Filed under: Uncategorized
This article crossposted from Jewschool. A fantastic take on an issue which has been bothering me, as well. Enjoy.
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Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater is the spiritual leader of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center in Pasadena, CA. He serves as National Secretary of Brit Tzedek V’shalom, the largest grassroots Middle East Peace organization in the country.
This has been an emotional week for many here in America and some around the world. Thousands, if not millions, of people have been mourning the death of legendary artist Michael Jackson, literally pouring into the streets in an expression of grief, while our media outlets and bloggers have been running nonstop to cover every angle, every crumb, every breath of this story. It is hard when someone who has touched millions of people with art suddenly dies. I understand that and I respect the feelings. However, during a conversation this past weekend with some friends, a few of whom are also rabbis, the conversation turned for a moment to Michael Jackson and the whole tragedy. One of my friends was genuinely upset and felt pained at his death, and she was a bit incensed that I and another friend, were not so much. And, that we were more upset at the outpouring of grief and expression of pain at this death, rather than at any of the myriad other events this past week that could be commanding our attention, was just a total buzz kill for her! I have been thinking about this all week and as we celebrate the 4th of July this Shabbat, the day when we honor our country and all that is good and right, just and joyous about this land in which we live, I want to comment on what I feel is the tragedy within this tragedy as it relates to us as a nation.
John F. Kennedy once wrote in a letter to the publisher of Musical America, “There is a connection, hard to explain logically, but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art.” (Musical America, Oct. 1960) Certainly one can say today, without a doubt, that the age of cable television and the internet is also the age of a pop musical culture explosion, in which Michael Jackson is surely unmatched. Artists have a way of entering our souls, filling our lives with meaning, offering us hope in times of despair, in a way that very few other people can. And often, as is the case with Jackson, the art becomes larger and more profound than the actual person. With the advent of music videos, and the mass market culture which grew out of the 1980s, Michael Jackson led the way toward a new crossover medium of music, dance, fashion and cultural style. His was not only the voice of a generation, but his dance moves and unique contributions to fashion, embedded him as a cultural icon like none other. Art has always had the power to transform and elevate us as human beings; like the great artists of old, Jackson found a link to our collective consciousness that tapped into something primal in our need for connection, community and inspiration. For that, we should be grateful for his gift and mourn his death. However, what concerns me is this: why is it that the death of a musician, one man, and one with a very troubled life, brings out the passion of Americans onto the street with such force? It is not the expression of grief that troubles me, but rather the lack of expression and energy for things that are truly of greater consequence and importance in the affairs of our world.
What bothers me most is what I see as a disconnect between our emotional outpouring and the priorities of our society. So, I would not be as troubled by the reaction to Jackson’s death, with people sleeping on the streets overnight just to walk by his Walk of Fame star, or setting up spontaneous vigils which draw thousands of people, in tears, if I saw the same kind of reaction and devotion to causes and issues that truly will affect the lives of people. In the same week that hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a travesty of democratic values, Americans took to the streets for the death of a superstar entertainer. I have to ask: where were the throngs of people when we called for support to end genocide in Darfur? Supporting gay rights as our state voted to support Prop. 8? Protesting the horrendous budget cuts that our state is facing? Speaking out for affordable healthcare? I have been reading the letters in papers, following some of the blogs and talk-radio, which along with Jackson, have been covering the mindless story of South Carolina Governor Sanford’s affair, and noticed, at least in some of the letters, a tone of gratitude for the paper covering something really meaningful and important, rather than, and I kid you not, only covering news issues, like the energy bill, the effort to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope that we are aware that the draw down of troops in Iraq began this week. One would think that this would be front page news, no? No, buried somewhere inside. What is this saying about our society?
