Jewish Art and Leadership - Cohort 20 goes to the Contemporary Jewish Museum!

Contributed by Chloe Middler

Our third meeting was hosted at the Contemporary Jewish Museum! We started off the evening by exploring an exhibit at the museum: The Negev Wheel. This was a super cool exhibit and we were all amazed by how beautiful it was. The piece is filled with sand from the Negev desert and rotates. We discussed the symbolism behind the wheel and what it means to be Jewish. We decided that even though the sand was imported from Israel, the sand in the wheel could have originated from anywhere in the world by the time the winds carried it there. What is important is that it ended up coming together in Israel, and thus illustrating a connection to Judaism.

Being Jewish doesn't have one set definition. You don't have to practice the religion in one certain way, or be from a certain place. A big part of our Jewish identity comes together though the community that we are all in, regardless of where we originally come from.

Our next activity was about leadership. We filled out a survey about our leadership style and then explored a text from Exodus about different leadership styles. We watched two people argue for something that they believed in, and observed their argument style/ability to prove their point. This led to a discussion of how to be an effective leader, even if that meant stepping back sometimes. 

After eating dinner, we heard from Talya Feldman, a representative from IsraAid. She told us about her experience in Greece, helping Syrian refugees. She, and the members of IsraAid, worked with Palestinians, Israelis, and other people from all over the world in order to accomplish one goal. She told us that she learned the importance of not only respecting, but celebrating each others differences. She said that these people are now a part of her family, even though they come from so many different backgrounds.

Overall, it was an illuminating night full of rich and eye-opening discussions. We are so excited to see each other again at our first Shabbaton retreat!