In the modern, Western world we have created great things with a top-down, hierarchical, and mechanical way of looking at the world. But this approach has also created some of our worst problems, from ecological degradation to social and political fragmentation. As Einstein said, “You can’t solve a problem using the same kind of thinking that created the problem in the first place.” In this class we’ll explore together some alternatives from ancient Jewish wisdom as well as modern systems approaches, including: how new ideas emerge through group dynamics, rather than from a leader’s direction; how small actions can lead to large-scale change; and how to embrace our multiple identities. We’ll use what I have called the “three m’s:” Minyan (Emergence), Mikdash (Sanctuaries/Nested Fractals), and Mitzvah (Tipping Points). All classes will be interactive, with text study, discussion, and fun experiential activities.

Class #1: Minyan – Emergence and the Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts. From organizational behavior to ecosystems, to our food systems, emergence says that we can’t understand our world without looking at the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Judaism as well is built on this principle, starting, but not ending, with the idea of Minyan—ten Jews who come together to create something greater called community. We’ll compare ancient Jewish texts with modern ecological, political and ethical writings to discuss the ways that we can approach modern crises by seeing the larger patterns of emergence.

Class #2: Mikdash – Our Many Sanctuaries and the Nestedness of Natural Systems. We are often trapped in a false dilemma of either/or. Either you are tribalist or universalist; either for yourself or for the group. But natural systems are nested, as a cell is within an organ, which is within a body. Judaism also is built on this nestedness, which says that we don’t need to divide ourselves into either/or, but we are both/and. In building communities, navigating different opinions and relating ourselves to the natural world, we can benefit from the ancient and modern perspective of seeing the “fractal” nature of our nested patterns.

Class #3: Mitzvah – Tipping Points, or The Small Act which can Make a Big Difference. Complex systems don’t follow linear, predictable trajectories, but a small action can have a huge effect. The proverbial “butterfly effect” is being seen everywhere from climate change to politics. The Mitzvah, an ancient Jewish spiritual technology, is based on the same idea: a small action could make all the difference. You don’t know for certain what the impact will be, but you do that action anyway, because it’s a mitzvah. Ecological activism and political movements as well as spiritual practice rely on this ancient insight.

About the Instructor: Rabbi Natan Margalit was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He received rabbinic ordination at the Jerusalem Seminary in 1990 and earned a PH.D. in Talmud from U.C. Berkeley in 2001. He has taught at Bard College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and the rabbinical school of Hebrew College. Natan is rabbi of the Greater Washington Coalition for Jewish Life in Connecticut. He is founder and president of Organic Torah Institute, a non-profit organization that fosters holistic thinking about Judaism, environment and society. He lives in Newton with his wife Ilana and their two sons.