I Love Learning so I Keep Teaching - A Message for Shavuot, Pentacostal and Ramadan

Shavuot is the holiday on which Jews celebrate the receiving of the Torah. It comes at the same time in the calendar generally as the Pentacostal in the Christian world and this year it also parallels the timing of Ramadan for our Muslim friends in faith. That is to say that all of our monotheistic children of Araham or Avraham Aveinu are in an intentional space in the rhythm of our lives.

As it turns out, I am doing a great deal of additional teaching at this point, including running an assortment of programs for people of all ages. In the past few weeks, I have sat on a panel regarding Interfaith Relations at a Muslim Youth Center Building, taught a Lenten session at a Lutheran Church nearby, shared some thoughts regarding intentionality and where we find the quiet of prayer with a group of co-religionists in our Multi-Faith Council, presented a learning session on Gender and Models of Leadership that Defy a Dichotomous Sense of Gender Expectations to members of the Orthodox Jewish community, facilitated a morning of learning at the Medical Mission Sisters about inclusion and justice in Jewish sources, and so on. Tomorrow night I will be teaching in a Tikkun Leil Shavuot (where we stay up all night and learn as we prepare to celebrate the receiving of our Torah about how we learn to argue and dialogue from our Jewish sources, where clearly there are disagreements, but they are to come with respect and honor of those with whom we are engaged – a most important and relevant lesson for our world today. And of course, there are my ongoing weekly classes with amazing young scholars who are aged six through ten or so, adults and my ever wonderful Senior Life Long Learners.

True, there have been lots of extra preparations and work to provide these experiences, and I am now beginning a new run of five such engagements over the next two months. But the amazing part is this is NOT work. I get to learn and learn some more….. and I love it. I get so energized by the way different projects intersect with, enhance and validate each other. And due to my many different experiences, I get to bring all of it into the group with which I am learning at any given time. I see the many facets of Torah, of faith, of our various communities of faith and of the many ways we approach God. This bolsters and encourages me when I get so frustrated with what continues to come over the 24/7 news feed. It restores my spirit and strengthens my faith.

My seven and eight year olds want to know why we don’t learn lessons and repeat the same mistakes. So do my Senior Life Long Learners. My colleagues, friends and students in interfaith settings are always amazed at how much we share and how similar we are, while I remind them to honor and acknowledge our differences as well. I love bringing the Gemara which I just love in terms of the process of text learning to my adult co-learners/students. And so it goes.

Shavuot is a celebration of Torah and learning and the many lessons that we can all learn from each other if we are listening and open to the dialogue and discourse that will continue to expand our own horizons. It’s easy to sit with a group of people with whom one agrees; the challenge is to be open to learn something new from those with whom we differ.

I wish all a meaningful Shavuot, an enriching Pentacostal and a fulfilling Ramadan. For those of you of other faiths, the message holds as well and I hope it will resonate at the appropriate season.