The Wonder of a Winter's Day

It is February in New York. Some are mumbling about the cold. Others warn of stronger winds coming- winds that drive the cold though your winter coat; winds that will sting their ears despite their best efforts to adjust knit hats and tighten scarves. Crowds walk by me on Broadway silently, bearing the assault. They see spring clothes (New Skinny Jeans in pastels colors)  in the windows of the Gap and dream of warmer days. One man’s misery can be another’s opportunity. I am not panicked. I am calm and hopeful! I read a poem by Robert Frost, Winter Eden, about the wonder of a winter’s day:

A winter Eden is an alder swamp

Where conies now come out to sun and romp

As near a paradise as it can be

And not melt snow or start a dormant tree

I am not willing to wait until spring for snow to melt and cold to fade. I decide to walk from my Upper West Side apartment to work on the East Side. I will cross the park. It is 27 but the sun is shining. It warms my face but it leaves the park a white winter wonderland. The sun makes the snow look like it is sprinkled with diamonds. There is no slush- scourge of New York winters.

Judaism celebrates the miracle of waking in our morning prayers.We thank God for our soul and  for returning us from our sleep (Elohai neshama) . We read prayers that remind us about thewonder of our bodies where so many things have to work to keep us going (Birchot Hashahar). We remember that we are temporary and that God is eternal. Lesson: We need to be grateful for every day (modeh ani) . We are not just to rise. We are to open our eyes to wonder.

So I am out and about. I take the train to 72th and then head through Central Park. I walk by the mosaic that honors John Lennon called Imagine. I walk down the hill, my eyes look up and down ,being careful not to slip on the odd sheet of ice. I raise my head and see the park open up below. I walk to a grand boulevard lined with park benches and statues of writers like Sir Walter Scott, Roberts Burns and near the exit to 59th Street, William Shakespeare.

I have been watching a PBS series called Uncovering Shakespeare. It explores 6 plays through the eyes of an actor that played a lead (Ethan Hawke played Macbeth) or a director who shaped a production. These narrators open my eyes and uncover an old love affair I have had with the writer. One thing has led to another. My winter romp with Shakespeare has snowballed, I have been reading Steven Greenbelt’s Will in the World about Shakespeare’s life. I went to see Much Ado about Nothing at the Duke Theatre. I have been finding myself reaching for old books of plays on my bookshelf. The pages aredog-eared, the columns have notes and there is the odd page marks. The page marks are faded but they bring back some sharp memoires of student life. I spent 1970 at Epsom College in Surrey England studying Shakespeare for A level exams. I was the only American in my class (nickname- The Big Yank). This flurry of Shakespeare activity has helped be uncover the wonder that I discovered when I first immersed myself in this strange language. Standing in front of the statue of my hero it all comes together. Shakespeare is not easy. You need to learn some things about his world. You need to train your ear to hear the poetry. You need to acquire a taste. Not easy, but worth the price.

The gifts of a winter walk are not always easy. You have to start earlier. You need to dress with care. You need to keep an eye open for moments of wonder while watching for a patch of ice.Sometimes you are stopped in your tracks by a statue like Shakespeare. At others times the gifts of a winter’s day are more subtle. The way the blue sky frames the building on the East side, a dog on a jail break, running across the lawn pulling their leash or some birds resting peacefully beak to beak like young lovers on a park bench. The poet, Robert Frost has trained himself  to see the wonder:

A feathers hammer gives a double knock

The Eden day is gone by two o’clock.

An hour of winter’s day may seem too short

To make it worth life’s while to wake and sport.

How do you make the winter seem shorter. Savor the joys of winter. Seize those sunny winter hours. Get up early. Say a prayer to get yourself moving. Prepare yourself for wonder. It’s worth it.

Seeing Like Barnes

On a recent trip to Philadelphia I had the chance to visit the new Barnes Foundation Museum.  As a visitor to the Barnes I would be invited to see art in a new way.

