“PROJECT MAGIC” by Arthur Kurzweil
Published in
Genii: The Conjurors’ Magazine
Vol. 66, No. 1, January 2003
Articles by Arthur
“Genealogy as a Spiritual Pilgrimage” by Arthur Kurzweil
From the
MALCOLM R. STERN MEMORIAL LECTURE given at the 14th Summer Seminar on Jewish Genealogy, Washington, DC, June 28, 1995
“A Conversation about Jewish Spirituality with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz” by Arthur Kurzweil
JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: THE MAGAZINE January 2004
"A Conversation with Leonard Cohen"
by Arthur Kurzweil
THE JEWISH BOOK NEWS INTERVIEW
LEONARD COHEN
Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
Articles about Arthur
Scholar’s expertise includes magic, genealogy, Talmud
By Deborah Moon
Talmudist, Kabbalist, genealogist, magician and author Arthur Kurzweil considers himself something of a Jewish King Midas.
Just as everything Midas touched turned to gold, everything he touches turns Jewish, said the scholar who will be in Portland for a community-wide scholar’s weekend Feb. 8-11. The weekend is sponsored by P’nai Or of Portland, Havurah Shalom, Congregation Shir Tikvah, Congregation Shaarie Torah and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon.
“My soul seems to need to be connected to Jewish stuff,” said Kurzweil, author of “Kabbalah for Dummies” and “On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz.”
The weekend originated when P’nai Or selected Kurzweil as their annual visiting scholar after several members heard him speak at a Jewish Renewal retreat on the east coast.
“When I found out what an incredible broad range of subjects he is considered an expert in, I thought he’s going to appeal to a lot of people,” said Eliana Fromer, the P’nai Or Council member who is coordinating the weekend. “So I invited other congregations to co-sponsor his visit to get the word out to their congregations.”
The resulting schedule includes “something for everyone,” said Fromer (see listings below), including Shabbat services, sessions on Kabbalah and Talmud, a magic show, patron’s brunch and genealogy workshops.
Author of several genealogy books including “From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History” and “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy,” Kurzweil traces his interest in Judaism to his personal search for his family roots.
While outsiders often think of genealogy as simply a tangible collection of names and dates, Kurzweil said genealogy research provides a connection to family, history and heritage.
“Our families were torn apart and the people who do genealogy are trying to heal that,” Kurzweil said.
“The more you learn about names and dates, the more these people come alive,” he said. “There is a shift as family reunions take place and pictures are passed around.”
In fact, it was a picture an elderly relative showed him that launched his study of the Talmud. Looking at the picture of one ancestor, he noticed books in the background, many of which were volumes of the Talmud.
“I came from a family who did not give me much of a Jewish education… I didn’t even know what it (Talmud) was,” Kurzweil said.
Kurzweil is now considered a Talmud authority. He said he considers Talmud “a very cool book … about life and all the questions of life from the mundane to the esoteric."
His interest in the Talmud prompted him to contact Jerusalem Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, whose groundbreaking English commentary of the Talmud is considered a standard. Impressed by something Steinsaltz wrote, he called Steinsaltz’s office and offered to “do anything to help,” including picking him up at the airport at 5 a.m. the next time the famed rabbi came to New York.
“I got the assignment 25 years ago and I’ve been picking him up at the airport ever since,” said Kurzweil. “I am his New York area chauffeur. I love rush hour … we talk about all kinds of things. I became his student.”
“He changed my life. I wrote a whole book about it,” he said referring to his book “On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz.”
As his interest in Judaism spread, it began to enter other parts of his life, including his magic performances, which he had begun in third grade.
He said his performance “Searching for God in a Magic Shop” combines entertainment with exploration of very serious questions about evil and suffering.
“The feedback is I’m able to talk about those subjects and keep it entertaining and the tricks help to explore these eternal questions,” he said.
______________________________________________________________
Conversation with Arthur Kurzweil
By Cindy Mindell
Arthur Kurzweil wants fellow Jews to get "entangled" with their family's history and with Talmud and Kabbalah. A passionate seeker, he turned his personal spiritual quest into several books and projects, including the bestselling "From Generation to Generation," a seminal text on Jewish genealogical research; "On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz: 25 Years of Pre-Dawn Car Trips, Mind-Blowing Encounters and Inspiring Conversations with a Man of Wisdom;" and "The Torah for Dummies." He is coordinator of the Talmud Circle Project, under the direction of Rabbi Steinsaltz, and is an accomplished magician.
