by Cole Krawitz [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
crossposted from JVoices
A few weeks ago, on a whim I met up with a friend to go see a movie. It had been one of those long days where the idea of sinking into the comfort of surround sound and chocolate was the perfect combination, and I was intrigued by the bit I had heard about a new film about Tony Kushner called Wrestling with Angels. So I headed over to the Film Forum, a theatre after my own heart (they serve peanut butter chocolate chip cookies–that’s all I’m saying) and settled in (watch the trailer here). I had heard bits that it was a film about him growing up, about his sexuality and how it influenced him as an artist–the film turned out to be so much more. I knew of Tony’s work, particularly of Angels in America, but I had no idea of the depth and breadth of the amazing artistry, history and theatre that he has been apart of making in the United States, nor his humility.
What I didn’t know was how much I needed this film.
Some know that I recently started graduate school–more specifically an MFA program in Creative Writing for Poetry. I knew I needed to catapult myself forward, and the changes have been a fresh and needed start. But I have still known this block, this only to be whispered and shared alone, block that some artists have, which is the fear that the work isn’t useful. Particularly for those of us who have been “raised” in organizing and activism, even though we have seeked and attained inspiration, energy and wisdom from the arts, sometimes it is still hard to see ourselves as valuable in producing them. This has been a struggle of my own.
So I thank the producers of this film on this personal level, for opening up to “the world” the very prolific, passionate and humbling man, and I thank them for creating this history. This film, along with attending the 10th Anniversary of Cave Canem‘s celebrations, reminded me, or should I say thoroughly shook me, to do the work I am meant to do.
The film was broken into three “acts”, Act I — As a Citizen of the World; Act II — Mama, I’m a Homosexual Mama and Act III — Collective Action to Overcome Injustice. All of the acts demonstrate how he came and chose to produce work, providing a forum for addressing some of the most critical issues of our time–HIV/AIDS, war, race, sexuality, class and Israel and Palestine.
The last act, in particular, reveals the influence of Kushner’s Jewish heritage in his passionate concern for social justice, expressed in deeply personal terms. It is also this act that made me even more proud that JFREJ will be honoring Tony Kusher, along with Grace Paley and the Transport Workers Union Local 100, this November 16th for the 10th annual Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Awards. From the scenes showing the reproduction of the children’s holocaust opera Brundibar to the musical Caroline, or Change–about domestic work and the choices no woman should have to make to live—Kushner pushes all of us to be our best selves. Indeed, he is in good company, with Grace Paley by his side, and the local union which demonstrated its power to all of New York last winter.
We are living in daunting times. I hear this from those who have lived and worked and fought for many more years than I, and I say this even as we may be seeing a Congressional shift in power after November 7th, for I know that electoral politics and change are only one part of the many changes we need to effect larger systemic and societal change.
Knowing this film, knowing the work of artists in keeping us alive, has become, dare I say, a benediction–a lesson in faith. The kind of faith that some who don’t believe in god can believe in, the kind of faith and guidance that may not make it all right, but is a balance, as we take our steps forward in the world–and sometimes even gives us the strength to leap–to dare I say, move in the risk, in the art of risking for change.
I am so unbelievably grateful for the presence of these artists, and am honored that I will be able to bear witness to their honoring. I hope many of you will be able to join me.
by shamirpower [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Visit the Haunted Study House over at MJL for some answers to this question, as well as that of Halakhah and candy collecting. Then jump over to today’s posting over at Mixed Multitudes, MJL‘s new blog, which has a few more Jewish/Halloween links. To our Jewschool readers: how did you spend the 9th and 10th of Marcheshvan?
by Mobius [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Two recent posts at CampusJ from Jewish student journalists indicate the possibility of a new consensus arising among both Israeli and pro-Israel politicians that the war in Iraq is having disastrous consequences for Israeli security.
Speaking last night at Indiana University, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak took a negative stance towards the Iraq war, stating: “The country gradually deteriorates to civil war [and] the US presence is more and more a part of the problem and not the solution.”
Likewise, at Yeshiva University last week, former ambassador to Egypt and Israel Dan Kurtzer called for an immediate pullout from Iraq:
Kurtzer explained that while the U.S.’s initial success in Iraq in 2003 had gained Israeli support for the war because it shattered the long-feared Eastern Front, removing the possibility that Iraq would build an Arab coalition across the Jordan River into Israel, the current situation in Iraq poses new “direct and indirect threats to Israel.” He cited the unrest and unpredictability of the region as having a heavy impact on Israel, and reiterated that the U.S. must withdraw from Iraq so that it would be able to address other issues in the international arena.
by Josh Frankel [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Sue Fishkoff has also decided to talk about food. She travels across the Jewish world, around the OU, JTS and Hebrew College, passing by the Kavod House and the Van Ness Minyan, and ending up at Hazon in order to fill an article with all sorts of foody goodness about Eco-Kosher, CSAs and two-table potlucks. What really struck me was this paragraph describing the OU’s reaction to Eco-Kosher movements.
