by chillul Who? · Monday, April 28th, 2008
Yesterday afternoon, as Passover came to a close for many of us, I had the opportunity to be part of a “Ba’al Shem Tov Meal”, a Jewish ritual very different from what I’m used to. My friend ML is a 10th- or 12th-generation direct descendant of Reb Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov, itinerant mystic and 17th-century founder of Hasidism, and as such, has inherited a unique practice which has been observed in her family meticulously and without fail each year: They cook exactly 31 matza balls, with one larger than the others, and sit around to hear the recitation (in Yiddish or in partial English translation) of the story of Reb YBST’s attempt to bring the Mashiach by travelling to Israel to meet The Ohr HaChaim, Rav Chaim IbnAttar, with whom he believed he shared King David’s reincarnated soul.
So about twenty of us friends of ML sat around her studio apartment, munching on Matza Lasagna, salads, and 31 matza balls sponsored by Moishe House Silver Spring, and listened to ML read her cousin’s recently completed translation of the entire story. It was good times, and there was a lot of joking about the historicity of the improbable tale, but what struck me more than the fun, the lively company, or the food, was the devotion and persistence with which this Passover custom had been passed down through the generations. Its power was such that ML, one of my most cynical friends, could not imagine letting the last day of Pesach pass without making a Ba’al Shem Tov Meal of her own, complete with all 31 matza balls, and an (irreverant but) attentive audience.
For the past 260 years her extended family members have gathered in their homes yearly to keep this story going, and despite its different variants (was the daughter named Udel or Adel? Was Reb Yisrael attacked by ghouls or pirates?)Â the tale is remarkably cohesive. It seems like Reb YBST was successful when he started this practice so long ago. If you could make sure your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren were telling a story about your life more than two centuries from now, what story would you want them to tell? And how would you see to it that they did?
An extremely-truncated version of the story told at the Ba’al Shem Tov Meal can be found here.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Recent postings on the uterus problem (see here) have been right to question the tshuvah that recently was issued from the bowels of the CJLS. I’m sorry that I got scooped on this because it’s a long standing argument that I have been having with my teachers (whom I respect very much, despite our disagreements) for years now. First of all, here is the URL for the actual tshuvah. I recommend reading it.
Secondly, I want to give kudos to Rabbi Jill Jacobs’ and Rabbi Jason Miller’s comments on the post at jspot. Both of them note that there need to be more social supports put in place for people to have children, Rabbi Jacobs noting:
–Would rabbinical students be more willing to have kids while in grad school if the rabbinical schools offered on-site child care?
–Would it be easier for Jewish women professionals (and men) to participate in professional conferences (such as the RA, from which I just returned, and where I bumped into a few poor women trying to nurse on the floor of the bathroom), if these conferences offered nursing rooms, child care, or other accommodations? (a shout out to the Wexner Foundation for being a leader in this regard)
–Would Jewish women professionals be able more easily to “have it all†if more Jewish institutions offered flex time, family health insurance, on-site child care, and paid for child care when the mom or dad is on the road?
And Rabbi Miller adding:
— not just for the women. As a 26-year-old rabbinical student whose wife was working full-time, I often felt the challenge of sitting in a class while bottle-feeding my baby son. An on-site day-care facility at JTS would have been an important resource.
He also on his own blog made some comments.
(Although I do want to note that I can’t imagine why any women were nursing on the floor of the bathroom, since the hotel in question is luxurious to the point of ridiculousness, and the WC had an anteroom with, I’m told, quite comfortable chairs and, I’m told by a nursing friend, the heat turned way up so that it was a perfectly comfortable place to strip down and nurse if necessary. Of course, the very luxuriousness of the hotel was apparently rather a sore point amongst the many, many Conservative rabbis who lack large convention stipends or, indeed, any, such as those who aren’t pulpit rabbis, or who are, but whose pulpits are more modest, say, under 500 members. A sore point indeed).
More »
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Today is the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.
These years have not been easy years, and certainly for many of them, we have had to spend our energy trying to fight those who would overturn it. But it is a struggle we must continue with. To go back to the days before Roe v. Wade would be a disaster: in the dark days in which abortions were outlawed in most states, women died, regularly, of botched abortions. I don’t suppose it’s news to anyone that that’s the case, but just in case, let’s review a current case: Nicaragua.
