An Apple on the Seder Plate?

An apple on the Seder plate?  Sounds crazy, no?  Not for Amichai Lau-Lavie of Storahtelling fame.  Here, in the guise of his drag alter ego, Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, he points out that we need to ask how we, as consumers (of, say, iPads and iPhones, hint, hint) might be unwittingly abetting "enslavement" throughout the world.  See the Jerusalem Post coverage, read the latest on how Apple is addressing concerns regarding working conditions in its supplier's factories and watch the video below.  Also, listen to a Storahtelling commentary on the Exodus narrative.

Shabbat-O-Gram for Passover: Of Customs and Questions

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Passover

First, to take care of some business: 

• Morning minyan on Friday (7:30) will conclude with a Siyum for the First Born.

• Download your Sale of Hametz form and send in as soon as possible. Fax # is 203-322-0532.

• Services will not be held on Friday evening.  Yahrzeit names will be read on Shabbat morning, as usual.  Services on the first and second days will be downstairs in the sanctuary at 9:30.  On Day 1, I'll be reviewing the OTHER new Haggadah to come out recently, chronicling the Exodus of Ethiopian Jews. On day 2, Gerry Ginsburg will be giving a guest d'var Torah.

• See my extensive Passover Guides and Seder Supplements - and to this list I want to add one more: the "A Different Night" Leader's Guide by Noam Zion. This guide is a treasure trove ideas for activities for all ages, including the Four Questions in different languages.

• Click here for the downloadable 2012 Rabbinical Assembly Passover Guide and here for my "Passover Preparations Guide to the Perplexed"

• Download the new Haggadah App from iTunes -it's great, but unfortunately, you can't print it out, so you'll need to purchase a dozen iPads to hand out to all your guests.

• As for the "New American Haggadah" that has garnered so much publicity, we had a nice discussion about it last week at services, and I've updated my posting reviewing it:I call it the "Mad Men" Haggadah, because it has abandoned so much of the gender neutral language that become so ingrained in the liturgy of non-Orhtodox Jews.  God is "Lord" and "King" again, the Four Children are the Four Sons and Miriam's Cup is gone.  There's much that is positive about the Foer/Englander Haggadah, but the revisionist translation bears discussion.  See my review here.

• I've uploaded some photos of our Interfaith Seder  and our Religious School's Pesach Prep Day - a fun time was had by all (I loved some of the rap songs produced by the kids).

• If you are into Passover art, check out this masterpiece of medieval illuminated manuscipts, the Prato Haggada, from the JTS library's collection.  The site also features other priceless items from the library. 

• And speaking of priceless art, if you are rummaging around the new Google Art Project, which features masterpieces from the world's great museums, you'll see some works from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, as well as the Jewish Museum in New York.

• For young kids, I recommend our own Jeff and Lisa Manheim's board book style Passover Story and also a great site called Seder Fun, which also has downloads for a Hogwarts Seder and other activities.

• This is a great time to reconnect with who we are as Jews.  Take a look at The 2012 Jewish Values Survey, just released this week.  It is both reassuring (at least 8-in-10 American Jews say that pursuing justice (84%) is a somewhat or very important value that informs their beliefs and activities) and somewhat unsetting (only 20% cite support for Israel as a core component of their Jewish identity).  It also reveals that, despite some misgivings over President Obama's Israel policies, 2/3 of American Jews still will likely vote for him.

• Speaking of Israel, talk to people at your Seders about coming with us this summer - we've revised the itinerary slightly, though the dates are still Aug 12 - 24.  Contact me ASAP if you are interested!  And to whet your appetite about this vibrant country, readTel Aviv versus Jerusalem from the Times of Israel, and read - and hear - how an Israeli Arab woman captured the hearts of a Israelis by winning a televised singing contestwith a song written originally as a cry of anguish following the terrorist slaying of two Israeli soldiers. And sign up for the Israeli Network (channel 1118) on Cablevision so you can feel what it's like to be in Israel at this beautiful time of year.

Of Customs and Questions

An American tourist was riding in a taxi in Israel. As the taxi approached a red light, the tourist was shocked to see the driver drive straight through without even slowing down.  

Surprised as he was, he didn't say anything, feeling himself a "guest" and not wanting to make waves. The trip continued without event until the next intersection. This time the light was green and, to the American's dismay, the cab driver brought the vehicle to a grinding halt. Unable to contain his astonishment, he turns to the driver:

"Listen", he says, "when you went through the red light, I didn't say anything. But, why, in heaven's name, are you stopping at a green light?!"

The Israeli driver looks at him as if the American was deranged:

"Are you crazy?!" he shouts. "The other guy has a red light -- do you want to get us killed?!"

We need rules to survive in society.  But for the rabbis, merely repeating as list of "dos" and don'ts" was not enough.  Rules need to be explained, but they are also meant to be questioned.

The Haggadah is almost obsessive about provoking questions; the rabbis understood that it isn't so much that Judaism needs to be transmitted from one generation to the next.  It needs to reinvented. 

