“Have You Heard the One About a Christian Dude Who Walked Into a Jewish Synogague in Utah…?” (with pictures)
8 pictures for you to see…
Sounds like the start of a joke, right?
“Have you heard the one about the Christian dude who walked into a Jewish synagogue in Utah…?”
Actually— it’s no joke — I recently did walk into a Jewish synagogue for the first time!
So what was I — the Christian dude — doing visiting a synagogue?
Well, it all started when my wife showed me the following headline on her phone:
A Sofer?
First thing I wondered was, “what’s a Sofer?”
I read the article and found that a Sofer (also known as a scribe) specializes in writing and restoring ancient Torah scrolls. A Sofer is, in a sense, an artist — kind of a kindred spirit with me.
And…what’s a “sacred scroll?”
In Jewish tradition, a Torah scroll is a sacred document containing the five books of Moses handwritten in original Hebrew on parchment. The scrolls are on two wooden shafts and are read in synagogues multiple times a week.
Since I love the Bible so much (I have two master’s degrees with a Biblical focus, and I’m currently in a Doctor of Ministry program at Emory University’s School of Theology with a focus on Bible Interpretation and Proclamation), the idea of seeing sacred scrolls and a sofer in person fascinated me.
So…off I went to the Utah Jewish synagogue!
The article I read said the congregation was having an open house that night at Congregation Kol Ami, Utah’s largest Jewish congregation about an hour from my home. The public was invited to see the work of the Sofer, so I jumped at the opportunity to make my first-ever visit to a synagogue.
I arrived early, and when I entered the building, I met a pleasant fellow who introduced himself as “Sam” — he was most welcoming and friendly. I later learned he’s Rabbi Samuel Spector, the rabbi of the Congregation Kol Ami. I learned from him that the Torah scrolls are the most important item in their tradition and that every few years, the scrolls need maintenance and repair.
The congregation hosted Rabbi Moshe Druin from Florida, one of a few sofers in the world.
Rabbi Druin spoke to the group of 50 or so for an hour about his specialized art — writing Hebrew on parchment using feathers and kosher ink in the same way it’s been done for thousands of years (see the photo below from my visit). He spent the week working on Kol Ami’s several Torah scrolls.
I was thrilled when learned I could contribute to the restoration effort by “sponsoring” a letter or a word.
I was pleased to make a donation and have Rabbi Druin write for me a word in Hebrew on a paper for my keeping. I chose the word HESED (or Chesed), which means kindness or love between people.
On the certificate below, you can see the word hesed handwritten in Hebrew by Rabbi Druin.
Hesed is in my heart!
“Surely goodness and hesed shall follow me all the days of my life.” — Psalm 23:6
“How precious is your hesed, O God!” — Psalm 36:7–9
Why do you suppose, out of all the words in the Torah, I chose to have Rabbi Druin write hesed?
In my business career, as well as in church and community service, I try to lead with love. Fourteen years ago, I wrote a book titled Love & Grow Rich: How to Love Your Way to Life’s Riches. In my current and future focus with Totality Ministries, I’m working to create greater love between people of all faith groups and races. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and all others — I wish to see greater love and kindness between us all.
I’m the director of Totality Ministries, a nonprofit organization I recently formed with a mission of creating unity, friendship, and love between all faith groups by merging Art & Theology as a catalyst. I want to be among those making an impact in promoting interfaith unity, love, and kindness.
But I’m just one person — what can I do?
Do you ever feel overmatched? In this case, I sure do. My mission is a herculean task — an absolute “big hairy audacious goal.” But with God, nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37). I’m doing what I can to make a difference.
Merging Art & Theology
I’m a second-generation artist who loves to paint, and one of the styles I enjoy doing most is abstract work. Below is my increasingly well-known painting titled Rise from the Dust. It started out as a dusty old yard-sale painting I bought years ago for $7 — I then transformed it into this abstract painting priced today at $1,000,000.
By merging art with theology — there’s a big lesson in this painting.
As a yard sale painting, it was a monochrome landscape — dull, dry, dusty, and almost worthless. By bringing together a variety of colors, the painting came alive and is now highly valued. In a similar way, interfaith work is bringing together, in a most beautiful way, those of different religions and faith groups through action and dialogue.
“Show kindness and respect for all people everywhere. The world in which we live is filled with diversity. We can and should demonstrate respect toward those whose beliefs differ from ours.” — Thomas S. Monson
Conclusion
I loved my visit to the Jewish synagogue and meeting both Rabbi Spector and Rabbi Druin. Since then, hesed has become even more important to me — and my work of merging art & theology helps people to see more clearly how to become what God has created you to be.
Thanks for reading — feel free to email me with any comments or questions. Totalityism@gmail.com
You can visit my virtual art gallery at www.PaulsonArtShow.com
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