Since Nicaragua outlawed abortions once again in 2006, we know of - for certain- over 100 women who have died. Keep in mind those are the ones who were reported, who made news; we will probably never know how many women really.
Over at Human Rights Watch, check out their report, from which I quote:
A medical doctor at a large public hospital in Managua, however, testified to one case:
Here [at this hospital] we have had women who have died.… For example, [name withheld] came here and had an ultrasound. It was clear that she needed a therapeutic abortion. No one wanted to carry out the abortion because the fetus was still alive. The woman was here two days without treatment until she expulsed the fetus on her own. And by then she was already in septic shock and died five days later. That was in March 2007.
More »
by feygele · Sunday, December 16th, 2007
Since 1992, Israel has slowly been examining the legal status of, and equal rights of, homosexuals (specifically, gays and lesbians), starting with legislation prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. By comparison, depending on the definition of “sexual orientation” and employment in the public versus private sectors, only 20-30 US states have legislations prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexuality. In Canada, LGBT folks have been protected implicitly since the 1985 introduction of section 15 of the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the court explicitly noted the inclusion of sexual orientation in 1995 and added the language to the federal charter in 1996.
The main benchmarks for gay and lesbian rights in Israel include:
- 1992: legislation prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (this included exemptions for religious organizations);
- 1993: homosexuals can openly serve in the army;
- 1994: same-sex couples can register for common law marriage;
- 1994-2001: equal rights extended to same-sex spouses, including spousal benefits, survivor benefits, pension rights, and guardianship of spouse’s children;
- 2005: gays and lesbians can legally adopt each other’s children (more below);
- 2006: Israel recognizes same-sex marriage performed abroad (court case focused on gay couple married in Canada; actual registration of their marriage in Israel happened in early 2007).
Which brings us to today. The Israeli government is considering broadening adoption rights for lesbian and gay couples. (Or, as Haaretz has termed it, “single-sex couples.”)
Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog is launching policy that would allow single-sex families to adopt children in Israel who bear no biological connection to them. [Read more.]
It is legal in Israel for gays and lesbians to adopt the biological children of their partners. But, with the exception of one case in 2005, it has not been possible for a couple to adopt a baby/child whom they are not biologically related to.
More »
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Thursday, August 16th, 2007
The Forward reports on “highest-level case in American history involving the right to circumcision is slated to be heard this fall, when the Oregon Supreme Court rules on whether a father can have his 12-year-old son undergo the procedure.”
The basis of the case is a nasty custody battle, with the father a recent convert to Judaism. The mother claims that the boy is afraid to tell his father that he does not want to be circumcised. I note that there is no mention of whether the boy has an opinion on the conversion (at least none in this article) itself. The mother also claims that the child would be psychologically and physically harmed by the procedure (I wonder what our Muslim fellow citizens think of that?)
.
The thing that’s unusual about the case is that generally American courts stay out of cases involving religion such as this. The Forward comments:
The acceptance of the case by Oregon’s highest court is surprising, because judges generally grant a wide degree of latitude to custodial parents — so much so, in fact, that the state’s Court of Appeals rejected the mother’s case without issuing an opinion. If the Oregon Supreme Court decides to review the merits of the father’s plan for circumcision, it will almost inevitably weigh in on two related issues: the right of custodial parents to guide their children’s religious upbringings, and the weight that religious considerations should be given when considering the welfare of a child.
Because of this, the stakes are generally conceded to be high by everyone, and so badvocates for both sides of the story are getting their elbows in the door.
All I have to say: It doesn’t bode well for the poor kid - Ms. Boldt (the mother) may be full of concern for her son’s psychological health, but I wonder if maybe they could iron out some of these other matters first - like what his name is.
by BZ · Monday, May 21st, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: Mourning and monarchy
586. “If a man has a wayward and defiant son …. Thereupon the people of his town shall stone [the son] to death.” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) = don’t be a wayward and rebellious son
587. “For her he may defile himself.” (Leviticus 21:3) = the exception to #590 is that a priest may become tamei (unclean) by coming into contact with a dead body when a close relative dies; likewise, everyone (not just priests) is to mourn for deceased relatives.
