Iris Cutler was born and raised in
Philadelphia, and she attended local
schools. Her grandparents were orthodox, so
her father grew up in a
religious family. Although her mother did not
have this kind of experience,
she agreed to keep a kosher home, so that her
in-laws would be comfortable
eating in their home, as well as
participating in all of the Jewish
Holidays.
"The message I got from my grandfather"
recalls Iris, is "girls didn't
count very much" (in Judaism). My brother who
was older than I was, was more
like the 'crown prince.' I did go to Sunday
school, but never went to Hebrew
school."
Of her education, Iris says, "My father
died when I was fourteen. So, going
to college was out of the question. We moved
when I was in tenth grade, so I
had to change high schools, which made it
very difficult. I was going to
Overbrook High School, and I had to change to
Germantown High School, which
I didn't like. I used to work after school,
so I didn't have much of a
school life in terms of after-school activities."
Iris's after-school job was as secretary
to the President of the Ingber Bag
Company. After graduation, she worked at
Everybody's Supply Company. At
twenty-five she moved to Florida. "I was
supposed to get married," she says,
"but I decided I didn't want to do that. I
went to Florida for two weeks and
stayed ten years, and had several different
kinds of positions there. A year
after I lived in Florida, my brother died,
and after spending several months
with my mother, I decided to return to
Florida. In 1963 when my mother
died, I decided it was time to come back home
to Philadelphia. I felt the
need to be closer with my married sister, and
to get to know her three
children, since they were the only family I
had left."
The early part of Iris's career was in the
business world. Her last job in
that area was as Administrative Assistant to
the President of Kardon
Industries. "When I left my position at
Kardon Industries, I went through a
difficult time in my life. I didn't want to
be in that business world any
more, but I didn't know what else I wanted to
do. So I started to do a lot of
soul-searching. I thought that if I could
really understand who God was and
what my relationship was to God, I would feel
more grounded and directed,
because I felt like a ship without a rudder."
Iris adds, "I began to investigate Eastern
Religions, Christianity, and even
took another look at Judaism, but nothing
seemed to help. One Friday night I
was sitting in the synagogue, and out of
sheer exhaustion in trying to
figure out the answers to all of my
questions, I clearly remember
saying...'Okay God, I give up', and in that
moment of surrender my life
changed! I felt a shift in my consciousness,
and I heard a still small voice
say...'go inside and listen.' That is what I
have been doing ever
since...going inside and listening to the
still small voice within. It was
also the beginning of my true spiritual quest."
"One of the first things I did," Iris
recalls, "was go down to the Edgar
Cayce Foundation in Virginia Beach, where I
learned about things I never
heard of before, like reincarnation and
meditation. When I came back, I
learned that Eric Butterworth, Minister of
Unity (Church) in New York was
giving a week-long seminar in Gettysburg on
prayer. My "inner knowing" told
me to go, and it turned out that he became a
very important teacher for me."
At this time Iris also became the first
Administrator of the Institute of
Awareness, and after several years there, she
decided to change her career
to the helping profession. This necessitated
her going to college to get the
necessary credentials. She received a
Bachelor Degree at Temple, and then
went on to get a Master's Degree at Antioch,
in Counseling Psychology and
Business Administration.
After college, Iris worked with the
Director of Cystic Fibrosis Center at
Hahnemann Hospital for ten years. While at
Hahnemann, she also helped found
and facilitated a group called, "Make Today
Count" for people living with
life threatening illness. She also became a
teacher at the Institute of
Awareness. When she made the difficult
decision to leave the children and
families she had grown close to at Hahnemann,
she felt the need to go
somewhere to heal, so she went to The Kripalu
Yoga Ashram in Lennox,
Massachusetts. Not only did she find it
healing, but she learned a lot about
Hindu Teachings. Her job there was to
transcribe the Guru's tapes, and she
would listen all day to his wisdom for
several months.
Returning to Philadelphia, Iris became
re-acquainted with Rabbi Zalman
Schechter-Shalomi, the founder of the Jewish
Renewal Movement, and she
attended his Wisdom School for two years.
"He's an amazing teacher," she
says, "and he brought me back to Judaism." At
this time she also became a
student of the New Seminary in New York and,
after two years of study, she
became ordained as a Interfaith Minister in 1987.
"I learned about Reconstructionist
Judaism," she adds, "by taking a course
with Mordecai Kaplan's son-in-law many years
ago. When I began to hear some of the ideas
that were more in synch with some of the
things I believed about God,
I got excited. I didn't know that within
Judaism, there was that way of
looking at things.
"It was at that time," she recalls, "that
some of my friends and I were
instrumental in starting a Reconstructionist
congregation in Philadelphia
(before Leyv-Ha-Ir came into being), which
didn't last. Therefore, I was
happy to join Leyv Ha-Ir at its inception."
Iris remains active in Leyv Ha-Ir,
including the first B'nai Mitzvot
ceremony in 1992. She has been a member of
the congregation's choir and has
helped organize the yearly retreats.
Submitted by - John Oliver Mason