The rabbis based their educational theories on curiosity and spontaneity.  The Talmud relates that at many Seders the leader would initiate other unusual practices "so that the children would inquire." (BT Pesachim 108).  Maimonides adds: "One must make a change in the Seder (routine) on this night so that the children will take note and ask, and say "How different this night is from all other nights!" and the father will answer them and say to them "such and such happened, such and such took place." "How does one make a change?  By distributing parched corn or nuts (that was their candy before Elite, Strauss and Bartons) or by removing the table before them before they eat, or by snatching things from one another's hands, and similar things."  (Mishna Torah - Laws of Matzah 7:3)

That's why children are so central to Passover.  They are natural questioners.  They look at the world through fresh eyes and see the incongruities we've long since disregarded.  They also see the injustices.  And they feel far less bound by tradition and far freer to propose a different way.  The Four Children of the Haggadah each have unique learning styles, requiring adults to explain the purposes for the festival in multiple ways.  But as we explain all these complex laws and customs, we also have to encourage them to challenge us, even if it means their questioning some of those very rules we are charged to explain, even if that leads to our adjusting some practices that have become sacrosanct.

Did you know, for instance, that the association of horseradish with "maror," the bitter herb, is a relatively recent and exclusively Eastern European phenomenon?  It's mainly because in those colder climes the preferred bitter vegetable, romaine lettuce, didn't grow in the early spring.  Rabbi David Golinkin makes the case for us to turn away from horseradish and return to our roots, as it were, by favoring lettuce.  Pesach without horseradish?   I'll be discussing this further at our Siyum on Friday morning.

And did you know that you don't have to dip parsley or celery as the "Karpas" at the beginning of the Seder?  Noam Zion makes the case for potato chips.  Potatoes are from the earth and definitely dipped (in salt).  A great site called Seder Fun  suggests strawberries or bananas dipped in chocolate (they're both "fruit of the earth" because the plant grows anew every year), as well as portabellas fried in olive oil and dipped in a marinade.  This early dipping is a great opportunity to fill the stomachs just enough to keep everyone engaged during that long stretch before the real eating begins - so that they'll have the energy to keep asking questions.

So when you get to your Seders and the questions begin, don't just stop at the Big Four.  That's just the beginning.  One medieval commentator suggests that "even if one is alone at home and knows all the reasons, one should conduct a discussion with oneself, asking and answering one's own questions."  Ask the questions in many ways (here's the Big Four inAncient Aramaic, Bukharic, Chinese, Old English, Ancient Greek, Juwri (what?), Ladino, Pig Latin, Polish, Shakespearean, Tibetan and Zulu - and check here for Java Script, Haiku and a Tweet).    

With all the questions that spew forth, it's likely that not all will be answered.  But tradition has it that It there is one person who will resolve all unanswered disputes - and that person happens to be coming to your Seder.  It's Elijah.  Maybe this year, he'll come to us with all the answers in hand.  And if not, feel free to ask him why.  If he answers, he will most likely do it the Jewish way -  with another question....

Remember the great lesson of the Seder:  Customs change, but questions are eternal. Blind obedience leads to the ossification of a tradition.  Challenging unquestioned norms breathes life into them, or leads to their replacement by something better.  On Seder night, our goal, then, is not to transmit something ancient into the skulls of the next generation, but rather to reinvent a tradition so that it will be brimming with life - so that a sense of wonder and pride will glow in the faces of the children.  It is a glow can only be fueled by curiosity.

It all begins with questions.

On behalf of everyone here at TBE, professionals and volunteers, warm wishes to you and your loved ones for a Sweet Pesach...and Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

The 2012 Jewish Values Survey

While any survey is only a snapshot of current opinion, this one, by the Public Religion Research Institute  (see http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/04/jewish-values-in-2012/) reinforces long-held beliefs and time-tested positions. We learn that among American Jews the lure of the Passover Seder is still strong and the call to social action very potent. The concern for Israel pales in comparison and is alarmingly weak overall, which validates what many are saying, and support for President Obama remains strong solid, despite a significant minority expressing concern about his Middle East policies.

Executive Summary

▶ Read the full report here.
▶ Read the news release here.
▶ Read the Topline Questionnaire, including the methodology here.
▶ View the presentation here.

The Influence of Jewish Values and Political Activity. At least 8-in-10 American Jews say that pursuing justice (84%) and caring for the widow and the orphan (80%) are somewhat or very important values that inform their political beliefs and activity.

·         More than 7-in-10 also say that tikkun olam, healing the world (72%), and welcoming the stranger (72%) are somewhat or very important values.

·         A majority (55%) say that seeing every person as made in the image of God is somewhat or very important in informing their political beliefs and activity.

