Rabbi Bruce's Blog (10)
Return to Blog, Updates
It is been a few minutes (years) of mostly posting on https://www.facebook.com/rabbi.bruce or other social media sites (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabbi.bruce/)
Check out some of what I have been up to on those sites.
I left Amherst College Religious & Spiritual Life after 21 years at the end of the 2023 academic year and am now working on the next chapter of my life journey.
Here are a few pictures from my work over that time (ironically, it is harder to find pictures from recent years than earlier years. Hopefully, I can track down more pictures to add):
Even though it was long before I started at Amherst, an early highlight of my campus experience was giving an invocation before former Israeli Prime Minister spoke at Drew University in 1997 or 1998:In a recent Commencement Speech, Bill Gates wrote:The first thing is, your life isn’t a one-act play.
You probably feel a lot of pressure right now to make the right decisions about your career. It might feel like those decisions are permanent. They’re not. What you do tomorrow—or for the next ten years—does not have to be what you do forever.
When I left school, I thought I would work at Microsoft for the rest of my life.
Today, I still love my work on software, but philanthropy is my full-time job. I spend my days working to create innovations that fight climate change and reduce inequalities around the world—including in health and education.
I feel lucky that our foundation gets to support amazing institutions like NAU—even if it’s not what I imagined I’d be doing when I was 22. Not only is it okay to change your mind or have a second career… it can be a very good thing.
I am embracing this teaching that my life isn't a one-act play. Like Bill, I decided what I wanted to do while I was a college student. I knew during my time leading Franklin & Marshall Hillel that I wanted top be a rabbi and work on campus.
Now, I am looking for new challenges and opportunities to fulfill my next chapter in life. I am open to ideas and networking opportunities.
Please be in touch,
Rabbi Bruce
Birthright Expands
The Artist as Leader: Idan Raichel
"From the beginning, Idan saw the project as a collaboration between artists who each bring their own musical culture and talents to the stage. “There would be no front man,” Idan says. “I would sit at the side and watch things and see what occurs. Every song would have a different singer, we would sit in a half circle and each musician would have a chance to demonstrate what they have to offer" (http://www.idanraichelproject.com/en/)At a reception following the concert organized by the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, I went up to him to explain how impressed I was with his leadership style. If I had it with me, I would have shared the famous article by Rabbi Eugene Borowitz entitled “Tzimtzum: A Mystic Model for Contemporary Leadership.” (This is not an exact link but instead a link to an article in Shma that discusses the 1974 article). This article discusses a method of leadership that is not about individual power but about the community empowerment: "leaders to exercise restraint of power in order to “make space” for people to emerge in their full humanity." Today it may not be as unusual as an idea as it was in 1974 but it is still far from the norm (especially in many parts of the Jewish community). I have never seen as compelling example of this type of leadership as Idan Raichel in his performance (and in the project as a whole). When I mentioned this to Idan (who recently shaved his well-known dreadlocks), he smiled and said "that is exactly it but I have never thought of it that way." He may never have thought in terms of Leadership by Tzimtzum but it is obvious that he is a regular practitioner of it:
"This sentiment is reflected in the decision to name the collective The Idan Raichel Project. Says Raichel, “If I had called the album just ‘Idan Raichel,’ people would have thought that Raichel is the main voice on all the songs. I wrote the songs and I arranged and produced them, but I perform them together with other vocalists and musicians. On the other hand, we are not a group. It’s something in between." To date over 95 different singers aged 16 to 91 years old from dozens of different countries and cultural backgrounds haveparticipated in the Project’s recordings or performances.” (http://www.idanraichelproject.com/en/)What examples of this type of leadership do you see in your communities? Does it work? How can we better bring this type of leadership to our communities? How can I be this type of leader? I look forward to your comments and reactions. Rabbi Bruce
Passover Preparation and Sources
- The Maccabeats released a Les Mis Passover medley
- Jacob Richman posts educational/entertaining videos for Jewish holidays. Here is this year's Passover list.
- Rabbi Dov Lerner collects Passover material and has downloadable Haggadot for you to make your own at Jewishfreeware.org I have seen this site grow in material and use--it should keep you busy for years of Seders.
- For Kosher for Passover (K4P) recipes and great general Kosher recipes, I suggest Jamie Gellers' Joy of Kosher.
- I use the Rabbinical Assembly Pesah Guide and the Operation Pesach FAQs for information on K4P, kashering, ingredients, etc.
- Last Minute Addition (not for those without a sense of humor):