Stephen Wise Temple Creativity
CREATIVITY. It is one of the core values of Stephen Wise Temple and Wise School, part of our Wise Way Forward.
By committing to creativity, we commit to innovating while honoring our Jewish tradition and building upon the Wise legacy.
We commit to exploring new opportunities informed by our mission, whether they come to us from within or from outside the Jewish community. We will be willing to shift our models to continue to adapt and innovate in a changing landscape of Jewish engagement. We will constantly strive to incorporate the latest insights from the leading thinkers guiding institutional and organizational development, both from within and outside the Jewish community.
We commit to welcoming experimentation; we will pilot, we will evaluate, we will iterate, we will glean learnings from our efforts that inform future endeavors, and we will measure success by the application of these lessons.
Wise School and AMC Theme Song
Teach Them Well (V’shinantam L’vanecha)
The inspiration for this year’s theme song comes from a verse in Deuteronomy. Titled “Teach Them Well,” the song embodies a cherished value at Wise, emphasizing the passing of Torah wisdom to future generations. Listen to the full song below.
Featuring Cantor Emma Lutz
Music by Rabbis Ken Chasen and Yoshi Zweiback
Produced by Kenli Mattus
Stephen Wise Temple Presents: “Adonai Hu HaElohim—You Are Our God”
Stephen Wise Temple is proud to present a brand new addition to our musical catalogue: “Adonai Hu HaElohim—You Are Our God” in time for High Holy Days 5784 | 2023. The song serve as our closing anthem for Yom Kippur. You can find out more HERE.
Commissioned by: Cantor Emma Lutz
Composed by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and Music Director Dr. Tali Tadmor, DMA
Arranged by David Kates, Cantor Emma Lutz, Dr. Tali Tadmor, and Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
Produced and Mixed by Kenli Mattus
Vocals
Cantor Emma Lutz, High Holy Day bass soloist Joe Hack, and tenor soloist Brandon Levin, a Wise School alumnus
Instrumentalists
Piano: Dr. Tali Tadmor, DMA
Violin: Jenni Asher
Stephen Wise Temple Presents: Creation
Set to a song written for Wise School in 2021, this animated video tells the story of a curious young woman eager to learn the secrets of creation and the universe.
While in her room one night, surrounded by mementos of her heroes, she stares up at the stars and wonders: How did it all start?
The song reminds us the we are God’s partners in creation: God made us to be makers, as well. From the Big Bang to cave paintings to Sir Isaac Newton to Keri Strug, Felix Kiner animates a beautiful, wholesome, inclusive message about not just Creation—which we celebrate every Rosh Hashanah—but about the importance of creativity and inclusivity to the human endeavor.
Music composed by David Kates and Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
Vocals by Cantor Emma Lutz
Animation by Felix Kiner
Song Produced by Kenli Mattus and David Kates
Stephen Wise Temple Artist in Residence: Mario M. Muller
Since 2014, painter Mario M. Muller has served as Stephen Wise Temple and Schools’ artist in residence. His artwork adorns campus buildings, hangs from our light poles, and adorns the pages of our High Holy Day Machzor. Born and raised in New York City, Muller fell in love with the interplay between light and shadow. His fascination with contrast, anonymity, and silhouettes has defined his life as an artist.
In this space, you can find information about his various projects around the Wise campus.
36 Bouquets for Wise
In the artist’s own words, the goal of his 2023-24 banner project was to acknowledge the upcoming 60th anniversary of the temple.
“Working, as I do, almost exclusively in black and white, I decided to surprise everyone by making the compositions gregariously colorful,” Muller says. “I started harvesting images of flowers from all over Los Angeles. I was omnivorous when it came to color, texture, and fragrance. But making a simple arrangement was not nearly enough. I turned to puzzle pieces and the patterns that they create when assembled.”
Learn more about his project and see all of the banners HERE.
Jewish Heroes Banner Project
In the fall of 2022, Stephen Wise Temple’s artist in residence Mario M. Muller produced a set of striking black-and-white paintings depicting 36 Jewish heroes. Banners of those paintings now dot the Wise campus, inviting you to explore and to learn.
Some of them, you may know— Freud, Ginsberg, Gershwin, Meir, Zeldin—and others you may be discovering for the first time.
As you walk our campus paths, you will find activists and actors, photographers and philosophers, filmmakers and firebrands. They have entertained and inspired. They have re-framed the way we think (and some, the way we think about thinking). They have challenged norms, pushed boundaries, and forced difficult conversations. They have eased minds in times of tumult, and spurred action in times of necessity. Each in their own way, these 36 individuals helped shape not just the global Jewish community, but our entire modern world.