A few weeks ago, someone asked me to find him an introductory book about Judaism- seemingly an easy task for someone who spends as much time as I do studying Torah. I promised to get back to him- and set off in search of the perfect book.
I wanted it to be simple. Understandable to an English speaking Canadian with no prior knowledge of Judaism. But as I started to read the simple books- to get a sense of what they would be like for a first time reader- I noticed that these books could not possibly represent my religion.
In my world- nothing is simple. Especially judaism. All at once the idea of boiling down thousands of years of tradition into a simple, introductory text seemed like the worst idea ever. How could anyone try to explain judaism in simple words? In one book? How could anyone possibly understand judaism without first living in a jewish community like the one I grew up in, and then living in another jewish community that was totally different- and in another that didn’t even try to be the same? How could anyone begin to approach the Torah without at least having read the five books of moses, and some mishnah, and some talmud and a little bit of the tosephta?
In short, over the course of a few weeks, I felt myself slowly getting in touch with my inner Beit Shamai- and I reminded myself of a story:
“There was a certain gentile who came to Shamai and said: “Convert me- on the condition that you teach me the entire torah while I stand on one foot.” Shamai pushed him away with his measuring stick. (then) He came before Hillel- and he converted him. He (Hillel) said to him: What is hateful to you- do not do it to your fellow person- that is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary- go and learn.” (Shabbat 31a)
It seems to me that Shamai, here, is impatient with the very idea of learning Torah quickly. He has devoted his life to the study of it, and knows that it is full of complexity. A person cannot learn the entire torah while standing on one foot- or maybe ever- it is too rich a tradition. He worries that a person who learns such a small amount of Torah before committing his life to it, will end up living a life that is antithetical to it- not at all what g-d wanted. On the other hand, Hillel sees that the man in front of him is seeking wisdom, and wants to live a life of goodness- but that before he devotes his own life to learning, he wants to be sure that what he will be learning is worthwhile, and true. So he needs to know what it is all about. For that, Hillel has an answer- one that still rings true to me, many generations later- that the Torah is all about being good to others.
So when I finally came up with a reading list- I surprised myself from accompanying it, not with the comforting words of Beit Hillel- but with the caution of Beit Shamai. “Everything in this book” I found myself saying “is at least a hundred times more complicated than it seems.”
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” –Mark Twain
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Mechon Hadar has placed all the audio from their recent Independent MinyanConference online, so those of us who weren’t there can listen and respond from afar. So we’ll be writing a series of posts here reacting to various sessions from the conference. And I’m starting with the keynote address by Professor Steven M. Cohen (not to be confused with Rep. Steve Cohen) on “The Groomed and the Bloomed: Varied Paths to Engagement in Independent Minyanim”. You can listen to the MP3 and view the PowerPoint presentation.
The yeshiva created by the Hadar empire is going full-time/year-round, with stipend and everything. Applications are due February 1st. Deets are here:
Mechon Hadar is excited to announce that it is now accepting applications for the both the summer 2009 session and the first-ever year-round session (2009-2010) of Yeshivat Hadar. More »
Self promotion alert (and no - it does not involve the selling of anything apart from Torah). As some of you already know, I launched g-dcast.com two weeks ago for Simchat Torah. Sadly this website was down and I couldn’t let ya’ll know. I hope you’ll go check out our cartoons for parshas Bereshit and Noah while you’re foolin around, I mean, learning on the innertubes.
Each episode is wildly different and this week’s is a music video sung through Sarah’s point of view, courtesy of the wonderful duo Stereo Sinai of Chicago. They wrote this Lech Lecha song on a G-dcast commission, and we can’t get it out of our heads!
If you like this, I hope you’ll pass it along to a teacher, Hillel rabbi, or teen near you. We have teacher’s guides up on the website, thanks to Matthue Roth, and all the animation is done by the amazing Nick Fox-Gieg.
