Hazon has created two new scholarships for the Food Conference. The Haas Foundation has funded a scholarship for LGBT folks and their families, and Pursue (a project of AJWS and Avodah) have funded a “Food Justice Cohort” for folks in their 20s and 30s who are passionate about food justice.
In addition, there are scholarships for Rabbinical Students, Teens, people from Boulder and Colorado, and…
...anyone who needs a little extra financial assistance and who is willing to volunteer while at the conference!
Complete Scholarship info is available here.
Money need not be a barrier to attend the Food Conference. Please consider which friends, co-workers, cousins and other networks you can invite to the Food Conference and share these great opportunities with. Deadlines are approaching very soon.
Additionally, prices are rising on June 7. So now is a great time for someone to register for the Food Conference!
2011 Hazon Food Conference at UC Davis, California August 18 – 21, 2011
Use code “summer11″ for $50 off registration – expires 6/7 Register today! Join the thinkers and doers of the New Jewish Food Movement
for four days of learning and celebration!
Featured Presenters: Dr. Oran B. Hesterman, Ph.D Founder and CEO, Fair Food Network
So the world didn’t end yesterday. To be fair, they weren’t actually predicting the end of the world until October 21, at the conclusion of five months of torment for those of us left behind. Yesterday was supposed to be only Judgment Day. But that didn’t happen either.
Of course this is all nonsense, but we can check their math and see whether it is at least internally consistent nonsense.
Let’s start with the year:
According to the tract explaining the calculations, the world was created in 11,013 “BC”, so we are now in the year 13,023 from creation. (It’s one less than you think because there was no year zero; 1 BCE was followed immediately by 1 CE.) The biblical flood occurred in the year 4990 “BC”, 6023 years after creation. God says in Genesis 7:4 that the flood will come in 7 days, and since one day to God is like 1000 years to us (they cite a New Testament verse for this, but we have the same idea in Psalm 90:4), this means the world will be destroyed 7000 years later, which comes out to 2011 CE.
I was baffled at how they arrived at this year count in the first place. According to the Jewish calendar, we are now in the year 5771 from creation, and the flood took place in the year 1656 from creation (4115 years ago, or 2105 BCE). While the exact count of the number of years from “creation” is somewhat controversial (particularly at the interface between biblical chronology and real history), counting the years in Genesis from creation to the flood is very easy, since we have a detailed list of how long each ancestor lived before the next generation was born. Assuming they’re reading the same Bible (and I just checked the King James and the numbers are the same), it’s hard to see how the totals could be off by so much. At first glance I thought they were just applying the same principle that 1 day to God is 1000 years to us, so the six days of creation would add an extra 5999 years (subtract one because, according to the rabbis, humans were created on Rosh Hashanah of the year 2, so creation began on 25 Elul of the year 1). But that can’t be it, because the time from the end of creation to the flood has to be much more than 24 years.
So I did some googling and it turns out that they get this chronology based on a general principle that a generation is a lifespan, so in these biblical genealogies, we can assume that the son was born in the year that the father died. For example, since Genesis 5:11 says that Enosh lived 905 years, they ascertain that the time from Enosh’s birth to his son Kenan’s birth was 905 years. Thus they completely disregard the explicit statements in Genesis 5:9-10 that Enosh lived for 90 years and then fathered Kenan, and then lived 815 years after that. By this method, they arrive at a stretched-out chronology. If they hadn’t done this, then the 7000-year anniversary of the flood wouldn’t take place until 4896 CE, so the end would be far from nigh. More »
For at least two millennia (maybe more?) people have felt as though the end of the world is upon them. Apocalyptic literature appeared on the scene around the 2nd century BCE and continued in the Jewish world until the middle of the Middle Ages and continues to this day in the Christian communities. Certain streams of contemporary Christianity are so immersed in eschatology that the Left Behind series are still the best selling novels in the United States.
It is no wonder then that radio host and self-styled biblical scholar, Harold Camping, has made so many headlines in the last few days. Starting a year ago or more, Camping, who runs a number of Christian radio stations and two television stations, spent millions of dollars advertising May 21, 2011 as the beginning of the End of Days–needless to say, May 21 came and has almost gone. No word has yet been heard from Camping, who had previously predicted the apocalypse would commence in 1994.
