Absolutely loved this tale! Very much like Frost's "The Road Not Taken" which has stuck ta me all my life--but I liked the haimish twist and that all joined in--in song. The songs & stories we pass along ARE who we are--they've gotten many've us this far--come rain 'er shine (oy, let's hope 2025 brings more shine--no guarantees....)
Also I never heard of this Renewal synagogue even tho' my older daughter swam at the 92nd St Y every week an' we attended so many events there! (What goes on under yer nose, eh?) I had ta look inta this rabbi--I'm intrigued an' never heard of this "Renewal" effort (except far outside the faith on commercials fer leather upholstery treatments ha ha)
Fwiw, I grew up Reform an' apart from havin' some of the most stunnin'ly borin' instructors that would'a been better applyin' wallpaper paste than teachin' children (their history & torah instruction would'a put even the Eveready Bunny ta sleep! so sad what I'd missed out on....) --there were exactly FOUR things I loved about Sunday school & temple--1. the songs--our Cantor was so good he got invited ta join the Met opera so we lucked out with a living "Jazz Singer" amidst us--AND we also sang each week 2. the shows (we put on 2 holiday plays/ year plus purim skits--musicals too), an' 3. our "middle school" ballroom dancin' classes (too short lived! "tri temple cotillion lol") and 4. last but not least, he STORIES like this'un!
Despite lackluster teachers we had two great rabbis that were both wonderful story tellers-- every
"sermon" had one good story (some as moral tales but always colorful, often "starring" a fool who was not so foolish!)--AND years ago I found an'nuther storyteller I adore, arguably even better than rabbis--a sage herself! Professor Ruth Wisse--she has the "knack!" Such a delight--look 'er up--free lit. classes on Yivo too.
So it was the stories that held me--prayers, no so much, the rest...feh. Indeed, we LIVE by stories! They (imho) kin change hearts & minds more than lectures, pleadin', bribes, or even consequences... THIS was a good one! (Off ta check out the story-teller now!)
Thank you for adding your testimony and pointer to Professors Wisse.
Sadly, I can't point to any of the positives you did growing up with a conservative synagogue Sunday school training. I found no nourishment there. Is that harsh? Perhaps. It's hard to see the big picture of your life's tapestry.
We are due for some shine and I wish you and yours the very best!
whuther reform, conservative & even orthodox I think we kin all gripe ta varyin' degrees bout the lackluster instruction when it could'a been SO well-done so much better! The lackluster "jooish education" is what makes kids RUN from it all (which I did at age 13 no regrets, tho' I made it back "my way--like the Sinatra song!")--more 'er less as a "humanistic chew" but with my own "rewrites!"
But we all missed lots that good instructors could have gifted us (good teachin' a gift indeed!). Funny story too--I have a good friend who is Orthodox (our girls are buddies) an' she took me to this Orthodox "all ages rave party" 'bout a year before the plandemic--YES! a jooish rave an' it was SO much fun, everyone dancin' to live music (jazz klezmer)--kids, teens, oldsters, youngsters, an' even us middle aged mamas an' our daughters--we stayed 'til 3am an' it still was hoppin'! My friend tells me these go on monthly all year an' the 20th sumthin's find good matches there. No separation of the men & the laydeez, married, single, all dance together--at least half the older women didn't have shaidels so this is a new thing mebbe?--all danced together holdin' hands, in circles, in serpentines--they had a "caller" who called in yiddish & english--this clearly was NOT "ultra"--but still, who knew this existed with the orthodox paradigm?--there's a wealth of stuff lots of us never knew about (in fact were it no for my friend this too would have been waaay off radar). This temple was on the Upper West Side if ya know the city. A real freilach an' who'd'a thunk?! So the older I git the more I find I have to RE-learn... I believe we all got short changed so I've been makin' up on lost time--my "goils" are my excuse.
To wit, I never read torah on my own (Bellow on my own Roth on my own Torah nevah!) but Naomi Wolf is doin' readin's (including in Hebrew) an' makes it all come alive--not quite a "rave" but great stuff--the stories are fascinatin' the lyrical Hebrew (she translates an' reads beautifully--) far more vibrant then I imagined. IMHO, it's all about the "teacher"--it's like night an' day compared to what I "larned" (or didn't is more like it!) as a kid. Here ya go fer a look-see--it's good stuff...
Oh an' here's Ruth--she is "da bomb" if yer a fan of story tellin'! (her leavin' Harvard b/c of the wokeness bug wuz their loss, our gain as she lectures all over now)
ps not harsh btw--for a culture that loves literature an' the arts an' history an' klezmer an'...JOY!... most sunday schools should hang their heads in shame!--unless I'm mistaken I don't think "most" have changed much in all these years--an' THAT is a shonda as it could be SO much "bettah!" (There are folks around that COULD reimagine it--just as universities have ta be reinvented now--whatta mess THEY've become!) Anywhoo, I really enjoyed this postin' an' I'll be all ears if ya share more stories for as the "vizemen knew" they are so much MORE than meets the eye!
Daisy, Thanks for the additional wisdom and links.
There is an old saying, "the closer you get to Philadelphia, the more all roads converge."
Today, I was writing an essay on David Hume's theory of no-self. He explains it better than any modern "teacher" of non-duality. Yet almost all these teachers have never read Hume.
All "truth" is filled from the same well but we all respond to various flavors.
Wow. Wow. That story brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much Prof Brownstein for sharing it. A beautiful way to end my evening. You have inspired to follow up the Hasidic Tales book at some stage. Thanks again.