The Influence of Jewish Experiences and Political Activity. More than 8-in-10 Jews say that the experiences of the Holocaust (87%) and having opportunities for economic success in America (85%) are somewhat or very important for informing their political beliefs and activity. Seven-in-ten (70%) Jews cite the immigrant experience in America, and approximately two-thirds (66%) say that being a religious minority in America has a somewhat or very important influence on their political beliefs and activity.

Core Qualities of Jewish Identity. When asked which qualities are most important to their Jewish identity, nearly half (46%) of American Jews cite a commitment to social equality, twice as many as cite support for Israel (20%) or religious observance (17%). Fewer than 1-in-10 say that a sense of cultural heritage and tradition (6%) or a general set of values (3%) are most important to their Jewish identity.

Issue Priorities for the 2012 Election. The most important issue for Jewish registered voters ahead of the 2012 election is the economy, with 51% reporting that this issue would be most important to their vote.

·         Fifteen percent cite the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and about 1-in-10 report that health care and the federal deficit (10% and 7% respectively) are the most important issues to their vote this year.

·         Other issues that fall at the bottom of the priority list are national security (4%), Israel (4%), Iran (2%), the environment (1%), immigration (1%), same-sex marriage (1%), and abortion (1%).

The 2012 Presidential Vote. Eight months before the 2012 election, 62% of Jewish voters say they would like to see Obama re-elected in 2012, more than twice the number who say they would prefer that a Republican candidate win the election (30%).

·         Current support for Obama among Jewish voters is significantly higher than the general population and nearly identical to levels of support for Obama among Jewish registered voters at a comparable point in the 2008 campaign.

·         Among Jewish voters who prefer that a Republican candidate win the 2012 election, Mitt Romney has the greatest support (58%), followed by Rick Santorum (15%), Newt Gingrich (13%), and Ron Paul (12%).

·         Among Jewish voters who say they supported Barack Obama in 2008, an overwhelming majority (86%) say they would like to see the President re-elected; only 7% of Jewish voters who supported Obama in 2008 say they would prefer to see a Republican candidate win the 2012 election.

·         Jewish voters who supported John McCain in 2008 demonstrate similar loyalty in their voting preferences, with 92% reporting that they would prefer it if a Republican candidate won the election.

Favorability and Approval of President Obama. Although American voters overall are more likely to have a favorable view of Obama personally than to rate his job performance positively, Jewish voters evaluate Barack Obama roughly the same on these two metrics. More than 6-in-10 Jewish voters report having a very favorable (15%) or mostly favorable (46%) view of Barack Obama. Roughly 6-in-10 (58%) Jewish voters also say they approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President, compared to 34% who disapprove.

Economic Opportunity and Inequality. American Jews are not anti-wealth nor anti-Wall Street, but overall nearly three-quarters (73%) say that the United States’ economic system unfairly favors the wealthy.

·         Nearly two-thirds (64%) of American Jews agree that the government should do more to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, while roughly one-third (35%) disagree.

·         More than 8-in-10 (81%) favor increasing the tax rate on Americans earning more than $1 million a year, compared to 17% who oppose this policy.

Attitudes toward American Muslims. Two-thirds (66%) of American Jews agree that American Muslims are an important part of the religious community in the United States, compared to 32% who disagree. Similarly, only about 1-in-5 (22%) American Jews believe that American Muslims ultimately want to establish Shari’a or Islamic law as the law of the land in the United States, compared to 76% who disagree.

Diplomacy and Military Action. By a margin of more than 2 to 1, American Jews say that good diplomacy rather than military strength is the best way to ensure peace (63% vs. 24% respectively). In the case of Iran, if diplomacy and other deterrents fail, most American Jews support military action. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) American Jews agree that the U.S. should take military action to prevent Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon if economic sanctions are unable to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program, compared to 37% who disagree.

Problems for Israel. More than 8-in-10 American Jews rank the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (90%) and Iran’s nuclear program (83%) as major problems within Israel.  A majority (53%) of American Jews also agree that Ultra-Orthodox control of religious life in Israel is a major problem, while only 4-in-10 (38%) cite economic and social inequality in Israel as a major problem.

Relations between Israel and the U.S. A majority (54%) of American Jews say that relations between Israel and the U.S. are about the same as they have been in the past, while 7% say they are better, and 37% say they are worse.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict. When asked to describe their opinions about President Obama’s handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict, American Jews are divided. Twenty percent report that they agree with the President’s policies and that they like the way he is executing these policies. Fifteen percent say that they agree with the President’s policies but don’t like the way he is executing these policies. About 3-in-10 (28%) say they disagree with the President’s policies.

·         Notably, over one-third (36%) of American Jews say they are not sure about their opinion of how President Obama is handling the Arab-Israeli conflict.

·         A slim majority (53%) of American Jews say that, generally speaking, they would support the establishment of a Palestinian state, while 42% say they would be opposed.

Synagogues and Public Activities. There is strong agreement among American Jews about the types of activities in which synagogues should be engaged. There is near unanimity (96%) in the belief that synagogues should be involved in acts of charity.

