Hedda Morton, Director of Congregational Learning

Contact Hedda Morton, Director of Congregational Learning hedda@adathisraelnj.org 
Mazal Tov to Adath’s Director of Congregational Learning, Hedda S. Morton. Hedda will be inducted as the National President of JEA, the Jewish Education Assembly. This is a personal honor for Hedda and a congregational honor for Adath Israel. 

Hedda S. Morton, Director of Congregational Learning, has been guiding Adath Israel Congregation’s pursuit of life-long learning with innovative programming since 2001.   She is responsible for our award-winning Religious School, adult education programs, as well as events that enable the Adath family to share Shabbat and holiday celebrations.  Recently Mrs. Morton has assumed the broader role of guiding our membership activities, planning and co-leading congregational trips to Israel and developing major events such as the annual Sacks-Wilner Holocaust Education Program for the synagogue.
Both Adath Religious School and Mrs. Morton have been honored with the following awards:  Solomon Schechter Gold Award by United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the JEA/Torah Aura Curriculum Award, the JEA/Torah Aura Administration Award, and the NJ Coalition for Inclusive Ministries Religious Educator Award.  In addition, Adath Israel Religious School’s Resource Center has received national attention for its Dalet Dog program, a program using therapy and service dogs to encourage special needs children to learn to read Hebrew and prayers.
Mrs. Morton has been involved in Jewish Education for more than thirty years in both formal and informal settings.  She has mentored new Jewish educators through the Davidson School of the Jewish Theological Seminary and currently serves as National Vice President of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), the professional organization of Conservative educators.   She is also an active member of the Principals Council of the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks which develops and implements community-wide educational programs for its members’ schools.
Mrs. Morton leads by example as can easily be seen by her own education. She has earned two Masters Degrees, one as a Reading Specialist (University of Colorado) and one in Jewish Education (Gratz College). She continues her own professional development through seminars, workshops, and conferences. She is truly an educational maven who shares her wealth of experience and learning with every member of the Adath Israel family.

page updated 02/2010

D’Var Torah Presented by Hedda S. Morton
Jewish Educators’ Assembly National Board Retreat

Pearlstone Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Wednesday morning, July 30, 2008

30 Tammuz 5768

Parashat Masei

Thank you, Larry, for the privilege of presenting today’s D’var Torah.

This week’s parasha, Masei, contains the concluding 3 chapters of the book of Bamidbar, and brings the Israelites to the threshold of the Promised Land. Briefly, Masei begins with a narrative of the itinerary of the Israelites—a list of all of the encampments as they journeyed from Egypt to the promised land.

The second section contains the divine command for the conquest of Canaan, the boundaries that will result, the apportionment of the land among the 9.5 tribes, the determination of forty-eight towns and pastures for the Levites, including the designation of the 6 cities of refuge. We learn the distinction between murder and manslaughter.

In the final section of the parasha, the tribe of Manasseh raises a question about Moses’ decision that daughters may inherit in the absence of sons. The tribe points out that if the heiresses marry outside of their tribe, the land passes to their husbands’ tribe, thereby upsetting the original land distribution. Moses declares that God finds the claim justified, and thereby directs that daughters who are heiresses must marry within their father’s tribe.

While each of these sections presents opportunities for fascinating study, I would like to focus our attention on this concept of cities of refuge and justice for one who accidentally harms another. In Numbers, chapter 35, verses 9-15, we read:

“(9)The Lord spoke further to Moses: (10)Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, (11)you shall provide yourselves with places to serve you as cities of refuge to which a manslayer who has killed a person unintentionally may flee. (12)The cities shall serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer may not die unless he has stood trial before the assembly.”

(13)The towns that you thus assign shall be six cities of refuge in all. (14) Three cities shall be designated beyond the Jordan, and the other three shall be designated in the land of Canaan: they shall serve as cities of refuge. (15) These six cities shall serve the Israelites and the resident aliens among them for refuge, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.”

We are all familiar with the institution of blood vengeance and the attendant need for cities of refuge created in the ancient Near East “…but the form adopted by the Israelites is unique and revolutionary.(Etz Hayim, pp. 962-3).”

What made the “arei miklat”, the Israelite cities of refuge unique and revolutionary? How did they function? Harvey J. Fields in his multi-volume text, A TORAH COMMENTARY FOR OUR TIMES offers a compendium of insights from our sages and scholars, but let us consider three.

During the biblical period, relatives of murder victims had the right to find and execute those who were guilty of killing their loved ones. However, those who committed the crime by accident could save themselves by going immediately to one of the six cities of refuge. All roads leading to these cities had to be clearly marked with signs pointing the way, and the roads were to be straight, level, and in good condition. No obstacle was to stand in the way of those seeking asylum.

Upon arrival at the city gate, unintentional murderers presented themselves to elders who offered hospitality. Once rested, they were taken to a court where it was determined whether they were guilty of premeditated murder or involuntary manslaughter. If judged guilty of premeditated murder, they were put to death; if guilty of unintentional homicide, they were allowed to live rent and tax free in the refuge city during the lifetime of the incumbent High Priest. After the death of the High Priest, they could return to their home cities, without fearing harm from avengers (Numbers 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 4:43, 19:8-10; Joshua 20:7; Makot 10a-b, 13a).

Rabbi W. Gunter Plaut claims that the notion of the cities of asylum arose out of the need to end family feuds by taking the process of law out of the hands of private individuals and emphasizing the role of “public law enforcement.” For him, the arei miklat protected unintentional murderers from punishment by the avengers, and “to contain and isolate the sin that had been committed.” (The Torah: A Modern commentary, pp 1249-1250)

Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi of Yanof, author of Tze’enah u-Re’enah, supports Plaut’s view, maintaining that the arei miklat are a means of containing the sin of murder. He writes that each murder, intentional or unintentional, banishes God’s Presence from the world because each human being is made in the image of God.”