Many have called him a false prophet, and I think that is too generous. There are two possibilities, in my opinion, as to what’s going on with this man. 1) He is an utter fool and a moron; 2) he is a brilliant marketer who has set himself up to increase his personal wealth from over $17 million to God only knows how much he might make. There is a difference between a false prophet and someone who is just plain wrong or an idiot. Unfortunately, there are far too many idiots out there. More »
For those unfamiliar, NewCAJE is the successor to the Conference on Alternative in Jewish Education, which inspired the Limmud movement. The conference is an opportunity to learn from and with other educators, both formal and informal. There was minor Jewschool meetup at NewCAJE last year and if anyone is planning to go, please comment so we can connect with one another.
Israeli leftist Larry Derfner and American Jewish leftist Richard Silverstein open a new blog to dialogue about their differences on Israel, IsraelLeft.com. (How long will it remain civil?)
Friend-of-the-blog Jeff Yoskowitz launches a blog Pork Memoirs, the first cultural archive devoted to the other white meat (and presumably, also the first started by a Jew).
It had to happen sooner or later — Jewishfail.com chronicles incidents of hypocrisy and irony for us to giggle and groan.
A new poll of Palestinian public opinion (Word doc) reveals that 70% believe a third intifada is brewing and also that 74% believe violence is in Israel’s interest, and another 70% believe that firing rockets into Israel is bad.
President Obama gave a speech this morning outlining a new policy towards every nation in the Middle East…except Israel and Palestine.
In the District of Columbia, the highest income tax bracket begins at $40,000. You read that right: a person making $40,000/year and a person making $40,000,000/year are taxed at the same marginal rate.
Like many states across the country, DC is in a budget crunch this year because the recession leads to both lower tax revenues and higher demand for safety-net services. As a result, DC’s social safety net is at risk. Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposed budget makes the tax brackets ever so slightly more progressive, with an additional 0.4% tax on income above $200,000. This is a trivial increase for high-income earners (millionaires would owe another $3200 per year), and still would not prevent cuts to the safety set, but it is a step in the right direction. Yet some Councilmembers are opposing even this minor tax increase.
Enter the Jewish community. As the Washington Jewish Week reports this week, DC’s Jewish community, led by Jews United For Justice, has been at the forefront of efforts to tell the Council that the people of DC really wouldn’t mind paying higher taxes in exchange for a better city to live in. (91% of people in the affluent Wards 2 and 3 support a tax increase.)
The article also includes an obligatory quote from a (probably Jewish) libertarian representing midat Sedom (“What’s mine is mine”), riddled with factual errors (in addition to what ZT points out in the comments, I don’t think the DC Treasury actually accepts donations — this would run afoul of corruption laws).
Still, most of the Jewish community understands that we all have obligations to our society and to our neighbors. If you live in DC and want to make sure that this perspective wins out, get involved with JUFJ’s efforts.
Rabbi Morris’s thesis is “A 21st century Reform Judaism can no longer afford to have ‘personal choice’ as its core principle because it eclipses other more central Jewish values that are needed now more than ever.” And I certainly don’t take issue with those other Jewish values, including “an increased commitment to Jewish study” and “committed core of learned and deeply engaged liberal Jews whose lives revolve around the Hebrew calendar and who are immersed in the study and application of Jewish texts”. Yes, these are needed now more than ever. But I think he’s beating up on a straw man, and basing his argument on two unfounded claims:
1) “Personal choice” is the core principle of Reform Judaism.
2) “Personal choice” is to blame for the Reform movement’s ills.
Last night, I attended a gala celebrating Storahtelling. And it was great*.
If you’re not familiar with Storahtelling, they’re a ritual theatre company, focusing on bringing the Torah, and Judaism, to wider audiences, making it more accessible and relevant today. I didn’t crib that from their mission statement, so allow me to excerpt it here:
Storahtelling restores the Torah Service to its original stature through a revival of the lost craft of the Maven, the traditional storyteller who translated the Hebrew Torah into local language. Rooted in biblical text and ritual practice, Storahtelling uses dramatized interpretations, traditional chanting, orginal music and live interaction to bring Bible off the page and onto the global stage.
The event was great, celebrating Storahtelling’s “b mitzvah,” which, as founding director Amichai Lau-Levie explained, is a “bar mitzvah, a bat mitzvah, a b mitzvah inclusive celebration for all genders.” And what a b mitzvah it was! Storahtelling turned 13, honoring their founding director, their incoming executive director and members of the board.
