Jewish spirituality was focus of Yom Limmud

By Eileen Wingard

Eileen Wingard
Eileen Wingard

LA JOLLA, California — Yom Limmud lived up to its name once more as some 400 participants, including Jewish educators and lay people, gathered to imbibe a day of Jewish learning on Sunday, August 30 at the Lawrence Family JCC.

Jewish religion, culture and nationhood encompass such a vast spectrum, that it is difficult to include sessions reflecting all aspects of Jewish life. Yet, I found this year’s offerings had an over abundance of spirituality and lacked any sessions focusing on the realities of Israel, the Jewish State. However, the five offerings I attended were all well-delivered presentations with plenty of food for thought.

Two of the lectures on my roster were by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer. The first dealt with the Jews of China, and, although I had heard this lecture before, having participated in his recently led tour, Japan and China through Jewish Eyes and having read his last book, Pepper, Silk and Ivory, I was still impressed by the remarkable stories about Jews who had a profound influence on China and the impassioned way the rabbi delivers his remarks. The stories of Moshe (Two-gun) Cohen and of Yacob Rosenfeld were particularly compelling. Cohen was Sun Yatsen’s body guard, later becoming a general in the Chinese army, and, through his influence, he assured that China abstained from the Security Council vote, despite pressure from the Arab States, and that the approval of the establishment of the State of Israel was brought to the General Assembly where China voted in favor of the referendum.

Vienna-born Dr. Yacob Rosenfeld was in Dachau and Buchenwald before he managed to escape to Shanghai. He joined Mao’s army and instructed medical personnel on the fundamentals of proper hygiene and sanitation. He became chief of medicine with the rank of general. He was one of Communist China’s heroes. Buried in a Tel Aviv cemetery, his grave is visited by every Chinese dignitary that comes to Israel.

Tokayer’s second lecture was on Jews in India and the many who participated in that country’s history. He told about India’s long history of religious and cultural tolerance toward the Jews. He talked about the Jews of Cochin and the ancient Bene Israel community. He described Miriam Alfassi,“The Mother,” a famous guru who was born in Paris and studied Kabbalah before going to India.

“We should know this history,” Tokayer proclaimed, “but we are blinded by the West.”

Another stimulating talk, Judaism Next: Rethinking What it is to be Jewish in the 21st Century, was by Rabbi Rami Shapiro of Nashville, Tennessee. He envisions the Judaism of our children as being a wisdom tradition: how to live life well. He estimated that today, only 6% of Jews attend services regularly. One of the attractive aspects of Judaism, he stated, is the fact that, as part of our tradition, Jews argue. Judaism, he said, is a culture of argument and doubt. Historically, Jews have called for revolution. Abraham and Sarah were revolutionaries. The rabbi feels that Judaism needs to fulfill its mission to become a light onto the nations. Through values such as Kashrut (watching what we eat), Chesed (charity), Shmirat ha Lashon (guarding our tongues), and Brachot (blessings), we can create a more meaningful Judaism.

He describes behavior, not blood, as the unifying element of Jews. He wants our common vision of the world — our values system — to be what makes us Jews. He defines Sukkot as the ideal Jewish holiday because it blends the fragility of the sukkah with the fertility of the land.

Rabbi Rami asserted that Judaism thrived because it continuously reinvented itself, and that future American Jewish generations will be less influenced by the Holocaust, by Zionism or by Jewish ethnic continuity.

Speaking to some of my fellow participants, I heard one remark that Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s lecture, The Untameable God: The Book of Job and the Nature of Evil, was the best lecture she had ever heard.  Unfortunately, I did not attend that lecture.

Rabbi Sherre Hirsch, the first female pulpit rabbi at Los Angeles’ largest conservative congregation, Sinai Temple, spoke about Thresholds: How to thrive Through Life’s Transitions to Live Fearlessly and Regret-Free. She compared our life to a diagram of a house,with various rooms and the hallways serving as the passageways, creating thresholds between the various periods in our life. It is in those hallways that some of the most important decisions are made. She discussed how we adapt to these transitions, their difficulties, the fear of failure, change and the possibility of suffering, and the need for faith in oneself to continue.

The concluding event was a concert in the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre by Girls in Trouble, featuring Alicia Jo Rabins on violin and vocals, with her husband accompanying on guitar.  Rabins writes songs about women of the Bible, incorporating familiar sounds of early American folksongs. She used a loop recorder to set a violin melody and then added counter melodies and vocals, creating interesting layers of sound. NBC.com lauded the band’s “melodic, spare gorgeousness.” They have been featured on CBC Radio and the BBC.

Another lecture I missed was Dr. Zev Bar Lev speaking on The Global Alphabet. This brilliant linguist continually attempts to develop new insights into connections between languages and their alphabets.

I look forward to next year’s Yom Limmud. In addition to the rich learning that takes place, it is a wonderful opportunity to meet members of the Jewish community of San Diego — some old friends, and others new to our growing Jewish community.

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Wingard, a former violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts. You may comment to her at eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com