Disagreement between the Israeli and American wings of Conservative Judaism over same-sex commitment ceremonies, the ordination of homosexual rabbis and other halachic issues reflects, in part, deep sociological differences between the two countries, Rabbi David Golinkin, president of the capital’s Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, said on Thursday.
“I’d say there is no comparison whatsoever between there [the US] and here,” Golinkin said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “It is like night and day. Israeli society is much more conservative on this issue [homosexuality] and many others. And if you speak to Israeli rabbinical students, almost all are opposed to any changes vis-à-vis homosexuality.
“Most are sabras and many are Sephardi, and I can assure you that they are not interested in changing policy. If we changed the policy they would not be studying in our rabbinical institute,” he said.
If you’re not aware, the site picks a weekly topic then asks two Palestinians and two Israelis for their opinions. This week’s topic, no surprise, is Obama, while theseveralpreviousposts were on different Gaza topics.
I write this with full respect for the care, thoughtfulness and intentionality that Rabbi Haskel Lookstien brought to his decision to represent the Orthodox Community in prayer at the National Cathedral, and, at the same time, with appreciation for the complexity of that decision. I understand the need of the RCA to explain that Rabbi Lookstien is not representative of all Orthodox Jews- and am proud of the Orthodox International Rabbinic Fellowship, for their defense of his right to make independent Halachic decisions. These and these are the words of a living g-d.
His decision, as well as my experience, standing in a prayerful moment in Harlem, listening to a Christian invocation for our new president and knowing that it did not speak for me, as a queer person, or as an Orthodox Jew, has led me to reflect a bit on the difficulties of religious pluralism, and on my own sense of exclusion from that national moment of tremendous joy.
At the time, I turned to a Jewish woman, next to me, and we had a brief conversation about the appropriate Jewish response. Was it a shehechiyanu? baruch Hatov v’Hameitiv? personal, unscripted prayer? silence? all of the above? My own religious experience was private, a moment of gratitude to my maker, who blessed my country, and allowed me to witness this day.
It was only later, this shabbat, that I took part in a moment of communal prayer in honor of our new president. It was at a Shul, where the Rabbi spoke about the importance of prayer, and of supporting our new president, his advisors and our nation, through the prayer for our government that we recite every week. It’s power came precisely from it’s habitual recitation, it’s meaning from the awareness of the changed world within which we recited it, and from the faith in one, undivided g-d that the synagogue space, and that community, represented. Our language, and the shape of the space we stood in, reflected our unwavering fidelity to a Halachic tradition that is older than any of us, and that shapes the way in which we allow ourselves to pray.
I don’t think I could have had that moment in a non-denominational service. To go, I would have had to violate the Halacha that I believe would prohibit me from attending. My prayers would not have been true to my convictions or to my religious practice- and while my presence might be seen as exhibiting acceptance of the multitude of other religions represented, it would, in fact, be a rejection of my own way of life and manner of prayer. I feel fortunate to live in a country that does not force me to make that decision, but instead, allows me to live and believe in my distinct way. I love this country most when I feel that it has room for each of us- that I live in a nation of people who are free to choose when, where and whether to pray, in our own particular ways.
Some brave-behind-a-wall-of-anonymity scribbler has composed a list of “Jews Who Hate Jews”. Jewschool should be proud that we are well represented there.
By the same token, everyone thinks they’re for peace. JTA cheif Ami Eden’s blog post today picks up on where The New Republic and the Jewish media has begun fighting over the labels of “pro-Israel” and “pro-peace”. And this could be a pretty elementary conversation about labels meaning different things to different people, but I think a simple fact remains:
The nature of “pro-Israel” is changing. But though I’ve seen “pro-peace” hijacked by the pro-bombing rallies of the New York JCRC, for example, it has yet to take hold among Israel advocates that pursuing immediate peace policies and not just having peace inclinations is what defines a dove voice from a hawkish voice.
