Ari Fleischer to speak at Temple Beth El, Stamford
STAMFORD -- Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary will speak at Temple Beth El, 350 Roxbury Road, Stamford at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, following Kabbalat Shabbat Services.
Services begin at 7:30 p.m.
Fleischer will speak on "The Middle East: What Next?" This program is free and open to the community.
As former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer was the primary spokesman for President George W. Bush and delivered the daily White House briefings from 2001 to 2003. He previously served as the senior communications advisor and spokesman for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign. In his almost four years working for Bush, he served as spokesman during the historic presidential recount, Sept. 11, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the anthrax attack.
His book, "Taking Heat," details his years in the White House and reached No. 7 on the New York Times best-seller list.
Prior to joining then-Gov. Bush's campaign, Fleischer was the national spokesman and communications director for Elizabeth Dole's presidential campaign. In November 1994, he was hired as communications director by the House Committee on Ways and Means after Republicans took control of the Congress. He also served as press secretary to New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici from 1989 to 1994. From 1983 to 1989, Fleischer served as press secretary to two members of Congress from New York, and worked on several political campaigns.
Fleischer is a native of Pound Ridge, N.Y., and a 1982 graduate of Vermont's Middlebury College. Now president of his own firm, Ari Fleischer Communications Inc. -- a firm that provides advice to corporations and sports organizations on how to handle the press -- he resides in Westchester County with his wife, Becki, and their two children.
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, spiritual leader at Temple Beth stated: "At a time of dramatic transition in the Middle East, and on the very day of the Netanyahu-Obama summit, Ari Fleisher offers crucial insight behind the scenes in the West Wing. I'm looking forward to his visit."
For more information on this presentation or Temple Beth El, contact Steven Lander, (203) 322-6901.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Lucas Ehrlich on Emor
Shabbat Shalom!
Those of you who know me know how much I love hockey. I was about four or five and my Dad took my family to a New York Ranger hockey game. I saw them play and I was amazed at how much fun it looked. A few weeks after that I started to play and I haven’t stopped since.
In the first league I played in, the teams had to choose a different goalie each game. One day I had my chance and I really liked it.
Being a hockey nut, imagine how great I felt when I found out that the one thing in the entire Torah that looks most like a hockey stick is found in MY PORTION!!!
That’s right. My portion has complete description of the Jewish festival cycle, and of course, Sukkot is described at the end, in great detail. For those who may not know, Sukkot is a harvest festival in the fall. The symbols of the festival include different things that grow, including the combination of branches and lemon-like thing called the Lulav and Etrog. My portion contains
the only description of the Lulav and Etrog found in the Torah.
When you look at the Lulav and Etrog (show picture) you can almost imagine a hockey stick and a puck. And they share a lot in common.
There are two popular ways that people explain their symbolism. One is that they represent different types of people. The Etrog has both taste and smell, just as there are people who both do good deeds and have wisdom. The date palm has taste but no smell, representing people who do good deeds but aren’t wise. The myrtle branch has smell but no taste, just some people are wise but don’t do good deeds. The willow branch has neither taste nor smell, just like people who aren’t wise and don’t do good deeds.
In order to have a complete team, or a whole community, you need to have all types of people working together.
On my team, we’ve got all types. There’s the big kid who always protects the rest of us. There’s the scorer, the defender, the passer and I’m the goalie. Each of us plays our part. We all need to stick together to have a successful team.
Another commentary compares the different parts of the lulav and etrog to parts of the body. The palm branch is the spine, the Etrog the heart, the myrtle leaves look like eyes and the willow leaf looks like a mouth.
All the limbs and organs, all parts of the body, work in unison when we are praying. The same is true as a goalie when someone shoots the puck. There is no time to think. My whole body has to respond instinctively – without thinking. I don’t have time to say to myself, “Stick out your glove.” Being a good goalie means being able to act quickly and decisively without having to think.
The same is true with being a bar mitzvah. I’ve learned the prayers so well that they just pop into my head. They are now part of who I am.
The same is also true with being a good person. Not long ago in school, a new kid came into the classroom, someone I knew but no one else in the class knew. I sat with him, even though other kids tended to move in the other direction. It was clear to me that it was the right thing to do with someone who was new, to sit with him as a way of reassuring my friends that this new kid was OK and nice -- and now he has made friends as if he was always there.
So you can see that the Lulav and Etrog have lots in common with a stick and puck. And just in case you wondered, while hockey fights aren’t found in the bible, they did used to throw etrogs at politicians the people didn’t like.
I’m glad that these days we only throw candy.
For my mitzvah project, I’ll be donating hockey equipment and donations to the Ice Hockey in Harlem program, to help underprivileged kids enjoy my favorite sport.
Those of you who know me know how much I love hockey. I was about four or five and my Dad took my family to a New York Ranger hockey game. I saw them play and I was amazed at how much fun it looked. A few weeks after that I started to play and I haven’t stopped since.
In the first league I played in, the teams had to choose a different goalie each game. One day I had my chance and I really liked it.
Being a hockey nut, imagine how great I felt when I found out that the one thing in the entire Torah that looks most like a hockey stick is found in MY PORTION!!!
That’s right. My portion has complete description of the Jewish festival cycle, and of course, Sukkot is described at the end, in great detail. For those who may not know, Sukkot is a harvest festival in the fall. The symbols of the festival include different things that grow, including the combination of branches and lemon-like thing called the Lulav and Etrog. My portion contains
the only description of the Lulav and Etrog found in the Torah.
When you look at the Lulav and Etrog (show picture) you can almost imagine a hockey stick and a puck. And they share a lot in common.
There are two popular ways that people explain their symbolism. One is that they represent different types of people. The Etrog has both taste and smell, just as there are people who both do good deeds and have wisdom. The date palm has taste but no smell, representing people who do good deeds but aren’t wise. The myrtle branch has smell but no taste, just some people are wise but don’t do good deeds. The willow branch has neither taste nor smell, just like people who aren’t wise and don’t do good deeds.
In order to have a complete team, or a whole community, you need to have all types of people working together.
On my team, we’ve got all types. There’s the big kid who always protects the rest of us. There’s the scorer, the defender, the passer and I’m the goalie. Each of us plays our part. We all need to stick together to have a successful team.
Another commentary compares the different parts of the lulav and etrog to parts of the body. The palm branch is the spine, the Etrog the heart, the myrtle leaves look like eyes and the willow leaf looks like a mouth.
All the limbs and organs, all parts of the body, work in unison when we are praying. The same is true as a goalie when someone shoots the puck. There is no time to think. My whole body has to respond instinctively – without thinking. I don’t have time to say to myself, “Stick out your glove.” Being a good goalie means being able to act quickly and decisively without having to think.
The same is true with being a bar mitzvah. I’ve learned the prayers so well that they just pop into my head. They are now part of who I am.
The same is also true with being a good person. Not long ago in school, a new kid came into the classroom, someone I knew but no one else in the class knew. I sat with him, even though other kids tended to move in the other direction. It was clear to me that it was the right thing to do with someone who was new, to sit with him as a way of reassuring my friends that this new kid was OK and nice -- and now he has made friends as if he was always there.
So you can see that the Lulav and Etrog have lots in common with a stick and puck. And just in case you wondered, while hockey fights aren’t found in the bible, they did used to throw etrogs at politicians the people didn’t like.
I’m glad that these days we only throw candy.
For my mitzvah project, I’ll be donating hockey equipment and donations to the Ice Hockey in Harlem program, to help underprivileged kids enjoy my favorite sport.
Op-Ed: Where are the great American Jewish leaders?
A powerful and provocative piece: Op-Ed: Where are the great American Jewish leaders?
Friday, May 6, 2011
Parsha Packet on bin Laden / Emor / Mother's Day / Israel
See these parsha packets distributed at services on Emor, the question of celebrating the death of bin Laden, Mother's Day and for this evening, Israel's Independence Day:
- Songs and Poetry for Yom Ha'atzmaut and Kabbalat Shabbat
- Emor packet, bin Laden
- Songs and Poetry for Yom Ha'atzmaut and Kabbalat Shabbat
- Emor packet, bin Laden
Thursday, May 5, 2011
What is Yom Hazikaron?
Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, falls on the day before Independence Day (this year on Sunday night and Monday). For some background information, click here.
This song from the late '60s captures how Israelis feel about their lost "angels," over 20,000 of whom have died in various conflicts or via terror.
This song from the late '60s captures how Israelis feel about their lost "angels," over 20,000 of whom have died in various conflicts or via terror.
How Can I Bless (Mah Avarech), by Rachel Shapira
(click here for Hebrew lyrics)
"How can I bless him, what gift shall I give
to this child?" said the angel of love.
And he gave him a smile that was radiant as light,
And he gave him two eyes that were open and clear
To seek out each flower and each creature and bird
And a heart to rejoice in each day of the year.
“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give
to this child?” said the angel of love.
And he gave him two feet that were light in the dance,
A soul to rejoice in each tune and each song,
A hand that collected the shells on the shore,
An ear to respond to the old and the young.
“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give
to this child?” said the angel of love.
But those hands that were able to make flowers grow
Were blessed with the skill to drive engines of might,
And the feet that could dance also knew how to march,
And the lips that could sing, also summoned to fight.
“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give
to this child?” said the angel of love.
“I have given him all that an angel can give,
Two light dancing feet, and a song and a smile,
A delicate hand and a sensitive heart.
What else can I give him? I’ve given him all”.
