Getting Down to the Business of Teambuilding

“Who is Wise? The one who learns from everyone.”  (Mishnah Avot 4:1)

Over the years I have been consciously trying to build a sense of teamwork among synagogue leadership teams. I have tried to identify synagogues and leadership groups ready to make an investment in leadership development. My first book was called Byachad - “Working Together.” I even named my blog “Byachad Leadership.” Despite all this, though, I have often been put on the defensive by leaders who want to know why I am wasting time on teambuilding. They know I was once a businessman. They want to see me “get down to business.”

At Alban Institute we emphasized the importance of action and reflection. Leaders should be encouraged to try new practices and then take time to reflect on what they learn. With new learning in hand they step forward with new initiatives. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge describes this process as the “wheel of learning.”  The balanced leader would take time to reflect on past experiences, connect that learning to the organization’s environment and challenges, decide on a course of action, and do something- take action. This rotation would be followed by additional reflection.  In my early consulting career, teambuilding tool kit in hand, I ventured out to a Long Island congregation. As I began to review the agenda, one leader looked at the topic of reflection and said to his friend, “Reflection?  We brought this guy from Ohio for reflection?”

In a recent article, “Why Some Teams Are Smarter than Others,” management scientists argued that teams with emotional intelligence performed better than those who have participants with greater individual IQs. The authors write, “The most important ingredients for a smart team remained constant regardless of its mode of interaction: members, who communicated a lot, participated equally and possessed good emotion-reading skills.”

Sure, smart problem solving is important. Financial and other analytic tools are critical.  How we go about doing things can be equally important. Three qualities of emotionally intelligent (SMART) teams were:

• They help leaders to communicate
• They strive for more equal participation
• They learn to read each other's emotions

In USCJ’s Sulam for Current Leaders curriculum we build in text study, case study, interactive exercises and readings to increase the relational capacity of leaders. We hope that an outcome of this work will be new team strengthening practices.

The following are some examples of Sulam team building practices that seek to nurture SMART teams:

Strive for more equal participation - let them be heard:

• Put leaders in pairs to tell their stories to a partner practicing active listening
• Create board practices that ensure key committees all have access to share their goals
• Create meeting designs that allow everyone to speak once before others speak twice
• Teach brainstorming techniques where all voices count

Help leaders to communicate - encourage leaders to share vision, values, strategies and goals:

• Invite the executive committee to describe the kind of leadership community they seek to become. I press them to describe this community in rich details so that they might imagine what leaders would be doing, saying and feeling. 
• Give leaders an assessment in which they reflect on their commitment to board expectations and share their commitments.
• Assess and share their experience about their committee work.

Learn to read the emotions of others:

• Encourage leaders to take assessment on personalities that would help them see some of their preferences in both paid and volunteer work. Through self-reflection, leaders will be better able to read the preferences of others.
• Help leaders diagnose their approach to conflict so they can better read the approaches of others.
• Give leaders tools to understand why they find some leaders difficult to manage and try to increase their coping skills

Without a Vision of Teamwork, Leadership Development Perishes

As we approach a leadership community we try to engage them in a leadership vision activity. When leaders are invited to dream about the kind of community they seek, they often talk about collaboration and teamwork but do not have a firm understanding of how either can be successfully accomplished. In order to engage leaders in SMART team building, they need to affirm that leadership teamwork is part of their vision. They need to reflect on their practices and look at the gap between their vision and their practice.

Most leaders focus on the next 3 months, not the next 3-5 years. Few look at the long-term goals of developing leaders. Leaders can be defensive about their current practices. They may resist outside programs or outside consultants that challenge them to reflect on what they are doing. Without leadership vision, the will to improve leadership practices perishes. It withers under the force of resistance from those who feel leadership development is a waste of time.

If new ideas are seen as coming from a few leaders or outsiders the change agents can become the lightening rod of resistance. Our Sulam exercises were designed to help create shared vision, shared goals, and shared sense of accountability. The key word is shared. By doing the same exercises and using a common vocabulary, individuals begin to think as a “we” rather than an “I”. We have worked on slowly increasing teamwork intelligence and it has laid a foundation for better work. These Sulam principles have been at work whether we were building teamwork in a planning committee, an emerging leaders study group or an executive committee.

