| Summer 2009: Week Two |
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Greetings,
I love my job.
I love visiting courses and hearing the debates taking place that push the faculty and other participants to really think and consider their own positions and beliefs.
I love watching the participants and community educators sharpen their beliefs and understandings of the meaning and significance of Jewish community in our Connections sessions.
I love seeing new relationships for and existing relationships deepen all over campus throughout the entire day.
This past Shabbat morning, I sat with a small group of participants to explore the meaning of pluralism. We used the Genesis educators' philosophy document as our text. I was most moved by how much the participants are learning and discovering from one another - in their more formal programs, and even more importantly, in the powerful relationships they are forming.
This edition of our newsletter covers highlights from the courses, spotlights two guest speakers, and tells you more about how participants are enjoying making connections at Genesis.
If you would like to learn more about day-to-day life at Genesis, click here to see the daily schedules.
As always, please be in touch with us (781.736.8416 or email) if you have any questions or want to learn more about all that is going on this summer.
Bradley Solmsen
Director
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| Genesis Video and Photos |
Check out this week's video by clicking here, and click here to see pictures.
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| Courses |
Innovation and Revolution
This week, participants published articles about Genesis and BIMA on Wikipedia. This project required the participants not only to gain a better understanding of the two programs, but to learn how to write and publish articles on Wikipedia. Writing the two articles for Wikipedia has proven to be a great experience for the participants, as they were encouraged to step out of their typical roles and try out something new. Genesis and Wikipedia also share many ideals in common, as both encourage everyone in the community to work together towards common goal. Check out the Genesis Wikipedia article and BIMA Wikipedia article!
Journalism, Judaism, and Ethics
On Thursday, the Journalism course took a trip to the Boston Commons for an exercise in photojournalism. Participants were given some time to explore the Commons for a themed photo shoot entitled "A Day in the Park.” Some of the themes chosen by participants included children, history, and pollution. A couple of their pictures are featured below, and more can be found on the Genesis blog.
World Religions
We started our week by visiting the Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh in Newton, MA, and speaking about ritual, the idea of being present during your experiences, and mindfulness while practicing. We then began an introduction to Buddhism and ended our week with a visit to Shim Gum Do Zen Center in Boston. There, we participated in a sitting meditation, experienced a Dharma talk, a lecture on a Buddhist topic, by the Zen Master. Our day at the Zen Center ended with a zen sword demonstration by one of the students who practices at the center. Next week, we will transition into Christianity and will be visited by Brandeis University's Catholic chaplain.
Judaism and Justice
by Aaron Madow, Landsdale, PA
This week, we took a trip to the Salem Law Library which is inside the Salem courthouse to do some research on the cases we had been assigned. The trip was a really interesting experience, as we got to learn what it is like to do legal research. When we got back to campus, we got the opportunity to present our cases to the rest of the participants, explaining to everyone the basic facts and the court's rationale and ruling. All of the cases dealt with Jewish issues, for example, mine dealt with the laws of keeping kosher, another dealt with the issue of selling leavened bread products on Passover, and another about displaying the Ten Commandments in public. It has been really great this week to actually learn about real cases and apply what we learned in our first week.
Public Speaking
by Danielle Polovets, Moscow, Russia, and Ariela Lenetsky, Montreal, QC
It has been really challenging, but certainly very rewarding, to take a college-level course. The skills we are learning are extremely practical and will be useful throughout our lives. This week we have been learning about writing and delivering a D’var Torah (word of Torah), which is a really interesting way to incorporate Judaism into the class. Writing the D’var Torah has been a different experience than anything we have done before and we are looking forward to presenting them in front of the entire Genesis community.
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| Guest Speakers |
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at TV News
by Courtney Firestone, Toronto, ON
One of the most stimulating parts of Genesis is learning from the diverse guest speakers. On Monday morning of week two, Mike Solmsen visited the journalism students to share his experiences as a journalist. Currently a senior producer at the CBS Evening News, Mike has been with CBS for 15 years and has traveled to Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and other countries that have made the headlines. Drawing on clips from his 2006 experience covering the Israel-Lebanon war, Mike illustrated the moral dilemma that journalists often face when reporting on tragedies: Should the journalist aid the victims or stay impartial to get the story? We then had the chance to play the role of producer as we fashioned our own news show, allocating time and priority to various stories according to their public appeal or social importance.
After his morning session with the journalism students, Mike spoke to the entire Genesis community about some of the challenges that CBS News faces. Clips of Katie Couric’s interview with vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin were shown and discussed. Serious debate ensued about the ethics of asking and airing certain questions; the challenge to strive and present a neutral interview; and the role of the anchor on influencing the viewers’ opinion.
Ibrahim Miari, In Between
by Jessica Margulis, Roslyn, NY
On Thursday night, we all got together as a community to watch a one-man play entitled In Between by Ibrahim Miari. The play portrayed the difficulties of intermarriage and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by using the semi-autobiographical story of the actor. The play depicts a man going through an identity crisis as he tried to figure out where he belonged as an Arab with a Jewish mother, marrying a Jewish woman. It put a face and a personal story to ideas that are generally discussed in a more idealistic manner. After watching the play, we split into groups, where we discussed our opinions and feelings on what we watched. Every person in my group connected to a different issue discussed in the play. For example, one person didn’t even notice the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at all; instead, he questioned his own perspective on intermarriage. While not everyone walked out of the performance with the same message, everyone learned something valuable. |
| Making Connections |
Last week we shared with you some of the educator's perspectives on their Connections sessions. This week, hear from the participants themselves about their experiences "making connections" at Genesis:
"My Connection session this week was called 'Movies' with Dave Goldberg. It was a really amazing experience to make connections between parts of modern movies, ancient texts, and our everyday lives. This session really illustrated to us how those texts are still relevant to our lives today and that the values presented in them are still useful"
Maya Nitecki, Haifa, Israel
"This week I was with Shimshon Siegel in the 'Music' Connection session. We had the opportunity to dance and feel the music as though no one else was around, and to share with the group a song that is meaningful to us. It felt really great to have the opportunity to express myself in a way that I never have before without having people judge me."
Tammy Bronstein, Atlanta, GA
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| Shabbat |
Our second Shabbat together was filled with song and learning, encountering each other, and challenging ourselves. This week, participants collaborated with the community educators to plan every aspect of the Shabbat experience, including the meals, prayers, and recreation options. The partnership yielded a great deal of creativity and excitement going into the weekend.
On Friday night, we were joined by special guests Jehuda Reinharz, President of Brandeis University, and his wife, Shula Reinharz, founding director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, who were impressed with the energy and spirituality that filled the room. The World Religions course also welcomed an interfaith group into our community, who joined us in welcoming Shabbat, Friday night services, and Shabbat dinner. On Saturday afternoon, the group led a series of discussions with Genesis participants focusing on issues of church and state, issues that they as a group had been discussing all week long.
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Genesis at Brandeis University | 415 South Street MS 065 | Waltham | MA | 02454
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