But what’s a b mitzvah without a little Torah? Jackie Hoffman, Jewish actress and comedian extraordinaire, studied with the Storahtelling staff, learning the Torah parsha that would have been her bat mitzvah parsha when she was a girl (raised Orthodox, Jackie didn’t have the option). She tackled a topic that many shy from: the rape of Dinah.
She broke the story up, making it more palatable, relevant and interesting. She interspersed chanting and discussion – with a healthy dose of humor, of course. (Amichai gave the English translations to Jackie’s Torah chanting on the fly.)
With more than a little (much appreciated) feminism flavoring her words, Jackie gave voice to Dinah. Dinah, the central character of this story, does not have any of her own words in the Bible. So Jackie, channeling Dinah, asked why the women of the Bible were too often chattel, to be swamped and shared amongst the men. She set the scene: Dinah had “two Jewish mothers. Think about that for a moment. And 12 stinky brothers.” She asked why Dinah’s mother was so willing to marry Dinah to the man who had raped her. (“Was she so desperate to see her daughter married, she’d ok a man who would defile her? Oh wait, that’s my mother!”) And she might have relished in her telling of the circumcisions of the men of Shechem: “They were in penis pain for three days!”
But it was an impromptu statement after she finished (and after she accepted her present from the “Sisterhood,” two gay Storahtelling staff) that summarized Storahtelling’s work so perfectly: “I’m a person who hates everything, and I dug this experience hard.”
And that’s just it. For Jackie, it was about bringing in some feminism, giving voice to the silent and suffering Dinah, and wrapping it all up in some jokes. For others, it might be highlighting gay characters or interfaith families, placing the Torah stories in contemporary settings, drawing and singing and acting the stories… bringing them to life. If you have the chance to get to a Storahtelling event], I highly recommend it.
*The only thing that would have made this night better? Had I gotten my photo taken with the hilarious Jackie Hoffman. And had she performed her Shavuot song, just for me.
All the less than buttery news about the State of Israel and its populace in the recent days has got me in need of a good chuckle. This Israeli film, “A Mayse” (A Folktale), shot mostly in Yiddish, but also in Hebrew (with English subtitles), is a profound student’s meditation on Israeli culture in our own times. It’s a depressing tale of cultural death, human loneliness and racism. It’s also profound evidence that the Israeli gaze is a sensitive one and a hard slap in the face to those who believe Israeli culture should be boycotted.
We periodically post on Mel Brook’s classic, as yet to be made ‘farsheyst und farbesert’ take on the “Star Wars” because its irresistible. There are several other posts on the subject , but what’s one more?
“Hasn’t the time come to recognize that the establishment of Israel is not just the story of the Jewish people, of Zionism, of the heroism of the Israel Defense Forces and of bereavement? That it is also the story of the reflection of Zionism and the heroism of IDF soldiers in the lives of the Arabs: the Nakba—the Palestinian ‘Catastrophe,’ as the Arabs call the events of 1948—the loss, the families that were split up, the disruption of lives, the property that was taken away, the life under military government and other elements of the history shared by Jews and Arabs, which are presented on Independence Day, and now only on that day, in an entirely one-sided way.”
Amos Elon, Israeli Journalist
“Whatever the fate of the occupied territories in our hands at the moment may be—we can already do something with respect to the problem of the refugees who have remained in the areas under the control of the state of Israel. We have a moral obligation to do this. For on the backs of these people Israel’s independence was plowed and they paid with their bodies, their property and their future for the pogroms in Ukraine and the Nazi gas chambers. We owe a huge debt to these forlorn people, even if they were knowingly led astray, even if they, or their parents, blindly followed irresponsible leaders. They are victims of our independence.”
In honor of Israel’s 63rd birthday, and the 3rd anniversary of the founding of J Street, J Street NYC has made a series of 8 short videos featuring folks talking why they’re “on J Street,” reading excerpts from Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and sending birthday wishes and advice to Israel. The videos are a great tool for jump starting dialogue between folks about Israel/Palestine, the American Jewish community, and the urgency of a two state solution.
Really, I want to know- what did you do today? Were you longing for Israel non-stop? Were you thinking about that hot guy/girl you once met in Tel Aviv? Or your time at a Kibbutz or at the Kotel? Were you struck by the idea of making aliyah and day-dreaming about Herzl?