The Quick Fix

Despite the success of Sulam programs, I am constantly pressured by certain lay leaders to cut back all this teambuilding “stuff.” “Bob,” they ask me, “can’t we do this in 30 minutes? Why do we need 60 minutes? How important is this? Our leaders want to ‘get down to business’ and ‘”fix the board.’” When leaders show up late and it looks like we will have less meeting time than we planned, the first things these leaders want to cut out is the segment on teambuilding so they can get down to what matters.

Sulam Leadership’s approach is informed by the contrast between technical change and adaptive change. A surgeon may create technical change when they fix a broken arm. Their personal IQ and expert skill are by far the most important factors. The patient is passive. In contrast, when a person goes to see a nutritionist they understand that they need to work together. The nutritionist must provide information and support but the client needs to develop a new practices. The client needs to work with the nutritionist on goal setting and the rate of change. They both need to disclose what they are experiencing and give each other feedback in order for adaptive change to occur.

Who is wise? The one who learns from everyone.  (Mishnah Avot 4:1)

Sulam for Current Leaders negotiates with board leaders to give up three hours of board meeting time over a 12 month period. These three hours require the board to allocate about 15-20% of their time for leadership development for one year. Congregational leaders learn to share (disclose) what they are learning and give us feedback on our programs. Adaptive change requires Sulam Leadership and congregations to learn something together.

Judaism is very process oriented. It cares a great deal about how things are done. If leaders are going to speak with authenticity and integrity they should be challenged to grow in learning and in service. They should be judged by how they develop and nurture emerging leaders so that leadership can continue l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. What modern business research is showing is that leaders who understand and care for each other, strive for participation, and communicate their vision and goals do better. Teamwork is not just good Judaism, it’s good business. The next time one of our leaders is challenged for taking time for teambuilding study and reflection, hopefully they will remember to say, “I was just trying to get down to business.”

Pursuing Peace

Pursuing Peace- Creating a Framework for Engagement

"Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it" (Psalms 34:15)

My rabbi began his High Holiday speech by saying, "This has been a very difficult summer for most of us." Of course, he was talking about Israel. He talked about what it was like to live under the tension of rockets. We all remember when major airlines refused to fly to Tel Aviv. We also saw the incredible instability of the Middle East- Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq. I was in Paris in July this summer when the anti-Israel demonstrations were going on. I saw police cars parked in front of synagogues. In every bistro in Paris the TV sets were showing pictures of Gaza. I walked by signs that explained that this was a corner where Jewish children had been gathered up for transport. I felt their vulnerability. It felt vulnerable again.

For those of us that make a hobby of following the politics of the region it is extraordinarily difficult to keep up with the complex weave of events. In Israel, these are not just intellectual issues- they are existential issues. Many people want to pressure Israel to take a leap for peace because they think that the leap could make things better or make things right.  While a Palestinian state on the West Bank might provide a breakthrough that allows Israel to gain real sustainable peace this risky leap could put a Hamas oriented regime 10 miles from major population centers.

Tal Becker

Recently I heard a presentation from Israel peace negotiator, Dr. Tal Becker. Becker is a senior policy advisor to Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs and was a lead negotiator in the Annapolis peace talks. He described three main possible paths going forward: "Meltdown, Muddle Through and Miracle." Becker said that 80% of Israelis still hope for a two state solution. At the same time most Israelis don’t believe a miracle is possible. So this summer rockets flared. Children had nightmares of terrorist coming out of the ground to snatch them. Although parents try to comfort their children, when they talked with their friends they were uneasy. They saw no miracle path to comfort-just ongoing tension as they muddle through and hope to avoid a meltdown.

My rabbi noted that many of his colleagues had chosen not to speak about Israel for the High Holidays. They were uncomfortable. It was just too divisive. He disclosed that he had lost some members who felt he had not been strident enough in supporting Israel. A few had quit because he had not condemned Israel enough for the war in Gaza. In my work I see more rabbis choosing to avoid this topic. While the connection to Israel is a core pillar of Conservative Judaism, many rabbis have chosen to flee the topic.

My rabbi decided, despite the risks, that it would be "rabbinic malpractice" not to speak about Israel during these High Holiday. He also announced a series of programs about Israel to continue the conversation. As I listened to his High Holiday sermon I became uncomfortable. I am a co-chair of the Israel Zionist Book Group at the synagogue. It was time to pick a book. I read several books this summer. Each expanded my knowledge but they were too polarizing. I stand in the middle of most of these debates. I pride myself in wanting to understand both sides of an issue. With passions high, I just did not want to make a choice. In the end, I decided it would be Zionist malpractice not to pick a book. We are meeting November 3 to read Turning David into Goliath.