July 4 celebrates the noble actions of our ancestors who fought for freedom, stood up to tyranny and helped to create the foundation for the birth of our blessed nation. I fear that what we are spreading now is not the values of our nation but only our pop culture, a culture that elevates superstars to gods, encourages consumer capitalism based on false values and promotes a quasi idolatry. People all over the world look to America and are copying what we do; yet, are we truly aware of what aspects of our culture others are mimicking? Do we only want the music, clothes, videos and violent components of our society transmitted to others around the globe? Do we not want people to look to America and see us rallying for justice, promoting, with strength of numbers, the values we hold dear, and actually exercising our democratic rights by voting? Will we rally on the streets to promote alternative energy? Will we rally on the streets to protest unfair and immoral healthcare coverage? Will we rally on the streets to end wars and stop violence? A generation ago, people risked their lives for causes that changed the course of our nation. Today, most of us don’t risk our lives for anything, but have no problem spending a day, a week, a month, mourning a superstar, waiting in line for the newest video game machine, or trampling one another to get to the sale rack first. On this 4th of July, let us think about our priorities and assess where we stand.
I close with a rabbinic parable. A king had some empty goblets. He said to himself: “If I pour hot water into the goblets, they will burst, and if I pour cold water into them, they will crack.” So what did the king do? He mixed hot and cold water together and poured that into the goblets and the goblets did not break. Similarly, when God created the world, the Holy One said, “If I create the world on the basis of mercy and compassion alone, it will be overwhelmed by sin; on the basis of justice alone, the world cannot exist. So I will create the world with both justice and mercy; that way it will endure!” (Genesis Rabbah 12:15). Our emotional outpouring over Michael Jackson is the legacy of mercy and compassion, the hot water, and it is necessary and encouraged. Yet, if it is not balanced with an equal amount of cold water, our concern for justice and righteousness, then we are going to shatter our glasses, our world will not endure. Let us keep this message in mind the next time we are called to dedicate our time, our lives, to a cause. May the energy we give to the mercy and compassion be matched by the energy we give to justice. In that way, we imitate God and make our world an even holier and more profound place to dwell.
Shabbat shalom.
Filed under: America, Israel, Shabbat Shalom, Uncategorized | Tags: Dan Flesher
I try to read as much as possible – whenever I am not reading something for a specific class (guess which one happens more). Though I enjoy classics and famed authors – Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson – I focus mostly on Non-Fiction, so that I might get in depth analysis on specific issues frequenting my mind and our News sources.
Amongst other things (Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath), I just picked up Dan Fleshler’s Fix-America’s-Middle-East-Foreign-Policy guide, Transforming America’s Israel Lobby. You may know Fleshler from his work with left-of-center leaning pro-Israel organizations (Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, J Street), but suffice it to say, a smart person wouldn’t be caught reading a copy of his book in AIPAC’s offices.
I have made my views known on Israel’s overarching predicament (once, and a second time), and though I am only 50 or so pages into Fleshler’s book, it is apparent that he and I draw the same conclusions, albeit mine being far less expressive or eloquently stated. Flesher writes:
Regardless of what the United States chooses to do [with out M.E. Foreign Policy], if it pushes back against Israel in any way, it will be attacked by well-organized American constituencies who believe it is their mission to squelch any disagreements. And that is why a stronger political alternative, a lobby for the rest of us, is needed. (22)
…it is time for American Jews who care about Israel to find new ways of expressing themselves, new forms of activism to help both America and Israel address today’s challenges. And it is time to join together with others in the United States who see no contradiction between being pro-American, pro-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian. (27)
So far, Flesher seems to deliver a balance of criticizing AIPAC (he insists the proverbial gorilla that is AIPAC is more like 400 pounds than 800, if you will), while promoting an American F.P. which does not bow to Israel, but rather, allows an even-minded representation of both sides’ respective narratives (an idea Flesher expands on better than I can rephrase: read the book).
Clearly a fascinating read so far – I’ll be interested to see what other points Flesher makes, as well as my feelings about the Israel Lobby once I’ve finished the book. I look forward to reading about it over Shabbat – I’ll edit this post motzei Shabbos with new thoughts.
