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Rabbi Adina Allen is the founder of the Jewish Studio Project, an organization founded in 2020 to make space for artistic and creative processes in a deeply Jewish and spiritual framework. 

This summer, Adina’s first book, “The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom,” comes out with Ayin Press as a powerfully accessible reading of Torah as a contemporary guidebook for creativity, inviting us to rethink and transform ourselves, our lives, and the world around us. 

Adina and I have been partners in this space for many years, so I was grateful to ask her a few questions in advance of the book launch (September 2024).

Here’s what Adina had to share about why she wrote this book: 

The ideas in this book have been coming into form over the course of many years of developing and leading the work of the Jewish Studio Project. There were many impetuses for writing the book – one was for the Facilitators and Fellows in our network.

We are on our 5th cohort of our Creative Facilitator Training Program. Over the course of two years of intensive study and practice, 20 Fellows develop a deep relationship with the Jewish Studio Process methodology as a spiritual and learning practice in their own lives, and learn how to facilitate it for others. After completing CFT, Fellows join the JSP Facilitator Network, where they receive diverse forms of support and mentorship to bring the process to their communities.

I have been so inspired to witness Facilitators bringing this work to b’nai mitzvah students, new parents, community organizers, caregivers, folks in recovery, spiritual directors, health care providers, teens, and more.  

This book is fueled by the inspiration I get from their work, and as a tool that I hope can help support them in building and deepening their facilitation practice. I also wrote the book for the JSP community, all those who come to community programs or connect to this work through professional development, as a way to explore the foundational ideas and beliefs behind this practice and work.  

Beyond that, I wrote this book for all who are struggling in this time of overwhelm, grief, chaos, division, loneliness, and loss. It is for those of all spiritual/religious backgrounds and none – for anyone seeking meaning, connection, and hope in difficult times.

I truly believe – and have seen it to be true – that when we bring our creativity to ancient Jewish wisdom, new possibilities and energies, even new futures, open to us.

I wrote this book as a tribute to Torah, this life-giving essential text that is so much more than a text, the foundation of Judaism. I believe Torah comes alive when we bring to her the questions, joys, and struggles of our lives, and that Torah thrives when ever-more interpretations are added, complexifying and deepening the meaning of these ancient words.

What initially began as a project to share out much of what I had been developing and teaching over the years, became something that I was doing just as much for myself as for anyone else. In writing this book I discovered so many new insights and came to understand the core passages I focus on in new and life-giving ways.  

Adina will be in conversation with Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld on September 11, 2024 at Hummingbird Books in Newton, MA. Learn more and get tickets here.

Purchase Adina’s Book “The Place of All Possibility” here.