Between 1912 and 1951, Albert C. Barnes assembled one of the world’s most important holdings of post-impressionist and early modern art, acquiring works by avant-garde European and American artists. Barnes continually experimented with the display of his collection, arranging and rearranging the works in ensembles, symmetrical wall compositions organized according to the formal principles of light, line, color, and space, rather than by chronology, nationality, style, or genre. The ensembles changed as Barnes made acquisitions, trades and new visual connections between the holdings, which diversified with the addition of African sculpture, antiquities, Asian art, Native American ceramics, jewelry, and textiles, manuscripts, old master paintings, and European and American decorative and industrial arts. Integrating art and craft, and objects from across cultures and time periods. (barnesfoundation.org)

When you go to the Barnes Museum, you notice many things that are different. There are no titles for the paintings. There are no curator’s notes. The only verbal description is the name of the artist. Barnes wanted the student to see the art for themselves. He wanted them to experience the excitement he had experienced. He wanted to encourage students to develop an artistic eye-to gain the capacity to work with the key elements of a painting.

Looking for Themes

At the Barnes, a gallery wall may have two pictures with great perspective and depth juxtaposed with two paintings that are very flat. Barnes also moves beyond the boundaries of the canvas and uses a world of antique metal hardware to accent designs that exist in the ensemble.  Foreshadowing the “found art” movement of last 50 years, he collects all manner of metal knobs, hoods, and latches and places them above the painting like exclamation points. He collects antique chests and places plates, cups and candelabras on them. He book ends these walls with antique chairs of all shapes. He may highlight a narrow elongated figure by Modigliani with a pair of tall clippers. In contrast, he highlights the soft ample full-bodied bottoms of Renoir nudes with an oversized chair and a double U shaped piece of hardware.

Barnes challenges students to look for emerging themes. Why was the antique chest chosen for this wall? On further inspection, one may see that the green of the chest is present in all the paintings. The three emblems also suggest the way the figures are organized in the painting. The sketch below illustrates Barnes’s design to create a museum wall using his “ensemble technique”.  Barnes was relatively neutral about which painting a student might like best. He was deeply invested, however, in the students learning to gain capacity in the managing the tools of art (line, color, light, space etc.) that would lead to art appreciation.

Barnes came from humble beginnings in New York. He became a scientist, moved to Germany and invented the leading antibiotic of his time. He made a fortune and became a great art collector. To some of the established art community, he seemed an unwelcome intruder. In 1923, a public showing of Barnes' collection proved that it was too avant-garde for most people's taste at the time. The critics ridiculed the show, prompting Barnes' long-lasting and well-publicized antagonism toward those he considered part of the art establishment. Barnes was stung by the criticism. When you innovate, you take the risk that people will not respond. Many do not want to stir the pot, reimagine the elements or look for new themes.

The Art of Synagogue Strategy

When synagogue leaders begin to think strategically they can feel as welcome as a post-impressionist show at the Philadelphia Art Institute in 1923. Luther Snow (The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts, Alban 2004) argues that congregational leaders can find innovative solutions by listing synagogue strengths and assets on cards and placing them on a wall. Leaders then move these elements around until they cluster into a theme.

They might take the social connections of their men’s group and connect it to the synagogue’s social justice agenda by creating a bike race to raise money for their cause. They might connect their commitment to more bar mitzvah tutoring support with potential several potential tutors from the men’s club. They might take note the baseball diamonds near the synagogue and organize and parents/kids softball game and picnic. Asset mapping helps leaders see all of the potential building blocks of synagogue success and to rearrange them into new programmatic clusters.

USCJ's new Sulam for Strategic Planners program is designed to help leaders think strategically. Just as Barnes helped art students to become literate in the use of color, light and shape, so too, we hope synagogue planners will become literate about the use of need assessments, vision, emerging themes, strategies and goals. In the end, we are not trying to create a specific strategic outcome.  Like Barnes, we are not providing curator’s notes that describe a specific holiday program or fundraiser. Like Barnes, we are very intentional about the exercises we want planners to go through to build their strategic capacity.

Parker Palmer once said of the master teacher, that they helped their students learn to make the connection by showing them how they as teachers made their connections.