Or were you just stuck at work, day-dreaming about a Starbucks latte?
We constantly hear the rising generation is distanced from Israel. Rather than being a passive product of comfortable middle class American living, a reaction to certain Israeli policies or to the simplistic approach our communal institutions take toward our fealty to Israel, something in young people’s lack of indoctrination is the real problemcrisis.
They must be taken to Israel for free to walk their arba amot, their minds re-trained and their loyalty made unflinching. Yet most Jews, even young Birthright alumni, were not aware it was Yom Ha’Atzmaut. Most think that’s a holiday for shoe-shining or something. Is this passivity, this ignorance and laisaez-faire attitude really a problem or one of our own creation, a reflection of our ongoing anxiety?
I get the desire to express moral ‘support’ for our brethren. I applaud celebrating the birth of the State. Surely, those really interested will do more than attend purile “Get Wasted for Israel or-the terrorists-win” Zionism-themed Bar Parties. Most would never dream of davka, marking the Nabka. That’s beyond the pale, but is the only other positive outcome mindless flag-waving and cheer-leading for a nation they will rarely visit and never live?
How do young Jews actually spend Israeli Independence Day? Are they really ‘distanced’ from Israel, are their feelings and actions more nuanced or are they just, you know, typically self-absorbed Americans?
Share what you actually did on Yom Haatzmaut in the comments and lets find out.
What with 86+ comments of serious talk in a civil and respectable manner going on here recently, I must post here an item of frivolous “WTF?” These Magen David-embroidered chordiroys brought to us by Bonobos. Um, Happy Yom Haatzmaut?
Briefly: Playwright and cultural icon Tony Kushner was kicked off the list of honorees and John Jay College because Jeffrey Weisenfeld is Captain McWitchHunt. Fascinating. Here’s hoping someone throws water on JW so that he melts into a steaming puddle of vindictive intolerance. (h/t MondoWeiss )
Tony Kushner
c/o Heat & Light Co., Inc.
cc: President Jeremy Travis
The faculty and students of John Jay College of Criminal Justice
899 Tenth Avenue New York, NY, 10019
May 4, 2011
To Chairperson Benno Schmidt and the Board of Trustees:
At the May 2 public meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees, which was broadcast on CUNY television and radio, Trustee Jeffrey S. Weisenfeld delivered a grotesque caricature of my political beliefs regarding the state of Israel, concocted out of three carefully cropped, contextless quotes taken from interviews I’ve given, the mention of my name on the blog of someone with whom I have no connection whatsoever, and the fact that I serve on the advisory board of a political organization with which Mr. Weisenfeld strongly disagrees. As far as I’m able to conclude from the podcast of this meeting, Mr. Weisenfeld spoke for about four minutes, the first half of which was a devoted to a recounting of the politics of former President of Ireland and UN Human Rights High Commissioner Mary Robinson that was as false as his description of mine.
Ms. Robinson, however, was not on public trial; I was, apparently, and at the conclusion of Mr. Weisenfeld’s vicious attack on me, eight members voted to approve all the honorary degree candidates, including me, and four voted to oppose the slate if my name remained on it. Lacking the requisite nine votes to approve the entire slate, the Board, in what sounds on the podcast like a scramble to dispense with the whole business, tabled my nomination, approved the other candidates, and adjourned. Not a word was spoken in my defense. More »
Jewish, New York — In a surprise move another group of Reform Jews came out not so much in support of Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who has recently endured attacks over his approach to Zionism, but rather against Jews Against Divisive Leadership.
“All of a sudden there is this ad in the print edition of the Jewish paper and we are supposed to see that?” asks youth leader David Stern-Cohen-Burg, a member of Congregation Peace Love and Tzedek who is heading up Jewish Community Members Against Jews Against Divisive Leadership. “But when JTA published that divisive op-ed the other day and it popped up in my Twitter feed, I couldn’t get a group together fast enough through Facebook so I had to actually email a bunch of people.”
This group, mostly of younger Jews who fit into the models that have been presented after actual research (and not edict from traditional community leaders) that note young Jews have trouble associated with a more theocratic and anti-Arab Israel, have called upon the 35 member strong organization against divisiveness, to “shut up.” More »
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