Just in case you missed this last week, a high school in St/ Louis has suspended at least four students for hitting Jewish classmates on the newly coined “Hit a Jew Day.” Kidding, right? Nope.
It began with an unofficial “Spirit Week” among sixth-graders that started harmlessly enough with a “Hug a Friend Day.” Then there was “High Five Day.”
Soon, though, the days moved from friendly to silly. Next there was “Hit a Tall Person Day” and, finally, “Hit a Jew Day.”
…”There is a mix of sadness and outrage,” [District spokesperson Paul] Tandy said. “The concern is a lot of kids knew about it and they didn’t take action or say anything.”
My question … why wasn’t anyone outraged at students hitting inventing an excuse to hit people until it got to ethnic ugliness? Your tax dollars at work….WTF?
Well, now they have a new book out, called Walking With Justice, and it is truly fantastic. (I had some time to sit with it a few weeks ago, and was really impressed.) It features units on social justice in the Prophets and Rabbinic literature, and topical units on things like the environment, business practices, globalism, Israeli society, special-needs folk, and kashrut (which is, of course, extra relevant these days). It should also be noted that one unit was penned by Jewshool’s own Aryeh Cohen.
You can download both books (chapter by chapter, as .pdfs) here.
This past January, The Mandel Center at Brandeis put on a conference on teaching rabbinics; it was, all reports indicate, completely amazing. Lucky for us, the Mandel Center folks were nice enough to record and share a lot of the teaching that took place that week, so we can play now, too.
Go here for a list of the sessions that have videos, powerpoint, handouts and such, and enjoy!
ICED, or I Can End Deportation is a game by Breakthrough a group saying of itself that it is an International Human Rights organization that uses education and popular culture to promote values of dignity, equality and justice.
From the Breakthrough website:
Breakthrough’s video game, ICED, puts you in the shoes of an immigrant to illustrate how unfair immigration laws deny due process and violate human rights. These laws affect all immigrants: legal residents, those fleeing persecution, students and undocumented people.
ICED has been featured in overwhelming amounts of press including: MTV News, Game Daily and has been covered on popular blogs including, Gothamist and The Huffington Post…
How do you play?
THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES
Game Play:
As an immigrant teen you are avoiding ICE officers, choosing right from wrong and answering questions on immigration. But if you answer questions incorrectly, or make poor decisions, you will be detained with no respect for your human rights.
There is also a downloadable curriculum and a discussion guide. There are also flash animations - on additional topics, like AIDS and gay marriage.
In a course at the U of North Texas, R’ Geoffrey Dennis asked his students to offer a kabbalistic commentary on U2’s mysterious ways. He’s posted some of the choicest bits over at his blog.
Johnny take a dive with your sister in the rain
K.Gr. - Water = Divine experience.
A.D. - Go to the waterside and pray. The Shekhinah will reveal the hidden to you and your soul will awaken.
W. Got - [Into] the feminine side of the Sefirot power.
K.F. - Let [God's] glory fall on you; dive as deep as you can.
Let her talk about the things you can’t explain
J.P.H. - The esoteric.
V.I. - Donkey drivers and women can reveal things that are profound, even thought they don’t seem important.
C.D. - A tzadik or rebbe is required to talk about the things you [the hasid] can’t explain yourself.
K.F. - Find the meaning, keep asking questions.
Anybody got any other pop songs with obvious kabbalistic imagery? YehuditBrachah once told me that “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bil Withers is about the departure of the Shekhina. Full story.
If you have ever dreamed of opening a nonprofit, Jewish specialty camp, now is your chance! The Foundation for Jewish Camp is proud to announce its newest initiative: The Specialty Camps Incubator.
Through an $8.4 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Specialty Camps Incubator will provide consulting and financial support over five years to four entrepreneurs, organizations or camp professionals as they develop and open their new camps in non-traditional settings such as school or college campuses. The Incubator will launch in November 2008.
