I am an artist; artistic in the ways that I integrate and decode the world into my mind and soul, and in the ways I share it with others. That includes my relationship with God and Torah, my identity as a woman, and my approach as a Jewish educator. When I am presented with a topic, an idea, a Biblical personality, a ritual or halakha, something inside me converts it to an artistic process or experience. Almost as soon as that internal commentary is stirred within me, I am already making plans to express the concept and share it with others through some artistic venue. I do not want to sound pretentious, but I feel that this is my function in the universe, and especially in the Jewish community. I have been blessed to have found some venues within mostly traditional frameworks to express myself both artistically, and as an Orthodox woman. Dealing with the challenges of halakha, such as the concept of tzni’ut, can be part of the creative process, and modern Orthodoxy has widened the Orthodox woman’s arena for expression and presentation. I believe that modern Orthodoxy is stretching, for women like me, to embrace our legitimate needs for spiritual fulfillment and self definition, as confident and creative Jewish women.
My own creative approach leads me to engage in virtual intimate dialogue with our ancestors—particularly with the women who preceded us—as I do when I use bibliodramatic techniques in my teaching and in my own meditation during Torah study. Interacting intensely and passionately with others and their stories is part of who I am, and how I live. This encourages me to think creatively and imaginatively, about the “white fire” around the “black fire” of our Torah text, in the same way as I do about the “negative space” around images and objects in a work of visual art. I imagine that this is what led great writers of commentary and Midrash to fill in those spaces that were beyond the Book. For example, I put myself in Sarah’s place, and find the everywoman components that I share with this biblical foremother as I ask her in my mind: “What was it that made you laugh when you heard that you were to give birth? When you were in the tent, listening to Avraham’s conversation with the three visitors, where exactly were you and what was going through your mind?” This internal dramatic interplay is the way that I process stories.
The process itself is the art form, both for me and for my students. An art product of such a process might be a theater presentation. It is a misconception that art is only the product of the artistic process. Instead, the journey toward the play, poem, dance or painting is in and of itself a creative art form. The Jewish people are directed to remember and celebrate their collective journey toward becoming a nation. We remember the steps that took us to Egypt, then from Egypt, through the desert, to Sinai and beyond, as well as the changes that took place within us along the way. Similarly, experiencing the art processes enables a person to focus on the rich background layers of the product, thereby elevating the ultimate experience.
I use my art to enhance my relationship with God in many ways. As a result of my participation in women’s tefillah groups, I have been able to find my voice to sing out and express the yearnings, praises, complaints and heartbreaks that I want to share with the Almighty. In this way, I can also help to inspire other women in their tefillah. It is a special and expressive opportunity for me, and I help to create a different congregational experience for those davening with me.
I also use visual art strategies to facilitate a creative and memorable experience in preparation for more meaningful tefillah both for myself and my students, as we try to balance the tension between the fixed regularity of the prayer text— the keva and our inner direction—kavannah. For example, I focus on the idea of layers of prayer made up of the multitudes of memory and experience that can enrich the words that we say daily, if we work to become focused and directed (b’kavannah) on those thoughts. The abstract concept of layers can be visually reproduced by using transparent acetate overlays. On the background paper is drawn the Hebrew word or phrase from liturgy (the keva) that we want to enrich with meaning (kavannah). Each transparent sheet piled onto that background is illustrated and designed with oil pastel, collage, and permanent marker, creating visual commentary, words of association and personal connections. The experience remembered, as well as the finished product, is intended to serve as the kavannah motivator, as that tefillah is recited again and again. The nature of the slow, contemplative and hands-on process, the decision making about medium, composition, texture and color can lay the groundwork for a more thoughtful prayer experience in the future.
I have also participated in the physicality of dance and movement to immerse in the body language experiences that can feed the energy and intent that I bring to Jewish ritual— from the embracing of kedushat Shabbat (the holiness of Shabbat) as I move my arms and hands responding to the aura of the candles, to the enacting of the abstract and the grounded text of a “simple” berakhah—feeling at once its contrasts and its unity as a Jewish prayer structure. This creates a “body memory”; a kinesthetic, spiritual connection that will be part of future kavannah, even when I stand silently, recalling it.
Several years ago, I was on the planning committee for the Washington JOFA conference. It was very important to me that there be an experiential part to the conference, not just as a diversion, but as an integral part of the day’s activities. I spoke at the end of the conference, sharing the artful writing of the Elizabeth Ehrlich novel, “Miriam’s Kitchen.” The drama and rhythm that flowed and escalated in her impassioned monologue spoke to me. The words that she chose made me smile, grimace and nod, as they carried her message about her relationship to Shabbat responsibility versus menuccha (rest), and I transmitted this message to the conference audience. It was a satisfying collaboration, and, through it, our group became a virtual community, a sisterhood sharing stories. I loved the experience, and women, who heard me speak that day, still recall it, several years later. Exploring ideas and shared feelings through the arts are my tools for building Jewish community as an Orthodox Jewish woman and as an artist.
God, the Artist of all Artists, endowed me and others like me, with a desire to make creative connections, sometimes a little bit “out of the box”, in order to more fully experience His world. As I integrate art experiences in my own life, and in the lives of my students and my own children, I understand that this is a unique way to learn and to experience Torah and life, and to contribute important perspectives to our God given world. I believe that it is vitally important for us all to integrate the arts into our Jewish lives, and as Orthodox women, we must encourage forums where the arts and Judaism can be explored together.
Rena Fruchter is Resource and Arts Consultant at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning of Greater Washington. From 2002-2005 she was the Director of the Deborah Lerner Gross Jewish Cultural Arts Center of the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Maryland, where she continues to act as Programming Consultant.