588. “[The high priest] may not defile himself even for his father or mother.” (Leviticus 21:11)
589. “[The high priest] may not go in where there is any dead body.” (Leviticus 21:11)
590. “[A priest] may not defile himself for any [dead] person among his kin, except for the relatives that are closest to him.” (Leviticus 21:1)
591. “Set a king over yourselves, one chosen by Adonai your God.” (Deuteronomy 17:15)
592. “You must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kin.” (Deuteronomy 17:15)
593. “[The king] shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray.” (Deuteronomy 17:17)
594. “[The king] shall not keep many horses.” (Deuteronomy 17:16)
595. “[The king] shall not amass gold and silver to excess.” (Deuteronomy 17:17)
596. “You must proscribe them — the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.” (Deuteronomy 20:17)
597. “You shall not let a soul remain alive.” (Deuteronomy 20:16) = of the nations in #596
598. “You shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 25:19)
599. “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 25:17)
600. “Do not forget.” (Deuteronomy 25:19) = what Amalek did to you
by BZ · Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
Today: Priests and beasts.
(Introduction.)
166. “A mamzer shall not enter the congregation of God; even the tenth generation shall not enter the congregation of God.” (Deuteronomy 23:3) = someone born into an illicit relationship can’t marry another Jew
167. “No one whose testes are crushed or whose member is cut off shall enter the congregation of God.” (Deuteronomy 23:2)
168. “You shall not do this in your land.” (Leviticus 22:24) = castration
169. “A widow … [the high priest] shall not marry.” (Leviticus 21:14)
170. “…and he shall not profane his offspring among his kin.” (Leviticus 21:15) = the high priest can’t have sex with a widow even if they’re not married
171. “[The high priest] shall marry a woman who is a virgin.” (Leviticus 21:13)
172. “[Priests] shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband.” (Leviticus 21:7)
173. “A woman who is a prostitute … [priests] shall not marry.” (Leviticus 21:7)
174. “A woman who is profaned, [priests] shall not marry.” (Leviticus 21:7) = born into one of the relationships forbidden for priests (e.g. #169, #172) and thus forbidden to marry a priest
175. “None of you shall go near anyone of his/her own flesh to uncover nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:6) = any of the forbidden relationships, even if there’s no sex per se
176. “These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals: any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and chews its cud — such you may eat.” (Leviticus 11:2-3) = examine mammals to distinguish between permitted and forbidden
177. “You may eat any clean bird.” (Deuteronomy 14:11) = examine birds to distinguish between permitted and forbidden
178. “These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales — these you may eat.” (Leviticus 11:9) = examine fish to distinguish between permitted and forbidden
179. “These you may eat among all the winged swarming things that walk on fours: all that have, above their feet, jointed legs to leap with on the ground.” (Leviticus 11:21) = examine insects to distinguish between permitted and forbidden
180. “The following you shall not eat:” (Leviticus 11:4) = any mammals that don’t both chew their cud and have split hoofs
by BZ · Monday, April 16th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: More sex
151. “Do not approach [your father's brother's] wife; she is your aunt.” (Leviticus 18:14)
152. “Do not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law.” (Leviticus 18:15)
153. “Do not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife.” (Leviticus 18:16)
154. “Do not marry a woman as a rival to her sister and uncover her nakedness in the other’s lifetime.” (Leviticus 18:18)
155. “Do not lie with a beast.” (Leviticus 18:23)
156. “A woman shall not stand before a beast to mate with it.” (Leviticus 18:23)
157. “A male do not lie the lyings of a woman.” (Leviticus 18:22) = there are many interpretations of this verse, but the Rambam understands it as prohibiting sex between any two men
158. “Your father’s nakedness … you shall not uncover.” (Leviticus 18:7)
159. “Do not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother.” (Leviticus 18:14)
160. “Do not lie with your neighbor’s wife.” (Leviticus 18:21)
161. “Do not approach a woman during her menstrual impurity to uncover her nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:19)
162. “You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.” (Deuteronomy 7:3)
163. “No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of God” (Deuteronomy 23:4) = to marry Jews
164. “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in their land. Children born to them may be admitted into the congregation of God in the third generation.” (Deuteronomy 23:8-9)
165. “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for they are your kin … Children born to them may be admitted into the congregation of God in the third generation.” (Deuteronomy 23:8-9)
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, April 15th, 2007
Rabbi Einat Ramon’s article in this week’s Washington Jewish Week continues to emphasize her position as a student of her teacher Rabbi Joel Roth, as opposing ordination for gays and lesbians at Machon Schechter, the Masorti seminary in Jerusalem.