Ami notes “hawks” and “doves” beg further definition. His example is when Ariel Sharon moved right-wing and left-wing simultaneously by not negotiating with the Palestinians but withdrawing from territory regardless. But this was not a dove maneuver because it was a classic example of avoiding-the-real-problem Israeli diplomatic ju jitsu which sidesteps the issue as a whole. (Unilateral ceasefires anyone? Ju jitsu indeed, this kung fu Jew would know.) No progress towards establishing a Palestinian state was made and Israeli security concerns went unaddressed — akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. (Worse, in this case as the credit for Israeli withdrawal was not handed to Fatah’s openness to negotiations but taken implicitly by Hamas’ violence.)
The status quo is what remains defined as “pro-Israel” — separate legal systems for Jewish settlers and Palestinians which resemble apartheid, the continued expansion of settlements, the limitation of economic viability by closed borders, and the humilitation of checkpoints and lack of self-determination. Only the pursuit now of policies which actively make progress towards Palestinian demands can be considered pro-peace. They will not receive all their demands, and neither will Israel. But the active prevention in Congress by AIPAC or ZOA or JCRCs of pushing compromise by Israel is in effect pro-conflict, pro-violence and pro-onesidedness.
A backtrack is also not pro-peace, which is Gaza case in point. The Gaza mission accomplished nothing and it cost so much — in terms of Israel’s international standing, its prevention of the rockets, its dismantling of Hamas, and ultimately its ability to end ongoing strife. A pyrric victory. The pro-Israel rallies embedded the feeling among Jews of moderate stripes that while they supported Israel’s right to defense, “pro-Israel” meant something bloodthirsty.
Ami Eden is very good to bring this up — that pro-Israel isn’t owned by any Jewish political sector and we’re all ostensibly looking for safety and stability in the Mideast. But there is a distinct measure of being pro-peace. And it will continue to be needed as a modifier “pro-Israel, pro-peace” until the Israeli government and the lockstep American Jewish defense orgs make pursuit of an end compromise their active work. Until then AIPAC, ADL, AJC, the JCRCs, the Conference of Presidents, et al are not pro-peace, they’re pro-status quo. And the status quo is not peace.
We have, thank God, changed regimes. We, thank God, have a new President who speaks of peace. Yet, we cannot afford to forget that we are still fighting two wars and Americans, Iraqis and Afghanis are dying.
Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi, 21, of Bronx, N.Y., died Jan. 1 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Pfc. Christopher W. Lotter, 20, of Chester Heights, Pa., died Dec. 31, 2008, in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was shot by enemy forces in Tikrit. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Lance Cpl. Chadwick A. Gilliam, 29, of Mayking, Ky., died Jan. 3 at a U.S. military base in Kuwait. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Lance Cpl. Jessie A. Cassada, 19, of Hendersonville, N.C., died Jan. 6 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Anthony D. Davis, 29, of Daytona Beach, Fla., died Jan. 6 in Northern Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was shot by enemy forces. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Bennett, 23, of Clifton, Va., died Jan. 11 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Pvt. Sean P. McCune, 20, of Euless, Texas, died Jan. 11 in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Sgt. Marquis R. Porter, 28, of Brighton, Mass., died Jan. 11 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Pfc. Ricky L. Turner, 20, of Athens, Ala., died Jan. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. He was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Roberto Andrade Jr., 26, of Chicago, Ill., died Jan. 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armor, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
RJC Announces Norm Coleman to Serve as Consultant and Strategic Advisor
Washington, D.C. (January 22, 2009) — Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks announced today that Senator Norm Colelman (MN) has agreed to join the RJC as a consultant and strategic advisor. In this capacity, Coleman will help the RJC as it plans for the future and looks at ways to continue its historic record of growth and success.
Which success, the one where despite a huge whisper campaign and a candidate named Barack Hussein Obama, Jews voted 78-22 for our new President, besting Kerry’s 04 numbers?
I’m reminded of a certain CT senator staying on the ballot for Senate while running for VP. Getting a job just in case all the spurious claims don’t get you back into that seat, Norm? Here’s hoping a real Progressive is back in Senator Wellstone’s (z’l) chair.
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.
In every generation, if we are lucky, there rises to the top of our collective human existence, a voice; a voice that captivates us, motivates us, inspires us and moves us toward the greater good; a voice that calls on us to hear the Divine angels inside of us and love one another, care for one another, treat one another with dignity, compassion, respect and equality; this voice cries out from the wilderness of our lost humanity, and calls us back to the central focus of our existence: to create a world of peace, justice and fairness for all. We listen for these voices; we need this voices. This weekend we honor two great voices of our recent generation, voices that started alone, each strong, unique, and purposeful, yet in the end, found harmony together for a short period, joining with a chorus of other great figures, calling for justice and peace in their time. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose yartzheit, the anniversary of his death, we observed this past week, and Rev. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we observe this coming week, were such voices. These were voices that changed hearts, moved minds, and created a pathway of hope for the next generation; what we have done with that pathway is a mixed bag, and we will examine both sides of the bag a bit in this short exposition.
To state the obvious: Tuesday’s inauguration is a ringing success for the work of Dr. King, and our country should be proud and in awe of the progress we have achieved as a nation to see an African American be sworn in as president. More »
Our very own Shalom Rav is featured in this video by Brit Tzedek v’Shalom targeted at Obama, highlighting organizational heads and rabbis from Chicago with a personal ask on behalf of 1,000 American rabbis. Actually, 1,010. Read ‘em.
Meanwhile, I hear Abe Foxman is furious that George Mitchell is slated to be Obama’s Mideast envoy — because he’s “too fair.”
“Sen. Mitchell is fair. He’s been meticulously even-handed,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But the fact is, American policy in the Middle East hasn’t been ‘even handed’ — it has been supportive of Israel when it felt Israel needed critical U.S. support.”
“So I’m concerned,” Foxman continued. “I’m not sure the situation requires that kind of approach in the Middle East.”
SHOCKER!! I am smirking in victory. And Brit Tzedek, J Street, and Americans for Peace Now will be there to back him up when the anti-Semitism charges start flying. Sit down and enjoy the ride, Abe. The tables have turned.
The JTA reported today that the Rabbinical Council of America (which represents Modern Orthodox rabbis) has determined that one of its members violated its rules by attending an interfaith service in the National Cathedral as part of the Inauguration yesterday:
A Rabbinical Council of America official told JTA that Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the religious leader of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York City, broke the organization’s rules by participating in the service Wednesday at the National Cathedral on the morning after Barack Obama’s inauguration:
“The long-standing policy of the Rabbinical Council of America, in accordance with Jewish law, is that participation in a prayer service held in the sanctuary of a church is prohibited,” the RCA said in a statement. “Any member of the RCA who attends such a service does so in contravention of this policy and should not be perceived as representing the organization in any capacity.”
The RCA said that Lookstein’s participation was problematic both because the service was held in the sanctuary of a church, which Orthodox Jews are prohibited from entering, and because it was an interfaith prayer service, which the RCA discourages for fear that such participation could allow missionaries to legitimize their argument that Jews can indeed embrace Jesus.
I’m staggered and speechless but in the end, not surprised. I know all about the goy-phobias of traditional Judaism and this one is nothing new. I’m just thinking that this is so very sad, coming on the heels of yesterday’s incredible sense of national coming-together. I don’t know how any Christian could interpret this kind of attitude as anything other than flat out xenophobia…
In 2005 Russell Jacoby wrote a short (149 pages, not including footnotes) book about utopians and utopias called Picture Imperfect. Not a best of 08 (not of ’08 at all) – on the day of the inauguration, it is perhaps a good moment to offer to you, our readers, an invitation to read this brief book.
In the introduction,there are two points to pick up on. In this day, most utopians (he says) are either thought of as foolish dreamers or totalitarians in disguise (i.e. you bad bad communists! naughty, naughty! or the like). Jacoby points out that the accusation of utopians as totalitarians is unfair and inaccurate, but I’m actually (unlike Jacoby) interested in the idea that utopians are fools. Jacoby says (p. xiii-xiv) that perhaps it is a lack in modern imagination that plagues us, draining the life from visions of what could be. He describes two types of utopians – “blueprint” and “iconoclastic” and suggests that blueprint utopians are misguided because their visions grow outdated and even ridiculous (he offers a few examples of such stale visions). He cites (xvii) Paul Celan citing another book which paraphrases the Talmud that whoever pronounces the Holy Name loses his share in the world-to-come – and suggests that utopia is like this – we need to have the imagination to break the status quo, but not hem ourselves with details.
Butif anything, this year’s election shows the reverse, that vision takes an object. Atthis moment, what we need is not to abandon specifics, but to the contrary, to be willing to be bold about them, to dream big – but with specificity- to implement visions that are of real people, living in real societies, acting together to create the new, whether that is new technology implemented for solutions, or people coming together to work towards goals that yes – perhaps we can be said to have abandoned too soon- ends that we can achieve, like universal health care, and dismantling the abysmal and dangerous surveillance state, the violations of our civil liberties (well, just to start with, say). We must insist upon not just vision – as if there can be vision if it so lacks connection to the world we live in that it floats away like mist, content to remain a dream of maybe. we must insist on depth, breadth, height and not stint on detail. To say that we shouldn’t invest in details, is to subtly admit that we can’t really achieve our dreams.
This is a betrayal of (in Jacoby’s words) “the Jews [the utopians] mainly were.” On this day before a new era, what we pray for is a new era, a courage of convictions, of change and not a settling for the hopelessly underwhelming pragmatic compromise. We have reached for a dream that encompasses more, for everyone – in other words – a utopia. Obama has stirred great hopes not only in the USA, but around the world, and hope has great power to change us all. He is only a human, and will surely not bring the moshiach. I, of course, believe with emunah shlemah that moshiach will come tomorrow, but certainly not because of one election and not because of one man, a man who has an enormous amount of thankless work ahead of him. A man who will certainly fail at many things, and we should try not to judge him too harshly for being just a human like us. but despite all that, he is also a man who now has the opportunity to bring great change, if he will only be strong and of courage enough not to settle. Not to let reaching out turn into compromise -in the sense of not doing what must be done, but only what can be done.
And so, let us say good bye – I hope- to the era of narrowing, and let us come forth, and continue to go forth into a new land where we might just achieve something bigger than we thought possible, before we realized that we could do it. And yes, we did it , and we can do it again.
I have said countless times before: the meaning of the Exodus is that anything is possible, that there is no status quo that cannot be overturned. Imagine a world in which you are a slave, and your father was a slave, and his mother before him, and so on for generations. And then, seemingly suddenly, God intervenes and you are no longer a slave. To be sure, the journey ahead will be long and arduous. Indeed, there will be moments when things seem so frightening and unsettling that you will even find yourself longing for the way things were before. But there is no returning to the way things were– not ultimately, anyway. The Exodus is a rupture, a break in history, a moment after which all things are new, a moment in and through which all things are possible.
I have a very personal confession to make: over the past couple of years, as my struggle with chronic illness has continued and in many ways intensified, I have found myself less able to talk about the Exodus in this way. Is there really no status quo that cannot be overturned? I have asked myself. What about the pain and fatigue that wrack your body each day? What about the degradations and devastations that pervade the globe and seemingly make a mockery of human dignity and of life’s meaningfulness? Perhaps all this talk of the Exodus as paradigmatic for human history was just loose talk, just so much Pollyanna nonsense. I have wondered, and lamented the depths to which life seems resistant to, indifferent to, the stories we tell and the narratives we strive to live by.
This morning I feel something I have not felt in quite a long time: I believe– but really believe– in the Exodus again. That which was utterly impossible, indeed unimaginable, will become a reality in just a few short minutes. The United States of America, the great beacon of freedom and democracy, has always been tainted by the monstrous legacy of slavery and the ways it denied that black men and women, too, were created in the image of God and were thus every bit as infinitely valuable as their white counterparts. Today these same United States will swear in its first black president, a black man who will occupy the very house that slaves built so long ago. The status quo has been overturned, repudiated, one might even say redeemed. (This, I hasten to add, remains true regardless of one’s political commitments or affiliations.)
We ought not be deceived. Just as the Israelites faced a long and torturous road to the Promised Land, so also do we Americans face a long and difficult road ahead (and on more fronts than I can begin to list). The Hasidic masters teach that each year we are obligated to re-live the Exodus, to tap into the liberatory energy that the Exodus represents, to reclaim and deepen our own freedom and dignity as God’s creatures. I cannot help but feel that the Exodus is being re-enacted and re-experienced in our day, today.
