annual report 2019

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Intellectual Excitement and Accessibility: I had the great fortune to audit a class in Modern Jewish Thought taught by Rabbi David Hartman z"l when he was a visiting professor at UCLA. He made it exciting to think and wonder about the nature of Jewish observance, the meaning of commandedness, and the relationship between Israel and the Jewish polity. He was very "hamish" and easy to connect with personally. I imagined that the Shalom Hartman Institute would be equally exciting intellectually as well as nurturing and accessible. I discovered an organization filled with people who cared about Jews and Judaism, who were serious in their intention to live Jewish lives and comfortable with diverse expressions of that intention. Equally important was the experience of a warm and nurturing community that I think is a hallmark of the Hartman Institute.

 

Sustaining and Enriching Jewish Life: The dedication to the study and interpretation of Jewish texts as a way to enrich the present lives of Jews in America is a profound methodology well utilized by SHI North America. All Jews have access to and a relationship with the same sources. By studying them together, the participants reinforce their sense of common purpose and interdependence as well as sustaining and enriching their Jewishness. SHI North America is also dedicated to "teaching the teachers," providing them with source materials and insight as to how to interpret and reinterpret these texts within the framework of their individual Jewish communities.

 

Impactful Programs: SHI’s Be’eri program has helped to nurture and foster the resurgence of lived Judaism in Israel. I was deeply moved when an 11th grade student whose family had never observed a single Jewish practice prior to the implementation of the program in her school spoke about how her life, and her family's life, were enriched by the program.

 

I hope the new "Foundations for a Thoughtful Judaism" program will make a similar impact in North America. This initiative exposes Jews who are in the early stages of creating their family to the ideas that have shaped Judaism. We further aim to demonstrate how these ideas have been translated into Jewish practice and the creation of a Jewish community. We hope that by gaining an understanding of these ideas and practices through the lens of a multivocal Jewish experience, participants will want to actively incorporate them into their lives and the life of their family. 

 

Advocating for Diversity and Acceptance: The Hartman Institute is devoted to helping Jews create and maintain a rich and diverse Jewish life and identity. Without SHI, there would be no focused and insistent Jewish voice advocating for diversity and acceptance within the whole of Jewish life. There would be no voice speaking of the necessity of maintaining Israel as a democratic state which is home for all of the Jewish people.  To be Jewish in the modern world involves, for many Jews, a conscious decision to lead a Jewish life. The programs of the Hartman Institute are uniquely qualified to help that person find a way to maintain, support, and make meaningful the decision to be Jewish.