Shabbat Shalom!
Filed under: America | Tags: Ari Emanuel, Ari Gold, Entourage, New York Times
For those of you as into (read: obsessed with) HBO’s smash hit Entourage as I am, an article in todays New York Times chronicles the rise (to the next level of Hollywood Power) of Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm, who is reportedly the prototype for Entourage’s aptly named Ari Gold – played by Jeremy Piven.
Often I find it easy to dismiss the fantasy worlds of shows akin to Entourage (it’s a show about moochers, a friend of mine adamantly exclaims whenever the show is mentioned), but, of course, celebrities exist, and so too, agents to represent them.
No real point to this post – just an interesting read about a world typically reserved for HBO, E!, and the tabloids…enjoy.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Just read a fantastic post over at Blogs of Zion, which highlighted the report published yesterday by the Global Law Center on the legalities of the fighting in Gaza.
I believe it is a solid and beneficial piece, not only because it mirrors my beliefs, but because I think it truly addresses the issues of international law which the media are ignoring.
Please read.
Filed under: America, Frustrations, Israel | Tags: Gaza, Israel, Joe the Plumber
Pardon my french, but this is absolutely, effing, ridiculous.
Filed under: Israel, Terrorism | Tags: Alan Dershowitz, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Jerusalem Post, Tzahal
I have been frequently, over the past week and a half, at a loss to describe my feelings, productively, on the situation in Gaza and southern Israel. My anger and confusion often cloud my ability to defend my thoughts against those who challenge them so vehemently.
Alan Dershowitz, as always, eloquently and fully summarizes a point of view, which I share, regarding the violence and terrorism occuring in Gaza. His blog on the events, through the Jerusalem Post, is an absolute must read for those interested in an accurate portrayal.
I pray, and hopefully you will as well, for the health, strength, and courage of Israel’s citizens and brave soldiers. For those davening or reflecting, please include numbers 121 & 142 in Tehillim, specifically.
May Israel succeed in overturning Hamas’ terrorist regime, and return our soldiers home safely, with as little civilian casualties on both sides, as possible. כן יהי רצון
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Filed under: Frustrations, G-d, Hasidism, Internal Arguments, Knowledge | Tags: baal teshuvah, HUC, orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Sarason, Reform Judaism, struggles
Please excuse the lack of structure in this post – it is, if anything, a free flow of the many thoughts I’ve been struggling with lately. Maybe you’re having them, too. Enjoy.
I remember being taught, several times, that Judaism is a unique religion in that it is meant to be struggled with: Jacob, after all, is renamed Israel, meaning ‘one who struggles with G-d.’ Judaism can’t come easy; it shouldn’t. And certainly, recently anyway, it hasn’t for me.
This semester I’ve gone through – and enjoyed – a lot of spiritual and religious growth. Both in my thought processes regarding Judaism, and in my daily practice of Jewish rituals. I have always boasted that Judaism is forever on my mind, but these past few months it truly has been. I’m feeling lately a yearn for knowledge – as though if I don’t start now – this very second – I might lose some chance to enhance my Yiddishkeit. I have found myself, in the middle of the night, so frustrated by an inability to sleep, often due to the multitudes of thoughts running through my head, that I rush to my Mac so that I might learn the parshat hashavuah (weekly Torah portion), or a daily lesson from the Chofetz Chaim, I awake, recently, eager to lay t’fillin and daven Shacharit – if for no other reason, aside from the halachic mandates to do so, than because I feel better and happier during the mornings when I have done so.
This learning and immersion into Jewish texts and rituals is something I am proud of, but at the same time something I am hesitant to present to the reform community I have been a part of for so many important, transformative years of my life. I am almost embarrassed – how ridiculous is that? My perception of Reform Judaism, growing up, was that though we endlessly preach ideals like choice through knowledge, those choices were something we thought about, but did not follow through with. I have gone through periods of making resolutions, of keeping kosher (style) or of wearing tzit tzit, but in the long run I have fell back on my Reform crutch:
It’s ok. I’m Reform. G-d still loves me. Or, It’s ok, Reform Jews aren’t expected to be shomer mitzvot.