·         Approximately three-quarters (76%) of American Jews also agree that synagogues should be engaged in public policy advocacy to address social problems.

·         In contrast, more than 7-in-10 (71%) say that synagogues should not be involved in supporting political campaigns or candidates.

Importance of Jewish Holidays. When asked about the most important Jewish holiday to them personally, a plurality (43%) of Jews named Yom Kippur, followed by Passover (25%), Hanukkah (10%), and Rosh Hashanah (10%). More than two-thirds (68%) of Jews say they are planning to participate in a Passover Seder this year. Strong majorities of nearly every demographic group report that they are planning to attend a Seder this year.

▶ Read the full report here.
▶ Read the news release here.
▶ Read the Topline Questionnaire, including the methodology here.
▶ View the presentation here.

The 2012 Jewish Values Survey was conducted by Public Religion Research Institute among a random sample of 1,004 self-identified Jewish adults (ages 18 and older) who are part of the Knowledge Networks’ KnowledgePanel. Interviews were conducted online between February 23 and March 5, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample is +/- 5.0 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. The survey was funded by a generous grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Passover Prep at our TBE Religious School

Check out photos from today's busy day of Pre Passover fun at our TBE Religious School.  Thanks to Steve Lander and Dan Young for taking the pictures - and to our TBE kids for looking sooo cute in them!

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2012 Religious School Passover

The Mad Men Haggadah: Jonathan Safran Foer, Nathan Englander and Gender Neutrality

Much has been made of the newly minted "New American Haggadah," edited and translated by two shining stars of new American Jewish literature, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander.  I can't recall a Haggadah receiving more widespread publicity in recent times (with the possible exception of one written for interfaith families by Cokie and Steve Roberts), with the editor appearing everywhere from Colbert to NPR's "Fresh Air" (hear NPR interviews here).  Even the President received a copy, from one of the commentators, Jeffrey Goldberg.   On the first week when the book came out, the only book to sell more copies was "The Hunger Games."  They sold out the first printing in days, but the publisher regrouped and a second printing was completed in time for the holidays.  I received my copy just a few days ago and, full disclosure, have not yet read every word of the commentary.

My verdict thus far:  Mixed.  I'm not sure what the editors wanted this to be.  As a coffee table book, the art is so-so.  As a work of scholarship, well, it isn't really, nor does it seem to want to be.  I wish Foer and Englander had been more heavily involved in the commentary. When I leaf through the Carlebach Haggadah, I expect to see the stories of Reb Shlomo, and that Haggadah does not disappoint.  When I opened the Foer / Englander Haggadah, I hoped to see in print the wisdom of these Jewish literary superstars, justifiably seen as this generations's burgeoning Bellow, Roth and Malamud. But instead I got Snicket, Goldstein, Goldberg and Deutch.  Don't get me wrong, these are accomplished thinkers and many of the commentaries offer refreshing perspectives (Lemony Snicket's is aimed for children and teens; Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's is literary-psychological); but they are missing the edginess and wit of Foer's and Englander's writing.   I would have loved to have seen some of the brilliant insight and moral power of Foer's tour de force, "Eating Animals," for example, in looking at the paschal offering from the perspective of the lamb.  Originally, I understand, a number of other well-known commentators were included in this project.  I wish their essays had not been left on the cutting room floor.  Then we might have gotten a sense of New American Jewish thinkers in dialogue with one another and the text about what it means to be a New American Jew.  

But my biggest beef is with Englander's translation, which returns us to the caveman days of the masculine God-King. The Four Children have become the Four Sons again.  The orange is no longer on the Seder plate.  Miriam has left the building.  Somewhere, along with Miriam, Debbie Friedman is welling up.  Is this rejection of a half century of feminism a reflection of the current "Mad Men" inspired nostalgia for the bygone days before the gals ruined everything for men, and, evidently, for the male God; or, as Foer has implied, is it because Englander wishes for this Haggadah to be accepted at his (Orthodox) sister's Seders?   Foer also said at a recent appearance that he expected that people offended by the return to God as "Lord" and "King" will at the very least have something to discuss at the Seder table.  Perhaps, but I think he underestimates what a dramatic reversal this is.

For the Orthodox community, of course, it is not.  But for the liberal denominations, "Lord," "He" and "King" left the scene somewhere toward the end of the last century.  You will not find God as a male, feudal master in any Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist Haggadah or Siddur composed in past two decades, and even Haggadahs with modern Orthodox authorship, like Noam Zion's "A Different Night," tend toward gender neutral language.  This is not simply a recent shift of the zeitgeist, it has become ingrained in liberal Judaism, much as female rabbis and cantors have become an accepted,unquestioned part of the liberal religious scene.  