“Good teachers possess the capacity for connectedness. They are able to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students so that the students can learn to weave a world for themselves.” (Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach, p. 11)

With Sulam for Strategic Planners, we hope to juxtapose articles, case studies, planning tips and exercises in such a way that it encourages planners to think holistically- to make their  connections. Just as Barnes provides ensembles for artists, we will provide frameworks for planners. Our mission is to help them learn to put a frame around their synagogue situation and to imagine their next chapter as an emerging  work of art.

 

Leadership Lessons from "Lincoln"

In the movie “Lincoln” we see that Abraham Lincoln is committed to the vision of securing the elimination of slavery. Having fought and lost so much, he feels the decision to assert this value needs to be institutionalized in the Constitution via the 13^th Amendment. He is afraid that Congress, under different leadership, might back slide.

Steady Values: Equality is Self Evident

Lincoln is driven by core values. In a quiet moment in the staff room of the White House he addresses two young officers. While Lincoln had very little formal education he was an avid reader- a lifelong learner. In the film he recalls a lesson he learned while reading Euclid for the soldiers.

Euclid's first common notion is this:  'Things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.'   That's a rule of mathematical reasoning.  It's true because it works.  Has done and always will do.  In his book, Euclid says this is self-evident.  You see, there it is.  Even in that 2,000 year old book of mechanical law, it is a self-evident truth that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other."

Flexible in Strategy

The future ot he United States  is anything but self evident. While steady in purpose ( values focused)  he is flexible in strategy. He is willing to use all of his strengths and assets to achieve his vision. He needs to come up with votes from conservative Republicans and a smaller number of Democrats who have been voted out of office in the election of 1864 but who can still vote in the lame duck session.  He uses worldly tactics on behalf of larger heavenly cause- the protection of equality under law.

We don’t recommend that you bribe your board. Visionary presidents, however, can learn from Lincoln’s tenacity. Lincoln can really take it. His integrity is questioned. His wife complains about all the times where he has not been emotionally available.  He is accused of sacrificing innocent lives. He is charged with being a radical and for being too passive. As Peter Drucker has argued, leadership is often a “foul weather sport”. From the horrors of the battlefield to the ugliness of the Congress, Lincoln has to lead in challenging times.

Harry Truman once said, “I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it”. Most Americans did not want to abolish slavery. Certainly few wanted to give slaves the right to vote. In going for the 13^th Amendment, Lincoln’s vision, while self evident to him, was out ahead of other leaders. He had to find creative ways to help people catch up with him.

Humble and Courageous- Bowed head and bended knee

“Lincoln” opens with a scene of Lincoln sitting in a war camp talking to two black soldiers. One is challenging Lincoln on his commitment to slave rights. The soldier is anything but deferential. Lincoln sits humbly, head bowed. He does not react. In another scene talking with his Secretary of State Seward, he bends down on one knee to stoke the fire. Lincoln is extraordinary, but he bends a knee to be like common folk. He needs to understand what they care about and how they see things. He has lofty plans but he needs to get those plans through some rough muddy political terrain. He needs to work through other people.

Synagogue presidents need to motivate their executive committees just as Lincoln motivated his cabinet. While not everybody may love you, they have to agree to work together to get to the end goal. It takes humility to balance your advocating and your empathizing. Lincoln does both. He calls on the awesome powers of his office and he leans down to listen and to take criticism.

Jewish tradition values leaders like Moses who are humble and wear their humility on their sleeve. Lincoln knows what it is like to be poor, disregarded and disrespected. Lincoln grew up dirt poor. In David Donald’s biography called Lincoln, he shares how Abraham Lincoln’s father abused him and called him the laziest boy in the county. Lincoln was known to be prone to reading and day dreaming as a boy. Donald also discusses in detail how, how in the early period of his presidency, General McClelland would snub him at meetings and ignore his orders. He did not treat Lincoln as legitimate president.

From boyhood to adulthood, he carries the weight of many defeats on his shoulders. While he was an unlikely person to wage this epic battle for the soul of the United States, like Esther, he realized that perhaps it was his calling to be just such a pivotal person. The times required a person of great humility who also had the fierce vision to see that the value of equality was in fact proven and self evident. It was a value worth fighting for.