To be sure, many of the world’s problems will remain as intractable tomorrow as they seem today. On a personal note, my own battle with illness is not likely to disappear soon. I’m still not sure about every status quo being overturned– at least not before the Messiah comes and enacts a kind of cosmic Exodus for us all. But what I’ve learned this morning is that much of what we take as given and immutable is in fact neither. So I go back to what I have said and taught over and over again: to take Judaism seriously is to believe that the world as it is is not yet the world as it must be, and to know that we are implicated in the sacred task of closing the gap between them. May all of our faith in the possibility of redemption and transformation be renewed and revitalized by this extraordinary day.
“This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and delight in it.”
God bless all of you, and God bless the United States of America.
Judaism has blessings for just about everything–smelling fragrant trees, seeing a rainbow, hearing good news, hearing bad news, encountering a friend one hasn’t seen in a year, and more. There’s also a blessing that one says upon seeing a non-Jewish king, and some would say that this extends to seeing a (non-Jewish) head of state, as well.
The blessing is:
Baruch Atah Hashem, Elokeinu Melekh HaOlam, She’Natan MiKvodo L’Vasar VaDam.
Blessed are You, God our Deity, Ruler of the universe, who has given of His glory to flesh and blood.
Rabbi Sue Fendrick has recently mused (evidently inspired by Elaine Ruben in DC) about whether this blessing would be appropriate to say upon seeing a head of state on TV, and, as such, whether it makes sense to say upon watching someone become a head of state. I will leave it to you all to ponder whether or not this would apply.
In any case, I wish much luck and success to President-Elect Obama, who is inheriting quite a heavy load. And I also wish well to his most ardent supporters, who may yet have to learn that as intelligent and charming and, it seems, capable as the man is–he is, after all, only flesh and blood, and shouldn’t be expected to accomplish more than any mere mortal can.
The Immigrant Absorption Ministry announced on Sunday it was setting up an “army of bloggers,” to be made up of Israelis who speak a second language, to represent Israel in “anti-Zionist blogs” in English, French, Spanish and German.
The program’s first volunteer was Sandrine Pitousi, 31, from Kfar Maimon, situated five kilometers from Gaza. “I heard about the project over the radio and decided to join because I’m living in the middle of the conflict,” she said.
…
“During the war, we looked for a way to contribute to the effort,” the ministry’s director general, Erez Halfon, told Haaretz. “We turned to this enormous reservoir of more than a million people with a second mother tongue.” Other languages in which bloggers are sought include Russian and Portuguese.
Poll: Will Jewschool be recruited or targeted? You choose – click the graphic below to participate in our scientific survey:
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is currently collecting sermons and orations delivered this week about the inauguration of Barack Obama. They’re asking for audio or video recordings, and are accepting transcripts and associated materials (such as printed programs) for the archive, which will join the library’s other collections of “everyday citizens’ reactions to major historic events in our collective American experience.”
I’ve always had a special place in my heart for libraries — I’m what you might call a “heavy user” and have been for as long as I can remember. And the LOC holds an even more special place for me, not in the least because they have in their collection Stephen Sondheim’s personal record collection (over 8500 LPs!). But in reading up on this new initiative, I had one of those “proud of my government” moments that I’m hoping to have more and more of in the coming administration. In particular, I was thrilled to see the following included right up in the first paragraph of the Sermons and Orations Project home page:
It is expected that such sermons and orations will be delivered at churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship, as well as before humanist congregations and other secular gatherings. The American Folklife Center is seeking as wide a representation of orations as possible.
I wonder if anyone told George Bush that his government is recognizing humanist congregations alongside places of worship.
Anyway, if you can’t wait for the LOC to make this collection available for your own perusement (that’s my portmanteau for when you peruse amusing things), Michael Paulson, religion writer for The Boston Globe has asked Boston-area clergy and the like to also submit their sermons to his blog, Articles of Faith. He’s posting them as they come in, and you can go directly to the inauguration sermons here.
The fighting in Gaza has come to a halt as Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire, despite more rockets hitting Israeli territory after the cease-fire went into effect. Also, Hamas has declared a unilateral cease-fire, despite the fact that the blockade persists and Israeli troops remain in Gaza.
both cease-fire statements below, and some thoughts on unilateral activity. More »
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