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April 25, 2003/Nisan 23 5763, Vol. 55, No. 35
Conference focuses on healing wisdom
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Almost 30 nationally and locally renowned scholars and rabbis - as well as music, yoga and day trips to enjoy the Arizona landscape - will be part of an upcoming con-ference on Jew-ish healing wis-dom.
"Mining the Jewish Tradition for its Healing Wisdom," which marks the first-ever partnership between The Deutsch Family Shalom Center at Temple Chai and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health, will be held May 15-18 at Chaparral Suites Resort in Scottsdale.
"Not only is this the first time this conference has been held, it's also the first time HUC has cosponsored with a synagogue on an event like this," says Toni Smeltzer, chairwoman of the event and longtime member of Temple Chai.
The conference is expected to attract 250-300 participants from through-out the country, as well as from Israel, Australia and South America, says Sharona Silverman, di-rector of the Shalom Center.
"There are a number of rabbis, health care workers and professionals in Judaism planning to attend, but there are also many people who are interested in deepening their Judaism and who enjoy text study and want to study with so many well-known scholars," says Silverman.
Notable speakers planning to attend the conference are Rabbi William Berk of Temple Chai; Dr. Joel Gereboff of the department of religious studies at Arizona State University; Cantor Sharona Feller of Temple Chai; Rabbi William Cutter of HUC-JIR, Los Angeles; Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, professor of Bible at HUC-JIR, Los Angeles; nationally known composer and musician Debbie Friedman; and Rabbi Sheldon Marder of the Jewish Home in San Francisco.
Marder, who was invited to the conference by Berk and Cutter, will teach two sessions examining modern Hebrew poetry and the Psalms and the connection between the two as it relates to healing wisdom.
"(Berk) asked me to come and teach text, which brings together the two things that I love the most - healing and Jewish texts," says Marder. "He described the conference with a great deal of enthusiasm and I knew a conference that they were organizing was going to be very exciting."
Berk and Cutter hand-picked scholars and rabbis from around the country to speak at the conference.
"Rabbi Berk and Rabbi Cutter sat down with a wish list of speakers that they would most like to have at the conference," remembers Smeltzer. "And every one of them said yes. The caliber of these speakers is so high and it's phenomenal to have them all here at the same time."
Keynote speakers were challenged by Berk, Cutter, Smeltzer and Silverman to bring texts on Jewish healing traditions that are not widely known.
"They are looking at wisdom from the Psalms, poetry, Maimonides, Hasidic literature, the Renaissance period, the Rabbinic period and Midrash," says Silverman.
In addition to exploring Jewish healing wisdom from the ancient to the modern, the conference will also offer sessions on how to apply the wisdom when participants return home.
"People will learn how they can bring this back to their community to develop a more caring community, healing services and healing programs," says Silverman.
The main goal of the conference, according to Smeltzer, is to share with others the power of Jewish healing texts and the answers Judaism may provide to those with emotional problems, family difficulties, divorce and other hardships that participants may be facing.
"What a gift to be able to give," says Smeltzer, "to show Jews how their own religion has all the answers for them and that the wis-dom dates back so far, yet is still so pertinent today.
"A lot of the informa- tion can be applied to daily life and how we in-teract with those who are ill, bereaved or hurting, and how we as professionals in the healing field are taking care of our loved ones and ourselves."
The Shalom Center, a resource center promoting healing, wholeness and learning by enhancing peace of mind, body and soul, began in the Valley as a committee in the 1980s. In 1996, the Deutsch Family Shalom Center was formed as a result of the growing healing movement.
"In the 1990s, we saw the healing movement begin to form on the East and West coasts," remembers Silverman. "They were helping Jews deal with stresses in their lives. We felt we could use that same theory to deal with our con-gregants who may have similar issues."
As the movement and the center began to grow, the idea of sponsoring a national conference in the Valley became more and more appealing.
"Rabbi Berk and I felt that a conference would be a wonderful way to bring the traditions together from all ends of our country," says Silverman.
Leaders of Temple Chai and HUC-JIR met at a conference about two years ago, explains Silverman, and the idea for the healing conference in the Valley was born.
"We decided to put a conference together and make it more text-based," says Silverman. "We got together with HUC-JIR and everyone was so excited."
The organizations have also discussed the possibility of holding the conference again in two or three years, although no final plans have been made.
Silverman and Smeltzer hope that participants will take away a renewed sense of Judaism and a deeper understanding as to how their religion can become a formidable force when dealing with hardship.
"Its always wonderful when they get an 'a-ha' of how rich their heri-tage and tradition is when it comes to healing wisdom," says Silverman. "I hope participants will realize that their Judaism has a lot to offer them."
Contact the writer at jessica_barber@jewishaz.com.
Details
- What: "Mining the Jewish Tradition for its Healing Wisdom"
- Who: Temple Chai Deutsch Family Shalom Center and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health
- When: May 15-18
- Where: Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
- Cost: $360, room rates begin at $99 per night
- Call: 602-971-1234
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