Absolutely loved this tale! Very much like Frost's "The Road Not Taken" which has stuck ta me all my life--but I liked the haimish twist and that all joined in--in song. The songs & stories we pass along ARE who we are--they've gotten many've us this far--come rain 'er shine (oy, let's hope 2025 brings more shine--no guarantees....)
Also I never heard of this Renewal synagogue even tho' my older daughter swam at the 92nd St Y every week an' we attended so many events there! (What goes on under yer nose, eh?) I had ta look inta this rabbi--I'm intrigued an' never heard of this "Renewal" effort (except far outside the faith on commercials fer leather upholstery treatments ha ha)
Fwiw, I grew up Reform an' apart from havin' some of the most stunnin'ly borin' instructors that would'a been better applyin' wallpaper paste than teachin' children (their history & torah instruction would'a put even the Eveready Bunny ta sleep! so sad what I'd missed out on....) --there were exactly FOUR things I loved about Sunday school & temple--1. the songs--our Cantor was so good he got invited ta join the Met opera so we lucked out with a living "Jazz Singer" amidst us--AND we also sang each week 2. the shows (we put on 2 holiday plays/ year plus purim skits--musicals too), an' 3. our "middle school" ballroom dancin' classes (too short lived! "tri temple cotillion lol") and 4. last but not least, he STORIES like this'un!
Despite lackluster teachers we had two great rabbis that were both wonderful story tellers-- every
"sermon" had one good story (some as moral tales but always colorful, often "starring" a fool who was not so foolish!)--AND years ago I found an'nuther storyteller I adore, arguably even better than rabbis--a sage herself! Professor Ruth Wisse--she has the "knack!" Such a delight--look 'er up--free lit. classes on Yivo too.
So it was the stories that held me--prayers, no so much, the rest...feh. Indeed, we LIVE by stories! They (imho) kin change hearts & minds more than lectures, pleadin', bribes, or even consequences... THIS was a good one! (Off ta check out the story-teller now!)
Thank you for adding your testimony and pointer to Professors Wisse.
Sadly, I can't point to any of the positives you did growing up with a conservative synagogue Sunday school training. I found no nourishment there. Is that harsh? Perhaps. It's hard to see the big picture of your life's tapestry.
We are due for some shine and I wish you and yours the very best!
ditto back Barry re the shine!
whuther reform, conservative & even orthodox I think we kin all gripe ta varyin' degrees bout the lackluster instruction when it could'a been SO well-done so much better! The lackluster "jooish education" is what makes kids RUN from it all (which I did at age 13 no regrets, tho' I made it back "my way--like the Sinatra song!")--more 'er less as a "humanistic chew" but with my own "rewrites!"
But we all missed lots that good instructors could have gifted us (good teachin' a gift indeed!). Funny story too--I have a good friend who is Orthodox (our girls are buddies) an' she took me to this Orthodox "all ages rave party" 'bout a year before the plandemic--YES! a jooish rave an' it was SO much fun, everyone dancin' to live music (jazz klezmer)--kids, teens, oldsters, youngsters, an' even us middle aged mamas an' our daughters--we stayed 'til 3am an' it still was hoppin'! My friend tells me these go on monthly all year an' the 20th sumthin's find good matches there. No separation of the men & the laydeez, married, single, all dance together--at least half the older women didn't have shaidels so this is a new thing mebbe?--all danced together holdin' hands, in circles, in serpentines--they had a "caller" who called in yiddish & english--this clearly was NOT "ultra"--but still, who knew this existed with the orthodox paradigm?--there's a wealth of stuff lots of us never knew about (in fact were it no for my friend this too would have been waaay off radar). This temple was on the Upper West Side if ya know the city. A real freilach an' who'd'a thunk?! So the older I git the more I find I have to RE-learn... I believe we all got short changed so I've been makin' up on lost time--my "goils" are my excuse.
To wit, I never read torah on my own (Bellow on my own Roth on my own Torah nevah!) but Naomi Wolf is doin' readin's (including in Hebrew) an' makes it all come alive--not quite a "rave" but great stuff--the stories are fascinatin' the lyrical Hebrew (she translates an' reads beautifully--) far more vibrant then I imagined. IMHO, it's all about the "teacher"--it's like night an' day compared to what I "larned" (or didn't is more like it!) as a kid. Here ya go fer a look-see--it's good stuff...
https://genevabiblereadingsbynaomiwolf.substack.com/?
Oh an' here's Ruth--she is "da bomb" if yer a fan of story tellin'! (her leavin' Harvard b/c of the wokeness bug wuz their loss, our gain as she lectures all over now)
Here's a start... enjoy!
https://tikvahfund.org/course/sholem-aleichems-tevye-the-dairyman/
ps not harsh btw--for a culture that loves literature an' the arts an' history an' klezmer an'...JOY!... most sunday schools should hang their heads in shame!--unless I'm mistaken I don't think "most" have changed much in all these years--an' THAT is a shonda as it could be SO much "bettah!" (There are folks around that COULD reimagine it--just as universities have ta be reinvented now--whatta mess THEY've become!) Anywhoo, I really enjoyed this postin' an' I'll be all ears if ya share more stories for as the "vizemen knew" they are so much MORE than meets the eye!
Daisy, Thanks for the additional wisdom and links.
There is an old saying, "the closer you get to Philadelphia, the more all roads converge."
Today, I was writing an essay on David Hume's theory of no-self. He explains it better than any modern "teacher" of non-duality. Yet almost all these teachers have never read Hume.
All "truth" is filled from the same well but we all respond to various flavors.
Wow. Wow. That story brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much Prof Brownstein for sharing it. A beautiful way to end my evening. You have inspired to follow up the Hasidic Tales book at some stage. Thanks again.