“The Orthodox Union has had this discussion, in terms of animal welfare and healthful foods,†but ultimately decided that its mandate is simply to provide certification of what’s kosher according to halachah, not decide what’s “healthy†or “ethical†food, says Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of the organization’s kashrut division.
If only that were true! The OU addresses issues that go far beyond the narrow realm of kashrut. OU certification insures an establishment free of Stam Yeinam (wine that has been handled by a non-Jew) and Shabbat violations, and in the past refused to give Kashrut supervision because of a New Year’s celebration.
While I have my own reservations regarding Eco-Kosher, Rabbi Genack is missing the point. The OU has done a good job of branding itself, and has made clear that its trade mark and Kosher means food that is ethically fit for a Jew to eat – not just free of milk and meat. And no matter how you understand the word Kosher, food that is gained by destroying the environment, by exploiting laborers, by torturing animals, or by doing many other halkhically detestable things is not ethically fit to eat.
by Mobius [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
…Or so suggests New York Magazine theater critic Jeremy McCarter, who expounds upon the irony of such an innocuous and uncontroversial play stirring up such a controversy.
The whole debate seemed slightly tinny at the time, as if there wasn’t quite as much at stake as all those partisans seemed intent upon discovering. Seeing the play confirms the impression: Corrie’s death was important, and the subject is excruciatingly important, but the play is not important. It’s a well-meaning wisp.
Full review.
by sashinka [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
There’s a new (ok, the first) podcast from London’s JCC. You can download it here, or listen direct on your PC/mac here. And you can subscribe free on iTunes from the first link. Although when the next one’s coming, I don’t know.
It’s pretty UK-centric (but that’s OK, because I’m in the UK), and covers everything from the new Borat movie, Jewish identity, comics (briefly), Jewfros… it’s all there.
And in the interests of full disclosure, I should tell you that I hosted it. Although, I would probably have still posted it here if I hadn’t.
by sarah [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
I really wanted to do him up with tefillin but I thought maybe that had been played out this week, what with the Barbie and all.
by Y-Love [➚] · Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
…to the havoc that could potentially be wreaked by the Military Commissions Act of 2006?
This video clip from MSNBC from a couple of weeks ago has me not only concerned and scared, but also feeling a bit sad. How many potentially dynamic and vibrant voices will silence themselves now, because of the threat of being labeled an “enemy combatant”? How many potentially revolutionary forces for change have we already lost becuase someone was afraid to voice their viewpoint in public?
The law apparently already:
“…allows CIA agents to torture prisoners, ends access to federal courts for individuals the president designates as “enemy combatants” and sets up tribunals that deny due process to defendants accused of terrorism. The new law also “legalizes” the CIA’s secret prisons, allows indefinite imprisonment without charge and considers individuals in its control guilty until proven innocent.”
Classified evidence? An eradication of habeas corpus? Now the government is seeking to allow only four face-to-face meetings between a prisoner and her or his defense? What is this?
Asking the question as a media critique: is this truly being given the attention it deserves?
by Y-Love [➚] · Monday, October 30th, 2006
According to EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, much of the world has been getting Hamas all wrong.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Solana said that Hamas does not want to destroy Israel, on the contrary:
Hamas wants to “liberate the Palestinians,” not to destroy Israel, Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
In an interview following his talks in Tel Aviv with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Solana insisted that it was “not impossible” for Hamas to change and “recognize the existence of Israel.” History had shown that people and nations “adapt to reality,” he said. “I don’t want to lose hope.”
Not that Mr. Solana is completely inventing this statement out of thin air: Hamas member Mohammed Ghazal did say to YNet in September 2005 that Hamas “could one day amend a charter calling for the destruction of Israel.”
While some are calling this a “revelation of the great extent of [Solana's] ignorance”, at a minimum, this does show that, at best, Mr. Solana did not read the Hamas charter in full, or at worst, he is a full-on apologist for Hamas, as Daniel Freedman of the New York Sun asserted.
Well, I guess it’s a good thing, then, that he may be resigning.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol [➚] · Monday, October 30th, 2006
And not just anyone, but R. Ovadia Yosef of all people. I’ve always said that the Conservative movement was foolish not to start out by working with the Mizrachim as allies.