In this article, as before, she stresses what she considers to be the difference between allowing women public positions of authority and participation, and allowing such positions for homosexual men and women:
Whereas there are no precedents for homosexual marriages or homosexual unions in Jewish sources, there are quite a few precedents for female religious and even legal leadership in the Torah and in the Talmud (Deborah, Hulda, Miriam, Bruriah, etc.).
Discrimination against women in the written and oral Torah often reflected the surrounding cultures, and was less severe than in other cultures. For women to teach, preach and rule on Jewish Law were never a religious problem. Thus, it is not surprising that all Jewish legal changes involving the broadening of women’s participation in the synagogue have been based on clear and documented precedents.
While I’m perfectly happy to grant that there may be halakhic difficulties with homosexual acts following a traditional reading of texts, somehow her entire approach strikes me as, at best, tendentious.
Her earlier memo on this topic noted, “Today in particular, when the traditional family is in trouble, it is especially important that we ordain modern rabbis who are devoted to this institution and identify with this worldview…” and said that, Judaism “regards the union between a man a woman who are sexually and emotionally different from one another as a complementary covenant of friendship and intimacy, which forms the basis for procreation and childrearing… This is why Jewish law has so fervently opposed sexual relations between members of the same sex …and why the heterosexual family has played such a vital role throughout the ages in the transmission of Jewish values and the survival of the Jewish people.”
Nothing personal but… how can I possibly take this seriously? More »
by BZ · Saturday, April 14th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: Mawwiage
121. “When you are at war in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, you shall sound short blasts on the trumpets, that you may be remembered before Adonai your God and be delivered from your enemies.” (Numbers 10:9) = public fasts in times of trouble
122. “When a man marries a woman…” (Deuteronomy 24:1) = to get married with ketubah and kiddushin
123. “No Israelite woman shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any Israelite man be a cult prostitute.” (Deuteronomy 23:18) = no sex without ketubah and kiddushin
124. “He must not withhold her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.” (Exodus 21:10)
125. “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28)
126. “He shall write her a document of divorce.” (Deuteronomy 24:1) = to divorce with a get
127. “The first husband who divorced her shall not marry her again.” (Deuteronomy 24:4) = a woman who has been divorced and remarried, and the second marriage was terminated
128. “When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and leaves no son, … [the surviving brother] shall marry [the widow of the deceased].” (Deuteronomy 25:5) = levirate marriage
129. “If he insists, saying ‘I do not want to marry her’, his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull the sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and make this declaration: ‘Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his brother’s house!’” (Deuteronomy 25:9)
130. “The wife of the deceased shall not be married to a stranger, outside the family.” (Deuteronomy 25:5) = in a case of levirate marriage (#128), until the chalitzah procedure (#129) is carried out, or the surviving brother dies or is otherwise exempted
131. “If a man seduces a virgin … he must weigh out silver in accordance with the bride-price for virgins.” (Exodus 22:15-16)
132. “She shall be his wife.” (Deuteronomy 22:29) = similar case to #131, but this time force is involved
133. “Because he has violated her, he can never have the right to divorce her.” (Deuteronomy 22:29)
134. “She shall remain his wife.” (Deuteronomy 22:19) = a man marries a woman and claims she wasn’t a virgin when they got married, and evidence is presented to the contrary
135. “He shall never have the right to divorce her.” (Deuteronomy 22:19) = same case as #134
by Shir-Yaakov ùéø–éò÷á · Thursday, February 1st, 2007
Elat Chayyim at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center has just opened online registration for all of our Spring and Summer Retreats and Training Institutes.
Other than the weekend and week-long retreats featuring Jewish meditation, yoga, kabbalah, prayer, organic farming, wilderness trips, and family programs, we also have four two-year training programs beginning this year:
There are new internship opportunities, and the ADAMAH: Jewish Environmental Fellowship is accepting applications. There are even a few job opportunities if you want to come and work with us at Freedman; feel free to contact us.
More »
by deitybox · Sunday, January 21st, 2007
Each year, an Israeli organization called Tsad Kadima (Step Forward) hosts the Hike for Hope (website will be updated this week), a three-day hike on the Israel Trail on May 2-4 to raise money for kids with cerebral palsy. They’re a great organization, and it’s a really innovative way to give to a good cause.