Kurzweil is the author of "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy" and "My Generations: A Course in Jewish Family History," a popular textbook that has been used for almost 20 years in synagogue schools throughout North America.
He has written for New York Magazine, the L.A. Times, the Miami Herald, Newsday, and most U.S. Jewish periodicals, and served for two years as a weekly columnist for the Jewish Week of New York.
Kurzweil is the recipient of the Distinguished Humanitarian Award from the Melton Center of Ohio State University for his unique contributions to the field of Jewish education. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
As "America's foremost Jewish genealogist," he will present the keynote address on May 2 at Family History Day, an event sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, at Beth El Temple in West Hartford.
Q: You are considered among the premier Jewish genealogists in the U.S. How did you develop an interest in the field, and how did you become so good at it?
A: My father came from a small town in Poland when he was 8 years old. He has a great memory and is a wonderful storyteller. I grew up hearing stories about his little town. The more I heard the more I wanted to hear. At a certain point in my early 20s I developed a profound desire to learn about Judaism. At the time I thought it was a curiosity about Jewish history, but as time went on I became aware that it was really a deeply personal spiritual search. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. I also have a degree in Library Science. My parents always encouraged us to use the encyclopedia. Hardly an evening went by without some conversation at dinner prompting one of my parents to say, "Let's look it up." So I went down the hall to the set of encyclopedia volumes and over the years I got quite good at research. When I began investigating my family history I found that there were no guidebooks. I ended up writing the book I wish I had been able to find.
Q: How did you come to co-found the Jewish Genealogical Society in the '70s?
A: The idea for a Jewish genealogical society was the brainchild of Dr. Neil Rosenstein, who has made important contributions to the field of Jewish genealogy through his original research and through the books he has published. Neil asked me and a few others who were also involved in one way or another with Jewish genealogy to gather together in order to brainstorm about forming a group. Today there are, I believe, over 70 Jewish genealogical societies throughout the world, all of which grew out of that first little meeting decades ago. The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies meets once a year. This year the 30th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy will be in Los Angeles from July 11 to 16.
Q: How does an absolute beginner start to research his or her family's genealogy? What are some useful resources?
A: The first step is to talk to relatives. That's always the first step. The documents will wait. The people don't wait. Talk to every relative you can find. Talking to relatives is the most important thing to do. After that, I'd say you should explore www.jewishgen.org. This is cyberspace headquarters for Jewish genealogy. If you are interested in Jewish genealogy and you go to this website, we won't see you again for months!
Interest in Jewish genealogy is growing. More and more people each year are becoming convinced that you can be very successful in climbing your Jewish family tree. There is no question that the major factor in the growth of this pursuit is the Internet and all that it offers the researcher.
Q: You are also a professional magician. How did you develop this interest, and how do you combine it with your other work and passions?
A: My father and I went to a costume shop when I was in the 3rd grade. We were working on a detail for a school play. The shop also had a magic counter, and that evening my father purchased my first trick. Today I have a room filled with magical items and a library of 500 books on magic. I perform a show called "Searching for God in a Magic Shop" at synagogues and other Jewish groups around the country. I've also performed in England. It's not a magic show. It's a very serious discussion about some of the most profound ideas in Jewish thought. And, at the same time, I am doing some cool magic tricks. Every trick I perform is connected in some way to the ideas we are exploring.
Q: How does your Jewish spiritual life mesh with your genealogical research?
A: It seems to me that every step of the way when we pursue our genealogical research, we are involved in mitzvahs. Who more than we honor the elderly? Who more than we reach out to the elderly people in our family and our communities and make them feel like we need them – because we do. And what is that but a mitzvah, to honor the elderly. Who more than we ask questions? The Talmud consists of questions, thousands of ways of asking different questions. Did you ever ask the question, "Where did you get that information from?" Well, there is a little code word in the Talmud for the question, "Where did you get that question from?" And who has perfected the art of asking questions more than we have?
Who like we genealogists performs the mitzvah of ahavat Yisrael, the love of the people of Israel, which really means tolerance. What Jews in the world are more tolerant than Jewish genealogists? Why are we tolerant? We are tolerant because we learn that on this branch of the family there are Galicianers, and on this branch there are Litvaks, and on this branch there are assimilated Jews and on this branch there were intermarriages! And we see that each of our families really is everybody, and in the process we become tolerant.