These excuses, though, don’t stand anymore. HUC students now don t’fillin; they keep kosher kitchens and are, sometimes, shomer Shabbos. So why not me? It is, indeed, expected of our Rabbis to be leaders within our communities, not only socially, but religiously. But what does it say about a Rabbi who practices traditions and obeys mitzvot while the majority of his or her congregation does not. When our congregations are reform if for no other reason that that they do not have to obey these mitzvot. What kind of divide are we creating? What message does this send? Is the bar, as the religious community persistently reminds, too low?
When addressing the newly ordained HUC Rabbinical class of 2007, Rabbi Dr. Richard Sarason remarked that “while all other Jewish professionals -and all other Jews- should engage in talmud Torah, [Rabbis] must do so.” For some reason, this charge struck a chord in my neshamah – my Jewish soul – leaving me with a renewed sense of faith in the Reform movement, which, I suppose, I was lacking before. Such strong words (must!), from such a revered Rabbi as Sarason evokes immense dissonance from 1885’s Pittsburgh Platform, in which the founders of the Reform movement dismissed tradition and the fundamental conclusions one ultimately gathers from talmud Torah. Though R’ Sarason’s charge was not directed at me (though at some point in life I hope to and would be honored to be in the shoes of such an ordination class), I take his message to heart. Reform Judaism will only appear to be a cop-out to our fellow Jews and to ourselves if we let it be so.
To echo R’ Sarason, we must not let it be so.
And yet my struggle continues. As I enhance my Jewish learning I have to come to terms with my feelings regarding the tenants of Reform Judaism. I wrote on this page, over a year ago now, about my most basic beliefs. In the post I mentioned that “I consider most important the belief that a movement should never turn members away because they are lacking in knowledge or experience. All Jews need to feel comfortable within the walls of our Congregations.” I maintain this belief – and hopefully always will – but I do so now with the hopes and aims of being a Rabbi with the abilities to engage even the most apathetic, two-day-a-year Jews. To invigorate them with the teachings of our ancestors and the morals found in ancient texts which, hundreds and thousands of years later, can still be applied to today’s busy and technology-filled lifestyles.
My battles with Judaism are not mine alone: they are shared by many, many Jews who in turn deal with them in different ways. Some choose the extreme ends of the spectrum: sometimes opting to drop Judaism altogether; and sometimes choosing to become baalai teshuvah – those who return to a much more religious lifestyle. There have been periods – all recently – where becoming a baal teshuvah seemed the best option for me, despite the issues I knew such a decision would cause amongst my friends and, most of all, my family. Yesterday, after spending time with a friend of mine – from NFTY – who has within the past year become frum, I found myself becoming jealous, and envious of her ability to leave a comfortable lifestyle for one which many people find hard to embrace.
I think that, in the long run, I have had such a difficult time with these decisions because I have always associated having a Jewish household; obeying Mitzvot; and raising my children with Jewish identities rooted in tradition, as traits found solely in Orthodox communities and households. As I reflect on them now, my experiences thus far at IU – the conversations I have had and relationships built with Jews strongly rooted in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, have enlightened me to the fact that a strong sense of Judaism: in ones self; in ones children; and in a congregation, are not dependant on the denominational titles applied to those things, but the will of the leaders and members of these communities to embrace Judaism and integrate it into every possible moment.
And so, that is my charge to myself. To live a life full of Judaism, which is not based on the societal expectations of the denomination I choose to label myself with. To conform to such expectation would be both irresponsible and detrimental to the further of my Jewish learning, and that of those I may come to teach in the future. This path is never going to be easy, nor should it be. I embrace that reality with open arms.
