The Significance of a Tambourine: Betsy Teutsch Speaks at Brandeis with Lori Lefkovitz & Susan Weidman Schneider

On September 27, many of us had the pleasure of watching, on Zoom, a celebration of the Jewish Feminist Alumnae Gifts to Brandeis(University) Archives.  (You can watch the program at that link.)

This program was really a celebration of Jewish feminism’s evolution in the U.S., featuring the contributions made to Jewish feminism, and to the archives, by three Brandeis alumnae: Dr. Lori Lefkovitz, whom many of us know as the wife of former GJC Rabbi Leonard Gordon; Susan Weidman Schneider; and GJC’s (and Dorshei Derekh’s) own Betsy Teutsch.  Betsy, a trailblazer in Jewish feminist art, donated to the archive an assortment of her signature tambourines.  These tambourines are unusual in that many of them are painted with illustrations of Jewish women (think of Miriam and the other women playing their tambourines and dancing to celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea).

On reflection, Betsy reports that she found participating in this program especially meaningful as “an opportunity to reflect on how life choices are often a combination of ‘roads’ available at the time we seek a way, what map we have available to give us access, and what roads just haven’t even been built yet.”

In 1974, when Betsy graduated from Brandeis, there were few Jewish feminist role models.  The U.S.’s first female rabbi ordained by a seminary, Sally Priesand, had just graduated in 1972.  Jewish Studies programs were few and far between, and Women’s Studies programs were even harder to find.

Although Betsy had majored in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, she didn’t know anything about Jewish artists. The Jewish Catalog, which was then hot off the presses, contained instructions on how to make Jewish objects; but nobody was yet creating tambourines as Jewish ritual objects, much less as Jewish women’s objects.  

During the 70’s and early 80’s, Betsy focused on creating ketubot (marriage certificates), other certificates, announcements, and invitations.  She also illustrated Michael Strassfeld’s “TheJewish Holidays.”  In 1986, she and her husband, Rabbi David Teutsch, moved to Philadelphia, joined GJC, and eventually became founding members of Minyan Dorshei Derekh.  In the late 80’s the Reconstructionist Prayer Commission invited her to create art for the movement’s new prayerbook.

In the early 90’s Betsy heard about an upcoming invitational art show, curated by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, called “And the women danced.” She thought of the tambourine as a possible image for Jewish feminism, created one, and submitted it. According to Betsy, although her tambourine wasn’t accepted for the show, some of the students who worked on the show recognized the tambourine’s potential.  Commissions followed, and their numbers increased rapidly. 

At this point she was painting each instrument by hand on parchment.  Because the parchment tended to shrink after it was fitted to the frame and painted, Betsy found a company that could make tambourines with synthetic heads and could also print her images onto them.  She eventually came up with about 12 different designs, most with feminist themes.  Some were sold through Jewish organizations; the GJC Little Shop also sold the tambourines.  They became popular because women had never seen themselves on ritual objects before. Also, as Betsy pointed out, who typically buys all the gifts? 

In the infrequent images of Jewish women in Jewish art over the years, up through the late 20^th century, women had seldom been distinguished from one another by age, attire, and the like. Often they appeared static.  Betsy, on the other hand, likes to represent Jewish women as individuals -- different in attire, facial features, body type, color, and age – and in action and interacting with one another.  One of her tambourine designs features a woman soaring over the Wall in Jerusalem; others show women dancing at the Red Sea.

In all, Betsy sold about 11,000 tambourines.  About 10 years ago, she decided to stop and turned to other pursuits.  However, her tambourines remain ubiquitous, indicating changes in Jewish women’s status as reflected in art.  Yet another GJC member has impacted modern American Judaism far beyond this congregation!

(Betsy notes that GJC members Dr. Kathryn Hellerstein and Penina Berdugo were students at Brandeis at the time that she too was a student there. In fact, in 2016 Hellerstein was a Fellow at the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, which hosted the event.)

~Ruth Loew

In memory of Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, Centre Call Article by Dr. Ruth Loew 2024

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein z”l (may her memory be for a blessing) is widely credited for having created the Jewish ecology movement.  As part of this work, she popularized the American Tu biShvat seder, which brought new life to the holiday as a celebration of the fruits of the land and, more broadly, of the Jewish connection to nature and our planet. She maintained that Judaism is an earth-based religion and that extending this foundation into modern-day ecology is essential.This year, in late January, she brought her unique energy and spirit to a Tu BiShvat seder/book launch at Germantown Jewish Centre. By the end of February, shortly after a cancer diagnosis, she was gone.

Ellen’s involvement with the Jewish ecology movement--highlighted in her obituaries--was her life’s main mission. She was also deeply interested in facilitating connections between people. Her husband, Steven Tenenbaum, cited this as “indicative of a systems mind.” In whatever she did, she looked for connectedness, from ecological wholeness to interpersonal relationships. She saw us all as part of the fabric of a greater whol

As Rabbi Mordechai Liebling said in his eulogy, she reveled in planning events that brought people together, even making two shidduchim (romantic matches). Friends recall having long, deep intellectual conversations with her, as well as lighthearted, even silly ones. Ellen served for a time, starting in 2013, as Spiritual Life Adviser and rabbi at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and a former student said that Ellen loved forging connections with students. She was open and nonjudgmental, providing a safe environment in which they could confide and learn. She was an excellent mediator of student issues and disagreements, equally happy to debate the concept of dominion in Genesis and what kind of soup students might make for Shabbat dinner. She was interested in every student, not just the Jewish ones, and was happy to counsel or debate with any of them.