“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give
to this child?” said the angel of love.
He has joined the angels, that wonderful boy,
He has no more blessings, no longer is blessed.
Oh Lord, Lord above, did your angel forget
To bless him with life along with the rest?
The Top 63 (Plus 1) New Reasons I Love Israel - Barbara Sofer
See this inspiring piece by old friend and past TBE scholar in residence Barbara Sofer, from the Jerusalem Post Magazine
1. After Lag Ba’omer campfires each year, there’s a special news report on air pollution per city.
2. We’re the People of the Book: No wonder an Israeli team led by Lilach Tzipori developed the Kindle.
3. Milk and honey: Israeli archeologists have found proof of a sophisticated bee/honey business with imported bees going on here 3,000 years ago. The US considered importing bees in the 19th century a major achievement.
4. Milk and honey: In 2010, Tnuva invested NIS 3.5 million and sent 400 representatives to supermarkets to promote its milk products for Shavuot. Tara spent NIS 3m.
5. Milk and honey: Israeli dairy experts are teaching the Chinese how to produce environmentally friendly milk.
6. Jerusalem pediatrician Yoram Ben-Yehudah advises the Chinese about child abuse.
7. Israel is helping to establish a green commerce park in China. How big is Israel, exactly?
8. The first Chinese mall will open soon in Holon. Run by observant Jews, it will be closed on Shabbat.
9. The lifeguards at the beautiful, sandy Ashdod Beach warn early-morning swimmers to come closer to shore – in Russian.
10. Israelis invented toothpaste to help kangaroos overcome fatal tooth decay. Go figure.
11. The Israeli search engine answers.com reached 11 million answers this year. Not bad for a country where questions are answered with questions.
12. The last name of the man behind the development of Israel’s new natural gas fields, which may answer our energy needs, is Tshuva – Hebrew for “answer.”
13. McDonald’s in Israel have begun offering McFalafel.
14. The CEO of McDonald’s insists he’s not anti-religious; 30 percent of the Golden Arches branches are kosher.
15. The notions store where I bought a strip of Velcro was running a sale on ropes for hassidic gartels.
16. The taxi driver in Modi’in quizzed me to see if I knew seven names for Jerusalem. His name is Ariel, one of the seven. All I wanted was a ride to the mall.
17. Man seen on treadmill every morning at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel is reading psalms; woman seen on stationary bike in Inbal Hotel every morning is praying Shaharit, the morning prayers
18. Supermarket mogul Rami Levy personally delivered groceries to the Fogel family sitting shiva after the mass murder in Itamar in March.
19. Late at night before Purim, at a local shop, I bumped into Kadima MK Dalia Itzik, former speaker of the Knesset, buying paper goods for her Purim feast.
20. Nine Israeli teens won a film contest about the future of the world – I’m not kidding – at the United Nations.
21. A woman I’d never met before told me the amazing story of her family’s Holocaust experience in the swimming pool locker room.
22. The chief rabbi served in the 7th Brigade of the Tank Corps.
23. Dry wine: New tour of Israel offers seven full days in Negev wineries.
24. A Jerusalem snack shop renamed itself “Blast of a Kiosk” after surviving a terror attack in 1994. When it was attacked again this year, the owner vowed to keep selling sandwiches.
25. The Jerusalem grill restaurant Zion the Small renamed itself Zion the Big because the owner was “tired of being small.”
26. The four-year-olds in my granddaughter’s nursery school played their triangles, castanets and drums to cheer on the charity-raising runners in the first Jerusalem marathon. The runners paused to give them high fives.
27. Announcement for Jerusalem marathon: “The marathon will be run on Friday. We recommend that you shop in Mahaneh Yehuda [the open-air market] on Wednesday and Thursday.”
28. Overheard at the reception desk at a five-star hotel. Elegantly dressed tourist: Can you please recommend the very best felafel in town?
29. A coin with the name of Syrian-Greek King Ahasuerus found in an Old City dig is revealed on Hanukka.
30. New Bamba snack in the shape of pyramids revealed right before Pessah, when we celebrate the Exodus from Egypt.
31. At the ceremony for the new chief of General Staff of the IDF, one of the world’s most advanced armies: “Benny will be taking over from Gabi,” says Ehud. No mention of rank.
32. When Leonard Cohen sings “Who by Fire,” the audience sings along. They also know the original lyrics in Hebrew.
33. Start-Up Nation, the book about Israeli innovation, is a best-seller in Mongolia.
34. Good news or bad news? Local researchers at Hadassah find mutations on Jewish genes showing that women whose families were in Spain prior to 1492 have higher prevalence of breast cancer.
35. An Israeli electronic “dog’s nose” can outsniff those airport dogs that want your tuna sandwich in Newark. They can also find explosives.
36. Genuine Israeli dogs have been trained to leap from helicopters and apprehend terrorists.
37. In ancient Tzipori, a bungalow owner finds the possible tombstone of talmudic-era Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Levy. Bed, Breakfast and Holy Shrine.
38. Here’s a headline: Circumcision clinics for Zulu men rely on Israeli expertise.
39. Three Israeli engineers are promising competitors in the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize to land a tiny spacecraft on the moon. They’re doing it in their spare time, after work, with the help of volunteers.
40. The new head of the Shin Bet is a religious Jew whose family is from Afghanistan.
41. The former head of the Mossad was born in Siberia. He kept a photo of a Jewish man being shot by a Nazi on his wall. That was his grandfather.
42. Israel is considered a world power in stamp publishing and collecting, even at a time when much mail is electronic. Go figure.
43. Ramat Hagolan Winery, founded in 1983, won the “Wine World Cup” was declared the best wine producer in the world at the Italian “Vinitaly” competition in Verona.
44. Notice from the Religious Affairs Ministry: Please burn your hametz (leavened leftovers) in environmentally friendly bags, not plastic.
45. Volunteers of the My Israel movement collect Israeli hametz and send it, with the Foreign Ministry’s help, to tsunami-hit areas in Japan.
46. Advertisement on Bezeq phone while waiting for an operator in the week before Pessah: Want to send flowers, go to a restaurant, repaint the house? 144 will help you. Promotion for phone-Internet-cable line offers coupons for Pessah supermarket shopping spree.
47. Eight thousand Israelis marched in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Jerusalem, more than for the first Komen march in Washington. Jews and Arabs, young and old, religious and less religious marched together.
48. Radio interview with a woman on shelled Gaza kibbutz ends with “Hag sameah,” happy holiday to all of Israel.
49. Cousins who were in both 9/11 and a Jerusalem terror attack arrived for Pessah and loved the the “Hag sameah” sign at Ben-Gurion Airport and printed on Coke bottles.
50. The Oscar for best short documentary goes to Strangers No More, about a Tel Aviv school with pupils from 48 countries.
51. The Oscar for best actress goes to Jerusalem-born Natalie Portman, who helped Alan Dershowitz with his book The Case for Israel and condemned the anti-Semitism of ex-Dior designer John Galliano.
52. The Immigrant Absorption Ministry and a charity called Aviv HaTorah try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Seder, inviting 1,200 Ethiopian immigrants.
53. The Israel Opera puts on an extravaganza at Masada about an Ethiopian princess (Aida). Tel Aviv opera divas came to Jerusalem and sang on the Bridge of Strings to encourage pious Jerusalemites to spend more time at the opera.
54. Growing cellphone use is seen as the key to “Arab Spring.” Hey, we invented the cellphone.
55. In Treatment, a sometimes word-for-word translation of the Israeli program B’Tipul, completed four successful sessions, I mean seasons in the US.
56. Happiness. According to a columnist at the Asian Times who plotted birth rates and suicide rates, Israel was the world’s happiest country. According to a recent Gallup poll in which citizens are asked if they are happy, we ranked seventh, ahead of New Zealand, the US and all the Arab countries.
57. From reader Barry Nester: I was working out in the staff gym at Hadassah Hospital. Two doctors paused in their grunting and began a discussion/argument about logic in the early Talmudic period and the origins of Christianity.
58. 100 years of kibbutzim: Despite our argumentative nature, no one does communal living like us.
59. Computer guilt. Israeli scientists are producing programs that limit the amount of regret a computer program might experience.
60. No bubble burst. For more than 2 cents plain Israeli company SodaStream is selling seltzer on the stock exchange!
61. What comes first? Israeli chickens (1.9 billion eggs last year – that’s no chicken feed) are moving to roomy hi-tech coops developed by an Israeli company called Agrotop. Coop of the future includes fowl cushioning, wind turbines and photovoltaic. Guano becomes biofuels, used to supply electricity to the coop’s feeding and egg collection system.
62. Newest Israeli start-up incubator is called “lul,” Hebrew for chicken coop
63. Israel’s Naked Archaeologist international TV star is an Orthodox Jew, a father of five who is most famous for discovering what might be crucifixion nails.
And one more to grow on: 64. Eight small teeth found in an Israeli cave raise the possibility that modern humans originated in Israel and not Africa, suggests a paper recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Talk about getting a head start!
1. After Lag Ba’omer campfires each year, there’s a special news report on air pollution per city.
2. We’re the People of the Book: No wonder an Israeli team led by Lilach Tzipori developed the Kindle.
3. Milk and honey: Israeli archeologists have found proof of a sophisticated bee/honey business with imported bees going on here 3,000 years ago. The US considered importing bees in the 19th century a major achievement.
4. Milk and honey: In 2010, Tnuva invested NIS 3.5 million and sent 400 representatives to supermarkets to promote its milk products for Shavuot. Tara spent NIS 3m.
