Beth Shalom to host Stephen Arnoff: a creative and musical Scholar in Residence Nov. 15 & 16

By Regan Lipes

(AJNews) – This year, to mark the international Shabbat Project at Beth Shalom Synagogue, congregants will welcome an exciting and highly celebrated scholar in residence, Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff. Arnoff is an accomplished musician and academic, and the CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center in Israel. He will be joining members of the Edmonton Jewish community on November 15 and 16. His Shabbat evening lecture, “Why I Still Believe in the Promised Land,” is an homage to Bruce Springsteen, followed by a sequel on Shabbat: “What are the Promises of the Promised Land Today?” In a recent interview via video conference, Arnoff expanded on this: “He was referring to a mythic promised land that could be any destination. I will be talking about it with my work in Israel.”

“My interest lies at the nexus of where traditional wisdom is interpreted by contemporary culture makers,” explained Arnoff.

He was once described by Forward as: “The Godfather of new Jewish culture,” to which he says: “Well, Jewish culture made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

His work centres around facilitating opportunities for creative expressions of Jewishness through innovative exploration. He initially pioneered this work in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, then at the 14th Street Y.  His doctorate in Midrash and scriptural interpretation was awarded by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In addition to his work at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, he continues to teach, lecture, and collaborate internationally.

“In our days it’s easier for people to stumble into experiences and that’s a blessing,” elaborated Arnoff. “You realize that there are many paths a person can walk and we can find a relatable way to be Jewish within spaces of creation where people discover this.”

The vision behind his upcoming trip to serve as Scholar-in-Residence was the brainchild of longtime friend, Past-President at Beth Shalom Synagogue, Howard Sniderman. This year’s Shabbat Project just happened to coincide nicely with a concert Bruce Springsteen will be playing at the Roger’s Place Arena, so the timing was perfect!

“Bruce hasn’t played a concert in Israel, so we thought we could seize the opportunity and share something with the community at the same time.” He added optimistically: “If all my flight arrangements work out the way they’re supposed to, I’ll even be able to see a hockey game.” Arnoff has been to Edmonton once before, many years ago when traveling with a music group, but he looks forward to spending more time here, forming new memories, and making new friends while connecting with old ones.

Although his work as Scholar in Residence is influenced by the canon of Bruce Springsteen, Arnoff is also the noted author of About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, which has been met by an enthusiastic readership.  “I’ve had creative heroes, but Dylan captured my imagination most,” said Arnoff. “He’s the catalyst for bringing to popular culture spiritual gravitas that reflects questions of culture through the ages. […] He brought serious spiritual and philosophical genius to the larger social conversation through music as a medium. His work is somewhere between music and literature that I love, and it’s also an exploration of texts, and religion, and faith. He’s my favourite example of how these realms feed each other.”

Arnoff, especially as Beth Shalom’s esteemed Scholar in Residence, wears the kippah of an academic, but there is much more to him than meets the eye. “I’ve written about the traditions of late antiquity. But my first career was in rock and roll,” he said with a nostalgic chuckle. “I played the bars and did recordings and worked in all kinds of different musical venues and situations.” Arnoff still is an active musician but as he put is: “Only for select audiences.”

Edmontonians will be welcomed into the inner circle as Arnoff has already planned to integrate musical components into his presentations during the Shabbat Project weekend.

Arnoff is committed to building spaces for Jewish creativity, thought, and spirituality to flourish. “Spirituality is a combination of meaning-making, and of a sense or desire for being part of something greater than oneself. It’s about being both in this world and beyond in our behaviour and relationships. The word in Hebrew is ruchaniyut, which comes from the word for ‘wind’ or ‘spirit’: the thing that’s in the air that you can’t quite grasp, but it still moves you.”

When the Alberta Jewish News sat down to speak with Arnoff, he had just returned from leading a retreat for musicians and prayer leaders from across Israel coordinated through the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center. People from all parts of the religious spectrum gathered for this event to explore Jewish spirituality as part the work of Zamru, which was established for this purpose four years ago. When Arnoff was asked about his own personal Jewish identity, he offered meaningfully: “I would see myself as some combination of seeker and teacher.”

It was the seeker part of his soul that led him to make Aliyah and settle in Israel where he completed his military service and raised four Israeli children. “I wanted to study in Jerusalem where I felt I could get the most robust experience of being a young Jewish person, I felt that that was where I should be if I wanted a first-row seat to Jewish history. Now I see there are many rows and many seats.” As Arnoff puts it, he has always kept one foot in North America, but Israel is where he made his home.

During his time with the congregants of Beth Shalom, he would like to bring a bit of the Israel he loves to share with the Edmonton Jewish community. Arnoff’s approach is wholistic and he pursues expressions of Jewishness that are informed, inspired, or reflect Jewish spirituality, culture, and identity.

“I am very much seeking those experiences myself. I have not mastered the arts of being spiritually whole in any way. Because of my years spent being interested and thanks to the people who have taught me, I can at least share and facilitate. In terms of the Jewish element I think that there are a lot of different ways that people can enter Jewish context: some are born in, some enter later, some choose to reject it.”

One thing is for certain, with an inspirational wave of acknowledgement to the great Bruce Springsteen, Arnoff and the congregants of Beth Shalom are in for a real treat. Click here for more information and to register. 

 Regan Lipes is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter