Hard Pill to Swallow
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Rabbis for Human Rights Vidui
On this, erev Yom Kippur, Rabbis for Human Rights has posted their yearly vidui. I think maybe I ought to add to mine:
For the stories I couldn’t find the energy to post because they were so depressing, and for the stories I posted, but couldn’t bring myself to comment on;
For the posts that I failed to blog because someone out there knows who I am and I have to work, and for perhaps being occasionally too quick on the trigger
For my own cowardice, and for the failure to look truth in the eye….
You can find the following, as well as a Hebrew version which for some reason I couldn’t copy to the blog here.
Vidui 5768
The vidui (recounting of our sins) during the High Holidays is intended to make us feel uncomfortable,
to confront us with the wrongs we have done. This vidui relates to our society today, to the way in
which we treat the unemployed and disadvantaged, immigrants, migrant workers, single mothers,
the elderly, the exploited women, the Arab citizens of the State and the Palestinians, and those we
disagree with politically. Each one of us is guilty of some of these sins; collectively, we are guilty of
them all.
For the sin which we have sinned against you by the closing of borders To Sudanese refugees fleeing for their lives.
And for the sin which we have sinned against you by the closing of borders, As Gazans killed each other and languished with a minimum of
supplies.
More »
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MD. Chaplain gets the boot for halting Christian bible placement in hospital
From JewsOnFirst
As director of pastoral care for a community hospital in Maryland, the Rev. Kay Myers halted the placement of sectarian Christian books in patients’ rooms.
Myers said her decision was one of the carefully measured steps she had taken during her seven-year tenure to move her department to a professional level of pastoral care. The hospital’s response was not so measured. The CEO immediately countermanded Myers. Within months she was forced to resign.
The Presbyterian Rev. Myers, in her seventh year directing the chaplaincy at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, had objected to some specific problems: the Gideons had been placing Bibles by going room to room, and she was concerned that this was a violation of HIPAA, moreover, the infection control center at the hospital had sent out an email recommending against placing the books in patients’ rooms because they might harbor long-lived pathogens, which CEO Alan Newberry simply ignored, even after Myers also forwarded him a report from an onlne chaplain bulletin board discussing the same topic.
Rev. Myers also felt that since the Bibles that the Gideons were distributing were only a New Testament and Psalms, and the hospital is a community hospital, significantly supported by public funds including Medicare and Medicaid, and hospitals with such finding must declare that they do not discriminate, it was inappropriate to have such sectarian emphasis, particularly since the facility is the most advanced in the area and locals do not have an easy alternative to Peninsula
Rev. Myers remains adamant that that a “market-place ministry” such as a hospital chaplaincy must be nonsectarian. “It needs to be carried out with best practices, with professional standards,” she said. “I do believe that people in the hospital need spiritual support. But you need to meet them where they are — not try to pull them along to where I am.”
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Remind me again why the 2nd temple was destroyed…
From Haaretz:
There are those among us Jewish Israelis, whether we define ourselves as traditionalist or secular-as-Stalin, who cannot abide Reform Judaism and those who choose to practice it.
…
Inherent in the hatred of Reform is the assumption that even the most pork-stuffed of the secular know authentic Judaism when they see it, and a fraud when they do not. They can somehow divine lack of commitment and observance in Reform, even when they themselves do not study, do not practice, do not believe.Fundamentally, the ridicule of Reform ignores the fact that all over Israel, Jews raised in Orthodox homes have become active members of Reform and Conservative congregations because they believe both in religious Judaism and in equality for women within Jewish observance.
I suspect that much of the scorn directed toward Reform Judaism reflects a certain frustration over the inability of many Israelis to feel a part of any congregation, Orthodox, Conservative or Reform. For many, the gulf between secular Israeli culture and the available forms of organized religion has yet to be bridged by liturgy and customs that speak to the non-religious.
Oddly, the anti-Reform venom in us seems to seep out most strikingly at this time of the year, those 10 days beginning on Rosh Hashanah, during which the Gates of Repentance are briefly open, and secular Jews the world over, decide how – and if – they want to walk through.
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Jews disagree over SF mural
From MuzzleWatch:
The San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the SF office of the Anti-Defamation League pressed the SF Arts Commission to change what they deemed offensive imagery in a new mural made by some 200 residents of San Francisco’s diverse Mission district under the auspices of HOMEY-Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth.
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Schrodinger’s Goat, scapegoats, and the goats of Yom Kippur
Over at The Jew & The Carrot, Hazon founder Nigel Savage is returning to take more heat on whether or not Hazon should schect a goat at the organization’s annual food conference. He has just discovered that schecting two goats at the conference will actually extend their lives.
Previous post and flaming commentary about the goat proposal are here.
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Annual Yom Kippur advisory
Two important reminders for those who are fasting on Yom Kippur:
1. Hydrate! Drinking a lot of water right before the fast is a good idea, but not sufficient. It’s best to start hydrating a day or two earlier. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to drink a liter of water RIGHT NOW. This can make a big difference in being able to have a meaningful day me-erev ad arev (from evening to evening), and having the strength at the end of the day to appreciate Ne’ilah rather than count the minutes until dusk.
2. Fasting isn’t always a choice. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger encourages everyone to take the amount they would have spent on food and donate it to feed those whose fast is involuntary.
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New Siddur Project
Following up on the excited discussion stemming from Rooftopper Rav’s post on the new ArtScroll Siddur for women, Desh has written about what he’d like to see in a new siddur that would travel well, contain good footnotes, and not contain misrepresentations about prayers and halachah.
Go check it out and throw in your $.02 on what a new siddur should have if it wants to rival ArtScroll.
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do doo doo doo dooo
I guess this was created last year, but I just saw it for the first time. Too cute not to click.
(Thanks to Avielah.)
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Chambers v. God
Another guest post from TheWanderingJew:
Wired reports that
Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers (D – Omaha) filed suit against God Friday, asking a court to order the Almighty and his followers to stop making terrorist threats.
The suit, filed in a Nebraska district court, contends that God, along with his followers of all persuasions, “has made and continues to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons.” Those threats are credible given God’s history, Chambers’ complaint says.
Chambers, in a fit of alliteration, also accuses God of causing “fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like.”
It seems to me that, while we’re all seeking t’shuvah this time of year, God is not held to the same standards as we mere mortals.
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Sukkos in the City
And what city is there, if not New York? (j/k, my good yidden — I just moved here last week; I figure I’ve got a good solid month of pretending to be a snotty New Yorker before I relapse into my Philadelphia-ness.) PresenTense, He’Brew, and (this is my favorite) Sabra Salads are presenting this party at the beautiful, venerable Sixth Street Shul. See below for details. Or just run into me on the subway and follow me.
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Jewish Pirate Jokes
It has been pointed out that in two years, Talk Like A Pirate Day will fall on Rosh Hashanah. In the meantime, though we don’t get to blow the shofARRRRRRR or read about HagARRRRRRR today, we can still tell other Jewish pirate jokes on this festive occasion.
Q: What is a pirate’s favorite masechet of Talmud?
A: ARRRRRRRachin.
Q: Who is a pirate’s favorite biblical prophet?
A: ZechARRRRRiah.
Q: What is a pirate’s favorite Yiddishist socialist organization?
A: The ARRRRbeter Ring.
Q: Who is a pirate’s favorite Republican Jewish senator?
A: ARRRRRRRRlen Specter.
Q: Who is a pirate’s favorite Democratic Jewish senator?
A: BARRRRRbara Boxer.
Q: Who is a pirate’s favorite amora?
A: DARRRRRu bARRRRR Papa.
Q: What is a pirate’s favorite Israeli newspaper?
A: Yedi’ot. (You probably thought it was Ha’ARRRRRetz, but that’s far too intellectual for the average pirate.)
Add your own!
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Being a pillar can be lonely
I’m realizing that sometimes it’s hard to negotiate my desire to live fully in the mainstream (Jewish) America while also dedicating my life to the Jewish tradition. Maybe some dear readers have known this for ages, but as a self-described baalat teshuvah, I only became observant and Jewishly learning about six years ago. I have these various visions of myself, and I want to say, “Yeah, totally, let’s go to that punk show on whatever night, Friday is fine, I’m not some looney religious person” which is partly a past voice, and also I want to say, “Hey, I’m going to be hosting a post-havdalah new moon drum circle in my house and chanting some prayers and melodies, let me know if you’re coming early so I can leave the door open so you don’t have to buzz up before Shabbat ends…”
For example, not so sure about finding someone on JDate in Boston. With all appreciation and awe for Ruby-K and General Anna, and with thanks to my mother for recently purchasing a three month subscription to JDate for me and then checking in with me incessantly about it (“So… meet anyone new lately?”), I’m just not sure this is going to be a goldmine for me looking for the specific subset of Jewish man who digs religion, intelligent women, feminism, humor, and fruitiness. (Ugh, this is starting to sound like my profile… Hey, if you fit the above description you can leave me a message here and you don’t even have to pay a membership fee!) It’s the religion part I’m thinking about tonight.
Some examples of philosophical/theological disconnect from my JDate tonight: More »
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Soap character does tshuvah for YK
Is that allowed?
One of the main characters on “The Young and the Restless” for a Yom Kippur episode on September 21st is going to do tshuvah.
The character, Brad Carlton,who entered the Y&R scene about two decades ago as the gardener to the wealthy Abbott family in the fictional Genoa City, is not what you’d call a saint. He’s a womanizer who worked his way into the social elite in part by marrying a succession of rich women, the first of whom was the insecure Abbott daughter Traci.
But last year the soap dropped a bombshell: The upwardly mobile stud was actually a Hebrew hunk. It turns out that Brad had been hiding his Jewish identity to protect himself and his mother, who had drawn the ire of Nazis because of her work as a Holocaust art restitution investigator.
“For 20 years there was a complete mystery as to Brad’s background,” said Don Diamont, the actor who plays Brad, during a phone interview with JTA. “He knew that he was Jewish, but he lived as someone else a long time.”
Diamont says that in his mind the character had celebrated some Jewish holidays in secret, but this year Brad will have his first opportunity to celebrate one openly — and he will do so on the show’s Sept. 21 episode.
According to Y&R sources, Brad not only will attend services for Yom Kippur, which falls the day after the show airs on CBS, but will openly ask forgiveness from two characters he has wronged during the past year: his daughter Colleen, played by Tammin Sursok, and Genoa City’s wealthiest man, Victor Newman, played by Eric Braeden.
Full story (if it won’t spoil it for you)
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Hysterically not-news JTA headline
“Survey finds rabbis pessimistic about future, shul attendance”
Seriously? Rabbis pessimistic about the future?
I don’t feel the need to comment further because we’ve written bookloads of words about how the mainstreams of Judaism don’t really get how vibrant Jewish life is…outside their very doors. But I just thought, “yes, rabbis pessimistic about the future. Jewish mothers, attempt guilt trip. Sun rises in morning.”
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Warning: Artscroll Women’s Siddur
That’s not my title. That was the subject line of an email I just received from JOFA condemning the new ArtScroll women’s siddur. Appended to the email is a review of the siddur and a letter that JOFA has sent to modern Orthodox day schools and other religious institutions. The letter declares that JOFA has “come to the realization that this siddur is inappropriate for a modern Orthodox institution or one that sees its role as encouraging women’s participation in prayer.â€
It’s good to see a Jewish organization, particularly one that identifies as Orthodox, speaking out against ArtScroll’s tendency to present a single view as the only way to do things and the way things have always been done all the way back to Sinai. (Old joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Artscroll told it to.) I get upset when I look around at egalitarian minyanim full of liberal Jews davening mostly from ArtScroll siddurim. I do understand that lots of people like ArtScroll because of its clear explanations and translations (which are more honest/literal in most cases than, say, Sim Shalom). But those clear explanations of practice are heavily biased toward certain viewpoints, and reductionist to the max. It drives me crazy to hear people telling each other what “the halachah” is based on what they’ve read in ArtScroll. (My upsetness is directed at ArtScroll, not the people using the siddur. The liberal world is in desperate need of a usable, well-translated, well-explained, well-footnoted, well-laid out siddur.)
ArtScroll’s perspective also irritates JOFA reviewer Jennifer Stern Breger. Excerpts from her review:
In general, the siddur ignores positions (many of them very mainstream) that run counter to the editors’ own positions and viewpoints. There is a range of halakhically acceptable positions on many aspects of tefillah, but the editors do not include them.
Every time Mourners Kaddish appears, rather than saying that there are different opinions, the notes say clearly, “Although reciting Kaddish is a comfort for the soul of the departed, even silent recitation by a woman is generally frowned upon.†For Birkat Hamazon, the notes say, “The accepted custom is for a woman never to lead zimmun even if only women are present.†In the text of Birkat Hagomel, the note says, “according to the prevalent custom, a woman does not say the Bircas Hagomel,†and in the background note, “The primary reason given for women not saying Bircas Hagomel is that it is immodest for women to take any part in a mitzvah that is typically performed in public.  Regarding havdalah it states, “It is preferablefor a woman to hear havdalah from a man rather than make her own havdalah.â€
In general the siddur takes the mother of young children as the norm, and the stress is on the least that a woman can get away with. Not only does the note for ma’ariv say, “For women, maariv is an optional service. If you choose to say maariv, it would be best to precede its recitation with the words “bli neder†without a commitment, to indicate that you are not accepting its recitation as an ongoing obligationâ€â€¦ While it concedes that women have a special connection to the Shmoneh Esrei because of Hannah, it does not quote the mishna that says clearly that women are obligated in tefillah— i.e., the amidah—rather saying that it is considered highest priority at shaharit and minhah when family obligations allow.
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Sports, lies, and videotape (when the rabbi is a woman)
It’s hard enough being a young female rabbi without inadvertantly offending the key master of the entire Boston Jewish community. [I'm late in posting this, I blame the holidays.]