Leaders with Authenticity and Integrity Can Help Us Get Ready

The tradition encourages us to get ready for the road that leads to the High Holidays. During the month of Elul, the shofar is blown at daily minyan. Special prayers are introduced.  Rosh Hashanah reminds us that we are like flowers that wither while God is eternal. God is real. Our lives are small but they can be great when they are part of God’s plan. Rosh Hashanah helps us get focused so that we can bring our best efforts to the teshuvah process which peaks at Yom Kippur. Despite the helpful rituals, I am seldom ready. One of my favorite books captures the idea- “This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation” by Rabbi Alan Lew. Leaders need to get our attention- to speak to us.

 

On erev Yom Kippur our rabbi is ready. He quiets the room and then addresses the overflowing sanctuary. All eyes turn to him. He commands our attention. He makes the case for our traditions. If we will let the High Holiday liturgy work, if we will trust in the process, if we will do the work, then it will work for us. When the gates close we will feel lighter. We will be less burdened. We will move into the New Year with greater energy. This is a wonderful claim for the authentic power of Conservative Judaism and for Jewish living generally.

Conservative Judaism, however, is not easy. The service is long. There is lots of Hebrew. The observant life is challenging. It  requires integrity. Some say that fasting makes us more spiritual. Our rabbi discloses that it only makes him feel more aware of  his body. The journey of teshuvah requires us to be honest about the real obstacles we face- to speak with authenticity.

Twenty four hours later our rabbi gathers us again. We are in the last hour. He challenges us, like a fitness trainer, to work a little longer to break through our barriers. We can climb the gates- push through them or even dig under them. Our rabbi has davened with intensity throughout. Like a prize fighter, he has stamina. He inspires us all to come back in the ring- to answer the closing bell.

The journey of teshuvah requires us to be honest about the real obstacles we face- to speak with authenticity.

Even in the late hour I find my mind wandering. I am off course. I am not really ready to come out of my corner. I play an old incident over in my mind. I am still blaming the other person. I stop. I try to let it go. For a moment I am successful and I get back into the service. I may move back and forth in terms of my faith  and focus but I believe in our rabbi’s faith. I see his commitment to do the work. When he argues that we should trust in the tradition, I believe him. I have seen him at Torah study, in services and about the community. I see how he lives. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes that Judaism “is a series of truths that becomes true in virtue of the fact that we have lived them. In living them, we turn the ‘ought’ into the ‘is’”.  (A Letter in the Scroll p.170).The liturgy is an “ought” but the rabbi and the congregation come together to be an “is”- a lived experience.

Leaders live out their Judaism with integrity.

As we come to synagogue in Elul in the weeks leading up to the High Holidays we read the last parashot of Deuteronomy. Moshe, like our rabbi, is making the case for Judaism. It is a good way- it will lead to life well lived. The Israelite nation, however, has changed. This generation did not go through the Exodus. They did not walk through the Red Sea. They were not at Sinai.  Moses constantly implores them to be faithful because they are, in fact, not faithful.  He tries to get them ready to enter the land - because they are not ready. These people do not know who God is but at least they have seen the characteristics of someone who is God inspired. They know Moses. They can see that like a prize fighter, he has endurance.

Leaders live out their Judaism with integrity.

Moses is who he claims to be- a man who has been face to face with God and has been changed by the experience. Moses has gathered them. He has their attention. Because of his authenticity and integrity he has a chance to be heard.

Authenticity and integrity are critical qualities for leaders who are trying to get their communities prepared for the road ahead. 

Standing at the Gates of Prayer – With a Full Heart

I am standing at the gates of the High Holidays again. It’s a new year and I feel blessed to have a new High Holiday mahzor- Lev Shalem (Rabbinical  Assembly 2011).  This mahzor is fresh. As I search through it I try to bring fresh energy and intention (kavannah) to find God and serve God in this community- in this time- in my own way. “Everyone should carefully observe what way the heart pulls and choose that way with all the strength of one’s being,” writes Martin Buber (p. 130). In order to know ones heart one needs to listen.  As a Jew, I hope to  hear “ a still small voice” of divine inspiration that tugs at my heart and opens the gates of prayer.