Recent studies estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of Jewish children between the ages of 11-16 in the United States who are currently not attending Jewish summer camp, but are increasingly attracted to secular specialty summer programs. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to provide an exciting Jewish alternative.
What are you waiting for? Your great idea could be the “hottest” new Jewish specialty camp, and the Foundation for Jewish Camp is ready to help!
Your Letter of Intent is due by May 1st, so apply today.
Find out more about the Incubator and the application process at www.jewishcamping.org/incubator. Please email incubator-at-jewishcamping-dot-org with any questions.
The Union for Reform Judaism has announced that its daily 10 Minutes of Torah email (with over 20,000 subscribers) is making every Tuesday “Mishnah Day”. This weekly Mishnah study will include Hebrew text, English translation, and commentary, and begins next week at the beginning, with Masechet Berachot.
As a blogger who has been both a frequent defender of Reform Judaism and critic of the Reform movement, I think this is excellent news. This is exactly the direction that the Reform movement should be going in. If done well. “Mishnah Day” will enable people to engage directly with the primary sources that constitute the foundation for all subsequent Jewish tradition (in any denomination) while looking at these texts through a perspective infused with progressive Jewish values, and will give people the tools to make informed decisions about their individual and communal practices.
To subscribe by email or RSS, go to the website and select “Tuesday”. (It still says “Hebrew Connections” right now, but I assume they’ll fix that.)
I produced this event last year but this year am excited to attend as a pure consumer…come with?
The Young Adult Feast of Jewish Learning
Sunday, March 30 - 4:00 - 9:30 pm
at the JCCSF at 3200 California Street in San Francisco
This event is free and incredibly welcoming. It is one of the only times during the year that in the Bay Area, Jews of literally every stripe come together to learn Torah. There are workshops for those with huge Jewish backgrounds as well as for those who are just beginning an exploration. There will be 22 classes on everything from comedy to Yiddish to cooking to prayer to social justice to kabbalah to Maimonides to lust. The food is kosher, there will be free beer and a reggae act.
This is a really, really good way to get a taste of what’s up Jewishly in the Bay Area, and probably to meet some people too. I really can’t recommend it highly enough. Check out the lineup and logistics here
My former classmate Matt Bar is the founder of The Bible Raps Project, “a holistic educational venture centered on rap music, aimed at creating a sense of wonder and appreciation for Biblical Jewish texts and Midrash.” He has an album due out this summer which integrates original pieces with online curriculum.
This won’t be the last time we get to enjoy Matt’s entertainment/education excellent-ness. This independent video was produced in Jerusalem and we now bring it to you here:
English translation will follow shortly (in the comments). I felt it important to write in French after being back in Quebec for a week…
Et les Montréalais ne vois rien de mal à leur perspective «orthodoxe est le seul judaïsme nous [ne] pratiquons [pas]»? Ceux qui me connaissent ont déjà entendu mon discours contre la communauté juive de Montréal. Les options sont orthodoxes, orthodoxes, ou conservadoxes. Oui, il y a une synagogue réforme classique à Westmount. Et, oui, il y a une synagogue reconstructioniste à Côte-St-Luc. Mais pour un homme shomer Shabbos vivant sur le côté est, ces deux options ne sont pas viables. Selon les statistiques, je les appris par coeur dans un cours universitaire, Montréal est la seule ville en Amérique du Nord ayant plus orthodoxe que conservateurs et réformateurs juifs (c’est-à-dire, il y a très peu de Juifs qui s’identifient réformateurs ou conservateurs, même ceux qui mangent leurs hamburgers avec fromage). Il s’agit d’une ville où le discours d’ouverture sur les premières pages de l’annuaire des entreprises juives a commencé par une blague contre les réformateurs - et personne n’a jugé inapproprié.
Donc, il je ne suis pas étonné quand je vois que les effets de la fermeture et l’insularité de la communauté orthodoxe ont fait des ravages sur la société québécoise.
