By Caryn Roman, RJE
Session I Visiting Faculty
In Jewish tradition, the nisim b’chol yom blessings acknowledge everyday miracles that make daily life possible. One thanks God for notein l’ayeif koach, giving strength to the weary – simply, for waking up with energy after going to sleep tired. We might better understand the science behind sleep and recovery today, but that sense of renewal still feels miraculous!
While spending time on faculty at Sci-Tech last week, I presented this blessing as “Nes of the Day” at Boker Big Bang, the unique morning ritual that starts each day at camp. One of the things I love about Sci-Tech is how we lift up conversations between science and Jewish tradition. Sometimes it starts with a text or idea that we bring into the lab, and sometimes it starts with a new discovery that pulls us back into Jewish texts.
This time it was bumblebees.
A team of Finnish researchers recently found that bumblebees can solve surprisingly complex problems. In one experiment, the bees learned to roll a small ball into position so they could climb up and reach a reward. It’s the kind of flexible thinking that was previously believed to require a much larger brain.
The lead researcher, Olli Loukola, said something profound: “If you don’t have limitations on what’s possible for them [the bumblebees], you can go wild and crazy and find completely novel stuff.” His comment speaks directly to our nes, and the koach (strength or resource) exhibited by the bumblebees illuminates the connection.
Bees’ intelligence might look different, but it’s no less valid. It shows up in unexpected ways and when it’s needed most. Sometimes strength is persistence. Sometimes it is curiosity. Sometimes it is trying something completely new when the first idea doesn’t work.
As campers headed off, I found myself thinking about how they might draw on some of Sci-Tech’s core values – sakranut (curiosity), savlanut (patience) and kesher (connection) – to access any additional koach they needed that day. But most of all I hoped that, like bumblebees, they would discover miraculous applications for all the strengths they already had.
Caryn Roman, RJE is Director of Education at Temple Sinai of Bergen County in Tenafly, New Jersey. She is an alumna of multiple Reform Movement programs and has spent many of the last 40-plus summers at URJ camps.