5. Milk and honey: Israeli dairy experts are teaching the Chinese how to produce environmentally friendly milk.
6. Jerusalem pediatrician Yoram Ben-Yehudah advises the Chinese about child abuse.
7. Israel is helping to establish a green commerce park in China. How big is Israel, exactly?
8. The first Chinese mall will open soon in Holon. Run by observant Jews, it will be closed on Shabbat.
9. The lifeguards at the beautiful, sandy Ashdod Beach warn early-morning swimmers to come closer to shore – in Russian.
10. Israelis invented toothpaste to help kangaroos overcome fatal tooth decay. Go figure.
11. The Israeli search engine answers.com reached 11 million answers this year. Not bad for a country where questions are answered with questions.
12. The last name of the man behind the development of Israel’s new natural gas fields, which may answer our energy needs, is Tshuva – Hebrew for “answer.”
13. McDonald’s in Israel have begun offering McFalafel.
14. The CEO of McDonald’s insists he’s not anti-religious; 30 percent of the Golden Arches branches are kosher.
15. The notions store where I bought a strip of Velcro was running a sale on ropes for hassidic gartels.
16. The taxi driver in Modi’in quizzed me to see if I knew seven names for Jerusalem. His name is Ariel, one of the seven. All I wanted was a ride to the mall.
17. Man seen on treadmill every morning at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel is reading psalms; woman seen on stationary bike in Inbal Hotel every morning is praying Shaharit, the morning prayers
18. Supermarket mogul Rami Levy personally delivered groceries to the Fogel family sitting shiva after the mass murder in Itamar in March.
19. Late at night before Purim, at a local shop, I bumped into Kadima MK Dalia Itzik, former speaker of the Knesset, buying paper goods for her Purim feast.
20. Nine Israeli teens won a film contest about the future of the world – I’m not kidding – at the United Nations.
21. A woman I’d never met before told me the amazing story of her family’s Holocaust experience in the swimming pool locker room.
22. The chief rabbi served in the 7th Brigade of the Tank Corps.
23. Dry wine: New tour of Israel offers seven full days in Negev wineries.
24. A Jerusalem snack shop renamed itself “Blast of a Kiosk” after surviving a terror attack in 1994. When it was attacked again this year, the owner vowed to keep selling sandwiches.
25. The Jerusalem grill restaurant Zion the Small renamed itself Zion the Big because the owner was “tired of being small.”
26. The four-year-olds in my granddaughter’s nursery school played their triangles, castanets and drums to cheer on the charity-raising runners in the first Jerusalem marathon. The runners paused to give them high fives.
27. Announcement for Jerusalem marathon: “The marathon will be run on Friday. We recommend that you shop in Mahaneh Yehuda [the open-air market] on Wednesday and Thursday.”
28. Overheard at the reception desk at a five-star hotel. Elegantly dressed tourist: Can you please recommend the very best felafel in town?
29. A coin with the name of Syrian-Greek King Ahasuerus found in an Old City dig is revealed on Hanukka.
30. New Bamba snack in the shape of pyramids revealed right before Pessah, when we celebrate the Exodus from Egypt.
31. At the ceremony for the new chief of General Staff of the IDF, one of the world’s most advanced armies: “Benny will be taking over from Gabi,” says Ehud. No mention of rank.
32. When Leonard Cohen sings “Who by Fire,” the audience sings along. They also know the original lyrics in Hebrew.
33. Start-Up Nation, the book about Israeli innovation, is a best-seller in Mongolia.
34. Good news or bad news? Local researchers at Hadassah find mutations on Jewish genes showing that women whose families were in Spain prior to 1492 have higher prevalence of breast cancer.
35. An Israeli electronic “dog’s nose” can outsniff those airport dogs that want your tuna sandwich in Newark. They can also find explosives.
36. Genuine Israeli dogs have been trained to leap from helicopters and apprehend terrorists.
37. In ancient Tzipori, a bungalow owner finds the possible tombstone of talmudic-era Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Levy. Bed, Breakfast and Holy Shrine.
38. Here’s a headline: Circumcision clinics for Zulu men rely on Israeli expertise.
39. Three Israeli engineers are promising competitors in the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize to land a tiny spacecraft on the moon. They’re doing it in their spare time, after work, with the help of volunteers.
40. The new head of the Shin Bet is a religious Jew whose family is from Afghanistan.
41. The former head of the Mossad was born in Siberia. He kept a photo of a Jewish man being shot by a Nazi on his wall. That was his grandfather.
42. Israel is considered a world power in stamp publishing and collecting, even at a time when much mail is electronic. Go figure.
43. Ramat Hagolan Winery, founded in 1983, won the “Wine World Cup” was declared the best wine producer in the world at the Italian “Vinitaly” competition in Verona.
44. Notice from the Religious Affairs Ministry: Please burn your hametz (leavened leftovers) in environmentally friendly bags, not plastic.
45. Volunteers of the My Israel movement collect Israeli hametz and send it, with the Foreign Ministry’s help, to tsunami-hit areas in Japan.
46. Advertisement on Bezeq phone while waiting for an operator in the week before Pessah: Want to send flowers, go to a restaurant, repaint the house? 144 will help you. Promotion for phone-Internet-cable line offers coupons for Pessah supermarket shopping spree.
47. Eight thousand Israelis marched in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Jerusalem, more than for the first Komen march in Washington. Jews and Arabs, young and old, religious and less religious marched together.
48. Radio interview with a woman on shelled Gaza kibbutz ends with “Hag sameah,” happy holiday to all of Israel.
49. Cousins who were in both 9/11 and a Jerusalem terror attack arrived for Pessah and loved the the “Hag sameah” sign at Ben-Gurion Airport and printed on Coke bottles.
50. The Oscar for best short documentary goes to Strangers No More, about a Tel Aviv school with pupils from 48 countries.
51. The Oscar for best actress goes to Jerusalem-born Natalie Portman, who helped Alan Dershowitz with his book The Case for Israel and condemned the anti-Semitism of ex-Dior designer John Galliano.
52. The Immigrant Absorption Ministry and a charity called Aviv HaTorah try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Seder, inviting 1,200 Ethiopian immigrants.
53. The Israel Opera puts on an extravaganza at Masada about an Ethiopian princess (Aida). Tel Aviv opera divas came to Jerusalem and sang on the Bridge of Strings to encourage pious Jerusalemites to spend more time at the opera.
54. Growing cellphone use is seen as the key to “Arab Spring.” Hey, we invented the cellphone.
55. In Treatment, a sometimes word-for-word translation of the Israeli program B’Tipul, completed four successful sessions, I mean seasons in the US.
56. Happiness. According to a columnist at the Asian Times who plotted birth rates and suicide rates, Israel was the world’s happiest country. According to a recent Gallup poll in which citizens are asked if they are happy, we ranked seventh, ahead of New Zealand, the US and all the Arab countries.
57. From reader Barry Nester: I was working out in the staff gym at Hadassah Hospital. Two doctors paused in their grunting and began a discussion/argument about logic in the early Talmudic period and the origins of Christianity.
58. 100 years of kibbutzim: Despite our argumentative nature, no one does communal living like us.
59. Computer guilt. Israeli scientists are producing programs that limit the amount of regret a computer program might experience.
60. No bubble burst. For more than 2 cents plain Israeli company SodaStream is selling seltzer on the stock exchange!
61. What comes first? Israeli chickens (1.9 billion eggs last year – that’s no chicken feed) are moving to roomy hi-tech coops developed by an Israeli company called Agrotop. Coop of the future includes fowl cushioning, wind turbines and photovoltaic. Guano becomes biofuels, used to supply electricity to the coop’s feeding and egg collection system.
62. Newest Israeli start-up incubator is called “lul,” Hebrew for chicken coop
63. Israel’s Naked Archaeologist international TV star is an Orthodox Jew, a father of five who is most famous for discovering what might be crucifixion nails.
And one more to grow on: 64. Eight small teeth found in an Israeli cave raise the possibility that modern humans originated in Israel and not Africa, suggests a paper recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Talk about getting a head start!
Is it Right to Celebrate Bin-Laden's Death? (Hammerman on Ethics)
Is it Right to Celebrate Bin-Laden's Death?
Q - The killing of Osama bin-Laden sent Americans out into the streets in spontaneous celebration. I saw the raucous scene outside the White House and it made me uncomfortable. Isn't it against Jewish practice to rejoice at the downfall of your enemies?
A - You're right. This topic has been the subject of much chatter in rabbinic circles this week and the Washington Post "On Faith" blog featured a wide array of responses from several faith traditions .
We were all happy, but in some places it looked like joyous celebrants were morphing into soccer hooligans. When I first heard the great news, my initial impulse was to pop the cork, but then I remembered all those drops of wine at the Seder, spilled ostensibly to temper our joy at the deaths of our Egyptian tormentors. The cork stayed on.
We read in Proverbs, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles." (24:17). But elsewhere in the same book (11:10) we read, "When the wicked perish, there is joy." So is it OK to be happy, and if so, how?
Go to the next verse and you'll see the answer: "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted." In other words, the true source of our joy is not simply the fall of a terrorist, but that, in our dogged pursuit of OBL, we never lowered ourselves to his level. We stayed morally upright. We pursued justice, justly.
