The Central Conference of American Rabbis, Reform Judaism’s rabbinic professional leadership organization, is home to more than 2,000 Reform rabbis across North America and beyond. And while Reform rabbis wear many hats, often at the same time—Torah scholar, officiant, pastoral counselor, chaplain, educator, organizational leader, activist—they also serve in a wider range of settings, changing the shape of the sacred work of the rabbinate with innovative new visions for Jewish communal life.
We’re proud to share the stories of CCAR members who are taking our ancient Jewish traditions and imaginatively and courageously building new programs, practices, collaborations, communities, and transformational approaches to Reform Judaism. We’re also sharing how, even in dark times, so many CCAR members find joy as rabbis, and we share their hopes for the future of the Reform rabbinate and Reform Judaism.
Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik, along with her artist husband Isaac, created Paper Midrash, a Jewish scholar- and artist-in-residence program based in Southern California. Here, she shares her innovative rabbinate, which involves traveling the country to teach Torah by blending text study with art.
How do you describe your rabbinate? What makes it unique?
I work with my husband Isaac, an artist, to develop scholar- and artist-in-residence programs, which we bring to Jewish communities across the United States. We call it Paper Midrash because our flagship program is “Torah Study with Knives,” where we study Torah with a group and then teach them how to design and create their own papercut midrash artwork. It’s sophisticated text study through a unique art practice: I bring the Torah, and my husband brings the art. Our goal is to use art as a pathway to deeper understanding of Torah. I believe that Torah and Jewish values are all around us, and we use pop culture and art to help people recognize them.
How did you create this innovative program?
We started Paper Midrash almost accidentally. My husband and I have been teaching together since we were Hebrew school teachers together in college, and we have spent the last sixteen years teaching together at URJ Camp Newman. Rabbi friends would invite us to teach and create with their communities, and around 2016 we realized that the conversations we were having with each other about Torah and art and Judaism and pop culture were conversations that other people wanted to be involved in. We genuinely love making connections between modern life and Torah and arguing about nuance in storytelling. I think people respond to that authenticity; we often joke that we have the same conversations at our dinner table.
Being married to an artist has changed the way I think about art and creativity. Together we’ve tried to create new pathways into Torah for people who haven’t had the opportunity to create art as adults or to engage in midrash as a creative process. I’d like to think that we use art to lower the barrier to Jewish text.
How has your rabbinate evolved throughout your career?
I never thought art would become such a big part of my rabbinate, but I’ve always had an unconventional rabbinic career. I started out working part-time at a synagogue, and then I worked as an associate rabbi at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Southern California for fourteen years. One of my first jobs was teaching adult Torah study; working with that group really taught me how to teach adults. Working part-time allowed me to spend time with my three children while they were growing up and allowed me to work at a number of different rabbinic jobs over the years. In the last twenty-two years I have also worked as an interim education director; I was the site director at Camp Newman while camp was recovering from the fire; I’ve taught in the school of education at HUC-JIR; served as rabbi for the HUC-LA Synagogue, filling in for rabbis on sabbatical; I’ve contributed to a book about Tot Shabbat and, of course, performing—I’ve performed countless life cycle ceremonies.
In 2016, we found ourselves collaborating more on the intersection of Jewish text and Isaac’s art practice, so we seized the opportunity to create something new that we could do together. We started by expanding our work with high school students to adults and creating a few “one-off” classes and workshops that we took to friends’ congregations and to Limmud UK. In 2017, we realized we had enough programming for an entire scholar- and artist-in-residence weekend, and we founded Paper Midrash. We’ve been bringing our work to communities ever since.
What is your rabbinic motto or words that guide your rabbinate?
Creating midrash is a way to participate in a two-thousand-year-old conversation with Jewish text. Connecting our ancient and modern stories is how we explore what it means to be human; everyone can find a connection between their life and Torah.
I don’t think of myself as an artist, but you don’t have to be an artist to explore text through art. The Torah begins with God’s creativity, and I believe that tapping into our own creativity is another way to access the Divine within us all.
What do people find unique, unusual, or surprising about your rabbinate?
When I travel to teach at different synagogues, people always ask, “But where are you a rabbi when you’re not doing this?” And I always answer, “This is where I am a rabbi; this is what I do.” So many people still expect a rabbi to be with a congregation, at a pulpit, attached to a specific community. The idea that this is my rabbinate, in so many different congregations throughout the year, continues to surprise people.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your rabbinate?
I am always inspired when people find themselves in Torah. Creating art requires a level of vulnerability. It is rewarding to be there when someone sees their story in the words that our people have studied for so long—when Torah is so present that it’s like a mirror to their experience—and they are able to communicate that in the art they create and share with others. It is deeply satisfying when people find a new way to experience Judaism.
What brings you joy in your rabbinate?
I’ve always loved studying with people. Not just in the moment, but everything leading up to it: preparation, scouring sources and getting lost in the text, following random tangents. I really love trying to make sense of texts both ancient and modern, and then sharing it with others who are looking for their own answers to questions that we have been asking ourselves for thousands of years. In my rabbinate, I get to do this with people in the communities they belong to, and to teach and learn from so many people.
What makes you feel the most hopeful about the future of rabbinate?
I’m fortunate to be able to visit many Reform Jewish communities each year; seeing how dedicated my colleagues are to their synagogues and how vibrant those communities are always gives me hope. I am amazed at my colleagues’ creativity and how they tap into the unique needs of their synagogues. There are some amazing things happening in Reform synagogues of all sizes.