The sad fact is that these days, non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews have a great difficulty praying together.  Most of the prayers are the same, but the God they pray to is addressed very differently. It used to be that if one wanted to find a common style and language for prayer, the Orthodox format would be seen as the common denominational denominator, the place of least resistance, since, it was thought, the liberals would be flexible about male language, separate seating and the exclusion of women from leadership roles. That is no longer the case.  To put it bluntly, it's not just a matter of being P.C. to avoid gender-based pronouns describing the Sacred.  It has become a central part of American Judaism, at least one segment of it, and has been so for a generation.  When I saw "King" and "Lord," it was as jarring as...as seeing an orange on the Seder plate.

Well, one might say, Foer and Englander did not have to cater to liberal whims in choosing sexist language.  And it's true that I have many other Haggadahs to choose from.  And it's also true that the translation contains some striking innovations (like the plague of "clotted darkness," which echoes a classic midrashic view).  But I feel a sense of betrayal here, because, in every respect, this Haggadah, the New American Haggadah, promised to deliver the best that is New and American about Judaism.  And, for me and so many others, what's best about that New American Jewish experience is pluralism.  While the commentary offers a plurality of perspectives, the book does not offer up pluralism where it counts the most, in the translation of God's name. 

Can this best selling Haggadah really be the next Maxwell House?  In hardcover, it's too expensive to be that multiple copy, wine-stained and matzah-crumbed replacement.  Incidentally, this book comes pre-stained, unless those ink blots that are literally sprinkled on almost every page are supposed to be some kind of Jewish Rhorschach Test, which, I suppose, this holiday, to some degree, is. But for this Haggadah to have lasting value and not just be a one-year wonder, it will have to somehow deal with the pluralism issue in order to accommodate the vast diversity of religious perspectives that sits around just about every Seder table.  It needs to speak to all four sons...er, children.

There are a number of Haggadahs I'd choose over it for my Seder table.  Topping them all is Noam Zion's "A Night to Remember: A Seder of Contemproary Voices," where you can read passages  by David Ben Gurion and Primo Levi, and poetry by Marge Piercy and Yehuda Amichai.  If you are looking for ideas for your Seder, you can see the entire book online.  This wonderful book is a better-crafted sequel to the popular "A Different Night" Haggadah, which we use at our TBE Seders.  I also recommend the Reconstructionists' "A Night of Questions" by Strassfeld and Levitt, and the more scholarly"Go Forth and Learn."  Though too expensive for use around the table, the best current commentary on the Haggadah is the two volume"My People's Passover Haggadah"  by Hoffman and Arnow.  For those seeking the ultimate portability for that midnight escape from Egypt, try this new Haggadah app with a pluralistic bent, but there's no guarantee that the Red Sea has WiFi.

While the New American doesn't come close to any of these, on the plus side, the cover is entirely in Hebrew (except for an annoying red band that falls away in a day) and the calligraphy is exceptional. But for a Haggadah that does not assume much Jewish literacy on the part of the reader, there is no transliteration.  

To be fair, both Miriam's Cup and the orange are mentioned in this Haggadah, but only as a blurb on a timeline, indicating these customs to be relics of the '70s, not a living tradition of a New American Judaism.  Of course, that very timeline has rankled Orthodox reviewers of the book, as have some of the more daring commentaries. It might be considered a strength of this book that it refuses to pander to the expectations of either group.  But the return to masculine hegemony is a major distraction.  I'd love it if there could be a second, gender neutralized version of this Haggadah for liberal Jews.  And maybe a third version too, veering more rightward for the Orthodox.   


Two Jews - Three Haggadahs.  Now what could be more New American than that?