Un sondage national mené à la suite de la commission sur les «accommodements raisonnables» révèle une disparité frappante entre les attitudes Québécois à l’égard des Juifs et celles des autres Canadiens. Le sondage commandé par l’Association d’études canadiennes (AEC) et effectué par Léger Marketing entre le 31 Janvier et 4 février a demandé à 1500 Canadiens s’ils étaient en accord avec, en désaccord avec, ou ne savaient pas/n’ont pas d’opinion sur une série de déclarations concernant les juifs et l’antisémitisme. Selon les résultats du sondage, 41% des Québécois étaient en accord, tandis qu’un autre 41% étaient en désaccord avec l’idée que «les Juifs veulent imposer leurs coutumes et leurs traditions aux autres». Par contre, face à cette même idée, le reste du Canada étaient en accord à 11%, et en désaccord à 74%. La moyenne nationale était de 19% d’accord et 64% en désaccord.
Quant à une autre déclaration - «les Juifs veulent participer pleinement à la société» – 41% des Québécois étaient en désaccord, et 31% étaient en accord, à comparer au reste du Canada qui a répondu en désaccord à 8% et en accord à 72%. La moyenne nationale était de 16% en désaccord et 63% en accord.
À l’idée «les juifs ont apporté une importante contribution à la société», 35% des Québécois étaient en désaccord et 41% étaient en accord, tandis qu’au reste du Canada 10% étaient en désaccord et 74% étaient en accord. La moyenne canadienne était de 16% en désaccord et 65% en accord. [citation.]
Ne vous méprenez pas: je suis attristé que, en l’an 2008, à la société civilisée du monde occidental, les gens peuvent toujours penser si à l’envers. Dans le cas du Québec, je pense que la responsabilité est double et de grands changements sont nécessaires. More »
Hey kids, are you looking for a way to get out of studying for that English test? Take a page from some British Jewish students who boycotted the Shakespeare section of the national English test, and claim antisemitism!
The 14-year-old girls, whose actions were supported by their parents, The Independent said were protesting anti-Semitism in Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. The exam questions they refused to answer were actually about The Tempest, a different work of Shakespeare’s.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. I was a physics major in college, and I busted my ass learning quantum mechanics when I could have skipped the test instead, on the grounds that Heisenberg was employed by Hitler.
Finally, I’m boycotting the Torah, because whoever (or Whoever) wrote it is clearly an antisemite (or a self-hating Jew). I mean, they go out of their way to portray Jews in an unfavorable light, reviving all the tired stereotypes. Look at the evidence: Jacob tricks Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew. The Israelites run off with the Egyptians’ gold and silver. And don’t get me started on “an eye for an eye”.
JTA (and inside sources) report that Brandeis has selected a winner in their competition for Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation (i.e., “the next big idea in Jewish life”). According to this article “the idea is based on the contest held by Sears Roebuck and Co. chairman Julius Rosenwald in 1929, in which Rosenwald offered $10,000 to the person who could answer the question: ‘How can Judaism best adjust itself to and influence modern life?’ Sixty-two contestants answered the question over two years, until Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, submitted his work ‘Judaism as a Civilization’ and won.”
Mazal tov, Yehuda!
Brandeis names competion winner
Brandeis University selected a Harvard graduate student as the winner in its competition for a visiting professorship and book deal, JTA has learned.
Yehuda Kurtzer, who is finishing his doctorate in Jewish history at Harvard University, won for his proposal, “Shuva: the Sacred Task of Rebuilding Jewish Memory.”
Brandeis and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies offered a two-year visiting professorship and a book deal to the person who could come up with the best proposal for a book that would transform the way Jews think about themselves and Judaism.
Kurtzer’s book would be a combined history, theological statement and prescription for programming that can help Jews access their history through text study to create meaningful Jewish experiences, Kurtzer said Sunday at a Brandeis symposium for the five finalists in the competition. The open competition garnered 231 applicants.
The school would not comment on the selection until after the official announcement.