That is precisely why President Obama made the correct ethical choice in not releasing the photos of the mutilated bin-Laden. All human beings are created in God's image and to parade a corpse, any corpse, before gawkers is undignified (which is why Jews never have open caskets). And triumphantly displaying this week's grizzly photos to the world would have lowered us to the level of those who murdered Daniel Pearl.
Yesterday I was speaking with David Meltzer, Senior Vice President of the American Red Cross, and he said that when imprisoned Middle Eastern terrorists are asked what caused their radicalization, the answer often given is "Abu Ghraib." That rare incidence when America stooped to the level of its enemies has cost us dearly. People expect more of us, and all that separates America - and Israel - from its enemies is that both nations cling tenaciously to that shaky ledge attached to the moral high ground. If we let go, we fall very far, very fast. Instead, it is best to follow the advice of the Quran (yes the Quran), "Repel the bad with something better."
The Hebrew word "simcha" means happiness, but there are ways to express "simcha" other than chugging a six pack and then standing outside the White House chanting "USA! USA!" A while back there was an interesting archaeological find in Elephantine, Egypt, a simple real estate contract from an ancient Jewish community, written in Hebrew. It read: "Upon prompt payment I deed you this land." And then a phrase that intrigued the scholars: "This simcha with joy, love, and happiness." They did a close comparative study of other documents and concluded that the meaning of simcha here is not joy, per se, but acceptance.
So yes, be happy, but it's possible to express it in ways unimaginable following a Red Sox - Yankees game. This victory is too incomplete, and the repercussions too unpredictable, to warrant a jig in Times Square. It's possible to be happy and reflective at the same time.
Right now, the best way to celebrate this victory is the way we've have done it for millennia. Go to your local synagogue and say a prayer of thanks. That's what I'll be doing.
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman is spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT. Read more Hammerman on Ethics here. Read his blog here
Q - The killing of Osama bin-Laden sent Americans out into the streets in spontaneous celebration. I saw the raucous scene outside the White House and it made me uncomfortable. Isn't it against Jewish practice to rejoice at the downfall of your enemies?
A - You're right. This topic has been the subject of much chatter in rabbinic circles this week and the Washington Post "On Faith" blog featured a wide array of responses from several faith traditions .
We were all happy, but in some places it looked like joyous celebrants were morphing into soccer hooligans. When I first heard the great news, my initial impulse was to pop the cork, but then I remembered all those drops of wine at the Seder, spilled ostensibly to temper our joy at the deaths of our Egyptian tormentors. The cork stayed on.
We read in Proverbs, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles." (24:17). But elsewhere in the same book (11:10) we read, "When the wicked perish, there is joy." So is it OK to be happy, and if so, how?
Go to the next verse and you'll see the answer: "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted." In other words, the true source of our joy is not simply the fall of a terrorist, but that, in our dogged pursuit of OBL, we never lowered ourselves to his level. We stayed morally upright. We pursued justice, justly.
That is precisely why President Obama made the correct ethical choice in not releasing the photos of the mutilated bin-Laden. All human beings are created in God's image and to parade a corpse, any corpse, before gawkers is undignified (which is why Jews never have open caskets). And triumphantly displaying this week's grizzly photos to the world would have lowered us to the level of those who murdered Daniel Pearl.
Yesterday I was speaking with David Meltzer, Senior Vice President of the American Red Cross, and he said that when imprisoned Middle Eastern terrorists are asked what caused their radicalization, the answer often given is "Abu Ghraib." That rare incidence when America stooped to the level of its enemies has cost us dearly. People expect more of us, and all that separates America - and Israel - from its enemies is that both nations cling tenaciously to that shaky ledge attached to the moral high ground. If we let go, we fall very far, very fast. Instead, it is best to follow the advice of the Quran (yes the Quran), "Repel the bad with something better."
The Hebrew word "simcha" means happiness, but there are ways to express "simcha" other than chugging a six pack and then standing outside the White House chanting "USA! USA!" A while back there was an interesting archaeological find in Elephantine, Egypt, a simple real estate contract from an ancient Jewish community, written in Hebrew. It read: "Upon prompt payment I deed you this land." And then a phrase that intrigued the scholars: "This simcha with joy, love, and happiness." They did a close comparative study of other documents and concluded that the meaning of simcha here is not joy, per se, but acceptance.
So yes, be happy, but it's possible to express it in ways unimaginable following a Red Sox - Yankees game. This victory is too incomplete, and the repercussions too unpredictable, to warrant a jig in Times Square. It's possible to be happy and reflective at the same time.
Right now, the best way to celebrate this victory is the way we've have done it for millennia. Go to your local synagogue and say a prayer of thanks. That's what I'll be doing.
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman is spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT. Read more Hammerman on Ethics here. Read his blog here
Some Super Israel Apps
Thanks to those nice people at Verizon, I was just able to purchase my first iPhone, and instantly, I've been introduced to the world of apps and, predictably, I've been going to town. Here are some that can help you feel so close to Israel that you'll almost be able to smell the falafel.
1) Tune In Radio - is well worth the 99 cents, and then some. You can listen to - and record - radio stations from all over the world, including many from Israel. I was listening to "live" Israeli music in my car the other day. Plus, you can search for the Israel Radio (IBA) English News and hear it live or on demand, three times daily.
\
2) Israel MFA - Government press releases, daily summaries of newspaper editorials, a valuable resource
3) Israel News - Feeds from all the major English newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz and Ynet.
4) Israel Money - See daily how the Almighty Shekel is dancing circles around the dollar these days, plus Israeli stocks and other business news.
5) Hebrew Translator - מתרגם בין עברית ואנגלית
6) Jerusalem City Walks - Take a tour without leaving the couch, or use this when in Jerusalem for self-guided tours.
7) Angels and Demons: Jewish Magic Through the Ages - Current exhibit at Jerusalem's Bible Lands Museum. Beautifully done, with photo galleries and audio guide.
8) Fooducate - Fooducate is the latest darling of the Israeli iPhone app scene. And it's healthy to boot. The concept is simple: before you buy a product at the grocery store, check out what's really in it. If its bite is worse than its crunch, Fooducate will suggest an alternative that's better for your body (if not for your pocketbook).
Also see
http://igoogledisrael.com/2009/09/12-must-have-iphone-applications-for-your-trip-to-israel/,
http://www.jewlicious.com/2010/12/5-essential-jewishisraeli-ios-iphoneipad-apps/, http://www.israel21c.org/201103248916/technology/top-10-iphone-apps-from-israel and http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/best_jewish_apps_2010
1) Tune In Radio - is well worth the 99 cents, and then some. You can listen to - and record - radio stations from all over the world, including many from Israel. I was listening to "live" Israeli music in my car the other day. Plus, you can search for the Israel Radio (IBA) English News and hear it live or on demand, three times daily.
\
2) Israel MFA - Government press releases, daily summaries of newspaper editorials, a valuable resource
3) Israel News - Feeds from all the major English newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz and Ynet.
4) Israel Money - See daily how the Almighty Shekel is dancing circles around the dollar these days, plus Israeli stocks and other business news.
5) Hebrew Translator - מתרגם בין עברית ואנגלית
6) Jerusalem City Walks - Take a tour without leaving the couch, or use this when in Jerusalem for self-guided tours.
7) Angels and Demons: Jewish Magic Through the Ages - Current exhibit at Jerusalem's Bible Lands Museum. Beautifully done, with photo galleries and audio guide.
8) Fooducate - Fooducate is the latest darling of the Israeli iPhone app scene. And it's healthy to boot. The concept is simple: before you buy a product at the grocery store, check out what's really in it. If its bite is worse than its crunch, Fooducate will suggest an alternative that's better for your body (if not for your pocketbook).
Also see
http://igoogledisrael.com/2009/09/12-must-have-iphone-applications-for-your-trip-to-israel/,
http://www.jewlicious.com/2010/12/5-essential-jewishisraeli-ios-iphoneipad-apps/, http://www.israel21c.org/201103248916/technology/top-10-iphone-apps-from-israel and http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/best_jewish_apps_2010
Appreciating, And Learning To Talk About, Israel - Arnold Eisen
Arnold Eisen's op-ed in this week's Jewish Week is must reading for all who truly care about Israel. See also Gary Rosenblatt's expose on the ambivilence of American rabbinical students - Alienation From Israel Hitting Liberal Seminaries.
Appreciating, And Learning To Talk About, Israel
Arnold Eisen
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Special To The Jewish Week
I’d like to make a wish for this year’s observance of Israel’s birthday: that we Jews of North America suspend heated argument over Israel’s policies for a time; do our best, as well, to stave off anxiety about Israel’s prospects; and allow ourselves — whatever adjective we place in front of the word “Jew” in our identity — to savor the blessing of being alive at this unique moment in Jewish history and experience.
Let’s give ourselves permission to appreciate, without sacrifice of critical faculties or intellectual integrity, how much better Jewish life and the practice of Judaism have become in our generation thanks to Israel’s existence and achievements.
Let’s affirm clearly and without equivocation — no matter what or how strong our opinions about settlements, Palestinian intentions, or the virtues of the chief rabbinate — that our connection to the State of Israel and its citizens is fundamental, nonnegotiable and unbreakable.
Let’s find a way to defend the security and legitimacy of Israel without attacking other Jews — particularly younger Jews — whose positions or doubts about how best to achieve that goal disagree substantially from our own.
Israel is the single greatest project the Jewish people has going right now and, in the last two millennia, the most important arena that has ever been available to put our Jewish values to the test and our Jewish teachings into practice. We need it. And it needs us.
