Whose Life Cycle Is It?

NAOMI TEPLOW T his year, I am turning fifty. My father just celebrated hiseightiethbirthday,andmytwinsaremakingplansforwhich college to attend after high school graduation and a year in Israel. Life cycle is very much on my mind. In any human life, it is easy to move out of the moment and intoastreamofconstant,smalladjustmentsandmodificationsthatindicate our aging, our development, and our passage through time. Rather than experiencing ourselves and others as objects—stable, constant, unitary, and substantial—we are more like streams of flowing droplets: always on the move,neverquitethesame,shiftingtomatchtheworldaroundusandtherelationshipsweengage . Wearen’tsolidandstatic.Rather, each individual is in process,alwayssynthesizingandintegratingnewdataintoevolvingpatterns of personality, temperament, memory, and aspiration. We aren’t human beings, so much as human becomings. In that surging tide of life, Judaism offers us wisdom, companionship, and help along theway.Ateverykeymomentofourlives,Judaismoffersmitzvot(connectionswiththedivine , imperatives of relationship) to lighten our burden and illumine our vision. In moments of transition and in places neither inside nor out, Judaism blossoms into ritual, nudges us forward through word, song, and deed. Scholars call these occasions “liminal,” a term from the Latin for “threshold.” To be liminal is to be aware of standing on the threshold of two different existential planes, on the transitionpointbetweentwodifferentstagesorspheres.Take,forinstance,thekeycelebrations and observances of the Jewish home. On the doorpost and between every room, we are commanded to place a mezuzah, a ritual object of Torah that makes emotionally safe thetransitionbetweeninsideandoutside,betweenoneroomandthenext.Inthedoorway, one is neither in nor out. That is liminality, and Judaism offers the added measure of comfort , belonging, and meaning at precisely such indeterminate and ambiguous spots. Liminality pertains not only to space, but to time, as well. As we move through the day, Judaism offers moments of mindfulness: Shaharit in the morning, Minhah as morning shiftstoafternoon,andMa’arivasdaybecomesnight.Eachmorningaswemovefromthe relativeunconsciousnessofsleeptotheawarenessofwaking,wemarktheliminalityofour minds with tefillin (“phylacteries” or boxes containing scriptural passages), tallit (prayer shawl),handwashing,andothermitzvot.Judaismstandswithustowalkusthroughthese periods of greater flux and blurred boundaries, which are opportunities for new perspectives and fresh insight. Whose Life Cycle Is It? by Bradley Shavit Artson Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) is the dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University. His latest book is Everyday Torah: Weekly Reflections and Inspirations (McGraw Hill). Rethinking Religion J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 W W W. T I K K U N . O R G T I K K U N 19 SHANNAH – SHINNAH by Naomi Teplow. Religion_1.qxd:Politics rev. 6/16/09 2:02 PM Page 19 Sacred, Alluring, and Dangerous Growing from one stage of life to another moves us to a liminal phase in which ouridentitiesarenotself-evident,expectationsofbehavioropenuptonewlevels,andprevious elements of self now give way before unheralded possibility. These moments of transition are enticing, holding out as they do the opportunity for novelty, achievement, and delight.Theyarealsoterrifying,withanundercurrentofdanger,uncontainability,andunpredictability . Small wonder, then, that they attract religious attention and ritual—both to maximize their promise and to contain their threat. • Birth: the first and biggest life transition is from non-life to life. The gradual growth of a being from non-being, as the mother experiences the reality of new life within, grows in relationship with this promise of a future, and births this baby into a waiting world. Aggadah (Jewish storytelling) attaches the hope that each new child might actually be thelong-awaitedMessiah.Andhalakhah(theJewishwayofliving)offersthestructure ofbritmilah(circumcision)forboysandsimhatbat(rejoicinginthedaughter)forgirls as a way of expressing, containing, and celebrating this momentous eruption into life. • Adolescence: the next major transition after birth is the period when one is no longer fully a child but not yet completely an adult. This period of adolescence is one of exploration ,boundarypushing,anger,frustration,joy,anddiscovery,bothfortheadolescent andfortheteen’sfamily.Notyetcapableofbearingthefullburdenofadultresponsibility, yet chafing under the restrictions of adult supervision, this is a time of constantly renegotiated privilege and limit. No small wonder that Judaism launches this phase with a great celebration—bar mitzvah for boys, bat mitzvah for girls—helping all involved,andthecommunityasawhole,tomustertheloveandcaringnecessarytosustain each other during this time of change. • Adulthood: at this stage, the primary life tasks are meaningful work (compensated or volunteer, but a way of contributing value and meaning in the broader community), meaningful family (marriage and children...