by Shalom Rav · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
I’m currently reading “A Thousand Hills” by historian Stephen Kinzer - a recently published bio of Rwandan president Paul Kagame. It’s an incredibly absorbing read, offering a history of the country and region as well as a portrait of a remarkable African leader who is spearheading Rwanda’s post-genocide rebirth against all odds.
Early on, Kinzer offers this fascinating insight about the Tutsis who were exiled from Rwanda by Belgian-backed Hutus in the late 1950s:
These Tutsi exiles, scattered across Africa, Europe, North America, and even Australia, may be the only group that has been regularly compared to both Jews and Palestinians. Like Jews, they prized education and seemed to succeed wherever they landed, despite the odds against them. Like Palestinians, they were condemned to eternal exile by a regime that hated and feared them. (p. 35)
I’d love to find more on this point, which I have never encountered before.
In the meantime, I highly recommend “Hills,” as well as Kinzer’s two previous books, “Overthrow” and “All the Shah’s Men” (which has recently been reprinted with a very timely new introduction).
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Monday, May 26th, 2008
Week Six, Day One
Chesed of Yesod
Week Six, Day Two
Gevurah of Yesod
So first, before you get the chaser, I want to direct you to the JLC site where there is a statement regarding the current mess:
The JLC has also learned that Agriprocessors is actively waging a campaign of intimidation and harassment against workers who have expressed an interest in exercising their legal right to union representation.
In this atmosphere, it is clear that the recent ICE raid at Agriprocessors, though apparently legal, only buttresses the conviction shared by many undocumented workers that our government is not only indifferent to worker abuse, but works in collusion with management to penalize workers who challenge it…
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by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Day 15,
Week Three: Tiferet
Day One: Chesed (Chesed of Tiferet)
(Two weeks and one day of the Omer)
JTA notes the upcoming ordination of the marvelous and lovely person Gershom Sizomu.
Why is this interesting to JTA? Gershom Sizomu will become the first officially ordained rabbi of Uganda’s Abayudaya Jews. He will be ordained in a few days at American Jewish University (formerly University of Judaism) from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (as will our very own equally fabulous Danya Ruttenberg!).
Sizomu, inherits the spiritual leadership of his community, through his father and grandfather.
Some 1,000 Abayudaya Jews live in five Ugandan villages. …Most Abayudaya Jews converted in 2004, and hundreds of the children now attend the Hadassah School, where they learn Hebrew and Jewish studies along with a general curriculum.
At the end of May, Sizomu will return with his wife and three children to Uganda to reassume leadership of the Abayudaya.”
By the way, he also has a lovely accent. And a nice singing voice which is featured (as is his wife’s) on the Grammy award winning nominated Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda from the Smithsonian’s Folkways records.
And many blessings upon Danya as well.
by zt · Friday, April 25th, 2008
Here is a recounting of a seder in Mali complete with lettuce hanging from trees, torrential rains, mango-based charoset, and several haggadot shipped from the united states. Jess and Ari, our seder-leading beacons of light, can make just about anything accessible to anyone by identifying the core themes and creating gateways while staying true to the source. It’s really amazing.
by zt · Monday, September 24th, 2007
Here is a picture of the only High Holiday celebration in Mali:
Ari and Jess put together a Rosh Hashannah seder and got materials to do all the davening for the high holidays.
A couple years ago I walked about 10 miles each way to celebrate a Rosh Hashannah seder with Ari’s family when he was in the US. Their tradition traces to Tunis where it was common to have a meal with many food blessing-puns for a new year. It was neat to be included in this ritual. In an amazing turn of events it has been celebrated in Africa. Here is Ari’s beautiful account of the experience of spiritually preparing and cooking a feast without a sharp knife, counter, kitchen, oven, running water, or electricity.
by zt · Monday, September 17th, 2007
Looking for another fulfilling aspect to add to your sukkot repertoire? You’re in luck, because Ari Johnson, who you might know from such projects as Jews in the Woods and Moishe/Kavod House Boston, is organizing a great new initiative combining celebrating sukkot and social action.
Sukkot hearkens back to a time when Jews were harvesting and had substantially less protection from the elements in their lives, an era when natural disasters and disease threatened. In this present day, many Jews no longer feel the insecurity our ancestors did, but we can all help fight disease and help people who sleep in sukkot, not as a spiritual choice/obligation but as a necessity.
In Mali, and many other places, due to the heat of the rainy season it is important to sleep where the outside breezes cool people down. However, those same places have ample mosquitoes many of which carry malaria and are especially prevalent during that season. Without nets people die of an alarmingly preventable disease. Ari thought to link our sleeping in sukkot with theirs and the Sukkathon is a project where folks will (safely) sleep in sukkot to raise money to buy mosquito nets for places where so doing is unsafe. Sukkathons being organized in communities in Toronto, Providence, Waltham, Worcester, Newton, New Haven, and Philly thus far, will you be the next to step up?
Get the details on the flip…
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