Holiness - Kedushah
with Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Essess and Tobi Kahn
דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם : קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
Speak to the entire community of the Children of Israel, and say to them:
Holy are you to be, for holy am I, YHWH your God!
Leviticus 19:1
Holiness (Kedusha), the ever-elusive something on which the entire Jewish enterprise is built, is woven into Torah. It is a quality with which God imbues the world through iconic institutions such as Shabbat, the Tabernacle (the mishkan or mikdash), the Nazirite and the ethical and ritual laws that make the Jewish people themselves holy. And it is laced into Jewish practice, encoded in the blessing formula over rituals that we say daily: “Blessed are you God who has made us holy through your commandments.” While holiness is ultimately a mysterious concept, the Torah makes clear in Leviticus 19:1 that becoming holy means to become like God, the very way that Jews mirror divinity.
Through text study, reflection, conversation and creating art, we will attempt to approach this mysterious concept, and as we do, we perhaps come closer to the nature of divinity itself.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS’ BEIT MIDRASH
Now in its 24th year, this Beit Midrash explores the vast scope of visual interpretation through the Talmud. The rabbis themselves, the Talmud’s interlocutors, used myriad characters to demonstrate everything from spiritual transcendence to the power of magic. We examine the historical context, artistry and psychology of their constructed narratives, as well as their visual, literary and theological dimensions. Participants explore these works through study, discussion, their own imaginations and shared creations.
This group is open both to those who have never studied texts before and those deeply invested in study. We meet for two hours weekly via Zoom. The first hour is text based and the second is a critique led by Tobi Kahn of artworks created by the students inspired by the studied texts. He will also meet each participant in person at least once during the semester for in-depth critiques.