Unlike Plaut and Jacob, Rabbbi Samson Raphael Hirsch sees the cities of refuge as providing opportunities offering forgiveness and rebirth. Hirsch argues that, just as when we are born, we are “set in the world as a permanent surrounding”; “consigning the unintentional murderer to a miklat-city is similarly a second confining birth. The miklat-city is henceforth the whole world to the one who is relegated to it.”

According to Hirsch this “rebirth” within the miklat-city is not a form of punishment but a chance to find “a life there.” Therefore, the town “should be of medium size…not enclosed by a wall, provided with water and food markets…all national classes must be settled there.” It must have teachers, students, and people of science, of spiritual and intellectual quality. According to Jewish tradition, students must be allowed to follow their teacher if he is guilty of unintentional murder, and a teacher must be given the freedom to follow a student. When I shared this commentary with my friend and colleague, Hazzan Arlyne Unger, she offered a contemporary and timely reaction that merits repeating: “I just found Hirsch’s comment that students must be allowed to follow their teacher, and teachers must be able to follow their students, to be an amazing and powerful concept. Being that we are all educators… this (perspective) is a validation of the work we do – the recognition that the student-teacher bond is a holy one, one that transcends time and space, and if done correctly, will transform the life of both partners.”

Quoting Deuteronomy 19:5, Hirsch emphasizes that unintentional murderers are to “flee to one of these cities and live.” For that reason, the arei miklat are to be environments for “rebirth,” nuturing places where human beings can enjoy the company of others, pursue their talents, and grow both spiritually and intellectually. .. they must form a complete world on a small scale.”

Harvey J. Fields concludes that “While some interpreters claim that the arei miklat are set aside as places of punishment or as a means of containing the “sin of murder” from spreading through the society, most Jewish teachers stress that they are meant to save the person who has committed unintentional murder from death by individuals who might take the law into their own hands and to provide a place where such a person can live a protected and productive life….The arei miklat are meant to be “rebirth places where a person tormented by the shame and guilt of having accidentally taken a life would be able to surmount anguish and rebuild a creative human existence.” (p. 92)

At this point you may be wondering: So what does this concept of the cities of refuge have to do with me?

As Jewish educators we share our passion, our love and our commitment to our people, the Jewish people. We have made the decision to serve the members of our congregations and institutions, the students in our schools and the adults in our communities, with our resourcefulness, our initiative, and our energy. We aspire to show compassion, demonstrate sensitivity, and present ourselves as role models that will inspire our congregants, our students, our families, and our friends. In the process we hope to help build communities centered on the Jewish teachings and values we personally hold so dear. We have set the bar high for ourselves because we understand how high the stakes are. And it all comes with a price. Where is our “city of refuge?” Where can we go for relief from demanding parents, over-tired children, unimaginative congregants? How can we re-energize when our personal reserves begin to fade?

In his inspiring book Gift of Soul, Gift of Wisdom: A Spiritual Resource for Mentoring and Leadership, Rabbi Brad Artson notes that “Leaders are the ones who ought to attend every event and every committee meeting, conduct every program, visit every class in every school, and participate in every communal event…the truth is that we keep trying to squeeze more and more into less and less. We believe that if we would only hustle a little more, be a little more available, or organize ourselves a little more efficiently, we would finally turn our community around. Our classes, programs, and buildings would overflow with passionate, engaged, observant, and learned people! If only we were working a little harder! And so we disappoint ourselves. We grow tired. We grow weary. We grow resentful….

Who heals the healers? We who try to make time for our people—where do we retire for renewal? Where do we go to seek encouragement, comfort, and understanding? How can we revitalize ourselves so that we have the energy to continue preaching, singing, organizing, teaching, and caring?” (Chapter 11)

We can’t escape to a physical city of refuge, but we can find temporary escape that will provide enough time for renewal.

We can do this by looking inward, taking stock, and taking care of ourselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t help those who are looking to us for guidance and support.

Isolation by itself is insufficient. Just as one cannot be a Jew alone, we must spend time with our loved ones: our families and our friends.

We must look to our community for strength, especially in times of personal difficulty and personal challenge.

We can look to each other—our colleagues and friends who sit around this table and within the JEA network—for support, for understanding, for growth and for fun. Whether it’s a question posted to the listserve, a conference call, a JEA Board meeting, a committee assignment, the annual conference or a phone call to express mazel tov for a simcha or comfort during a crisis, —each provides a unique opportunity for refuge and renewal.

And equally important as all of the above, we can look to the source with which we began—the Torah. “The Torah is a tree of life” — the insight, the learning, the excitement, and the energy are there for each of us.

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Permit me to conclude with this eloquent prayer by Rabbi Naomi Levy from her book Talking to God (page 144):

“I am weary, God; please renew my spirit.

When I despair, fill me with hope.

When I feel as if I have no more to give, remind me that my strength comes from You.

When I assume that my energy is finite, teach me to see that I am connected to an infinite source of inspiration and goodness.

When I lose faith in myself, remind me that I am blessed with enormous talent and ability.

When I get lazy, remind me that there is much work to be done and that there are many people who need my assistance. Teach me to see that my efforts do make a difference.

When I forget why I am doing what I am doing, help me to recover the excitement, the meaning, and the satisfaction that led me to this work.

When I lose direction, show me the way, God, back to passion, back to enthusiasm, back toYou. Amen.

As this retreat draws to a close, let us be mindful of the phrase we will recite this Shabbat following the conclusion of both the parasha and the fourth book of the Torah, “Hazak hazak v’nit-chazek”—let us be strong and let us strengthen each other!