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ShareInspired by Jewish Studio Project, Texts exploring Creativity and Hebrew Letters
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
When "The-Life-Of-Olamim" began to create heaven and earth—
(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
(27) And ChaiO created human in The-Life-Of-Olamim's image, in The-Life-Of-Olamim's image, ChaiO created; male and female ChaiO created them.
God is the creative force of the universe, and human beings are made in the Divine image; therefore, human beings are created as creators. Each and every one of us is endowed with creative capacity, simply by being human. Accessing and activating our creativity is how we partner with God in the ongoing work of creation.
-Rabbi Adina Allen, Jewish Studio Project
From Lawrence Kushner Book of Miracles:
Each generation is linked to the next by its actions. We depend on those who came before us, just as someday our children will depend on us. For this reason, all the generations are connected to one another. In the same way generations are linked, we are also connected to all the people around us.
When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they carried a portable temple called the mishkan, the wilderness tabernacle. When the work of the mishkan was finally completed, the Torah says that "the tabernacle was
'one." (Exodus 36:13) Rabbi Mordecai Yosef of the Polish town, Ishbitz, thought that this was an odd thing to say about a building. Perhaps, he suggested, the Torah is not telling us something about the building but about its builders and how they worked.
While building the mishkan, all the children of Israel worked as a team. Each person, contributing only one small part, felt as important as every other person. After the mishkan was completed, they saw how their individual tasks fit together, as if one person had constructed the whole thing. Realizing how they had depended on one another, they understood that the tabernacle was 'one. Even the person who made the Holy Ark itself realized that he was no more important than the person who made only the courtyard tent pegs.
We are joined therefore, not only to people who have lived long before us and who will live after we have died, but to people now living, to people we do not know. Invisible lines of depending are everywhere, as if millions of glistening threads tie us to the universe and the universe to us. Nothing is ever detached, alone. We are all parts of one great living organism.
Each generation is linked to the next by its actions. We depend on those who came before us, just as someday our children will depend on us. For this reason, all the generations are connected to one another. In the same way generations are linked, we are also connected to all the people around us.
When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they carried a portable temple called the mishkan, the wilderness tabernacle. When the work of the mishkan was finally completed, the Torah says that "the tabernacle was
'one." (Exodus 36:13) Rabbi Mordecai Yosef of the Polish town, Ishbitz, thought that this was an odd thing to say about a building. Perhaps, he suggested, the Torah is not telling us something about the building but about its builders and how they worked.
While building the mishkan, all the children of Israel worked as a team. Each person, contributing only one small part, felt as important as every other person. After the mishkan was completed, they saw how their individual tasks fit together, as if one person had constructed the whole thing. Realizing how they had depended on one another, they understood that the tabernacle was 'one. Even the person who made the Holy Ark itself realized that he was no more important than the person who made only the courtyard tent pegs.
We are joined therefore, not only to people who have lived long before us and who will live after we have died, but to people now living, to people we do not know. Invisible lines of depending are everywhere, as if millions of glistening threads tie us to the universe and the universe to us. Nothing is ever detached, alone. We are all parts of one great living organism.
"Each of Us is a Letter ...."
| Of the many men whom I am, whom we are, I cannot settle on a single one. They are lost to me under the cover of clothing They have departed for another city. When everything seems to be set to show me off as a man of intelligence, the fool I keep concealed on my person takes over my talk and occupies my mouth. On other occasions, I am dozing in the midst of people of some distinction, and when I summon my courageous self, a coward completely unknown to me swaddles my poor skeleton in a thousand tiny reservations. When a stately home bursts into flames, instead of the fireman I summon, an arsonist bursts on the scene, and he is I. There is nothing I can do. What must I do to distinguish myself? How can I put myself together? …. Pablo Neruda (modern Chilean poet), “We Are Many” |
