USCJ Review - Spring 2007
Adding Our Own Words and Voices to the Service – Special Gifts in Poetry and Prose
Almost two years ago, in the summer of 2005, Rabbi David Ebstein spoke to Lynn Saul, one of our congregants who teaches writing at a local community college, about starting a creative writers’ group. This would be an opportunity for congregants to write original prayers, midrashim and commentaries on High Holy Day themes. After meeting for about two months, the group produced a booklet of original writings and read our work during High Holy Day services. Encouraged by an enthusiastic response from the rest of the congregation, the Bet Shalom Writers’ Group has continued to flourish, providing books of new writings for our congregants to use during High Holidays and at Passover seders.
Many of us eagerly embraced the opportunity to write. Although the only published poet and writer in our group is our facilitator, Lynn, the rest of us, with varying degrees of previous writing experience, are truly “non-professionals.” In the workshop, we think less about ourselves as writers and more about who we are in relation to our Judaism. We are, each in our own ways, searching for a special connection to Judaism. The assignments and prompts we are given force us to confront Jewish traditions and texts in new ways. We hear and are inspired by the special nusach used at the High Holidays and we hear the sound of the shofar. We are inspired very deeply by what we hear, what we see and feel, and what touches us. We smell the Kiddush meal after Shabbat. The Passover maror and the charoset, the bitter and the sweet tastes reminiscent of our people’s exodus from slavery in to freedom, remain in our memories from the last seder. We taste all these wonderful delicacies. It is these amazing sensory experiences that we re-capture in our writings. And our writings fill in the blanks where the traditional prayers and stories leave off.
From confusion and uncertainty, we try to make sense of what is being said in these prayers and in other readings. Sometimes it is sufficient to write about our own inner turmoil and discomfort with stories like those in Genesis, which are read at the High Holidays. An example here, year in and year out, is the binding of Isaac, the Akedah. We never really come to a comfortable place with the Akedah. We never really understand why so many of our matriarchs are infertile and feel inferior because of this. We find the Sarah- Abraham-Hagar triangle very painful and we question the decision Abraham makes to send Hagar and their son, Ishmael, away. From these thoughts, questions, and disagreements are born the beautiful writings we later read during High Holiday services. Each one of us makes a significant, unique contribution.
Our meetings give us an opportunity to share and give feedback to one another on our individual writings. This is a positive exchange. We learn and grow as a result of this interaction, and we incorporate the suggestions of others as we revise and edit our own work. We learn to clarify, to expand, and to find the perfect word, to give life to our thoughts and feelings.
We say, each one in a different voice, speaking unique words, how this experience has deepened our understanding of ourselves and has enhanced our knowledge of Judaism. Each of us entered in 5766 as one person; we finished these High Holidays 5767 as a different person. Much has to do with the pride and pleasure we derive from putting our pens to paper and creating truly original writings, writings that speak from within ourselves, from our hearts and from our souls, and we go beyond ourselves. We are enlivened, we are enriched, we are enhanced, and we are embracing Judaism in ways we never thought possible. Our writing is a gift to others, as well; the rest of the congregation finds that our work gives voice to their own inner thoughts and challenges them to rethink well-known prayers and stories.
Our writers’ group members will continue to write commentaries on the High Holiday and Passover prayers, as well as the readings included in the Haggadah. And we will read, discuss, consider, and comment on the prayers included in Shabbat and daily services. We will listen carefully to the messages from the Torah and haftorah portions, as they are chanted on Shabbat, the High Holidays, and the festivals. Our work will be intense; our gifts will be many.
Carol J. Wechsler Blatter is a participant and Lynn Saul is the facilitator of the Creative Writers’ Group at Congregation Bet Shalom in Tucson, Arizona.