The fact of six million Jews being killed during the Holocaust is unfathomable to us, but when we have the specific names of the people in our families…. I don't know what to do with the Holocaust. Most people in the world don't know quite what to do with the Holocaust. But I think we genealogists have found out what to do with the Holocaust. We remember names. When the Nazis rounded us up, they took away our names and they gave us numbers. What we are involved with doing is taking away the numbers and giving them back their names.
I believe that in the same way that the Talmud says that when the Temple was destroyed, they rebuilt by doing their family trees, in our generation we have the same task. As a rebuilding generation, we are doing our family trees to rebuild, to put the pieces back together again, to take that shattered people and to bring them back together again. Our work is mitzvah work. I think we are doing a good job.
____________________________________________________
|
Abracadabra! Temple Isaiah Welcomes Arthur Kurzweil Scholar-in-residence weekend includes Kabbalah, Talmud, genealogy and magic |
March 16, 2010 | 01:48 PM
Are you a fan of things magical or mystical? Then there's something for you at
Kurzweil will address several different topics in a series of programs that are open to the public. He will offer ideas from Kabbalah — the Jewish mysticism that explores the meaning and purpose of life. He will provide an introduction to the study of Talmud in English, focusing on the inherent process of questioning that informs it. He will present a performance of insight and storytelling, combined with deft illusions for a magical evening. Finally, he'll share his expertise as possibly
"I felt that the variety — Kabbalah, Talmud, magic and genealogy — would appeal to different groups of people in the congregation," said Rabbi Stephen Karol, explaining Kurzweil's appeal as a scholar-in-residence. "This weekend will be a combination of serious study and fun. And non-congregants might be interested in each of these topics because they may know a little about each one and this will be an opportunity for them to at least begin to learn more. In and of themselves, they are fascinating subjects. Each one can have some application to our lives — even magic!"
As for his motivation, Kurzweil says his favorite part of being a scholar-in-residence is "telling members of the Jewish family that we are the recipients of a profound, nourishing, amazing spiritual tradition." It has been his life's work and he's been at it more than 30 years. The show he created, incorporating magic, isn't just for ohs and ahs. It's to make you think. "My show is a very serious discussion about some of the most profound ideas in Jewish theology," Kurzweil said. "It just happens that I am performing some pretty cool magic tricks at the same time, which connect with the ideas being presented. It's a fun show, but it is quite serious. Magic can be an effective teaching tool." Ray Pollard, president of Ring 317 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, wrote this compelling review of the Magic Show: "Mr. Kurzweil is an absolute delight. I am a professional magician and have been professionally trained, yet what Arthur did with us was something rarely seen. He was 'edge-of-your-seat' interesting. He was witty. He was endearing. He had a roomful of magicians so caught up in his stories and his personal revelations, that even we were fooled by his magic."
Author of many books, and editor of many more, Kurzweil has gained much from his association with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a noted scholar, philosopher, social critic and author. Traveling with Rabbi Steinsaltz on his frequent trips to the
"Twenty Ideas from Kabbalah that Can Change Your Life" will be presented during Friday evening services, which begin at 8 pm. On Saturday, there will be a lunch seminar beginning at 12:30 pm titled, "I Can't Read Hebrew, I Never Went to Yeshiva, But I Want to Study Talmud: An Introduction to Talmud Study in English." Participants may bring a bag lunch. On Saturday evening at 7:30 pm, a performance of "Searching for God in a Magic Shop" will be followed by a dessert reception. Suggested donation is $18 per adult. There is no charge for accompanying children (ages 10 and older).
A Sunday breakfast program, "From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History" is free for congregants. There will be a $5 charge per person for non-congregants.
For more information about any of the weekend's programs, for directions to Temple Isaiah, or to make reservations for the Saturday night Magic Show or Sunday morning Breakfast Program, please call the Temple office: 751-8518.
________________________________________________
Arthur Kurzweil: Our Hero!
Inside Magic.com features Arthur Kurzweil in an article
Jewish Week Article PDF ” Tricks And Tractates”
by Steve Lipman – Staff Writer
“Introducing an act that shows the magic of Judaism.”