"New American Haggadah" and Interfaith Seder - Shabbat-O-Gtram for March 30

Shabbat Shalom! Just to let you know, our entire staff has pitched in for some lottery tickets.  if we win, next week's Shabbat-O-Gram will be written from Tahiti.  Check that - I mean GHOST written.  But while you fret about what it would be like for the entire staff to win multi-mega-bucks at the same time, you can take comfort in that each of us has pledged to donate a million to TBE if we win. I'm sure all of you would do the same (hint, hint)!  Last night's Interfaith Seder was a fitting conclusion to our month-long "March to Passover."  Over 120 people representing many faiths, including about 15 clergy, gathered in our social hall to learn about the rituals and symbols of the Seder and share various perspectives on liberation, both personal and collective.  At how many Seders have you heard the Four Questions recited in Hindi?  This was a Seder that looked like America, with so many different voices heard, plus great music from Cantor Mordecai and the New World Chorus.  In addition the many Jewish lessons shared, We learned about the Last Supper as a Seder and how Moses is portrayed in the Quran.  I've uploaded some photos of what was a most memorable evening.  If you have pictures that we can include in our album, please send them to me. The New American Haggadah (see  next blog entry for fmy full review)  Much has been made of the newly minted "New American Haggadah," edited and translated by two shining stars of new American Jewish literature, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander.  I can't recall a Haggadah receiving more widespread publicity in recent times (with the possible exception of one written for interfaith families by Cokie and Steve Roberts), with the editor appearing everywhere from Colbert to NPR's "Fresh Air" (hear NPR interviews here).  Even the President received a copy, from one of the commentators, Jeffrey Goldberg.   On the first week when the book came out, the only book to sell more copies was "The Hunger Games."  They sold out the first printing in days, but the publisher regrouped and a second printing was completed in time for the holidays.  I received my copy this week and will be discussing it at services tonight and on Shabbat morning.  There are a number of Haggadahs I'd choose over it for my Seder table.  Topping them all is Noam Zion's "A Night to Remember: A Seder of Contemproary Voices," where you can read passages  by David Ben Gurion and Primo Levi, and poetry by Marge Piercy and Yehuda Amichai.  If you are looking for ideas for your Seder, you can see the entire book online.  This wonderful book is a better-crafted sequel to the popular "A Different Night" Haggadah, which we use at our TBE Seders.  I also recommend the Reconstructionists' "A Night of Questions" by Strassfeld and Levitt, and the more scholarly"Go Forth and Learn."  Though too expensive for use around the table, the best current commentary on the Haggadah is the two volume"My People's Passover Haggadah"  by Hoffman and Arnow.   A lengthy review by Leon Wieseltier can be found here.  In the interest of giving equal time for the editor to give his slant, see a video of Jonathan Safran Foer's  streaming discussion held at JTS yesterday, where  he explains why Englander did not use gender neutral language. And more for Passover.... See my extensive Passover Guides and Seder Supplements -- Click here for the downloadable 2012 Rabbinical Assembly Passover Guide. -- Click here for my "Passover Preparations Guide to the Perplexed" -- And here for the 2012 Sale of Hametz form -- And here for Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner's Seder supplement chock full of those silly songs and explanations everyone loves. Also, see last week's Bat Mitzvah Abby Bushell's take on Vayikra, my posting on "The Hunger Games" The Israeli Network Comes to Cablevision Good news!  The Israeli Network is now being offered locally on Cablevision as part of its tier of international channels, at a cost of $15 per month.  I've been watching it religiously this past week.  At a time when Israel is so often in the news, Cablevision customers will now be able to see Israel's most popular nightly newscast with English subtitles and gain a greater understanding of the complex issues that confront the Jewish state.  Several news and entertainment programs will include subtitles, and others (sports, music) speak in a universal vernacular that all can understand.  Although much of the programming has yet to be subtitled in English, American Jews will be able to engage with Israeli culture in a manner never before so accessible to those not as proficient at Hebrew.  Read more here.    SHABBAT SHALOM!  Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Abigail Bushell on Vayikra

Shabbat Sholom!

 There’s one special, furry member of my family who I wish more than anything could be here today. I’m sure you can guess whom I’m referring to. Yes, it’s my 7 year old black Labrador retriever, Maggie Mooch.

As many of you know, Maggie is a very unique dog. She was bred and trained to be a guide dog, but happily (for me at least) she failed her final exam. She had an undeniable tendency to be interested in anything but her studies, (unlike me of course.)For instance, sometimes when she’s hot, she will just lay down, wherever she is. One time as I was walking her, she lay down smack dab in the middle of Shippan Avenue. She also has a habit of jumping on people and lunging after other dogs. As you can probably imagine, these would not be good qualities for a guide dog.

Even though Maggie’s role nowadays isn’t to save lives, she has sure made my life a lot better and would have done the same as a guide dog, if she hadn’t failed out of guide dog school. But their loss is my gain.

Animals have a way of bringing out the best in people. Even on the worst of days, they help us appreciate the little things in life, like how a lick on the face can brighten your day.

My portion, Vayikra, also talks about animals, although not in a way that I, along with most animal lovers, would appreciate. Back in ancient times our ancestors would bring animals to the priest to sacrifice, almost like they way we would have a barbeque nowadays. The priest would slaughter and cook the animals, and the smell supposedly traveling up to God and the heavens as an offering. After the temple was destroyed, sacrificing was replaced with a much less violent act, prayer, which I approve of.

I can only imagine how hard it was for people back then to give up their companions, even though in those days they were goats and sheep rather than cats and dogs. It can really trigger deep feelings within a person, knowing that we have the power of life and death over our loved ones.

I for one know that I have the power of life and death over Maggie, so I feed her before I even look at my own food. I didn’t realize this until recently, but this is actually an important Jewish custom, a mitzvah. And while Maggie has never saved my life, she has always been there to offer a comforting hug or kiss when I’m upset.

But, there are dogs who do have the power to save a person’s life. These dogs are the ones who actually passed their guide dog exams. My mitzvah project, which is in Maggie’s honor, consisted of raising money to sponsor a guide dog. Not just any guide dog center, you may wonder, but the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. These dogs are trained in both America and in Israel, but the commands they learn are in Hebrew. So their graduation, is sort of like a bark mitzvah.

         As I become a bat mitzvah, I have come to realize that my job in some ways is to be a seeing eye person, for dogs and other people, and that I also have the power to save lives.