From JTA breaking news:
Ma’ariv on Monday quoted Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual mentor to the Sephardi political movement Shas, as saying that the mechitza, or partition used to separate men and women at events like weddings, should not be insisted upon if it causes family strife.
“Sometimes a family is not so pious, does not want a mechitza, and prefers that everyone sit together at one table. This is not something to fight over. If a mechitza is possible, then it should be erected, but if it is not, it can be done away with,†Yosef was quoted as saying in a weekly sermon.
by Josh Frankel [➚] · Monday, October 30th, 2006
In Israel, the anniversary of Yitzchak Rabin’s assassination is usually marked with commemorative ceremonies. While ceremonies can be nice, they can’t do much more then recall a date, and perhaps make us feel a little sad. While that is important, ceremonies quickly become trite, they don’t interest most people, and they don’t do anything to answer the underlying flaws in our society that allowed the murder to take place.
If ceremonies don’t work, what other options are there? Many, including Amit Gevaryahu, a frequent contributor to the comments here, have likened Rabin’s murder to the biblical murder of Gedalyahu ben Achikam. If they are similar, then perhaps a fast day would also be the best answer here? However, in that same article Amit recognizes that despite having a fast day commemorating his own death, most people do not know who Gedalyah was, or why he was killed. Fasts quickly become only nuisances. Another problem with marking Rabin’s death with a fast day is that even if it is done well, fasts create mourning and sadness, and while appropriate, I think a good response will do more then make us cry.
This year, Mimizrach Shemesh – The Center for Jewish Social Justice Leadership is sponsoring a night of learning, a Tikkun Leil Rabbin at centers across the country. At Hebrew University, Hillel is hosting a program on October 31 that will include a lecture by Dr. Micha Goodman titled, “Social Justice Leadership in a Time of Crisis,” followed by Jewish text study and discussion.
I am very excited about this initiative, and plan on being there Tuesday night. Rabin’s death was a direct result of the misinterpretation of Torah, and one of the most important things we can do to atone for the crime is to fix those errors. Engaging torah in a positive discussion of what it means to be just, of what it means to be a leader, and of what it means to be Jewish, is precisely that antidote. Torah was perverted and tragedy resulted, please God, an honest relationship with Torah and open discussion will lead to blessing.
by Cole Krawitz [➚] · Monday, October 30th, 2006
Some weekend loveliness for your weekday pleasures:
- Robin Washington looks back on the Million Man March
- Cheney and civil war
- Aaron Freeman on Parsha Noach
- A sad day when Santorium reaches out to Jews by guilt and “evoking the menace of Islamic fundamentalists”
- Settlements continue despite promises otherwise
And to mix it up, some books of pleasure I’ve been tip-tapping through:
by Danya [➚] · Sunday, October 29th, 2006
Now you can own your very own Tefillin Barbie. Jen has put one up on eBay, so get her while the gettin’s good. She goes to the highest bidder in 10ish days.
Auction happening here.
by LastTrumpet [➚] · Saturday, October 28th, 2006
In a recent conversation about my Jewschool hoodie, I found myself attempting to explain to a mom-aged co-worker how turntables are not unidirectional vehicles of cultural transmission, but viewed through the lens of hip-hop and electro-acoustic music, tools to re-define, re-contextualize and re-invent music. Technology, in this case as embodied by the turntable, has altered our relationship to music, to the world, and for those of us who choose to engage, to Judaism. It is not only that we now have the tools to re-mix, but that in having these tools, our relationship to music/art/Judaism is fundamentally altered. To paraphrase Douglas Rushkoff, it’s a step in the evolution of our realization of the open-source-ness of reality. Continuing with our turntable metaphor, we’re not, as my co-worker initially thought, passive receivers, but active participants. Ours is the first generation to have come of age with this level of access to these technologies, and our world-view has been drastically altered as a result. Our parents generation, by en large, doesn’t re-mix, and having not encountered these technologies until much later in their identity development, haven’t integrated them into their world-view in the way our generation has. (all sweeping generalities have exceptions, but you get my drift)
Last Sunday, the Young Adult division of CJP (Boston’s federation) held its first ever Community Leadership Institute – a workshop for the volunteer leaders of Boston’s young adult Jewish organizations. Attendance was by invitation only, open to representatives of Boston’s 20s/30s Jewish orgs (the organizations invited all receive some level of funding from CJP, as well). There were 50 or so folks in the room, from indie minyanim, synagogue outreach initiatives and a handful of other young adult organizations as well as representatives of some of American Jewry’s major players (ADL, AIPAC, etc.). There was food, schmoozing, and a variety of small workshops on leadership, advocacy, funding, and other relevant issues. By far, the highlight of the program was Simon Klarfeld‘s keynote. Klarfeld explained that much of what is so remarkable about our generation (and about this gathering in particular) is that for the first time, we have a generation of Jews planning and implementing programming for themselves. We are defining Judaism on our own terms, creating and facilitating the kinds of experiences we want, not that which our parents’ generation thinks that we want. (let’s also remember this is a stage of life which didn’t previously exist – folks used to pru urvu much earlier in life)
