In three sessions at the San Rafael Reform synagogue, Paley will look at “The Master Jewish Story,” the myths, stories and lessons that help to shape our lives as Jews, said Rodef Sholom’s Rabbi Stacy Friedman.
“He’ll draw us into the history, experience and philosophy of our Jewish ancestors, while shedding light on our own lives as Jews today.”
Paley will discuss “Living in Two Calendars” at 8 p.m. Friday, March 12; “The Master Story of Return to Eden” at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, following a 12:30 lunch; and “Our Story: And the Story for the Future” at 10 a.m. Sunday. All events are free.
“I’m going to look at the stories of Purim and Passover and try to take them apart,” Paley said in a phone interview from his home in Manhattan.
Though both holidays celebrate Jewish survival, Paley sees them as ” two different stories.”
“Purim is about saving Jews, assimilation and living in a foreign culture. It has intrigue, sex.”
But Passover, by contrast, is about liberation, understanding the mission of the Jewish people and their contribution to their country and the world.
A member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Paley said his diverse career path has taken him into three areas: “building a pluralistic Jewish community, a hands-on approach to Judaism and intense spiritual search.” The three areas often overlap.
He said he has always favored bringing Jews together in a “multifaceted community — women, men, straight, gays, married, singles, young and old, Reform and Orthodox.”
As the Jewish chaplain at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, he recalled, “I used to go into country stores and find Jews, and try to bring them together.” There were members of left-wing groups and farmers.
For Sukkot, they built a big community sukkah, hanging their produce from the open roof. On Passover, they baked matzah from the wheat they had grown. “It was agrarian, a natural observance of Judaism — not just intellectual,” he said.
It’s the spiritual search, though, that unites Jews as human beings, he said. “Spirituality is about seeing other worlds, the realm of imagination. It opens up your eyes so you can see deeper in reality.”
Paley said the federations’ engagement with congregations, which he said are the most important Jewish outreach tool, represents a significant change. “Federations are now thinking about real Jewish identity. In the past, they were involved with saving Jews. Now they have turned an eye toward saving Judaism.”