The School of Education has released a new digital publication from Beit HaYotzer/the Creativity Braintrust entitled “Revelation is Just the Beginning,” a creative conversation about finding revelation during difficult times. Beit HaYotzer is an incubator designed to catalyze Jewish creative thinkers – artists, practitioners, and academics – in collaborative experimentation around what Jewish teaching, educational leadership, and learning can become in the creative age, and disseminate the teaching and the artistic works to individuals and communities everywhere.
“Revelation is Just the Beginning” is a curation of the ideas shared in the culminating episode of the web series “Reclaiming Time, Self and Voice: Counting and Recounting the Omer.” It features the contributions of the four artist-scholars affiliated with Beit HaYotzer/the Creativity Braintrust—a project of the School of Education at Hebrew Union College made possible by the generous support of the Covenant Foundation. Our web series took place during the traditional counting of 49 days from Passover to Shavuot, in April and May 2020, Nisan and Iyar 5780. During those trying weeks in the early surge of the pandemic, we explored themes of navigating the wilderness, owning vulnerability and privilege, finding revelation amidst uncertainty, and accessing creativity during challenging times. What emerged in the final conversation was a series of evergreen lessons about what it means to be human that continue to guide us as our experience unfolds.
Aaron Henne, artist-scholar of Beit HaYotzer, shares, “It is so inspiring to work with HUC students on developing their personal and professional narratives. In some of the sessions I have facilitated, my goal has been to help participants find their personal exodus stories that connect meaningfully to their missions and values. I have been fortunate to work with students in different cohorts and one thing they all have in common is a deep caring for their communities which intersects with a desire to educate, inform, and enlighten. This care shows up in the stories they share and the mindfulness with which they approach their own learning.”
The publication is an invitation to join the conversation, as all of our yearning for revelation and understanding continues to emerge. Whether you are preparing for Shavuot, the holidays associated with receiving Torah, or in a reflective stance any time of the year, this conversation will nourish your individual contemplation and your engagement with others.
In this moment of awakening and hope for change, what are you dreaming about? What dreams would you like to share?
Dr. Miriam Heller Stern is the project director of “Revelation is Just the Beginning.” She says, “Our moment in history is filled with uncertainty and opportunity, and we want to foster a Jewish educational enterprise that prepares this generation of learners to think and act creatively as they face challenges and imagine a world they want to see.”
Access our new publication, “Revelation is Just the Beginning,” edited by Miriam Heller Stern and Miriam R. Haier.
Please find more information about this project here.