{"id":29524,"date":"2018-06-29T03:59:34","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=29524"},"modified":"2018-06-28T10:07:55","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:07:55","slug":"encounters-with-the-divine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2018\/06\/29\/encounters-with-the-divine\/","title":{"rendered":"Encounters with the divine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barbara Pelman speaks at the opening of the exhibit Encounters, which is at Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria this summer. (photo by Frances Aknai)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On June 3, the exhibit Encounters opened at Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria. It is the culmination of the most recent Calling All Artists exchange, a project that has been going on for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cBible has to be interpreted to be relevant,\u201d said Barbara Pelman, coordinator of Calling All Artists since its inception. \u201cAll Renaissance art is Bible interpretation. That\u2019s what we do with this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2004, Pelman was the head of the adult education committee at the synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Harry [Brechner] came up with the idea to gather a bunch of artists and writers for a few study sessions to teach them a particular theme and its rabbinic interpretation,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI thought it was a wonderful idea. The sessions were conducted once a month for five months. Afterwards, the artists would offer their own interpretations of the theme, and the synagogue would have an exhibit of their works.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the congregation also produced colourful chapbooks \u2013 mini catalogues of the exhibitions \u2013 in previous years, they did not do so this year.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the project, the artists have studied a variety of subjects. The first exchange was based on the topic of Paradise, and the exhibit was held in 2005. In subsequent years, themes have included dreams and prophecies; creation; the Book of Ruth; death and afterlife; and reinventing rituals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe missed a few years since the beginning,\u201d said Pelman. \u201cOnce, we thought that maybe we are finished with the project and won\u2019t do it anymore, but everyone involved said, \u2018No! No! We should continue.\u2019 Another year, holidays interfered.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme examines divine-human interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens in these encounters? What does one look like and how is it reported and remembered? What are some examples in biblical and rabbinical tales? How do we understand divinity and how does that understanding affect our worldview? These are some of the questions the artists of different genres have been exploring,\u201d Pelman explained.<\/p>\n

She said that not all participating artists are members of the congregation, or even Jewish. \u201cThe project is open to the community,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year, 30 people signed up for the project; 17 artists remained to the end to exhibit their works. Five of them are not Jewish, but all of them are interested in learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studying with the rabbi is a mandatory part of Calling All Artists, Pelman said. \u201cThis entire project is about learning from those who know more than we do. The point is not to exhibit but to learn. That\u2019s why the art is not vetted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Encounters features a range of artistic genres, including pottery. (photo by Frances Aknai)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Participating artists represent a wide variety of media and genres, as well as skill levels. Some participants are professionals; others do art as a hobby. The exhibits feature photographs and paintings, fibre art and pottery, sculpture and poetry. Every piece is accompanied by an explanation of the work by the artist.<\/p>\n

Pelman is a poet, so her involvement in every year\u2019s project has been a poem. For her, divinity is not an all-knowing old guy somewhere above. \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest and best part of you, of us all,\u201d she said. \u201cHow do we find it? How does it inform our muse?\u201d This is what she contemplates in her poem for this year\u2019s explorative journey.<\/p>\n

Pelman worked as an English teacher for many years. She taught high school, college and university classes, and she has been writing poetry for a long time. \u201cI have three poetry books published,\u201d she said. \u201cThe last two by Ronsdale Press, a Vancouver publisher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another frequent participant in the project, artist and writer Isa Milman, said, \u201cI participated in the first Calling All Artists, The Paradise Project, in 2005. It was a spectacular experience. The combination of Rabbi Harry Brechner\u2019s teaching, the group of artists who gathered and learned from each other, wrestling with text that most of us were unfamiliar with, was truly energizing. The process involved five sessions spread over a few months, to learn from Harry\u2019s teachings and engage with one another, as we entered a spiritual quest for meaning. Then we went off to put our learning into practice and create our responses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milman has taken part in a number of Calling All Artists projects. \u201cI\u2019ve written poems as well as created paintings for these projects,\u201d she said. \u201cLearning with Rabbi Harry is an inspiration. He\u2019s a gifted teacher and a wonderful spiritual guide. My Jewish education was extremely Orthodox and doctrinaire and I rebelled against it. Learning Torah with Rabbi Harry is so different. It\u2019s an invitation to engage and converse, which I so welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Pelman speaks at the opening of the exhibit Encounters, which is at Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria this summer. (photo by Frances Aknai) On June 3, the exhibit Encounters opened at Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria. It is the culmination of the most recent Calling All Artists exchange, a project that has been going on for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[2466,8222,1332,8223,218,5701,6224],"class_list":["post-29524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art","tag-barbara-pelman","tag-emanu-el","tag-isa-milman","tag-judaism","tag-spirituality","tag-victoria"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}