You register, then you work to get sponsored at least $1,000, so if they have 45 hikers, they’ve just made $45,000 to help kids with CP and you get an amazing life-changing experience. Win-win situation. The registration fee covers all hike costs – food, tents, mattresses, etc. Shared cabins are additional.
Tsad Kadima is hosting two informational meetings, one in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv. Go, bring a friend, get involved. If you can’t hike, consider co-sponsoring someone.
In Jerusalem:
Monday, January 22 @ 19:30
Kehillat Yedidya, 23 Nahum Lifshitz St., Baka, Jerusalem (contact marc {at} amav(.)net)
In Tel Aviv:
Monday, February 5 @ 20:00
17/3 Rechov Yishkon, Kerem HaTeimanim, Tel Aviv
(contact yonawise {at} 013(.)net)
For more details, call 02-654-0062 or email step {at} zahav.net(.)il
by BZ · Wednesday, November 15th, 2006
I just got back last week from a very quick trip to Israel. I was at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa for the commemoration of my great-great-grandfather Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck’s 50th yahrtzeit. My parents and I were there as special guests — my father and I are two of only 7 living descendants of Leo Baeck (the others are my grandmother, my two younger siblings, and my two younger cousins).
Leo Baeck was born in 1873. He studied in all three major Jewish movements as well as the University of Berlin, and was ordained at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. As a rabbi, he served congregations throughout (what was then) Germany, ending up in Berlin. His two major works were The Essence of Judaism (1905), in which he contrasted Judaism with Christianity and argued that Judaism was distinguished by the inseparability of faith and action/commandment, and This People Israel (1955), which he wrote in the concentration camp and published after the war.
Baeck was a liberal rabbi who was highly respected by all streams of German Jewry. So when the Nazis came to power and life got worse for the Jews, Baeck became the recognized leader of the German Jewish community. After Kristallnacht, Baeck’s 13-year-old granddaughter (my grandmother) emigrated to London on a Kindertransport, and her parents (Baeck’s daughter and son-in-law) followed soon after. (Baeck’s wife had died before the war.) With his stature and connections, Baeck had many opportunities before and during the war to flee Germany to safety, but he chose to stay behind, pledging that as long as any Jews remained in Germany, he would be their rabbi. After being arrested several times, he was finally deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943. In the concentration camp, Baeck would teach classes at night to the other inmates, providing inspiration in the most adverse circumstances. Baeck survived Theresienstadt, and was reunited with his family in London after the war. He died in November 1956, 50 years ago this month.
More »
by shamirpower · Friday, August 25th, 2006
Today marks the first of Elul, the month in the Jewish calendar that focuses us on the last stages of fully preparing for the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe). Rosh Hashanah will be four weeks from tonight!
I am pleased, delighted, honor, and just plain excited to share with all of you my first ever professionally published article at MyJewishLearning.com. Though I wrote using my “professional Jewish educator” hat, I believe it also falls quite nicely into my life goals for empowering Jews to creatively express their personal practice while simulaneously engaging with the tradition. Additionally, just because the article talks about doing these activities as a family, most are appropriate for adults as well.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Starting on the first Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, we begin to recite the daily selichot service, a series of penitential prayers that overlap in form, theme and content with sections of the High Holiday liturgy. One of the sections that is repeated many times both in this service and then later in the high holiday liturgy is the passage enumerating the thirteen attributes of mercy. In the original text from Exodus, Moses asks God for permission to “see” God face to face. [God declines, but instead allows Moses to look over His shoulder]
…
The mystery in this story lies in what Moses actually sees. The Torah likely did not mean to imply that God takes a literal human form. Rather, God gives Moses a glimpse of the world by looking over God’s shoulder; in other words, Moses sees the world from God’s perspective. Elul is about trying to understand the impact that our actions have on other people. Perhaps when Moses says “Let me behold Your Presence,†God’s response isn’t about literally seeing God from Moses’ perspective, but affording Moses the opportunity to see the world from God’s perspective.
…
Take turns looking over each other’s shoulders. If your family members have significant height differences, pick each other up or stand on chairs to get higher, or bend down to get lower. Lie down on the grass and see the world perspective of the ants; follow around your pet dog or baby sister by crawling. What do you see now that you couldn’t before?
