According to our friends at Jewish Studio Project, creativity is a force of transformation and a place to which we can turn during these turbulent times. Please enjoy their message below. Shabbat shalom and may this be the week the hostages return home.
By Rabbi Adina Allen
When Jeff Kasowitz and I founded Jewish Studio Project nearly 10 years ago, we did so with the deep belief that every one of us is endowed with innate creative capacity but are often disconnected from this essential aspect of our humanity.
Over the course of the past decade, we have worked with tens of thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations to cultivate creativity within a Jewish spiritual context. We have seen how this offers new entryways into our rich tradition, helps individuals navigate a complex and rapidly changing and uncertain world, and supports people in processing difficult emotions and social divisions.
Creativity is a core competency for navigating the immense challenges of our time, from crises related to mental health, to polarization and community fracturing, to loneliness and a lack of belonging. This message is one we hope to share as widely and broadly as possible.
That is why we are thrilled JSP has recently become a partner of Global Jewry, and both of us are members of its Advisory Board. Global Jewry has recruited a fabulous and growing group of leaders, and we look forward to lifting each other up as we create new possibilities together.
As some of you know, my new book was released just this past week. Drawing from the deep well of Jewish sacred texts, and the radical interpretive strategies of ancient rabbis, The Place of All Possibility is for those who seek to employ creativity as a force of transformation.
I am just days away from setting off on a tour to bring my book to communities across the country. It will be a joy and privilege to reconnect with colleagues and friends to plan readings and book conversations in their cities, and I welcome the opportunity to reach even more people by collaborating with other Global Jewry partners. My goal is to help as many people as possible commit themselves, every day, to imagining and creating a world of compassion, creativity, and care for all. With each conversation, we will make our way toward a place of all possibility.
May this book, and all we imagine and create because of it, serve as a bridge between the stories of the past and the stories of today so that, with love, determination, and a sense of humility and hope, we might write the stories of our collective future.
With gratitude and anticipation,
Adina
Co-Founder and Creative Director
Jewish Studio Project
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