Tal Becker noted that Israelis audiences have become used to living with unresolved issues. In contrast he noted he has found that American audiences always wanted to be left with some hope. While his analysis was not particularly hopeful, his stance provided me with some hope. He talked about how important it was to listen and empathize with the other parties' story and not to shout over it. It does not pay to ask Palestinians to "get over" their sense of loss from the events of 1948 anymore than it is reasonable to ask Israelis to forget 3000 years of persecution or the Holocaust. He said the effective diplomat needs to imagine how he would write his adversaries' "victory speech." Negotiators need to be able to see how their plan might provide a plausible path for the other side to accept a settlement.

I encourage leaders have to balance their stance of advocacy (winning the case) and inquiry (learning about the situation).In practice, I lean to the pole of inquiry, or as Steven Covey argues, to "seek first to understand before being understood."

Becker noted that the Torah challenges us to "seek" peace, not to "achieve" peace. We are all challenged to be seekers of peace, even if - and when - the issues around the achievement of peace may be out of our control.

Peace, Becker argued, came when boundaries and resources were negotiated. The agreements were not made by people who loved or trusted each other. The peace accords created a structure that allowed the better actors in both communities to evolve. By taking a balanced stance for engaging Israel, my rabbi created a structure where members could stay engaged, continue to learn, and maintain some hope. He encouraged me to seize the opportunity to step up and engage my book group. That was an action within my control.

Securing Our Future - Choosing Life

Last week in parashat Ki Tavo, we read about the “blessing and the curses’ that will follow depending on how the people of Israel maintain their part of the covenant. This week in parashat Nitzavim, we read that the people are gathered as they prepare to enter the land with Joshua and reminded of the covenant is made with all the people and their descendants.

We Stand Together

Moses tells the people that they stand here not just with their elders, wives and children but even with their guest workers, “from woodchoppers to water carriers” (Deuteronomy 31:9). Moses is making it clear that the covenant moves across lines of class and across age and gender.

The covenant also moves back vertically between our ancestors and our future generations.

 I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are not with us this day. (Deuteronomy 29:13)

This covenantal mission is not just with the current leaders but with their descendants.

My Alban Institute colleague Dan Hotchkiss used to ask congregations, ”Who owns the congregation?” Leaders normally would tell him, “Our members own it.” He challenged them by suggesting that in fact it is the congregation’s mission that owns the congregation. He then suggested that if prospective members and those not even born could stand and be counted, then congregational votes might be different.

When the people enter the land they need to be accountable. When they cross the Jordan the manna stops falling. We need to let go of our dependency and open our hearts to accountability.

Then the Lord your God will open up your hearts and the hearts of your offspring to love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul in order that you may live (Deut.30:6)

A short version of this mission statement might be, “We help people follow these teachings so that might live.”

How do leaders ensure that they can fulfill this mission today and tomorrow?

Next generations may rightfully question current synagogue leaders should they find problems they have inherited:

• Long term endowment funds have been tapped for current operations

• Preventive maintenance on the facility has been long deferred

• Too many board meetings continued with ineffective meeting strategies, unaccountable leadership and personal agendas

• Youth programs were cut back at a time where they were needed more than ever

• Adult education programs had been allowed to wither. We need not create more teachers and students.

As a synagogue leader, I need to weigh the balance of what I have done to provide an inheritance for future generations and what I have failed to do.

A High Holiday Reflection

These texts have helped me think about the upcoming High Holidays. I am reminded that I will stand with the entire congregation this week- old and young- rich and poor. I will be reminded of the covenant God had with my ancestors. The liturgy remind me to seek God’s compassion based on the merit of those who have come before us and for the way in which we ensure community for future generations.

It's often said that American leaders “kick the can” down the road (especially with issues like social security, national debt, etc.) for someone else. How can we ask the next generation of leaders to invest in our community if we are not stepping up to secure their future?

In the theology of the High Holidays we learn that repentance requires four steps:

• Recognition
• Remorse
• Confession
• Resolve

photo credit: nymag.com

This brings me to last Sunday’s climate march in NYC. I recognize that we have been “kicking the can” down the road and I am sorry that we are jeopardizing the lives of our descendants. As I talked about the march I got several responses. One business person asked why we should step up when other countries don’t want to do their part. Another just felt there was nothing they could do. Some attacked me personally for bringing the issue up - they wanted to ignore it.

The High Holidays remind us we are just temporary guests. Our lives are finite. God’s creation is meant to be enduring. Moses teaches that what is asked is difficult but not impossible:

 “It is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who amongst you can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, to observe it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-12).

At the march, we stood with those who choose to recognize the facts and regret what we have avoided and covered up. Joining others to take a stand is “not beyond our reach.” We continue to stand with those who are willing to speak up and resolve to take a stand. The answer is not in heaven. I can choose to be a better recycler. I can stand this day with others - rich and poor, young and old. I can look to stand up on any platform (this blog). I can advocate for our mission to “help people follow these teachings so that they might live.”

Don't Forget to Ask Why

As the sales manager in our family cleaning products business, I knew that buyers did not focus on features; they looked to see why they would benefit from the decision... How would this product help them meet their goals? On sales calls, our sales force would often slip into making long lists of product features. To be honest, I often lapsed myself. I wanted to share the percent of water we could wring out with each squeeze of the O-Cedar Twist N’ Mop.

When I left the cleaning business and moved into congregational consulting I assumed leaders would focus more on selling the intangible- “the why.” Why be Jewish? Why belong to a synagogue? I assumed we would appeal more to emotion. What I found was that most synagogue leaders made their appeal based on features- “the what!”

Typical mission statements often announce that a kehilla is "a Conservative synagogue serving the Eastern New Jersey area." They list their offerings - “their what.”

•  Shabbat Services
• Holiday services and programs
• Adult education
• Pre-school
• Religious school
• Teen programs
• Opportunities for social justice
• Caring committees

They seldom focused on “The Why!”

Why Start With Why?

Simon Sinek has written about that the importance of asking why. You can get a quick overview of his ideas by listening to his TED Talk. 

Sinek believes that we make most of our major decisions with our gut. Our decisions are shaped by the part of the brain that controls emotion. This is a view that is shared by Daniel Goleman. (Primal Leadership). Sinek argues that we make many decisions with our emotions and then find logical rationale to support what we feel. Anyone who has observed our polarized American politics can document this pattern.

Given the importance of emotion in gaining hearts and minds of people, Sinek argues that it is critical that we explain people “the why?”.  We need to get them to buy into the dream. In his TED talk he uses the example of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. King did not focus on every detail of the civil rights agenda. He focused on the dream. People of all ages and races came to Washington because they embraced the vision of a God-given sense of individual dignity that might be more powerful than the political and economic might of the ruling order.

Given this lesson, Sinek suggests that innovative and inspirational leaders start with their purpose first and then explain “How” and “What”.  Sinek describes three steps:

Sinek-Normal Process	Sinek-Innovative and Inspirational  Process
What?	Why?
How?	How?
Why?	What?

 

Synagogue Leaders With A Purpose

Jewish communal observers have noted that today’s young Jews are less ethnic. They are not going to join a synagogue just to be with fellow Jews or to escape from anti-Semitism.  They believe that they are the final arbiter of what they should do.  They are also less conforming. They are not going to join because society says they should. In such an environment synagogues have to show why belonging to a synagogue will make a difference in their lives. It has never been more important than ever to explain why, to have a sense of purpose.

In United Synagogue's Sulam Leadership Program, we went to the trouble to create a new framework for describing goals. We called them P.A.C.T Goals. They start with purpose.

P- Purpose- Why are we doing this? How does it relate to our mission, vision and purpose?

A- Action- What are we going to do?

C- Capacity- How will we do it? What people and resources and knowledge will we need?

T- Timeframe- When will we do it?

Let’s look at what this might look like:

Example: Share Shabbat Program

PACT Process	Example
P- Purpose- Why are we doing this?	Help members take time to share the beauty, joy and holiness of Shabbat with other families
A- Action- What are we going to do?	Create a “Share Shabbat” program that helps families share Shabbat by matching hosts and guests. Share family Shabbat resources (guides to prayers, songs, parsha).
C- Capacity- How will we do it?	We will create a committee to share the responsibility to organize 4 weekends
T- Timeframe- When will we do it?	Once a month starting January through April

Vision to Action

 Leaders may want to just write their goals “what, who and when.” In the Sulam for Strategic Planners program, we spend a lot of time on Vision. We have worked hard to make the connection between vision and action. Vision can certainly inspire action. It can’t inspire action, however, if it is buried away in a binder that says “Work Completed.” In order to insure this connection we need to nudge our leaders to take the time build a bridge between the why and the how. If they do they may find they have more followers stepping forward.

