On Thursday, January 11 at 5 pm Eastern Time, we will have a Casual Conversation sponsored by the Jewish Culture Group chaired by classmate Bruce Alpert, with Rabbi Dennis S. Ross about the life and teachings of Martin Buber, who is most famous for his belief that God is present in I-Thou meetings/conversations where all participants share themselves. The opposite of I-Thou is I-It.
First, by way of introduction of our guest, Rabbi Ross is an Intentional Interim Rabbi. That means that he serves a congregation when the pulpit is without a rabbi, due to resignation, death, or dismissal, and a search is on for a replacement. Thus, Rabbi Ross is purposely peripatetic, and his title so signifies. It also means that he is tasked with many opportunities to practice Buber’s teachings, more than perhaps a rabbi with a permanent pulpit and more than we might allow ourselves in the course of a year—or a life. You will find a short biographical sketch of Rabbi Ross at this link: https://www.cmihamden.org/staff .
Martin Buber (1878-1965) had a long and controversial life. He was raised by grandparents after his mother abandoned the family. Buber’s grandparents were orthodox Jews and raised him in that tradition; his father was not. Buber later moved away from Jewish ritual choosing the Hebrew Bible over the Talmud, and wrote to advance universal principles that he believed emanated from Judaism. His relationship with Israel was complex: Buber championed the socialist Kibbutz movement, disdained nationalism, and opposed the execution of Adolf Eichmann. Buber stands in Israeli history in a much different place than Ben Hecht, the biographical subject of our last Casual Conversation.
As described by Rabbi Ross, Buber derived his theology of I-Thou and the encounter thereby of God as the Eternal Thou from Rabbi Hillel’s description of the essence of the Hebrew Bible: “What is hateful to you do not do to another person. That’s the whole Torah, and the rest interprets it.” As a means of introduction to Rabbi Ross’s views of Martin Buber, please see https://reformjudaism.org/blog/see-spirituality-every-day-look-martin-bubers-teachings . Perhaps, Rabbi Ross suggests, we should think about ways to bring I-Thou into our lives so that every (or more than we are accustomed to) encounter with another demonstrates recognition of the other person’s importance and our common humanity, to “hallow the everyday” through “[a] few seconds between strangers”.
Rabbi Ross has written the book A Year with Martin Buber: Wisdom on the Weekley Torah Portion. Each week, a different section from the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) is read and discussed. Each Torah portion, or Parsha, is given a few pages, and is divided into three parts: describing the portion, providing a commentary based on Buber’s life and teachings, and a further commentary personal to Rabbi Ross’s life. This week’s Parsha is Shemot from the Book of Exodus. Next week’s is Va-‘era’, also from Exodus. It is not necessary to read either.
The commentaries Rabbi Ross provides are intentionally not religious and the themes, per Buber, are universal, not requiring an understanding or belief in Judaism. For example, the Parsha from Exodus describing God hardening Pharoh’s heart leads to a discussion of reification or negatively categorizing people by one attribute. Another Torah portion on the priest healing skin disease is expanded in commentary to discuss the principle of Healing Through Meeting: that the therapy that promotes healing is when the therapist and client relate to each other. Buber is not Freud.
It is appropriate that Rabbi Ross comes to us by the work of two classmates: Bruce Alpert, M.D., and chair of the Jewish Culture Group, and Tex Talmadge, also a physician and a therapist, as well as someone who attended a Christian seminary. Two healers.
Join Bruce, Tex, and me to welcome Rabbi Ross in what promises to be a lively and informative discussion on Thursday, January 11 at 5 pm about how we can hallow the everyday. As always, those of any or no religious belief or affiliation are welcome. Martin Buber would not have it any other way.
If you want to attend, send me an email at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com by next Tuesday, January 9, at close of business.
See you soon.
Arthur Fergenson