Now think back to someone you are asking forgiveness from, or someone you need to forgive. Is there something you are not seeing because you are too stubborn to look at the situation from their perspective?
by Danya · Friday, August 4th, 2006
As we move from Tisha B’Av to Tu B’Av….
This fall, I decided to write a paper for a rabbinical school class on kiddushin (betrothal, now usually the first half of the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony). Halakha pretty much defines kosher kiddushin as the groom’s acquisition of the bride; was there a way to structure a ceremony that was both embedded in/committed to halakha and had a more egalitarian sensibility, didn’t buy anybody, or at least gave the woman some agency other than silent consent in the process?
I wrote my little paper, came to Jerusalem in January, and discovered that I couldn’t escape the question–a class I was taking was all over it, a study group I joined had already been focusing on it, newly engaged friends were asking me for advice….
I heard a lot of shitot (um, models) for how one might approach the kiddushin issue, a lot of things a person might do under the chuppah with various halakhic rationales. So I’ve decided to collect them. I don’t love them all equally, but I see my job as sharing some of the ideas that are floating around, more than anything.
As such, please check out my new website, The Kiddushin Variations. It’s a collection of a lot of the shitot that I’ve been hearing, indended primarily as a resource for rabbis and people getting married, but also a site for discussion and debate about these issues (though I screen comments, so no flames please!)
Since it’s meant to be a resource, please blog and link about it, so the folks who seek something like this can start to find it.
And if you have a great idea that’s not yet on the site, please drop me a line.
(X-posted to Jerusalem Syndrome)
by John Brown · Saturday, July 8th, 2006
The Times (UK) reports:
The father of the young soldier held captive by Palestinian gunmen increased the pressure on Israel’s government yesterday by urging them to negotiate his son’s release. “In the end it will be necessary to pay a price for Gilad’s freedom,” said Noam Shalit, whose 19-year-old son was seized from Israeli territory two weeks ago. “I don’t understand why the government is delaying negotiations on this price.”
Full story here.
Bonus links:
Ha’aretz Editorial: The government is losing its reason
British Jews in UK Times: What is Israel doing? [PDF]
by Danya · Saturday, May 27th, 2006
This piece, written by the principal of the Toronto Hebrew Academy, has been floating around the internet/blogosphere lately, and given its (sadly) timeliness and the fact that it’s one of the more productive things I’ve seen on the whole subject of gurus and power, I couldn’t not repost.
—
The Charismatic Teacher
by Paul Shaviv
The charismatic teacher (the ‘Pied-Piperâ€) is one of the most difficult
situations for a Principal to deal with. A charismatic teacher will
deeply affect and influence some students – but will almost always
leave a trail of emotional wreckage in is/her wake .
Charismatic teachers are often themselves deeply immature, but their
immaturity is emotional, not intellectual, and it is not always
obvious. They can be brilliant in inspiring students to go beyond their
wildest expectations, and are often regarded (by their following of
students, by parents, and by the Board or the community) as the ‘most
important’ or ‘best’ members of staff. There is always, however, a
price to be paid.
Read more….
by TheBarkin · Tuesday, May 16th, 2006
My nomination for Strangest Jewish Book of the Year Award: What’s Up With the Hard Core Jewish People? by Margery Isis Schwartz. The author calls it, “An irreverent yet informative approach to Judaism and religious devotion from a Reform Jewish mother’s perspective.”
According to the Press Release,
“Four years ago, our youngest son took the plunge and became an Observant Jew. What a ride it has been for all of us. Whenever I relate stories regarding incidents in our household that take place with our newly observant son or tidbits of Jewish knowledge I have acquired since Carter went Hard Core, regardless of age, gender, religion, or level of religious observance, people are always fascinated. The topic has great crossover appeal. It seems like everyone knows someone who has become more intensely religious in life — whether it be Judaism or Christianity. ”
This is the first book about Observant Jews that is written from the perspective of a non-Observant person. The target audience is Jews and non-Jews who want an entertaining and easy way to learn more about Judaism. People interested in stories about how families cope with such a dramatic lifestyle change are another target segment.
As a Reform Jew myself, the book (which I admit I haven’t read) bothers me because it seems to represent denominationalism at its worst. It’s about seeing people as “other.”
And the title just makes her sound ignorant.
