Genesis Reunion

It's getting harder and harder to write about what happens every day, since it usually amounts to the same thing: "learning." Fortunately, tonight I had an experience that is noteworthy.

In the summer of 2004, I attended a summer program called Genesis. Genesis is a pluralistic Jewish teen program held at Brandeis University that fosters art, understanding, growth, and leadership. Or something like that; Genesis is one of those programs that is difficult to define. Whatever it was, the summer was a blast. One of the more memorable parts of that program was that I met Ilan, my former and current roommate. That, and having $90 worth of pizza thrown away by the counselors, and an epic card game of War. But those are two totally different stories.

Genesis participants stay in touch with something of a listserv, an internet feature that allows your email to be sent to the whole group. One day, Ilan and I found in our emails that Rabbi Bradley Solmsten, head of the Genesis program, was coming to Israel, and wanted to dinner with the us. Naturally, we accepted, because you always always always accept an invitation off the mountain, especially for food.

Bradley arrived at around 7:00 p.m., and picked up me, Ilan, and Ezra, who did Genesis in the summer of 2003. We went to the mini-mini-mall in Beit Shean, with all of its two stories, four restaurants, and seven shops. Yeah, excitement galore. We ate at the same place where I ate with my parents after Chanukah break, the hybrid pizza-shawarma store. As we munched on our shawarmas (Ilan the vegetarian got pizza), we discussed the future of Genesis, our futures after yeshiva, and a Genesis favorite, pluralism. We compared YMG and Genesis philosophies, tried to figure out how to ensure Genesis participants get more sleep, and endured Bradley's wry and dry humor.

Tonight, we had our American lecture with Rav Bigman, as last night didn't work out. We discussed hierarchy, both in religion and society. In his relationship with the Divine, man sees God in three manners: awe, wonder, and mystery. Similarly, in a relationship with a person, Rav Big said, there are two factors at play: respect, a force born of awe and meant to create distance; and love, a force meant to eliminate distance. The success of a relationship is balancing respect and love. If these words sound familiar, it is because I know a rabbi who couldn't find the right balance between love and respect: Rabbi Goren.

The lecture was interesting, I think, but then again, I'm never really sure with Rav Bigman lectures.