Log in

Login to your account

Username *
Password *
Remember Me
  • Forgot your password?
  • Forgot your username?
Facebook linkedin Twitter RSS
logo
  • Home
  • Elana
    • Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman
    • Elana's Books
    • Media Appearances
    • Speaking Engagements
    • Consulting Services
    • Resources
  • Blog
    • Gender Issues in Education
    • Gender in Judaism and Orthodoxy
    • Gender in Israel
    • Politics and Leadership
    • Economics, business and working life
    • Body Issues
    • Men, boys and masculinities
    • Spirituality
    • Social Activism
    • Random Musings
  • Books
    • The Men's Section
      • Book Events
      • Book Q&A
      • Book Reviews
    • Educating in the Divine Image
      • Book Events
      • Book Q&A
      • Book Reviews
    • The War on Women in Israel
    • Masala Mamas
      • Book Events
      • Book Q&A
      • Book Reviews
  • Contact
  • Jewish Feminism Telecourse
    • About
    • FAQ
    • Sign Up
    • BRAND NEW TELECOURSE from JewFem.com
    • Desire: Favorite Readings
  • Discussions

EasyBlog

This is some blog description about this site

My seventy faces

Elana Sztokman
Saturday, 06 February 2016
JewFem Blog: Random Musings
“There are seventy faces of Torah,” the midrash says. It’s a beautiful concept, a celebration of diversity and multiple perspectives, a reminder that every text is an open book, subject to multiple human interpretations. But people are Torahs too. We are tightly wrapped up scrolls of text, chock full of experiences, memories, scenes, narratives, ideas, beliefs, images and creations. In yoga they are called “ samkaras ”, thousands of imprints of experience and memory, all embedded in our consciousness, guiding us and serving as a lenses and triggers in our lives.  We walk through the world interpreting and reinterpreting, trying to make sense of our pasts, constructing our futures, and trying to stay balanced and awake in the present.  Each of us has seventy faces, at least. Maybe thousands, or millions, depending on how far down we are willing to dig. Many years ago, when I was participating in a new circle of colleagues and we were asked to introduce ourselves, I stood up and counted my seventy faces. It went something like this: I AM a woman, a Jew, a mother, a daughter-in-law, a wife, a cousin, a niece, a friend, an author, a blogger, a colleague, a researcher, a student, a teacher, a business owner, a client, a service provider, a professional, a mentor, a volunteer, a cook, a consumer, a shopper, a pedestrian, a driver, an Israeli, an American, a Barnard graduate, a PhD, a Yeshivah of Flatbush alumni, a traveler, a native English speaker, a Caucasian, an Ashkenazit, a native New Yorker, a brunette, a petite, a size 38 shoe, a pitta-vata, a Sagittarius, an otter, an extrovert, an introvert, a group facilitator, a Hebrew speaker, a home-owner, a voter, a liberal, a Zionist, a feminist, a Hebrew University graduate, a speaker, an activist, a Facebook user, a music-lover, a piano-player, a sometimes artist of sorts, a Modi’in resident, an immigrant, a free-range parent, a yogini, a meditator, an able-bodied, a swimmer, a bank-account owner, a bread addict, a tea drinker, a survivor, a former compulsive dieter, an advocate, an ally, an earner, a believer, a spiritual seeker, a night owl, a Hillary supporter, a bare-headed woman, a pants-wearing woman, a former head-covering and skirt-wearing Orthodox woman, a kosher eater, a dual citizen, an IDF parent, a peace activist, a Reiki practitioner, a book-lover, a book reviewer, a scrabble player, a puzzle enthusiast, a sleep-talker, a hoarder, a hugger,  a risk-taker, a warrior, a truth-teller, a free person….. What are your seventy faces? Feel free to share below. In peace and friendship, Elana
Tags:
torah identity 70 faces
Tweet
  2225 Hits
  0 Comments

Copyright © 2015 Elana Sztokman. All Rights Reserved.
Website created by LiteSites