I am looking ahead! Sabbatical begins this coming week. I am so blessed that my congregation understands the need for rabbinic renewal. I just completed my 23rd year in the pulpit. And it has been a challenging 23 years. A good leader is a reflective leader and my time on Sabbatical helps me to grow, thinks and learn!
So I want to thank my wonderful Temple and its leadership for the wisdom to know that rabbis need recharging. So I am off once again to the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem to study for the month of July. This year our focus will be on the idea of Jewish peoplehood. This is an important idea -that although we Jews live in different countries we are still one people! We will look at this concept in many different ways through the biblical and rabbinic texts; through sociology and psychology; through a contemporary lens and also trying to imagine the Jewish future in this regard!
We are in class by 8:30 am and often go til 9 pm at night with a short break in the late afternoon. There is text study of rabbinic texts in a yeshiva style manner with a study partner. There are electives in the afternoon with a series of amazing professors from around the world. There are day trips to archaeological sites and evening presentations from Members of Knesset.
It is a full month of growing, learning and thinking.
So I will only blog sporadically until August. Each Thursday my Torah commentary will appear. I will report occasionally on things that are going on. But a part of a sabbatical is to take a break from the routine!
Wishing you a wonderful summer!