox, who at times impose their religious observance on everybody else. But they’re curious, creative people, and as soon as they start teaching they begin to open up to the beauty of the tradition. Exile invites them home to the faith world of their ancestors.
It’s always amazing to me to watch the icy walls of self-preservation and doubt melt, to see them begin to ask questions about Torah, to witness them developing a new relationship with prayer.
Our teachers' meetings, in which we study together, have long been a source of growth and fun for all of us. Last year, in the midst of war back home and its terrible echoes here, some of the teachers asked for more. We all wanted to ease our sense of exile by hanging out with fellow Israelis, studying in our mother tongue, connecting our artistic practice to our learning and sharing it all with our local community.
So, we brought us exiles together into this new Kibbutz.
Twice a month we meet to eat breakfast and study. Then each member creates two things out of what we’ve learned: art in whatever their medium of practice, and lesson plans for our students. Finally, they come with their art, knowledge and presence to our Shabbat and holiday services at the Shul, where they can share it all with the community.
This year, thanks to a generous donation from the Kaufelt family, Kibbutz members will write music and produce an album of new music. The text we are exploring this year is the Siddur, so we're confident that this album will offer us new paths for non-observant people to connect to prayer.
Part of the impetus for this project was that because of the last two years in Israel/Palestine it has become much harder for Israeli artists in the US to survive and create art, no matter their politics. Some of our artist/teachers have lost significant art and money opportunities. This project is designed to give the artists in our orbit a boost and a platform, while deepening their connection to Judaism.
There is certainly a lot of darkness around us these days, and that dimness is embodied by our separation from one another. Darkness naturally isolates us. We can illuminate the long winter nights by coming together out of our personal and collective exiles. We can find one another in learning.
As we light the first candle of Hanukkah on Sunday night, let us intend upon finding new ways to come together that dispel the darkness. My Shehecheyanu on that first night will be for the candles – and for our new Kibbutz!
If any of you Hebrew speakers are interested in joining in on one of our study sessions, we'd love for you to join us.
I hope you can join us tomorrow morning for Shabbat service with Nico and Ella’s Bnot Mitzvah - MAZAL TOV to them both and to Artie Freedman who also has their B Mitzvah tomorrow!), Monday for the first session of Lessons in Tyranny and next Friday evening for Shabbanukkah.
Shabbat shalom and Chag Chanukah Sameach,
Rabbi Misha