Shabbat-O-Gram for March 24

Shabbat Shalom!

Mazal tov to Abby Bushell, who becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat morning.  Abby's mitzvah project is Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. These dogs are taught Hebrew and trained to assist disabled vets and other Israelis needing assistance.  See their website and find out how you can send a dog to Hebrew School.  And join us this Shabbat morning to learn more about this fabulous project.  On a week when we read in the Torah about the ritual sacrifice of animals, check out the Jewcology website, which this week put out a superb source sheet on animal rights.  Upload it here.  I've also uploaded recent B'nai Mitzvah speeches by Rachel Fein and Anya Castle and photos from lasts week's family Ellis Island Trip.

Being Better People

This Shabbat has been declared a National Day of Unplugging, a good chance to turn off those demanding electronic devices and reconnect with your most human side.  Join us all weekend long as we take an introspective journey with Rabbi Ira Stone, learning about the greatest Jewish self-help system ever invented: Mussar.  See all the details here, as we learn how to be more cheerful, patient, humble, giving, loving, tolerant, generous and just all-round better people.  A weekend with Rabbi Stone is guaranteed to enhance all your relationships, or your money back.  Of course, all sessions are free of charge (thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, Penny and Michael Horowitz).

The Israeli Network Comes to Cablevision

Good news!  The Israeli Network is now being offered locally on Cablevision as part of its tier of international channels, at a cost, I hear, of about $15 per month.  At a time when Israel is so often in the news, Cablevision customers will now be able to see Israel's most popular nightly newscast with English subtitles and gain a greater understanding of the complex issues that confront the Jewish state.  Several news and entertainment programs will include subtitles, and others (sports, music) speak in a universal vernacular that all can understand.  Although much of the programming has yet to be subtitled in English, American Jews will be able to engage with Israeli culture in a manner never before so accessible to those not as proficient at Hebrew.  Read more here.

  

"The Hunger Games" and the Ritualized Abuse of Children

  

I've recently become an admirer of "The Hunger Games" phenomenon and went to see the local premier of the film last night - really, early this morning.  In a macabre sense, the release of a film depicting the senseless, ritualized murder of children was timed perfectly for a week where the senseless murder and abuse of children has been a most disturbing reality, in Toulouse, France, among Kony's oppressed legions of Africa and, allegedly, in Sanford, Florida. This is also the week when Jews begin reading the book of Leviticus, which focuses our attention on that now-defunct ritualized killing known as the animal sacrifice system.  

  

In "After Auschwitz," Richard Rubenstein writes: "Sacrifice is the drama of man's hatred of God and his ultimate submission to him ... Men achieve catharsis by symbolically acting out that hatred through ritual violence against the sacrificial victim, without being consciously aware of what they're doing ... In sacrifice, we overcome God, and, at the very same moment, we submit and recognize His inevitable victory....With dramatic force ... the terrible lesson is born in on the community that it has only the choice of controlled, regulated violence or irrational and uncontrolled violence."  He says sacrifices allow us to channel our natural drives toward violence, hatred and subsequent guilt into an organized, contained ritual.

  

The short story "The Lottery" places these urges in a more modern context, as a community brings random, ritualized death on an innocent in order to placate the gods and channel their own destructive inclinations.

  

Several years back, I wrote about channeling violent urges toward children in an article describing the circumcision of my son: No parent should be denied this experience, even vicariously, of inflicting upon his child a ritualized blow so intense as to make him both shake and recoil, yet so controlled that no damage is really done, to signify that this will be the worst the child will ever know from his parent's hand. For it is from the father's hand that Abraham's knife dangles, every moment of every day.

  

So there is something innate in us that seems to crave violence, a drive piqued especially by brutality toward children.  That's why the Torah, before teaching almost any other lessons, makes it clear that God does not desire child sacrifice. Abraham learns that lesson when he binds Isaac to the altar and the Torah explicitly distances itself from Molech worship, which involved the killing of children. 

  

In "The Hunger Games," God takes the form of a totalitarian government ruling what was once called North America - there is no religion, per se - and the leaders of Panem are sadistic in their normalcy. (See a plot summary here) The level of their evil is so banal, so commonplace, as to barely be noticed.  The people's spirits have been beaten to a pulp after 73 years of ritualized child murder, or so we are led to believe. This is what the Third Reich would have looked at had it lasted another half century.  Its leaders no longer strike fear - the President is played by Donald Sutherland, not Ralph Fiennes; the fashions are more bizarre than scary.  No one screams in horror at the prospect of children being thrust into a nationally televised killing field.  No one flinches when the kids are tortured with fire, starvation and genetically altered creatures that would have made Mengele proud.  Only the snarls of the killer dogs sound remotely Nazi.