That is the heart of the matter for me. I am a political Zionist who believes that the survival and thriving of Jews in the world, including here in America, depend upon the existence and vitality of the State of Israel. I am a cultural Zionist who believes that the flowering of Jewish civilization in the world depends upon close interaction with the “spiritual center” of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. And I am a religious Zionist who is convinced that Jews are heirs to a unique story that we are responsible for carrying forward and — because of history, tradition, and faith — partners in a covenant aimed at bringing more justice and compassion to the world.
For me, the description of Israel as “the beginning of the flowering of our redemption” is a prayer, not a factual claim; it reminds us that, as partners to covenant, we Jews have work to do. The sovereign, democratic State of Israel affords unprecedented scope and responsibility for the fulfillment of covenant — the chance to apply the teachings of Jewish tradition to unprecedented circumstances and to join the very best of Jewish philosophy with modern thought and expertise in every arena: health care and education, foreign policy and the welfare system, treatment of non-Jewish minorities, relations of war and peace, and proper stewardship of the planet’s resources.
Israel’s impact, in some respects, has been extraordinary. In other areas, its failings are glaring. The difficulty that Jews and gentiles have in forgiving Israel’s sins and shortcomings testifies to the unusually high standards and expectations brought to bear where Israel is concerned. Jews deeply want the state — which represents Judaism in their eyes — to do right and are sickened when it does wrong. Many Christians regard Jews as the people of God, returned with God’s help to God’s Holy Land and obligated to live up to the demands of God’s Holy Scripture. Some individuals and nations, of course, sorely want to see the State fail and disappear. Israel has enemies. Jews everywhere have the obligation to do our best to guard the chances for success and bring hatikvah, the hope of covenant, to fulfillment.
How can we do that? I want to propose three steps toward the renewed consensus among Jews in North America that I believe are essential both to Israel and to us.
First, let’s do a better job of learning about and talking with Israelis. Both sides have a share in the inadequacy of communication at present. Diverging histories (and ignorance of history) do not help. The gap is exacerbated by differences of language, ethos, political system, and religious patterns. These differences make dialogue between us all the more important. When Israeli government officials write off diaspora communities as doomed to disappear; when Israel’s rabbinic establishment denies the legitimacy of the Judaism I practice and discriminates against the Jews in Israel who affiliate and practice as I do, I feel still greater urgency to talk through our differences. I am convinced we can be partners in putting “facts on the ground” that help fulfill the covenant and make Israel a state that palpably belongs to all of us.
Second, let’s do a better job, as North American Jews, of talking with one another about Israel. Civil discourse has broken down in the United States Congress and, where Israel is concerned, in many synagogues. I suspect the reason for our growing intolerance of each other’s dissent is a combination of hopelessness about the prospects for peace and fear that any criticism of government policy gives aid and comfort to Israel’s enemies. The latter danger is real; I do not minimize it. But we need to talk with one another honestly about Israel, the single greatest Jewish concern of our times. We should not banish any Jews — especially younger Jews — from Jewish tables, nor make them feel that they have no place in our community because their views on Israel seem heretical or their criticism untempered. We need to cut ourselves a little slack where Israel is concerned. Let’s trust Jewish leaders to use community agencies and forums responsibly and help individual Jews, including college students, to develop their own reasons for standing with Israel.
Third, let’s make sure that our future lay and professional leaders have every chance to know the wonderful, bewildering, changing-by-the-day reality of Israel — and so come to love it, each in his or her own way. The Jewish Theological Seminary now sends its rabbinical students not so much to study in Israel for a year as to study Israel in Israel, and to learn how to transmit to others the knowledge and love they have acquired or deepened. At our New York campus, we have placed Israel front and center with programs nearly every week of the year.
These days, it is all too easy for Jews to believe that there can somehow be Judaism without Jews: a Judaism of spirituality, devoid of the claims of peoplehood, collective memory and state. Others, particularly in Israel, believe that there can be Jews without Judaism — that ethnic or national identity is self-sufficient, without transcendent ethical or religious ideals to give purpose to Jewish existence. Both paths, I think, lead Jews nowhere and certainly take us far from covenant. Israel, on the other hand, provides options for fulfillment as yet unexplored, a hope for Jews and humanity that we dare not consign to cynicism or despair.
Let’s embrace that hope — and get to work.
Arnold Eisen is chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Evil Cum Laude, Majoring in Genocide
A congregant with an expertise in Middle Eastern politics, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared with me the following fascinating and timely thoughts, which I have edited and adapted. For those apologists who expected Bashir al-Assad to act in a civilized manner simply because he sipped tea between classes in London, they have learned a cruel lesson. And our institutes of higher education are doing a poor job of reinforcing humane values, with a premium on promoting dignity and the respect for innocent life.
With the lessons of Pesach still with us, let’s consider some really, really evil sons: Bashir al-Assad (in London, opthamology), Radovan Karadjic (Univ. of Sarajevo, Columbia Univ. – medicine, psychiatry), Robert Mugabe (Univ. of London – law), Pol Pot (in Paris – technology), to name a few. Of course there are so many more, aren’t there, and a few really, really evil daughters perhaps who just haven’t had the ‘equal opportunities’ of their male counterparts.
As we reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust, one point that is difficult to ignore is that age-old question: what is the correlation between one’s sense of morality, ethics, et al and one’s schooling and cultural haute culture? What is the relationship between humaneness and schooling and ‘good cultural upbringing’?
When will we truly understand that schooling levels, pro forma cultural knowledge and perfunctory erudition do not always correlate with human decency? Perhaps this is a harsh and maximalist declaration. Perhaps the Zeitgeist encourages such frustration and cynicism.
Two points to consider: 1) Attending ‘Oxbridge’ does not a good person make. 2) That seed must be planted before the child even knows where the UK is located. In other words, education at home, good role modelling, parenting, and the like will have a better chance at bringing a kinder, emotionally and intellectually more stable and valued member of a into the world.
So, what do we do with these so-called experts in the media who assume that the future Bashir al-Assads of the world will be better people if only they just study at Harvard, Cambridge, or Oxford. If the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust do not ‘dissuade these experts’ of that false belief, one feels at a loss as to what really would convince them. Apologies in advance for singling out these experts in this piece, but after all, they are the ones out there with their analyses, punditry and in the end, some form of influence.
Good schooling doesn’t necessarily lead to that which is ‘more liberal’, which in turn, doesn’t necessarily lead to that which is ‘more compassionate, empathetic, and decent’. What is it that makes an ‘expert’ express his/her surprise, shock and indignation that 1) al-Assad is doing these horrible things to his country people, which by the way, should be of no surprise to anyone who understands the complexities of the ‘authoritarian mind’, and 2) that it is unfathomable that he would be doing this since, after all, he studied in London?
If one really wanted to be cynical, one could conclude that a ‘good education’ merely prepares evil to be perfected more efficiently, more deviously, more sadistically. Students and their families on both sides of various oceans and seas seek to ‘go abroad’ and study at some of the world’s most august institutions. And, working with these students has not been unpleasant. However, one must examine, and be realistic in understanding, the motivations for these students (and, if deemed necessary, seek new ways and paradigms to engage and encourage the ‘humanity within the students’). Otherwise, prestige, rubbing shoulders with powerful and influential people, and then building networks, contacts, connections with them so as to advance one’s career, etc. seem to dominate the reasoning. And, there is nothing wrong with this – inherently. However, let’s not fool ourselves. One doubts that “the search for ‘good liberal, Western’ values” was on the mind of the father who sent his kid – the one who alit his undergarments on an airplane - from Nigeria to study in London.
In closing, this message for this Yom Hashoah is that it’s all about - or at least a lot of it is - education at the home which includes not engaging in the ‘objectifying’ of children and youth – when young people are treated as physical objects instead of thinking, feeling human beings (the old saying, ‘do as I say not as I do’). In other words, as Mark Twain said, “don’t let schooling interfere with your education”. What if Mengele had had a truly nurturing education with positive and humane role models, etc., and not just a good schooling?
With the lessons of Pesach still with us, let’s consider some really, really evil sons: Bashir al-Assad (in London, opthamology), Radovan Karadjic (Univ. of Sarajevo, Columbia Univ. – medicine, psychiatry), Robert Mugabe (Univ. of London – law), Pol Pot (in Paris – technology), to name a few. Of course there are so many more, aren’t there, and a few really, really evil daughters perhaps who just haven’t had the ‘equal opportunities’ of their male counterparts.
As we reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust, one point that is difficult to ignore is that age-old question: what is the correlation between one’s sense of morality, ethics, et al and one’s schooling and cultural haute culture? What is the relationship between humaneness and schooling and ‘good cultural upbringing’?
When will we truly understand that schooling levels, pro forma cultural knowledge and perfunctory erudition do not always correlate with human decency? Perhaps this is a harsh and maximalist declaration. Perhaps the Zeitgeist encourages such frustration and cynicism.
Two points to consider: 1) Attending ‘Oxbridge’ does not a good person make. 2) That seed must be planted before the child even knows where the UK is located. In other words, education at home, good role modelling, parenting, and the like will have a better chance at bringing a kinder, emotionally and intellectually more stable and valued member of a into the world.
So, what do we do with these so-called experts in the media who assume that the future Bashir al-Assads of the world will be better people if only they just study at Harvard, Cambridge, or Oxford. If the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust do not ‘dissuade these experts’ of that false belief, one feels at a loss as to what really would convince them. Apologies in advance for singling out these experts in this piece, but after all, they are the ones out there with their analyses, punditry and in the end, some form of influence.