For those of you who haven’t been following football, the uproar in Boston right now is over charges that Patriots coach Bill Belichick knowingly had a Patriots employee videotape opposition plays to get the scoop on their offense before the game. Belichick has been fined $500,000, and it’s pretty disgraceful for the Pats (who nonetheless creamed the competition on Sunday without videotape help, go Pats!). Many of you know the name Bob Kraft from Kraft stadium in Israel, from his great philathropic work in the Boston Jewish community and around the world. You should also, then, know that he is the owner of the Patriots and a davenner in Newton, MA.
Well, seems that on Rosh Hashanah, the rabbi at Kraft’s shul decided to use perhaps an unfortunate metaphor in her sermon — as covered by Jason Schwartz on the Boston Daily Blog of Boston Magazine.
Her main trope was that people should act as as though God is always watching them. Not a bad lesson, except that in making her point she must have made an endless number of references to acting like you’re being videotaped. This was awkward… The guy sitting next to my dad leaned over and whispered, “Does she even know Bob Kraft goes to this Temple?†and a hefty portion of the congregation craned their necks over to Kraft’s pew toward the front. To his credit, he didn’t have any sort of discernible reaction. But, about five seconds after that sermon mercifully ended, he was up and out of there. In fairness, it was toward the end of the service and plenty of other people were leaving too, but trust me, there was no hesitation in his step.
Funny in its own right. What isn’t funny are some of the posts in response. Mostly they are other members of the shul rebuking Schwartz for his opinion/for exposing the incident. Some good stuff there. Some, however, focused on the rabbi:
“Saul” wrote:
The more important question here is why the rabbi of your congregation is a woman. There’s no way a male rabbi would have not known about the sensitive situation Mr. Kraft is in. This is just another example of what happens when a woman does a MAN’s job.
And “Bob” (presumably not Kraft) wrote:
The blogger did not embarrass Bob Kraft – the rabbi did that all by herself. And the blogger didn’t embarrass the rabbi – she did that all by herself, too. After years of her silly sermons where she tries to find spiritual messages to share with the congregation in tales of her daughter’s poop-filled diapers, and all the other stories of her kids, her mother-in-law, her cooking, her…. on an on…. she is clearly beyond feeling embarrassment. This is not the first time she stumbled into inflaming the sensitivities of the community. Maybe next sermon she can talk about harming people through acts that are intentional vs reckless vs simpleminded and uninformed. That would make for a good Yom Kippur sermon, as long as she doesn’t include more stories about her kids.
Errr… Does this mean that all stories of family and home-based experiences should be left off the bimah, while sports analogies are encouraged as long as they are sensitive to the feelings of sports celebrities??
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Simchat Shanah–A (Funky?) Liturgical Innovation
Tikkun Leil Shabbat has until recently been a kabbalat shabbat minyan. This year it has started to have some high holiday services. This past week it met on Rosh Hashanah for the first time (in the evening). Like many minyanim where folks come in part for the beautiful, soulful singing, meeting for maariv can be a challenge at times when kabbalat shabbat (K”Sh) is not generally done, such as when shabbat comes immediately after a holiday or as in this case, when it is not shabbat at all.
Wanting to avoid rushing into maariv and hoping to get folks in the mode of considering their years past and future Jo and RDL figured out a very creative liturgical approach based loosely on K”Sh. We thought to call it simchat shanah, a celebration of the year. K”Sh has a psalm for each day of the week and many use that structure to consider their past week day-by-day. Simchat Shanah has a psalm or megillah passage for each season of the year and folks were encouraged to review their year season-by-season. The passages they included in v1.0 were:
- Fall–…ufros aleinu sukkat shlomecha…–an indirect reference to sukkot
- Winter–…Eish u’varad sheleg ve’kitor ruach se’arah osah devaro…psalm 148:8–one of the few (only?) references in psalms to snow. The first part of this track has the tune we used, it was written by Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit.
- Spring–…Dodi li Va’ani lo…several excerpts from Song of Songs/Shir HaShirim which is read on pesach and includes lily references.
- Summer–…Esai Enai… Psalm 121:1-2–i am not sure why this one got picked.
Like K”Sh there is some other stuff once you get through the main cannon of 7 psalms. In our case, as we were meeting during the High Holiday process, they used Psalm 27. Jo found a great piece of music to use. The mp3 can be downloaded for free here. It was performed and written by a trio of rabbis who go by Miraj. It was gorgeous and though complicated worked out well.
I think the brilliance of the new simchat shannah was not so much the choices of selections for the seasons to be included but the idea to use the seasonal framework in general. I suppose that limits its usefulness primarily to areas with this set of four seasons we have but it speaks to me and I really appreciate their work and liturgical creativity and traditional grounding. I wonder what additions will come along? what would be other good season selection choices? How about things to go before or after that 4-season core?
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