Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Good morning from Newark International Airport! 

I’m back in the States after an absolutely tremendous week of study at the Shalom Hartman Institute.  The theme of the RLI (Religious Leadership Initiative) winter session was focused on ethics.  Sessions ran the gamut from “The Ethics of Shabbat” to “The Ethics of Purim.”  My teachers were exceptional as always.  It’s such an honor to study with scholars who are at the forefront of Jewish learning.  I never thought that my educational experience at JTS would ever be eclipsed.  I was wrong.  Each time I study at Hartman I appreciate how lucky and fortunate I am to be exposed to the cutting edge scholarship which has made the Institute famous throughout the Jewish world. 

I also walked away from the winter retreat enriched by the experience of studying with my rabbinic colleagues b’havruta (in small groups prior to a teacher’s shiur (lecture), sharing ideas with them as well as learning something new and innovative from each of them.  This winter I finally had the opportunity to study with my friend and colleague, Rabbi David Cohen.  During the year Rabbi Cohen is my designated havruta partner.  We study together in preparation for our weekly Hartman distance learning sessions.  Last July Rabbi Cohen was completing his studies at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, which prevented him from joining our RLI cohort for the beginning of the program.  It was so great to finally study with him in Jerusalem, to walk its sidewalks with him, and to hang on for dear life as he drove on its streets!  I’d even go out on a limb and say that the “trains, planes and automobiles” journey we shared to get back to Milwaukee (we’re actually still in process) in the wake of the blizzard that struck the east coast and Midwest in the last two days has been blast; although I wouldn’t want to do it again.  I’m really blessed to have such an exceptional colleague with which to share my Hartman RLI experience.  Learning and collaborating together is good for the two of us, for our respective congregations and for the Milwaukee Jewish community.

In four short months we’ll both be back at Machon Hartman for our July seminar.  I’m looking forward again to studying at the “Harvard University of the Jewish world” in the Jewish world’s holiest city, Jerusalem!