Did You Acquire Wisdom?

In his book The Seven Questions You’re asked in Heaven, Dr. Ron Wolfson draws on the rabbinic writings of Abba ben Joseph bar Hama (280-352 CE), known as Rava, to describe the questions you will be asked in heaven. As a baby boomer approaching my 63^rd birthday, I find I am spending more time thinking about ultimate issues. How best should I use the last quarter of my life?

These questions, according to Wolfson, were designed to “reveal how you lived your life on earth.” Wolfson notes that the third question asks “Did you set a time for Torah?” The fifth question in the book deals with wisdom and knowledge. It asks, “How did you learn? How did you study?”

Wolfson writes, “Our teacher Rava imagines that the Fifth Question You’ll be Asked in Heaven is in a two parts:

Pilpalta b’chochmah? - Did you seek wisdom?

Havanta d’var mitach davar? - Did you understand one thing from another?”

Wolfson argues that Rava’s two questions “seem to be a kind of instruction guide for his students as they swim in a sea of Talmud, a lifelong pursuit.” Wolfson goes on to argue that knowledge comes from three sources (The Seven Questions You’re Asked in Heaven, Dr. Ron Wolfson, Jewish Lights, pp 80-81):

• Da’at refers to factual knowledge - the what, where, when and how
• Binah refers to analytic ability
• Chochmah refers to the kind of knowledge that comes from experience, i.e., wisdom

The pursuit of analytic ability, knowledge and wisdom are important qualities for all people but they are very important to the strategic leader. One of the goals of USCJ’s Sulam for Strategic Planners program is to help leaders access all of their leadership learning skills.

Data Gathering

Da’at

We have the planners create a FACT book of all of the relevant internal and external facts relating to the synagogue.  We help planners conduct a congregational survey of their member’s wants and needs.

Binah

We have  planners create a SWOT analysis that looks at the congregation’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This exercise helps sharpen the ability of the planners to analyze data and to see the relationship between different elements. When the congregational survey data is complete, we give planner a Survey Debrief Worksheet so that they can learn to listen for the big insights. What assumptions did they have? How have they changed? What are the implications? These exercises are designed to help planners “learn to study”.

Chochmah

We offer planners exercises that support analysis. The Strategic Planning Committee depends of the accumulated experience of the planners to make sense of all the information and to determine what is most important. This accumulated wisdom grows over the 12-15 months of planning. That is why it is so important the steering committee members make the commitment to finish the work together.  As consultants we sometimes refer to this as “the wisdom of the room”. A plan cannot just a book of facts or a  laundry list of actions- it must prioritize. It must identify what is most important and what is needed most now. It must lift up what is of greatest value.

Wolfson addresses this question about wisdom by quoting a famous rabbinic quote:

Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, “In the coming world, they will not ask me, ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me, ‘Why you were not Zusya’?” (Tales of the Hasidim, Volume 1 page 251).

Outside consultants and resources can help support leaders, but in the end congregational leaders must determine the path that is best for them. The seventh question that Wolfson discusses is as follows: 

• Did you live your life trying to be someone else?
• Were you true to yourself?

We assign all planners the book Holy Conversations by Dr. Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. The authors speak from years of experience walking with congregational leaders. They learned that the goal of planning is not to fix congregations but to help them be the best that they can be:

Planning does not fix a congregation. Planning does not make it something that it is not. As leaders invite the congregation into a planning process, it is important that the participants understand that the structured conversation at the heart of planning is not meant to make the congregation look like some other successful congregation. Rather the structured conversation is meant to help the congregation be the people that they most effectively can be, given their history, their resources, and their call.

In Sulam for Strategic Planners we argue that planners need to manage the tension between three poles: Their enduring mission, vision and values, the unique challenge of their congregation’s environment and context and their capacities. We define these capacities as what a congregation is good at, what it is known for and what it is capable of. A strategy is a plan to help them fulfill their vision within the constraints of the context and capacity.

