Rabbi Gordon Michael Freeman has served Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek continuously for more than 35 years. Rabbi Freeman joined the fledgling congregation as its first rabbi (and first employee!) in 1968. The congregation was launched in the mid-60’s by lay leaders who had formed Beth Israel Jewish Community Center in Pittsburg at the end of World War II, and combined with new residents of the East Bay who had moved to the area as part of the rapid economic expansion.

Rabbi Freeman was uniquely capable of leading and growing with the new congregation. The congregation was young and so was he. And together they matured and changed and grew. In the early days, Rabbi Freeman had to fill the role of “CEO” and work to build and stimulate lay leadership as well as his more-traditional clerical and pastoral duties. Together, the young congregation and its young rabbi worked to learn together, to measure risks, to take risks, and to grow as a spiritually-unified and socially-cohesive team.

Today, Congregation B’nai Shalom is more than 400 families strong. This membership covers a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and derives strength from its diversity, rather than from homogeneity as in its early days.

The Artist
Rabbi Freeman is one of those rare and fortunate individuals whose vocation and avocation are complementary. He is a Hebrew Calligrapher and is currently working on a calligraphic interpretation of the Book of Psalms using several media. “The art part is subordinate to the Hebrew letter,” he said on a recent sunny afternoon in his B’nai Shalom study. “For me, there’s a certain energy in the Hebrew letter,” he said.

“There’s a midrash that says that God created the world through Hebrew letters,” noted Freeman. “Those letters have a huge amount of creative energy and my task as an artist is to try to unlock that energy.”

Not that he is uninterested in “the art part:” although most of his work to-date has been in ceramic, collage, ink, and acrylic on paper, when he officially retires from B’nai Shalom – which is currently slated for August 2006 — he hopes to take classes and expand his art to other media. He does some figurative things, as evidenced by a cheerful hallel (praise panel) on his study wall, but “only as it enhances the calligraphy.” Eventually he would like to learn the techniques of silk screening and watercolors as well.

Rabbi Freeman is self-taught. He began by doing ketubot for friends during his seminary years. He then learned to be a scribe for the very precise document required for a Jewish divorce. (The traditional get must be written on new parchment, with a newly-cut quill pen. If a mistake is made, the scribe must begin the process again, in front of the rabbinical court and the interested parties.)

He has done ketubot for each of his married daughters, and his grandchildren are traditionally gifted with their names in Hebrew calligraphy, framed to hang on a wall of their rooms. For each of his four daughters’ birthdays, he calligraphs the psalm that corresponds in number to their age. He incorporates graphic design with the letters, so the shape of the work is determined by what he sees in the text of the psalm, be it a mountain, an overflowing cup, or perhaps a geometric shape. Several years ago, he began a practice of presenting young people with a small parchment on which he had micro-calligraphed their Hebrew name on the occasion of their becoming B’nai Mitzvah at B’nai Shalom.

In 1972 he brought out his first book, “Proverbs and People,” a collaboration with the noted Greek artist Nikos Stavroulakis, published by the Judah Magnes Museum in a limited edition. He also has written on the impact of Jewish ethical thought on politics and holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in political science. During August 2004, Rabbi Freeman traveled to Jerusalem as an invited speaker at an international conference on the impact of the Hebrew Bible and Jewish thought on the world’s political systems.

“Ever since I can remember, I was very enthusiastic about Judaism and the Jewish people and wanting to share that with others, to teach it,” he said. “What’s so great about [Congregation B’nai Shalom] is that it enthusiastically supports all this activity of mine.”

For the past few years, Rabbi Freeman has been setting the psalms in calligraphy. Formal exhibits were never part of his artistic agenda. “I’m not in this for commercial reasons,” he said.

However, his settings of the psalms were used as a backdrop for a music festival on the psalms at B’nai Shalom. From there, the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville, with its own art collection and rotating exhibits, became interested. Rabbi Freeman had his first outside exhibition there, with a public opening in July 2004; he also set time aside to discuss his work with the residents in a private session.

“I love the psalms,” he said. “They speak of everything in life. They’ve lasted over 3,000 years and they still sing to us.”

The Author
Rabbi Freeman has co-authored, authored, and co-edited three books. He has written numerous articles on the Jewish political tradition and liturgy, including: “Israelite Society In Transition” which is included in Etz Hayim, which we use at CBS.

He has been an officer of the Rabbinical Assembly, an international organization of Conservative Rabbis, and has held several leadership positions in that organization.

Rabbi Freeman has been a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley and has taught at the University of Judaism and the Graduate Theological Union. He is an associate of the Center for Jewish Communal Studies and the Jerusalem Center for Public Policy.

The Honoree
The Northern California Region of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) has announced a gala dinner honoring Rabbi Freeman for his years of service to Congregation B’nai Shalom and to Conservative Judaism in Northern California. The dinner, part of the USCJ Northern California Biennial Weekend, will take place Saturday evening, November 6, 2004, at Peninsula Sinai Congregation. Rabbi Sheldon Lewis of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto will also be honored.
Most congregants are probably not aware of all of our rabbi’s accomplishments. He came to Congregation B’nai Shalom after serving as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Mississippi and Ankara, Turkey. Rabbi Freeman has served in a number of leadership roles with the Rabbinical Assembly — as the Chair of the Publications Committee, on the Executive Board, and as an officer. He currently is secretary of Masorti Olami, the international organization of the Conservative Movement.

Dr. Freeman’s academic interests are in political theory, specifically covenant theory, and the policy issues associated with the formation of political and social relationships among people. He earned his Ph.D. while he was a full time rabbi at B’nai Shalom.

The Retiree
So what happens in 2006? Rabbi Freeman and Susan are showing every indication of persistent travels north (Oregon) and south (Southern California) to be with their four daughters, three sons-in-law, and four grandchildren. But it would not be a surprise to see his artwork hanging in several displays in the Bay Area and beyond.

August 2004