Bet Aviv Prepares Programming With Scientists in Synagogues Grant

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Bet Aviv in Columbia is one of 15 congregations that have been selected for the 2023 Scientists in Synagogues grant, which offers synagogues across the country opportunities to run science-based programs. The grant is organized by Sinai and Synapses and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, among other contributors.

Bet Aviv congregants at a recent “Lunch and Learn” educational program (Courtesy of Rabbi Linda Joseph)

The grant application was completed by one of the vice presidents of the synagogue’s executive board, Darla Stouse. Adult education is a major focus of Bet Aviv’s programming.

“Our congregation is very strong on adult education, and we have many people in our congregation that love science,” Bet Aviv Rabbi Linda Joseph said. “I thought it would be great to bring a Jewish take to that area, so I thought this would be a fantastic grant to apply for.”

The grant originates from Rice University’s Perceptions Project study, which observed that many of the Jewish people interviewed for it were of the opinion that science and religion are in conflict with each other. But while many of the Christian participants who answered similarly came down on the side of religion, Jewish participants viewed themselves as more in favor of science.

“This finding clearly implies that it’s often less of a challenge to get Jews to embrace science than it is to get them to embrace Judaism,” reads a statement about the grant’s origins on Sinai and Synapses’ website. “Perhaps because Judaism has long embraced questioning and challenging authority, or perhaps because theology is rarely emphasized in the more liberal branches of Judaism, many Jews erroneously think that if they accept science, then they need to reject their Judaism.”

To contest this line of thought, the grant began in 2016. Because many Scientists in Synagogues programs and lectures are open to nonmembers of the congregations who hold them, the grant’s website estimates that they have reached over 5,000 people each year.

“The majority of rabbis [have] always embraced science,” Joseph said. “And many have tried to try to make sure that scientific ideas did not clash with Jewish ideas, and went out of their way to explain how they were complementary. … The biblical idea of Genesis and how the universe was created over time instead of all at once aligns with what we know about how the universe formed, for example.”

Bet Aviv specifically plans to host five classes over the course of 2023 and 2024 using the funding and support provided by Scientists in Synagogues. The subject matters they will be covering range from quantum dynamics and the universe to herbal remedies and their legitimacy in the medical field, all viewed through a Jewish lens. Joseph will be bringing in context on how these scientific topics are viewed in Jewish philosophical and mystical texts.

Many of the classes will be held by congregants with experience in the specific subjects covered. The class on quantum dynamics will be hosted by Morris Levine, Bet Aviv’s first president, for example.

“[Doing programs like these] wasn’t in the congregation’s budget,” Joseph added. “This allows us to do extra programming that we would not have done before, and to find specialists outside of our congregation to help present these classes.”

The ultimate end goal of the Scientists in Synagogues-funded programs is to get people to reconcile science and religion, seeing that the two can coexist and often influence one another. Those unfamiliar with Jewish philosophy will have a real-world lens to view it through, and those who do not know a lot about complex sciences such as quantum dynamics can view them through how they interact with their beliefs.

Bet Aviv is one of several congregations that occupies The Meeting House, or the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center. The Columbia center also houses the Columbia Jewish Congregation and Kol Nefesh, as well as non-Jewish congregations such as the Columbia Baptist Fellowship and St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church. These different groups often collaborate, and Joseph encourages members of their neighboring congregations to join in on these science classes as well as those who do not belong to any of them.

“It’s made up of so many warm and welcoming congregations and people who are there for each other,” Joseph said of The Meeting House. “It essentially is, in many senses, a community of people that gather together and care for one another.”

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