  

Into this world gone mad lands Katniss, the heroine, whose moral compass was set far from evil's ground zero, the Capitol.  Put in the most extreme situations, Katniss makes all the right moral choices and never let's that madness change her.  She is forced to kill but never murders.  She risks her life to save others, rising above the "Lord of the Flies" jungle into which she has been thrust. In a world where Jews seem to have become extinct, she is a worthy heir to Judaism's most lofty values.  If there are Jews in Panem, we don't them crying out against the evil.  Therefore, there are no Jews.

  

The theater last night was packed mostly with young adults and teens, primarily girls. No surprise, although the books have had much more crossover demographic appeal than the "Twilight" series.  What I liked was how the film's positive moral message was reflected in the behavior of the crowd.  Some wore Katniss pony tails or t-shirts representing the various districts ruled by the Capitol - but there was none of the weirdness of costumes worn at other cult mega-hits.  There was some cheering and hooting at the beginning and the expected oos and aahs at Katniss's first kiss.  But for most of the film, there was silence.  The viewers were rapt - dare I say, reverential, as they watched kids killing kids.  When Cato, the most vicious of Katniss's opponents, met his bloody demise, there were no cheers of the sort you might hear when the Wicked Witch melts or Voldemort is finally overcome.  There is something deeper going on here than a simple victory of good over evil, and the young people present were tapping into that.  I've been to jingoistic political events where adults were far less attuned to the banality of bloodlust.  It made me wonder just how much this group saw Katniss as fighting their fight and bleeding their wounds.  Whatever the reason, this room filled with several hundred young people was as quiet as a cathedral at the end. 

  

There was little reason to cheer.  Katniss is not so much a victor as a survivor.  The evil apparatus remains in place.  The gods of the government will demand the blood of more children next year, as expiation for the sin of rebellion.  The ritualized deaths of the innocent will once again be the price for staying alive.  The controlled, abuse of the young will keep chaos at bay.  The kids seemed to intuit that, to an extent, what they saw on those killing fields of the Capitol goes on around them every day.  Not just in Toulouse or Uganda, but everywhere, everywhere where children become invisible and human life becomes expendable. 

  

In the end, "The Hunger Games" celebrates the indestructibility of the human spirit and the unquenchable thirst for freedom.  Just in time for Passover.

  

(See a nice article from Tablet Magazine exploring Jewish connections to the series, and another tying it to Holocaust themes.) 

  

  

Judaism in a Foxhole: Terror Directed at Jewish Institutions

Horrified by the attack on the Jewish school in Toulouse, it is natural to wonder whether we are entering a period when Jews will be intimidated from gathering with other Jews.  With Iranian threats and well-publicized security alerts, people might be reluctant to come to synagogue.  Let me explain why we need to resist the temptation to detach.  Several days back, a congregant reminded me of sentiments I expressed a decade ago (written around the time of Sept. 11), words that seem equally appropriate now.    

Just when we thought we could begin to overcome all the negative reasons to be "proud and Jewish," history has conspired to throw us back in a funk. Now, not only does everyone call us terrible things, but also we're afraid to go to our synagogues to discover the more positive truth. The alerts have singled out Jewish places of worship as a possible terrorist target. So how can we find that comfort that we all seek, right here in our sanctuaries?

To that I have but one response: Come here and find out. More than ever, we need you here. We need a Miracle Minyan, not to wallow in our misery, but to lift us from our woes. Yes, we need your presence here to show defiance in the face of terrorist threat, but not merely for that purpose. We need you here to celebrate (and this week we do have lots to celebrate), to partake in the wonder of simply being alive. We need you here to help us all transcend the week that that we have just gone through, and the trying weeks that are sure to come. We need you here - and you need to be here.

So be here, this Friday night and Shabbat morning. Through the horrors we have experienced over the past few years, and in the forecast of an uncertain future, I invite you back to a place of comfort and respite: the synagogue. Come here and you'll quickly discover that Judaism is at its best in a foxhole. Our prayers remind us, now more than ever, that all of life is precarious, and that any semblance of control is illusory. There simply is no excuse for boredom. Angry at God?  Fine. Despondent? Understandable. We'll all be struggling to find meaning in the words we utter. But if you are bored, you're on another planet.

The uncertainties of the moment do test our faith, but the Jewish spirit has always soared highest when put to such a test. Hold a neighbor's hand. Wipe a stranger's tear. His son might be headed toward the front. Her nephew might live in harm's way. Come to think of it, don't we all? Imagine the poets of the prayer book, who endured similar traumas when composing their masterworks. Hear their pleas, amidst the fire, the hated massacres. Hear the bombs. Hear the cries. Here their psalms. And make their words our own.

Then maybe, just perhaps, from the pit of the foxhole, you'll hear yourself praying.

  

Interfaith Seder and Passover Preps

Finally, Passover.  Join us next Thursday for our Interfaith Seder, as we welcome the world to TBE.  We're expecting lots of people.  Read the Interfaith Council's press release and please RSVP so we order enough food.  And here is my updated collection of Passover Guides and Seder Supplements, including a downloadable form for selling of Hametz. 

  

SHABBAT SHALOM! 

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman