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WHY SOME JEWISH PROFESSIONALS CRAVE TORAH LISHMAH WITH THEIR MORNING COFFEE It's 7:30 on a freezing Boston morning, and the roads and sidewalks are slicked with ice. At the Longwood Medical Center, early-rising health care workers grab a quick cup of coffee and glance at the day's headlines in their rush to hospital floors and offices.
And they are not alone. All over the Boston area—at Longwood, in the Financial District, in Cambridge, Roslindale and Newton Centre—busy professionals start their day with Jewish text study, through the early morning workplace study program sponsored by the Adult Learning Collaborative of Hebrew College and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. For over 17 years, dedicated adults have risen early to study Tanakh, Talmud, Hasidic texts and Midrash with some of the area's leading adult educators at these workplace classes, designed to expand access to Jewish study beyond the synagogue and campus, into the community. "Bringing learning to the people, where it will be convenient and accessible, is a big part of our mission," says Allen Katzoff, Director of Hebrew College's Center for Adult Jewish Learning. The sunrise schedule is no deterrent. Even the Blizzard of 2003 did not keep away one hearty Longwood student, who trekked in through the snow and was disappointed to discover that class had been canceled. The content is the draw. Participants study how biblical texts governing the harvest can apply to business ethical dilemmas, draw inspiration from prophetic messages of hope, examine rabbinical writings on conflict resolution and more. The experience is often so compelling that students form cohesive groups and study together for years, according to Gloria Greeneld, the Collaborative's director. "Bringing learning to the people, where it will be convenient and accessible, is a big part of our mission," says Allen Katzoff. "It's an oasis of sorts," says pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Norman Spack, Prozdor alumnus and former Hebrew College Board of Directors Chair, and the Longwood group's organizer since its inception. "The teachers are phenomenal. It's the best part of the week and a great way to start the day." On this Tuesday morning, ten students await their instructor with Bibles open to the week's Torah portion—VaYakel—which details the construction of the sacred tabernacle in the wilderness. Enter Dr. Bonna Haberman, wearing a large scarf swirled around her shoulders. Before she can even reach the whiteboard at the front of the room, the class springs into action, peppering her with questions and offering insights on the text.
Haberman, a popular teacher for the Collaborative, and Founder and Director of the Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activism at Brandeis's Women's Studies Research Center, says that her students often make connections among their professional lives, their medical knowledge and the text. For Thomas Schwarz, a PhD scientist in the Longwood group, parsha study of temple sacrifice has had particular relevance to his work in an animal research lab. Studying how brain neurons communicate, to gain a better understanding of learning, memory and affective disorders, Schwarz and his colleagues "sacrifice"—a term they use deliberately—fruit flies and mice in the course of their experiments. "Medical research is the highest use of killing animals and, although it's not easy, I've made my peace with it," he says. "Sacrifice is not just a euphemism but a reference to the most holy of biblical acts. I approach my work with a deeper sense of kavannah—understanding what the sacrificial order means in biblical terms." Such connections are common. Katzoff says that's exactly the point—by offering Jewish study in professional settings, the program provides a Jewish framework and perspective for people's work encounters. "The carryover is wonderful," Spack affirms. "You see your colleagues in the hall and you discuss Jewish text." Getting that weekly dose of spiritual and intellectual insight has proved habit-forming for many participants. "When I joined the group in 2000," says Schwarz, the research scientist, "I was extremely skeptical. But it's been absolutely amazing. I've found a community here." Jill Suzanne Jacobs is a writer and Jewish educator |
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In one corner of the Longwood campus, however, in a Children's Hospital conference room, a small group of medical professionals takes pause—poring not over medical records, but sacred text.
The discussion soon turns to the connection between the tabernacle as the dwelling place of God and the human body as the dwelling place of the soul. "The attention and detail to every single vessel and instrument in the sacred service of the tabernacle parallels the doctors' refined and very precise attention to the wellness of the human being," says Haberman. "There is even a parallel between the tabernacle and the human body. Both are sacred vessels."