Not surprisingly, Tu BiShvat became the major Jewish holiday of the academic year at Hampshire. Even the college president, who was not Jewish, attended the Tu BiSh’vat seder.

Ellen also loved to travel. She was no superficial tourist checking off the major sights. She liked to get a real sense of a place’s land, topography, and architecture. She was disturbed by the secularism of much of the environmental movement, seeing true environmentalism as arising from a human spiritual relationship with the land. She was attuned to natural beauty, from colorful flowers to majestic scenery. In 2020 she told the Jewish Women’s Archive, “You have to nourish people . . . showing them the beauty in the world and the beauty in nature . . . This is critical to keeping people engaged and motivated. Finding beauty has been central in all my work.”

She lived in Mt. Airy from 1984 until 2004, when she moved to Massachusetts to join Steven. Although they had a beautiful house in Holyoke, she longed for the Mt. Airy community and Germantown Jewish Centre, and she saw her return as a homecoming. She loved the Charry services and those of Dorshei Derekh. She was at home and had close friends in both communities. Her friends spanned all age groups; she looked to people’s essences instead of age or other factors.

Thank you to Rachel Falkove, Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, Max Nemhauser, Steven Tenenbaum, and Rabbi Simkha Weintraub for sharing their memories of Ellen for this column. Additional information came from the New York Times, March 5, 2024.

The Role of Adina Abramowitz, z”l, in Reconstructing Judaism

The role of Adina Abramowitz, z”l, in Reconstructing Judaism  - by Ruth Loew

On December 13, the Germantown Jewish Centre community was stunned and saddened by the unexpected death of Adina Abramowitz z”l.  Adina and her wife, Naomi Klayman, were longtime members of Dorshei Derekh, the Reconstructionist minyan within GJC.  In the minyan, Adina and Naomi often led Shabbat morning services.  Sometimes Adina presented a teaching (d’var Torah) on that week’s Torah reading and led the discussion that followed.  She coordinated Dorshei Derekh’s High Holiday services for several years and took turns as the coordinator for leading services or presenting divrei Torah.  Many who had worked, learned, and worshiped with her, in GJC and in the larger world, valued her for her deep knowledge of Judaism; her talents for organizing (whether a meeting, a project, or a budget) and for teaching; and her honesty, generosity, humility, and dependability.  She had a rare gift for clarifying issues that others found hopelessly confusing.  Her sense of humor was also appreciated: Rabbi Micah Weiss, the Reconstructing Judaism staff Tikkun Olam Specialist, valued Adina’s “ability to lovingly roll her eyes.” 

Her entire career, both professional and volunteer, was driven by her values: she was dedicated to creating a better life for those who were disadvantaged.  Professionally, she worked with CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions), which offer financial resources to underdeveloped communities. In her private life, among the many organizations that benefited from her time and talents was the Reconstructionist movement. Most of her work with it was related to one of three projects: the Prayerbook Commission of the 1990’s, the Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) Commission, and change management support for the Board of Governors.

The Prayerbook Commission created guides to Reconstructionist worship, including a siddur (prayerbook) for Shabbat and holidays; a mahzor (prayerbook for the High Holy Days); a weekday prayerbook; and one for houses of mourning.  Her excellent command of Hebrew and of Jewish liturgy were great assets.  Also importantly, she presented a perspective from the LGBTQ community.  Rabbi David Teutsch, who worked with her on this venture, describes her as “judicious, thoughtful, and capable of working with grace and good will.”

Adina was more recently active in the movement’s Tikkun Olam Commission, which addresses social justice issues. She was passionate about its work, particularly its commitment to racial justice, including reparations. She and Naomi were among the first to sign up for Reconstructing Judaism’s civil rights pilgrimage last spring. She was first a commission member, then became the transitional lay co-chair of the commission. When the new chair was on-boarded and ready to take on leadership, Adina, with characteristic humility, intended to step back into her role as a member.

As part of the Tikkun Olam Commission, she led a qualitative research project on racial justice work in member congregations. What initiatives had the congregations tried? What were they accomplishing? What feedback were they hearing from members of color? This project concluded with recommendations for congregational action. Adina helped make racial justice a primary role of the Commission.

A third area in which Adina took a leading role in Reconstructing Judaism was change management: helping the movement assess its organizational and financial future, particularly in the wake of Covid and, more recently, of October 7, 2023 and its aftermath.  She served as a pro bono consultant to the Reconstructing Judaism Board and movement leadership in evaluating what products and services Reconstructing Judaism offers and how it does its work. That meant working closely with its president, Rabbi Deborah Waxman; its executive vice president, Rabbi Amber Powers; and the senior leadership team. She offered individual coaching and led a pivotal discussion at their retreat this past fall.  She quickly became a trusted advisor, confidante, and coach to many with whom she worked. As Rabbi Deborah Waxman said, “All of this was in a volunteer capacity and all with generosity, creativity and effectiveness.”

Adina quietly went about being helpful whenever she could, without calling attention to herself. She didn’t care whether she was praised for her work; she just cared that the work was done and done well.  As Rabbi Teutsch said, “I never asked for help with anything that she didn’t say yes.” 

Zichronah liv’rachah – זיכרונה לברכה - May her memory be for a blessing.

Thank you to those who agreed to be interviewed for this article: Mark Pinsky, Rabbi David Teutsch, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, and Rabbi Micah Weiss.

~Ruth Loew