The individual worshipper prays according to what is written in the prayer book, but at the same time a person’s thoughts and words give to each phrase a unique interpretation formed by the personal and private overtones which a singular personality lends to a fixed text. The community in which a person prays adds it own contribution. (Lev Shalem p. 141 - Adin Steinsaltz, adapted)

The prayer, the individual and the community create the potential for a synergy of the sacred. The new Lev Shalem mahzor makes a wonderful contribution to the Conservative movement as it manages the tension between past and present. It offers traditional reflections to the prayers on the right page margins. It suggests contemporary reflections on the left page margin.  The mahzor welcomes me to stand in the center where I can look back to the origins of prayers and look forward to the most pressing of contemporary concerns.

The mahzor reminds us that God is awesome and eternal and that we stand with feet of clay. While we seem small as we stand before God, we have the capacity to build something inspirational and big together - sacred community. God considers  our endeavors more favorably because of the relationship that he had with our ancestors. This is a chain of relationship  that goes from my parents to my grandparents back to the Matriarchs and Patriarchs. The Torah does not glorify these first families. We are reminded of their greatness and their flaws. They  were imperfect parents. We are imperfect parents and the children of imperfect parents. We need prayers for imperfect people.

The prayer book has a yizkor meditation for a parent that was hurtful (Lev Shalem p. 292). The mediations reads, “The parent I remember was not kind to me.” I am told its inclusion was controversial.  While my parents were loving and generous, I know people who were profoundly hurt by their parents.  I love that this prayer book speaks to people who carry such memories of pain and betrayal.  Synagogues need to be places where the most important things can be considered and even shared. The mahzor welcomes even the most broken to feel they have a place to stand with us.

We can take comfort that God made his covenant with real people like us. While the God of the HH sits in a throne chair, the God of Genesis walks beside our ancestors. He walks with people at the margin who are struggling with the messiness of life and helps them find their place within the community. I don’t want to be limited to read only the fixed text. My life is messy and many of my answers lie in the margins. This mahzor helps me feel that I have a place to stand- that there is a prayer for life with all its messiness.

Today , many talk of the demise of America, the synagogues and Conservative Judaism. Yes- there are challenges. Our ancestors often stood at the brink where the very ground was shifting under their feet. They were understandably  afraid to step forward. In every generation some agreed to stand firm and not step back. The tradition was saved. As they looked over the  ledge our ancestors  were comforted by the strong hands that were on their shoulders- a chain of tradition that winds back for centuries ( a tradition captured in this new mahzor). As they secured their footing and stiffened their resolve, a still small voice could be heard within them, “ You  were not the first to say these ancient prayers and you will  not be the last. When people come together to pray they make a house for me. I will dwell with them.”

We hope that God  will look with favor as we try to build a community of sacred relationships- a place that open the gates of prayer to the seeker and creates a place where God would be called to enter.

Blessings Without Measure

On August 31, 2012 I was deep into the month of Elul that proceeds the High Holidays. I was thinking about the year just  passed and  setting priorities for the coming year-- thinking about what matters most. My Torah study class was on Ki Tetzei and it is dense with over 50 mitzvot.  We are to thank God for giving us the mitzvot ( ahavat olam -Eternal love). In Ki Tetzei, we are blessed without measure. We are told that we are not to count all of the produce of our vineyards and fields as our possession. No -- we are to count only part as ours. A portion belongs to the poor. We are to count ourselves lucky for we are loved. We have enough. When we operate our business we are to be satisfied with a fair return – not every advantage.

You shall not have in your pouch alternative weights, larger and smaller. You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures. (Deuteronomy 25:13-14)

The tradition argues that one of the first things we will be asked in heaven is whether we were honest in our business dealings.  We are not to cheat the system.  The special HH prayer u'ntaneh tokef  says that “as a shepherd examines his flock, making each sheep pass under the staff, so you (God) will review and number and count, judging each living being" (Mahzor Lev Shalem p.143). God will ask us what measures we used. When we come to be inscribed in the book of life we should ask, “ Did we keep two books: One for a public self and one for our secret self?”