As we will read this week – Lech l’cha – we are to go from our parents’ house and create for ourselves a new life. Jonathan Sarna, a leading expert on Jewish American history, points out that every generation of American Jews have re-invented Judaism (and its institutions), much to their parents’ chagrin. But with all the fuss over “continuity” (really, they’re worried about the survival of Judaism), too often the older generation is reluctant to let go of the communal models with which it is familiar and foster the growth of a new paradigm. Even faced with distressing statistics, there is a desire to make small changes to the existing structure, and often a hesitance to allow for a new structure to emerge and flourish. When it comes to the relationship between our grass-roots efforts, and “the man” (big organizational Judaism), there are certainly hiccups and balls dropped (uh… New Voices, a lack of funding for Jew It Yourself, etc.*), but this particular morning was an outstanding example of institutional Judaism not only being with the program, but reaching out to aid Boston’s young adult community in the facilitation of their programs. Here we have a perfect example of an “old-school” Jewish organization allowing for, even encouraging, a new way of doing things. I do not believe that this comes from a desire on the part of CJP to remain relevant, given the fact that the paradigm is shifting, but from an honest desire to aid the new models toward success. While they may not be altering the code, it shows an acceptance and understanding that we are, and a desire to help us do it well.
It is my hope, and from what I’ve gathered the hope of many in attendance, that the workshop will prove to be a beginning – not a one-shot gathering, but the beginning of dialogue both between those involved in these young adult organizations and organizations of their parents’ age, and greater dialogue between the groups serving the young adult population. It will no doubt be fascinating to see what happens next.
*Both of these issues center around our generation’s relationship with Israel – Klarfeld sited Frank Luntz’s Israel in the Age of Eminem, describing our generation’s view as far more grey than black-and-white. This could be fodder for many future posts, but I’m of the opinion that this is the area in which “the man” repeatedly misses the boat by leaps and bounds.
by Mobius [➚] · Saturday, October 28th, 2006
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol [➚] · Friday, October 27th, 2006
Jewschool recently received a request for those living in couples where one of the partners is Jewish (of whatever background) and the other is Arab and Non-Jewish to contribute their personal stories. The call is below:
There’s an old Creole proverb: “Show me who you love, and I’ll show you who you are.†While this phrase
carries with it much wisdom, the complexity of Jewish-Arab relationships defies such a reductive understanding of identity. Despite all of the politics and cultural pressure and suspicion, Jews and Arabs have been finding one another and falling in (and out) of love for decades. A nationally distributed magazine wishes to talk to you and hear your stories of LOVE and heartbreak across the Jewish-Arab divide.
Primarily, we are seeking to understand, in an almost generalizing self-help way, the ways in which such couples navigate through such complicated relationships. We are looking for personal stories that touch upon both the challenges and the rewards of falling in love with “the enemyâ€. How did the reactions of family and friends, or the intrusions of politics and media bring you closer together or push you closer apart? Secondarily, we would like to speak with these couples about the tragic events of this summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, and how violence occurring thousands of miles away has shaped, strengthened or harmed your union
Search amazon.com for books on Jewish-Arab relationships and you will be disheartened to find almost nothing of any use; perhaps your stories of love and courage will provide guidance to others seeking a way to move forward.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Joshua at joshuarobert144@yahoo.com
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol [➚] · Friday, October 27th, 2006
The fine folks over at the RAC (the Reform Religious Action Center), have, as part of their blog, a series of conversations on what’s at stake inthe upcoming elections. In the most recent post (part II), Annette Ezekiel, bandleader of JDub Records’ artist Golem, comments on what she saw while travelling during a three-week tour in the USA.
She says, “I can tell you – those ‘folks’ on TV do represent somebody in this country. Real people. We drove through places in the midwest where there were anti-abortion and fundamentalist billboards every few miles along the highways. We were shocked, but why? The people behind those signs didn’t show up at the Golem shows (at least I don’t think they did!) because Jewish folk-punk from New York probably isn’t their cup of tea – but they’re out there, and guess what? They elect politicians who represent their interests. It’s not rocket science. To have people in courts, in Congress, in the White House, who represent what is important to you, you have to vote for them. Period.”
To read more: What’s At Stake in 2006 Part II
by Jewish Robot [➚] · Friday, October 27th, 2006
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