There is no mathematical formula for this work. It takes wisdom to learn from each pole. It takes courage to live in the tension between these poles and to navigate your own path. With a commitment to learning and practice, leaders can hope to answer some of these ultimate questions for themselves, their leadership community and their congregation. When planers look back on their time on the planning committee we hope they will feel that they acquired some wisdom.

Bob’s Jewish Relationships Journal

At the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) Large Congregations Conference last week, we were discussing Ron Wolfson's book Relational Judaism. We were exploring how to put Wolfson’s strategies into action. This led to some discussions about finding ways to track the level of engagement of our synagogue’s members. How do we understand their passion and interests? How do we track where they are in their Jewish journey? How do we ensure we are ready to support them to take action when they are ready to take a next step?

At USCJ’s Sulam leadership initiative we have been exploring ways to connect with members at key transition points. We created Sulam for Emerging Leaders program to reach out to members ages 35-45 who are involved in some aspect of synagogue life. While these people may not be ready to join synagogue leadership now, we hope to instill a deeper engagement with the community by showing how Judaism speaks to how they live and lead. We are also exploring how to re-engage members of the baby boomer generation (55-70 year-olds).

In speaking with experts on synagogue software we learned that firms are working on adding relationship management programs to synagogue software suites. Client relationship management programs allow organizations to track how often they touch members through programs, in conversation, in philanthropic requests, etc.

Systems may evolve, but there needs to be a growth in the organizational capacity to engage and record conversations. We need to help people reflect on their relationships, to motivate some people to listen and recruit others to turn these stories into trackable and actionable information.

So I thought I would take the first step, adapt Wolfson’s list of relationships (abridge a bit) and create a journal to review and start to track my Jewish relationships.

Personal	Doing Now	Hope to Do	My Next Step- (Support I need).	When
Self	Going to Weight Watchers weekly. Working out a NYSC 3- 4 times a week.	Do better job of tracking meals. Explore some yoga to increase flexibility.	Find schedule of yoga classes at New York Sports Club. Ask Larry for advice. Get a spotter who will help me get off the mat when it’s over.	By March 1, 2014
Family	Doing a better job of calling my sons. Planning a visit for all of them.	Finalize flights for them to come in March 14.		This week
Friends	Go to high school reunion in June	Reach out to old friends that I miss after moving to NYC. Get ready for Valentine’s Day- Carolyn’s cares!	Plan to stop over in Dayton on next trip. Hallmark store below my office- sooo convenient.	April Today
God	Weekly Torah study class, other books	Just ordered two books on Maimonides. One is pretty accessible.	Find a class on Maimonides Study-find out what God wants.	Next 6 months
Community	Doing Now	Hope to Do	My Next Step	When
Congregation	Have people over for Shabbat.	Sign up to host a dinner for congregational members. Invite some of my friend’s children.	Work on my recipe for Brussels sprouts	March
Greater Community	Working with friend of Carolyn’s on Mental Health Care Resource network	Help do some strategic planning with group at no charge.	Set up Meeting	March
Israel- World Jewry	Leading Israel Zionist Reading Group- Reading Like Dreamers with group	Starting I- Engage- Next version of Hartman Institute’s Israel engagement curriculum*. *Share some texts with reading group.	Complete course	March
World	Very little	Find a cause and contribute	Look into Hazon environmental efforts.

Up and Eager for Study

Make your home a regular place for the scholars;

Sit eagerly at their feet and thirstily drink their words

(Avot 1:4)

The tradition says that some mitzvot are to be done with alacrity.  We are to make sure we get to a house of study. We should be eager to engage. We are not to pause or be distracted. Each Saturday morning I wake up with a sense of purpose. I am up and ready. I will have my coffee and walk 4 blocks to my home synagogue’s Torah study class at 9:15 AM.  

There are about 10 regulars and a larger group of another 20 people that come at least once a month. Our rabbi is a great scholar and an excellent teacher. He brings some substantial learning to our table to go with our knowledge and our Etz Hayim humashim. We “regulars” are thirsty for this conversation.

I am no stranger to Torah study or to Jewish texts. While certainly not a scholar, I have a decent understanding of text study and how the parshiot connect to the overall narrative of Judaism and Jewish history. I feel I also have something to bring to the table.

