Torah teaches “In the beginning God created” and “God created humankind in God’s image” (Genesis 1:1, 27). God’s creative power is intimately linked to our own; we are created creative. 

Describing the conditions that preceded this first creative act, Genesis states: “The Earth was chaos and void with darkness on the surface of the deep and God’s breath hovering over the water” (1:2). There is perhaps no better descriptor for the times we are living in right now: chaos, void, darkness and the depths. Torah teaches that creativity — God’s and our own — is a way to process the chaos and void of our lives and transform it into the world we hope to make possible. 

In the face of the immense challenges of our time — crises related to mental health, societal polarization, community fractures, loneliness and a lack of belonging — creativity is an essential tool. Research has shown that engaging with creativity enhances empathy, resilience and our ability to navigate complexity. 

These qualities are vital now more than ever, and this is why Jewish Studio Project (JSP) exists: to help build the creative capacity of the Jewish community.

As our creation story teaches, all people are created with creative potential. As Susan Magsamen, executive director of the International Mind and Arts Lab at Johns Hopkins University, writes, “Researchers have debunked a huge myth: you don’t have to be good at art for the arts to positively impact every area of your life.” Creativity is not reserved for a select few, as many have been taught. 

JSP’s core methodology, the Jewish Studio Process, blends Jewish learning with art therapy practices, enabling people from all backgrounds to tap into their innate creative capacities. This process not only opens new doors to the richness of Jewish tradition but also helps individuals navigate a rapidly changing world, process difficult emotions and heal our fractured communities.

JSP grew out of my experiences growing up in the home studio of my mother, internationally renowned art therapist Pat B. Allen. During my time studying at Hebrew College, I experimented with bringing the art-making practices I learned from her into conversation with Jewish text study, planting the seeds of the Jewish Studio Process. In the earliest days of JSP, co-founder and executive director (and my spouse) Jeff Kasowitz and I carted around art supplies in the trunk of our car, designing and leading programs for Jewish organizations in the Bay Area. Over the past nine years, we have built an organization to operationalize the core belief that everyone can contribute to the creative capacity of the Jewish ecosystem. What started out as a promising project with no operating budget, run by two unpaid employees, has grown into a leading national organization with robust capacity and growing networks of leaders equipped to be of service during this pivotal time in our world.

The Jewish Studio Process has become highly valued among Jewish professionals: Organizations regularly invite JSP to offer professional development, alumni programming, training and more. JSP also serves people who have little to no Jewish education or background, or those who don’t have a Jewish community where they feel that they belong. 

Since JSP’s inception in 2015, we have worked with tens of thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations. In 2024 alone, the JSP network partnered with over 100 organizations, from Jewish Federations of North America to the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association and many, many more. JSP has been able to respond to the growing demand for this work through our robust network comprised of over 130 facilitators, educators and spiritual leaders. 

JSP is a resource for those across the Jewish ecosystem and beyond. We custom design training intensives for organizational partners, in addition to our flagship Educators Studio Fellowship and Creative Facilitator Training. We offer a wide array of digital content, including Art-Making Prompts for Heartbreaking Times, a downloadable workbook created after 10/7. As we grow nationally we are also focusing on developing specific regions. For those who live in Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Boston, check out ongoing public programs at the JSP Studio in your area and reach out to explore how the Studio can be a resource for your teams and cohorts. Much of JSP’s philosophy and methodology is detailed in my recently published book The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom (Ayin, 2024), and we are pleased to offer our new Reader’s and Facilitator’s Guide to support book clubs and JSP-inspired programming. Finally, we offer multiple virtual public programs free of charge each month. Join us online to connect to a community of leaders and practitioners dedicated to cultivating creativity and imagination in these difficult times.

Together may we create a world in which every person is connected to their inherent creativity — and in doing so, may the chaos and void we encounter be not an end but the start of a new beginning.

Rabbi Adina Allen is a spiritual leader, writer and educator. She is the cofounder and creative director of Jewish Studio Project (JSP) and the author of The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creative through Ancient Jewish Wisdom (Ayin Press, 2024). Rabbi Allen is also a new contributor to the Synagogue Innovation Blog of the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI), a two-year rabbinic fellowship program directed by Rabbi Sid Schwarz.