Good schooling doesn’t necessarily lead to that which is ‘more liberal’, which in turn, doesn’t necessarily lead to that which is ‘more compassionate, empathetic, and decent’. What is it that makes an ‘expert’ express his/her surprise, shock and indignation that 1) al-Assad is doing these horrible things to his country people, which by the way, should be of no surprise to anyone who understands the complexities of the ‘authoritarian mind’, and 2) that it is unfathomable that he would be doing this since, after all, he studied in London?
If one really wanted to be cynical, one could conclude that a ‘good education’ merely prepares evil to be perfected more efficiently, more deviously, more sadistically. Students and their families on both sides of various oceans and seas seek to ‘go abroad’ and study at some of the world’s most august institutions. And, working with these students has not been unpleasant. However, one must examine, and be realistic in understanding, the motivations for these students (and, if deemed necessary, seek new ways and paradigms to engage and encourage the ‘humanity within the students’). Otherwise, prestige, rubbing shoulders with powerful and influential people, and then building networks, contacts, connections with them so as to advance one’s career, etc. seem to dominate the reasoning. And, there is nothing wrong with this – inherently. However, let’s not fool ourselves. One doubts that “the search for ‘good liberal, Western’ values” was on the mind of the father who sent his kid – the one who alit his undergarments on an airplane - from Nigeria to study in London.
In closing, this message for this Yom Hashoah is that it’s all about - or at least a lot of it is - education at the home which includes not engaging in the ‘objectifying’ of children and youth – when young people are treated as physical objects instead of thinking, feeling human beings (the old saying, ‘do as I say not as I do’). In other words, as Mark Twain said, “don’t let schooling interfere with your education”. What if Mengele had had a truly nurturing education with positive and humane role models, etc., and not just a good schooling?
TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Noah Durica on Kedoshim
Many of you know how much I love scouting… it’s the thing I love the most (aside from video games).
It started when I was in 2nd grade,… when I built a car and raced it in the Pinewood Derby. And I won! Scouting allows me to spend a lot of time with friends, but instead of hanging out at the mall, we hang out at meetings and learn important skills like cooking, first aid, swimming -- and how to shoot a rifle. Scouting also enables me to spend lots of time outdoors protecting animals, not just learning how to protect myself from them. I love animals (my name is Noah, after all!).
Scouting isn’t just about being outside – it’s about getting along with others – with people, with animals and with the environment. It’s also about leadership.
My torah portion of Kedoshim is about leadership too, because leadership begins with caring for others.
Here are the Scout Laws, the basic guidelines of scouting that were written over a hundred years ago. We have to memorize it, along with the Scout Oath, and listing these laws almost sound like my Torah reading from Kedoshim:
A scout is (hold up fingers) TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, BRAVE, CLEAN AND REVERENT.
My portion teaches us to rise before an old person, to be kind to strangers, to be fair when judging another, to be kind to workers and pay them on time, to not hold a grudge against another person, to not be angry and love our neighbor as ourself.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” For a scout that means, leaving the place you are encamped clean for the next person – or even cleaner than you found it.
It also means helping your neighbor to help himself, even if your neighbor lives thousands of miles away. That’s what I am doing with my mitzvah project.
I decided to do the Heifer project because it allows me to love my neighbor around the world in a way that also allows me to help animals, which I also love. I haven’t decided what I’ll be giving yet. I have enough money so far to buy a goat. But as they say on their website, with this project, anyone can be like Noah.
Two cows could bring milk to a Russian village. Two sheep will help families in Arizona produce wool. Two oxen can pull plows and carts in Uganda.
The more I collect through the sale of the blue bracelets, the more I’ll be able to help others all over the world.
You might think that Boy Scouts are so busy camping and hiking that there is no time to work in the reverent part. Well, you are wrong. I have fond memories of attending Friday night Shabbat services at Camp Reed and Havdallah under the stars at our 100 year of Scouting Camporee. The Westchester Putman Counsel of Boy Scouts has become the guardian of a very sacred miniature Torah Scroll and Ark. This Torah and Ark has been carried into the battle fields of WW1, WW2, and Korea. I am proud and honored to have been able to share the words within this scroll with JEWISH soldiers who have given service to our wonderful nation.
Scouting has taught me to be proud of my heritage as an American and a Jew.
Today, after becoming Bar Mitzvah, I have come to fully appreciate the true meaning of the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”
It started when I was in 2nd grade,… when I built a car and raced it in the Pinewood Derby. And I won! Scouting allows me to spend a lot of time with friends, but instead of hanging out at the mall, we hang out at meetings and learn important skills like cooking, first aid, swimming -- and how to shoot a rifle. Scouting also enables me to spend lots of time outdoors protecting animals, not just learning how to protect myself from them. I love animals (my name is Noah, after all!).
Scouting isn’t just about being outside – it’s about getting along with others – with people, with animals and with the environment. It’s also about leadership.
My torah portion of Kedoshim is about leadership too, because leadership begins with caring for others.
Here are the Scout Laws, the basic guidelines of scouting that were written over a hundred years ago. We have to memorize it, along with the Scout Oath, and listing these laws almost sound like my Torah reading from Kedoshim:
A scout is (hold up fingers) TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, BRAVE, CLEAN AND REVERENT.
My portion teaches us to rise before an old person, to be kind to strangers, to be fair when judging another, to be kind to workers and pay them on time, to not hold a grudge against another person, to not be angry and love our neighbor as ourself.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” For a scout that means, leaving the place you are encamped clean for the next person – or even cleaner than you found it.
It also means helping your neighbor to help himself, even if your neighbor lives thousands of miles away. That’s what I am doing with my mitzvah project.
I decided to do the Heifer project because it allows me to love my neighbor around the world in a way that also allows me to help animals, which I also love. I haven’t decided what I’ll be giving yet. I have enough money so far to buy a goat. But as they say on their website, with this project, anyone can be like Noah.
Two cows could bring milk to a Russian village. Two sheep will help families in Arizona produce wool. Two oxen can pull plows and carts in Uganda.
The more I collect through the sale of the blue bracelets, the more I’ll be able to help others all over the world.
You might think that Boy Scouts are so busy camping and hiking that there is no time to work in the reverent part. Well, you are wrong. I have fond memories of attending Friday night Shabbat services at Camp Reed and Havdallah under the stars at our 100 year of Scouting Camporee. The Westchester Putman Counsel of Boy Scouts has become the guardian of a very sacred miniature Torah Scroll and Ark. This Torah and Ark has been carried into the battle fields of WW1, WW2, and Korea. I am proud and honored to have been able to share the words within this scroll with JEWISH soldiers who have given service to our wonderful nation.
Scouting has taught me to be proud of my heritage as an American and a Jew.
Today, after becoming Bar Mitzvah, I have come to fully appreciate the true meaning of the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Light Up the Future: Closing Remarks from Yom Hashoa Community Program
A year ago on Yom Hashoah, I marched in Auschwitz with teens and adults from our community on the March of the Living. We then flew on to Israel where we marched again, this time in Jerusalem on Yom Ha'atzmaut. I was awed by the thousands of teens who marched with us, and in particular the 60 in our New England group (and 16 from our Kulanu Stamford group). I couldn’t be more proud of them. They are now worthy witnesses, and they will light the way to a better future.
Last year, Yom Ha’atzmaut coincided with Hitler’s birthday. This year we commemorate Yom Hashoah while marking the death of arguably the most virulent anti-Semite of this century, Osama bin Laden. And we almost got Kadaffi the night before. What a daily double that would have been. And Assad is on the ropes. And Ahmadinijad...we hear he's in the midst of a major falling out with the boss, could well be next. What does this all mean?
It means that we have outlasted the haters. It means that the victims have been vindicated. It means that good is winning out over evil.
In Poland we stared into the face of the banality of evil, as Hannah Arendt put it, how perfectly normal people have the capacity to be utterly cruel. People who love their spouses and children and pets, could go to their "jobs" as death camp guards and perform unspeakable acts of sadism, well beyond the "call of duty." We saw that such cruelty lies within the capacity of every human being.
But we also saw signs of renewal. With thousands of teens from all over the world exchanging pins and email addresses, the marchers transformed Auschwitz into some sort of Olympic village, a pilgrimage to a death camp became a meaningful mixer, simple and pure. Teens being teens. We witnessed the banality of youth. The banality of good.
And on our trip we also saw that the human conscience is capably of unfathomable acts of courage and kindness - that people can create mind-numbing beauty. We saw that in Poland, and then especially in Israel, a nation built from the ashes, ashes that we had literally stood in front of in Maidanek and Treblinka.
As Israel celebrated her birthday with cookouts and picnics, The Jerusalem Post holiday supplement boasted about "62 years of brain power." When Hitler killed the 6 million, he failed to kill the Jewish mind, the paper said.
This is true – but more importantly, he also failed to kill the Jewish soul - the human soul in every Jew. Jews are not prisoners to hate and revenge. We love our neighbors, and we love ourselves.
Hence it was fitting that at the March’s closing event in Latrun, on the night of Yom Ha’atzmaut, thousands of teens from all over the world sang together the most universal anthem of hope imaginable – John Lennon's "Imagine." At first it seemed jarring to me that of all songs, that was chosen. It didn’t seem to fit the nationalistic agenda that colored so much of the March. But then I realized. This new generation, not raised on hate but on the memory of hate, has learned to love again. They have not been scarred by that evil, for the most part, and live in a world that is already so connected that it is not unimaginable to envision a world where people will truly love one another. And it is the kids who will lead us to THAT Promised Land.
