As someone who is both involved with theater and in the middle of my year as an AVODAH Corps member in Brooklyn, Pursue’s event hosting the Theatre of the Oppressed workshop was a perfect combination. Theatre of the Oppressed combines a mix of improv games that focus on creatively rethinking our assumptions and social structures. The workshop’s dynamic facilitator led a series of games and activities that forced the group of 20- and 30-somethings to act silly and be creative in a way that is often hard to achieve in young adults.
While we did several theater exercises and games, one in particular stood out for me. We were each asked to bring five pieces of “clean garbage” from home, and when we entered the workshop room in downtown Brooklyn, we placed our items on two long tables. There was anything from sketches to tea bags to plastic wrappers to empty liquor bottles on the table. When it came time, we were split into two groups and asked to make a person out of the pieces of “clean garbage.” We sat in a circle on the floor and each placed a piece of garbage down, hoping that the end result would resemble some sort of body. Throughout the process, I noticed myself feeling tense, getting angry when people were placing pieces in a spot I arbitrarily didn’t agree with. “Fine,” I resolved, “do what you like.” Read more →
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Friday night, we sat around our dining room table for my last Shabbat at Stony Point, drumming to Bim Bom, and smelling the scent of fresh baked challah just out of the oven. Shabbats at the Community of Living Traditions are the best. Growing up, I had celebrated Shabbat with my family, but something about the people, the food, and the consistency of it made it really meaningful for me here. Each week, we invited guests to sit and share Shabbat with us as well as a way to get to know individuals in the community better and share Jewish traditions with people who have not experienced it before. 
