Tanya White - "Feed your soul"

 

Tanya White is an International lecturer, writer and educator with a focus on Tanach and Contemporary Jewish Thought. She lectures to diverse audiences in Israel and Abroad, driven by a passion to exchange insights on the most pressing topics facing the modern Jewish world. Tanya has published numerous articles in books and on social media, including a highly publicised responsa with Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo which was subsequently published in his latest book. Tanya is a graduate of the Matan Matmidot (Torah scholars) program. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University and is the recipient of Schupf Fellowship for outstanding students. A collection of her thoughts can be viewed on her blog-page: www.contemplatingtorah.wordpress.com

1. What was a place, person or event that transformed your ideas, thinking, or perspective?

It’s impossible to single out one person/event or idea. We are all constantly being influenced and influencing. I feel like every book I read , or idea I come across or person I connect with changes me in some small way. But I would say Rabbi Sacks זצ"ל  was deeply influential – from the first ‘philosophical’ book I read which was his, to personal meetings that orientated me in my professional life as well as his ideas that inform so much of my teaching and religious perspective.

2. If you could broadcast a short message across every social media, TV channel and radio in, what would you say?

Be kind, be humble, be inquisitive and know there is something larger than yourself. Value family, friendship, citizenship, and community and know that when all is said and done these are things that really matter.

3. How has failing to achieve a goal prepared you for the next challenge?

It’s taught me that nothing is ever perfect, and that growth only happens through breakage and failure. I always give the example of your great aunt’s perfect home where you were afraid to move for fear of breaking something. Perfection stunts growth. Imperfection (failure, fragmentation) allows for growth.  Intrinsic to growth IS risk and failure. Through failure we learn resilience and fortitude which I think are essential life lessons. These ideas are reflected in so many of the narratives in Torah (from Gan Eden, to the Avot to the Egel to Israel in the midbar and Moshe).

4. If you were to give advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Read. Don’t be quick to have an opinion – answers are not always THE answer. Life is complicated so breath, recentre and know that crisis, eventually in one form or another, will breed strength and resilience. If you can’t change a situation look to change yourself (or your perception of reality). Find someone who believes in you but don’t rely too heavily  on others to give you confidence and self-love, it must be nurtured internally. Then read some more.

5. What is one way that you spoil yourself a little?

Book depository, good cappuccinos, hot baths (although someone please tell me why they don’t sell good bubble bath in this country?!).

6. How do you get back on track if you have had an unproductive or distracted period?

You mean like the entire last year?! I set myself weekly goals and then make a timetable. I feel like when you can physically tick things off a list its extremely helpful. Meditation, exercise and sleep. Though I am quite well disciplined the last year has been very challenging. Finding the headspace and quiet time to write and be creative has been immensely difficult but I have also learnt a lot about myself and have pushed the boundaries. If this year has taught me anything it is that the majority of obstacles lie in our mind.  Though it has not been smooth I have achieved things I always thought were impossible (like writing about complex philosophical ideas between plasticine figures and home schooling).

7. What’s the best or worst piece of advice you ever received?

‘This too shall pass’

8. What do you consider as your biggest achievement in the last 5-10 years?

Being a mother and writing a doctorate.

Parenting is one of the most fulfilling yet challenging tasks. It has taught me so much about myself. Whenever one of my students compliments me I always say ‘come speak to my kids then you’ll know the real me!’. My kids amaze me every day and bring me unbridled joy and awe but equally they can bring out my worst side. They challenge me to work on myself, on my patience, on my consistency, on my self-awareness and my compassion. And when I fail – they sure let me know!!

My greatest career challenge has been writing my doctorate. It’s been hard and challenging and uplifting and enlightening and frustrating and beautiful and despairing all at once. But I have grown from it in so many ways.

9. What area do you see that people in your profession do not stress enough?

Torat Chayim ­– Torah as a living, breathing, dynamic and engaging body for all of klal yisrael. Its more than just one thing (Halakha, and religiosity and sociology). If we want it to be edifying for future generations, we need to be tapping into its message for today’s world. Sometimes i feel like our parochialism is the cause of our undoing. It’s natural to get caught up in minutiae and subjectivity but stepping outside  the box allows us to realize no one has a monopoly on the Torah. To be alive it has to address issues like relevance for the unaffiliated and uncommitted Jews in Israel (and chul), religion and state, women and Halakha and speak to the modern mind. There are many who are engaged in this, but I think it needs broadening further, especially in the Israeli arena.

10. What part of Jewish learning is your main focus or favorite? How would you recommend people to get more deeply into it?

No question Jewish thought. So many people are grappling with contemporary dilemmas and personal religious challenges. Engaging with the legacy of our intellectual inheritance can provide us with nourishment to feed the chasm modern living has fostered. But it comes with a warning: complex ideas lose their beauty and profundity once we try to fit them into easy soundbites. If Rambam, Yehuda Halevi, or even the great Chassidic masters feels too daunting, dipping into the thought of modern thinkers can be more accessible - Heschel’s The Sabbath¸  or Soloveitchik’s, The Lonely man of Faith, Buber’s ­I-Thou or Rosensweig’s The Star of Redemption and certainly contemporary thinkers like Rabbi Sacks are good places to start.  

11. I have often thought that we in the modern orthodox community are walking a tightrope between different worlds both of which we want to belong to and be active in which may detract from our full attention to one or the other particularly to the Jewish side. Can you give some ideas or direction how to connect more deeply to the Torah and Hashem? (Books, ideas, programmes, activities)

I think the binary paradigm of secular and holy worlds and managing the dissonance between them is dated. For many years modern orthodoxy felt it had to ‘defend’ itself against the right or the left (primarily a remnant of the emancipation period and subsequent emergence of denominational judaism). Jewish tradition emphasises engaging with the world and elevating the profane towards holy goals. Today walking that narrow bridge is something every Jew does (be they haredi, MO, secular etc) as the idiom goes the greatest task is לא לפחד כלל  - not to fear. Fear closes us off and creates fences. The challenge is to walk that bridge (rather than tightrope) with love as opposed to fear and guilt. It’s important to be self-critical, but not to the extent that it paralyses.

I believe in nurturing your connection to Hashem and Torah through finding the things that feed your soul and then integrating them into your daily lifestyle – tefilla, learning (now even more accessible over zoom), Jewish podcasts, chessed programmes or social activism. For me it is so much a matter of intention – how am I going to bring a sense of the ‘holy/awe’ into my daily life – for every person that will look slightly different.