Hebrew Language

Many of the “regulars” were products of Jewish day schools and yeshivas. Others have been active members of the community and developed great literacy in Hebrew language. It is not uncommon for long passages to be read in Hebrew. The class is taught with some deference for the capacities and preferences of the more learned. I am sometimes uncomfortable and intimidated.  At times, I try to work harder to follow in Hebrew so I can learn a new word or see a familiar phrase. At other times I tune out. Our community is pretty stable. Occasionally we have a new prospect test us out. When they don’t return, I wonder if they were intimidated. I have chosen to stay at the table.

Close Readings

Many in the class prefer close readings of the texts. They will focus on words. They will explore a sentence from different angles. I am a generalist. In Meyers-Briggs I am an "N" - Intuitive. We intuitive people tend to see patterns and connections.  We are interested in different synagogues' experiences or even other religions.  We tend to see the forest more than the trees. This close reading often seems to focus on minutiae, on footnotes. Many are "S" types, called sensors, they prefer detail and set rules. I can be impatient when there seems to be a pressing ethical or theological question that I feel we are not focusing on. I may become impatient - but I stay.

Torah Truths

While I love Torah study, I am often frustrated by the Torah. I just can’t believe that God was not always against slavery or couldn’t hear our cries in Egypt for 400 years. I don’t believe that God really wants to oppress Job, or kill Isaac or wipe out the enemie’s woman and children. I can’t believe that God is really jealous of other gods the way I am jealous over a rival. I can’t believe all of the small things that one could be condemned to death for. A death sentence, really? I believe that the God that I would pray to is good and reflective, not reactive and vengeful. When scholars try to provide rationalizations for these doubts, I really do want to get up and leave.

I love the wisdom of Pirkei Avot. I turn to this section in Sim Shalom on Shabbat morning to revisit these sayings. I stumble, however, over one of its central claims, that our tradition comes word for word directly from God (Avot 1:1).

Moses received the Torah from God at Sinai,

He transmitted it to Joshua,

Joshua to the elders, the elders to the Prophets,

The Prophets to the members of the Great Assembly

Based on my travels, I feel there are many synagogue members who go to Shabbat services infrequently. When they hear these words about the literalness of Torah without the interpretative tools of our class or the mentorship of the rabbi, they may feel alienated from the text. Some won’t stay engaged. They will walk away.

Fortunately our class allows many approaches to these texts. While there are different views about the meaning of revelation, the group tends not to take the Torah literally.  They are comfortable with our capacity to learn from difficult texts and to come out of class the richer for the conversation.

I was heartened to hear Rabbi Brad Artson’s podcast on the Ziegler Rabbinic School web site, entitled "Passing Life’s Tests: Using the Bible as a Source of Wisdom (Even if it Never Happened)."  He said he spoke for those who believe that Torah is transmitted wisdom not necessarily history. Our Sages understood Torah according to the time they lived in.  I believe we need to be knowledgeable about the Torah and rabbinic wisdom. Like our ancestors, we need to be engaged in interpreting it. I can stay at that kind of table.

Torah Study Connected Vertically and Horizontally

Chancellor Arnold Eisen of the Jewish Theological Seminary was a scholar in residence at our congregation. He was talking about Conservative Judaism and its core values.  He noted the importance of making our Jewish connections "vertically." We are  vertically connected to our ancestors and to generations that have come before. When our sages and leaders have held a value to be sacred we are honor bound to study it, to take it seriously.   I like the idea that our class is connected to a longstanding process of learning. We treat the texts seriously. We honor them.

Eisen also talked about the importance of being connected "horizontally" to Jews all around the world. We know that other Torah study classes are engaged with the same parsha as we study. The prayers we say on Shabbat morning are the same prayers said in Prague, Moscow or Jerusalem. We are one family.

Reflecting on Learning

I teach congregational leadership. One of the attributes of successful leaders is a capacity for reflection.  I don’t recall if we have ever had a discussion about how the text study class is working for us. What is helpful? What is hard? Where are we on our journey? (Bob, what is it like to move from Ohio at age 60 and start over? What texts speak to this journey? ) How do these texts speak to us at this moment? Why do we stay? I feel I know enough to ask these questions.

While journaling is not part of our curriculum, I have taken this time to write about the experience. On reflection, I value teachers who connect us to sacred texts, sacred conversations and a sacred chevruta community.

When things get tough I try to reflect and not just react. On refection, I see that our class, while imperfect, gives us an opportunity to bring our life experience, our need for community and our thirst for learning to the foot of our Torah study table. I am glad I have stayed.