Many years ago, Leonard Fein wrote that there are two kinds of Jews in the world:
There is the kind of Jew who detests war and violence, who believes that fighting is not the Jewish Way, who willingly accepts that Jews have their own and higher standards of behavior. and not just that we have them, but that those standards are our lifeblood, what we are about.
And then there is the kind of Jew who is convinced that we have been passive long enough, who is convinced that it is time to strike back at our enemies, to reject once and for all the role of victim, who will willingly accept that Jews cannot afford to depend on favors, that we must be tough and strong.
And the trouble is, most of us are both kinds of Jew.
Over the past decade, the same can be said for we Americans.
But maybe the teens will inhabit a better world. In the end, for the teens, it wasn’t simply about their becoming witnesses to the horrors of the past, but somehow they had become the catalysts for the promise of the future. They had taken the victim's soul and transformed into one that can love again. Precisely because they had visited the camps of death, they felt an added urgency to celebrate the potential of life - of life triumphant.
Take that, Hitler! Take that Bin Laden! We can still love. That is the best revenge. To love and to hope.
And we’ve got the kids to prove it!
They will light up the future.
Last year, Yom Ha’atzmaut coincided with Hitler’s birthday. This year we commemorate Yom Hashoah while marking the death of arguably the most virulent anti-Semite of this century, Osama bin Laden. And we almost got Kadaffi the night before. What a daily double that would have been. And Assad is on the ropes. And Ahmadinijad...we hear he's in the midst of a major falling out with the boss, could well be next. What does this all mean?
It means that we have outlasted the haters. It means that the victims have been vindicated. It means that good is winning out over evil.
In Poland we stared into the face of the banality of evil, as Hannah Arendt put it, how perfectly normal people have the capacity to be utterly cruel. People who love their spouses and children and pets, could go to their "jobs" as death camp guards and perform unspeakable acts of sadism, well beyond the "call of duty." We saw that such cruelty lies within the capacity of every human being.
But we also saw signs of renewal. With thousands of teens from all over the world exchanging pins and email addresses, the marchers transformed Auschwitz into some sort of Olympic village, a pilgrimage to a death camp became a meaningful mixer, simple and pure. Teens being teens. We witnessed the banality of youth. The banality of good.
And on our trip we also saw that the human conscience is capably of unfathomable acts of courage and kindness - that people can create mind-numbing beauty. We saw that in Poland, and then especially in Israel, a nation built from the ashes, ashes that we had literally stood in front of in Maidanek and Treblinka.
As Israel celebrated her birthday with cookouts and picnics, The Jerusalem Post holiday supplement boasted about "62 years of brain power." When Hitler killed the 6 million, he failed to kill the Jewish mind, the paper said.
This is true – but more importantly, he also failed to kill the Jewish soul - the human soul in every Jew. Jews are not prisoners to hate and revenge. We love our neighbors, and we love ourselves.
Hence it was fitting that at the March’s closing event in Latrun, on the night of Yom Ha’atzmaut, thousands of teens from all over the world sang together the most universal anthem of hope imaginable – John Lennon's "Imagine." At first it seemed jarring to me that of all songs, that was chosen. It didn’t seem to fit the nationalistic agenda that colored so much of the March. But then I realized. This new generation, not raised on hate but on the memory of hate, has learned to love again. They have not been scarred by that evil, for the most part, and live in a world that is already so connected that it is not unimaginable to envision a world where people will truly love one another. And it is the kids who will lead us to THAT Promised Land.
Many years ago, Leonard Fein wrote that there are two kinds of Jews in the world:
There is the kind of Jew who detests war and violence, who believes that fighting is not the Jewish Way, who willingly accepts that Jews have their own and higher standards of behavior. and not just that we have them, but that those standards are our lifeblood, what we are about.
And then there is the kind of Jew who is convinced that we have been passive long enough, who is convinced that it is time to strike back at our enemies, to reject once and for all the role of victim, who will willingly accept that Jews cannot afford to depend on favors, that we must be tough and strong.
And the trouble is, most of us are both kinds of Jew.
Over the past decade, the same can be said for we Americans.
But maybe the teens will inhabit a better world. In the end, for the teens, it wasn’t simply about their becoming witnesses to the horrors of the past, but somehow they had become the catalysts for the promise of the future. They had taken the victim's soul and transformed into one that can love again. Precisely because they had visited the camps of death, they felt an added urgency to celebrate the potential of life - of life triumphant.
Take that, Hitler! Take that Bin Laden! We can still love. That is the best revenge. To love and to hope.
And we’ve got the kids to prove it!
They will light up the future.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Letter from Netanya: Jan Gaines on Erev Yom Hashoah
Dear Friends,
This is the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. This evening we will have a somber and heart wrenching commemoration, focusing on 70 years since Babi Yar.
Babi Yar, where in TWO DAYS of killing, 38,000 Jews perished. That was a higher murder rate even than Auschwitz, which was 10,000 Jews murdered PER DAY.
Each year I participate in our commemoration which is a dramatic reading of the details of each Nazi murder site. For Babi Yar, descriptions of Jews buried alive, thrown into the pit still alive, the brutality of the Germans and their Ukrainian cohorts in killing babies.
And I look around and see that nothing has changed!!! Jews are hated and threatened with extinction. Babies are slaughtered- - -the 3 month old Fogel baby which the murderers missed in their first round of killing, but heard the baby crying so went back into the house and stabbed the baby to death!!
Not nice to hear, is it? I don't like writing these things but this is our history and our reality today.
Then the question becomes, how do we deal with it?
Each of us has that conflict to resolve. Do we try to have the haters recognize our humanity as well as theirs? Some people take that path. Or do we reject the haters and take to our guns?
A terrible dilemma for a people essentially committed to peace and "brotherhood".
Here in Israel the dilemma is face forward, every day. Our kids in the army, our shelters cleaned out, our southern towns and cities readying for missile defense, our countrywide defense preparations ongoing with a full scale rehearsal in June nationwide. And the return of our gas masks; easy, just pick them up at the post office!!
How do Israelis do it? How do they live like this?
My neighbor always reminds me of the answer. " Every threat makes us stronger, every call for our extinction makes us more determined to survive. Each of us is a small world of strong will, and with the intersection of each of our worlds, we will never be defeated."
AMEN!
Jan G
This is the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. This evening we will have a somber and heart wrenching commemoration, focusing on 70 years since Babi Yar.
Babi Yar, where in TWO DAYS of killing, 38,000 Jews perished. That was a higher murder rate even than Auschwitz, which was 10,000 Jews murdered PER DAY.
Each year I participate in our commemoration which is a dramatic reading of the details of each Nazi murder site. For Babi Yar, descriptions of Jews buried alive, thrown into the pit still alive, the brutality of the Germans and their Ukrainian cohorts in killing babies.
And I look around and see that nothing has changed!!! Jews are hated and threatened with extinction. Babies are slaughtered- - -the 3 month old Fogel baby which the murderers missed in their first round of killing, but heard the baby crying so went back into the house and stabbed the baby to death!!
Not nice to hear, is it? I don't like writing these things but this is our history and our reality today.
Then the question becomes, how do we deal with it?
Each of us has that conflict to resolve. Do we try to have the haters recognize our humanity as well as theirs? Some people take that path. Or do we reject the haters and take to our guns?
A terrible dilemma for a people essentially committed to peace and "brotherhood".
Here in Israel the dilemma is face forward, every day. Our kids in the army, our shelters cleaned out, our southern towns and cities readying for missile defense, our countrywide defense preparations ongoing with a full scale rehearsal in June nationwide. And the return of our gas masks; easy, just pick them up at the post office!!
How do Israelis do it? How do they live like this?
My neighbor always reminds me of the answer. " Every threat makes us stronger, every call for our extinction makes us more determined to survive. Each of us is a small world of strong will, and with the intersection of each of our worlds, we will never be defeated."
AMEN!
Jan G
Friday, April 29, 2011
Where the Truth Lies
Instant reactions to this week's stunning announcement of Hamas-Fatah reunification agreement ranges from the predictable: "Now Israel really longer has no partner with which to talk" to the equally predictable, "Israel just squandered its last best chance to bring peace and security." Both statements have some validity. Where does the truth lie?
Think about the inherent paradox of that last expression: How can truth lie? If it's the truth, I mean, it can't lie, can it?
Well, when we're talking about the Middle East, spring 2011, indeed it can. Even the truth can lie, because no one, and I mean no one, knows where this is going to end. Up is down and down is up. Old foes and ruthless dictators suddenly are seen as bastions of stability; democratic uprisings have morphed into religious revolutions. Or have they? Predicting these events is like predicting this year's NFL Draft in a league where there are currently no rules, only the stakes are much higher.
When none of the so-called experts saw the Abbas-Hamas smooch coming, and as James Besser iterates, no one did, why do we keep on going back to them for more disinformation? Where does the truth lie? At this point, only one thing seems certain, the PA just gave up a ton of American financial aid, which legally cannot be provided until Hamas renounces terror and recognizes Israel.
So what are the experts saying?
In this week's issue of Foreign Policy, Michael Oren proves conclusively that Israel is America's Ultimate Ally in this more-unstable-than-ever region, and Jeffrey Goldberg rebuts, stating that Israel's position in the US is now more precarious than ever. And that was written before the bombshell. Robert Satloff looks at the long view in lauding the durability of US - Israel ties as the region explodes around them. Dore Gold chimes in with Why Palestinian Unity Won't Lead to Peace and Jonathan Halevi, in The Fatah-Hamas Agreement: Analysis and Initial Consequences, gives some interesting analysis of how the new Egyptian regime is making use of the Palestinian card and how the unraveling of Syria is compelling Hamas to reorient itself toward Cairo. That Syrian unraveling only intensified with today's mass protests. Ha'aretz in today's editorial claims that Israel can redeem itself by recognizing a Palestinian state.
My take in all this hardly matters, but something tugging within me sees this as having positive potential, despite all the legitimate dangers. Hamas was pushed into these unity talks, we must recall, because of a popular uprising taking place in streets of Gaza. Hamas is far less popular than it was when the last elections occurred, and the PA has gotten its act together in a number of areas. There is far less corruption, which has led to economic progress and increased security cooperation with Israel, despite this week's mishap at Joseph's tomb. Maybe, given the right signals from Israel, this time the Palestinian people and the Egyptian people will vote for peace.
OK, go ahead and call me naïve. After all, I believed the President was legitimate even before he produced his birth certificate. Now, I hear, BTW, that Donald Trump's next tack will be to demand that Hawaii produce proof that it's really a state.
But right now, no matter what citizenship they have, the Palestinian and Egyptian people are all from the "Show Me" state of Missouri. I do believe that they are open to positive gestures, and Israel has to show them all reasons to move their democracies in the direction of regional reconciliation rather than perpetual confrontation.
Israelis need to be shown some things too. It will be interesting to see if the security situation will improve now along the Gazan border.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's job has just gotten harder. Suddenly his visit to the US in late May has taken on an intensified significance. (BTW Let me know if you are planning to attend AIPAC or are interested in going.) Face to face negotiations with the Palestinians now seem more unlikely than ever. But just like all the candidates over here pounding the pavement of Iowa and New Hampshire, the Israeli Prime Minister's got to campaign too, this time for Arab votes, and fill the airways of Ramallah and Cairo with something that is as hard to come by in that part of the world: hope. Otherwise, the Egyptians and Palestinians will vote accordingly.
Freedom is messy.
That's where the truth lies in the Middle East.
Think about the inherent paradox of that last expression: How can truth lie? If it's the truth, I mean, it can't lie, can it?
Well, when we're talking about the Middle East, spring 2011, indeed it can. Even the truth can lie, because no one, and I mean no one, knows where this is going to end. Up is down and down is up. Old foes and ruthless dictators suddenly are seen as bastions of stability; democratic uprisings have morphed into religious revolutions. Or have they? Predicting these events is like predicting this year's NFL Draft in a league where there are currently no rules, only the stakes are much higher.
When none of the so-called experts saw the Abbas-Hamas smooch coming, and as James Besser iterates, no one did, why do we keep on going back to them for more disinformation? Where does the truth lie? At this point, only one thing seems certain, the PA just gave up a ton of American financial aid, which legally cannot be provided until Hamas renounces terror and recognizes Israel.
So what are the experts saying?
In this week's issue of Foreign Policy, Michael Oren proves conclusively that Israel is America's Ultimate Ally in this more-unstable-than-ever region, and Jeffrey Goldberg rebuts, stating that Israel's position in the US is now more precarious than ever. And that was written before the bombshell. Robert Satloff looks at the long view in lauding the durability of US - Israel ties as the region explodes around them. Dore Gold chimes in with Why Palestinian Unity Won't Lead to Peace and Jonathan Halevi, in The Fatah-Hamas Agreement: Analysis and Initial Consequences, gives some interesting analysis of how the new Egyptian regime is making use of the Palestinian card and how the unraveling of Syria is compelling Hamas to reorient itself toward Cairo. That Syrian unraveling only intensified with today's mass protests. Ha'aretz in today's editorial claims that Israel can redeem itself by recognizing a Palestinian state.
My take in all this hardly matters, but something tugging within me sees this as having positive potential, despite all the legitimate dangers. Hamas was pushed into these unity talks, we must recall, because of a popular uprising taking place in streets of Gaza. Hamas is far less popular than it was when the last elections occurred, and the PA has gotten its act together in a number of areas. There is far less corruption, which has led to economic progress and increased security cooperation with Israel, despite this week's mishap at Joseph's tomb. Maybe, given the right signals from Israel, this time the Palestinian people and the Egyptian people will vote for peace.
OK, go ahead and call me naïve. After all, I believed the President was legitimate even before he produced his birth certificate. Now, I hear, BTW, that Donald Trump's next tack will be to demand that Hawaii produce proof that it's really a state.
But right now, no matter what citizenship they have, the Palestinian and Egyptian people are all from the "Show Me" state of Missouri. I do believe that they are open to positive gestures, and Israel has to show them all reasons to move their democracies in the direction of regional reconciliation rather than perpetual confrontation.
Israelis need to be shown some things too. It will be interesting to see if the security situation will improve now along the Gazan border.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's job has just gotten harder. Suddenly his visit to the US in late May has taken on an intensified significance. (BTW Let me know if you are planning to attend AIPAC or are interested in going.) Face to face negotiations with the Palestinians now seem more unlikely than ever. But just like all the candidates over here pounding the pavement of Iowa and New Hampshire, the Israeli Prime Minister's got to campaign too, this time for Arab votes, and fill the airways of Ramallah and Cairo with something that is as hard to come by in that part of the world: hope. Otherwise, the Egyptians and Palestinians will vote accordingly.
Freedom is messy.
That's where the truth lies in the Middle East.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Corporal Punishment, Four Children, Song of Songs and Sitting Bull
What do we do with the Wicked Child? Well in 19 states it’s still legal to whap him with a paddle in school (New Mexico became the 31st to ban it two weeks ago). At home, it’s legal to do it in all 50. But in many countries, including Israel, corporal punishment is no longer allowed, anywhere, anytime.
This week, with the Seder’s Four Children still fresh on our minds, my Jewish Week ethics column tackles the controversial and current issue of corporal punishment and child abuse, a topic that has been amplified all the more by the recent showing here of “Race to Nowhere.” See Hammerman on Ethics: Sparing the Rod.
We discussed this topic at services yesterday. See supplementary materials on the Four Children that I brought in, including some scholarly material exploring this famous Haggadah anecdote has changed over the years, an article comparing the Four Kids to characters from “Glee,” and a listing of articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
And as long as I’m handing out materials from the weekend’s services, click here for Friday night’s handout, which included brief meditations (known in eastern traditions as gathas) from many cultures promoting mindfulness on nature. Friday’s service was one of my all-time favorites, as we celebrated Passover and Earth Day with songs and poetry inspired by the Song of Songs, that most earthy and sensual biblical mother-of-all-love ballads (which is traditionally recited on the Shabbat of Passover). Where else but TBE can you recite the poetry of Sitting Bull and Hasidic masters and sing “Dodi Li” and “Morning Has Broken,” all at the same service?
Before we leave “Song of Songs” behind us, I highly recommend this article from the Huffington Post, written by a colleague, on the need to preserve and celebrate the astonishing sensuality of our tradition in the face of what he calls “Nature Deficit Disorder,” which is pounding at us from all directions. On the one hand, we are bombarded by the lure of pixels and cling to the virtual instead of embracing the real; and on the other side, religious conservatism has, in its prurient zeal, drained texts like this of their sensuality – and in doing so, they’ve drained Judaism of its vitality (the article gives a stunning example for all you Artscroll fans).
No such danger of that happening here, though. In fact a couple got engaged last week – and they had met right here at services. At TBE, we don’t just read Song of Songs – we LIVE it!
This week, with the Seder’s Four Children still fresh on our minds, my Jewish Week ethics column tackles the controversial and current issue of corporal punishment and child abuse, a topic that has been amplified all the more by the recent showing here of “Race to Nowhere.” See Hammerman on Ethics: Sparing the Rod.
We discussed this topic at services yesterday. See supplementary materials on the Four Children that I brought in, including some scholarly material exploring this famous Haggadah anecdote has changed over the years, an article comparing the Four Kids to characters from “Glee,” and a listing of articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
And as long as I’m handing out materials from the weekend’s services, click here for Friday night’s handout, which included brief meditations (known in eastern traditions as gathas) from many cultures promoting mindfulness on nature. Friday’s service was one of my all-time favorites, as we celebrated Passover and Earth Day with songs and poetry inspired by the Song of Songs, that most earthy and sensual biblical mother-of-all-love ballads (which is traditionally recited on the Shabbat of Passover). Where else but TBE can you recite the poetry of Sitting Bull and Hasidic masters and sing “Dodi Li” and “Morning Has Broken,” all at the same service?
Before we leave “Song of Songs” behind us, I highly recommend this article from the Huffington Post, written by a colleague, on the need to preserve and celebrate the astonishing sensuality of our tradition in the face of what he calls “Nature Deficit Disorder,” which is pounding at us from all directions. On the one hand, we are bombarded by the lure of pixels and cling to the virtual instead of embracing the real; and on the other side, religious conservatism has, in its prurient zeal, drained texts like this of their sensuality – and in doing so, they’ve drained Judaism of its vitality (the article gives a stunning example for all you Artscroll fans).
No such danger of that happening here, though. In fact a couple got engaged last week – and they had met right here at services. At TBE, we don’t just read Song of Songs – we LIVE it!
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