by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
ynet reports on the new Masorti campaign to get Israelis to marry according to halakha.. but not according to the Orthodox.
Israeli couples are increasingly uninterested in getting married according to the established Israeli system, with Orthodoxy monopolizing all legal lifecycle events, and going through a demeaning and complicated process in order to get married. Twenty percent -or more- of Israelis each year choose to live together as couples outside the framework of the Office of the Chief Rabbinate, either by not participating in any wedding ceremony or by going through a civil ceremony in Cyprus or elsewhere.
The Masorti campaign aims to bring Jewish couples in Israel back to tradition by showing them that it is possible to have a halakhic wedding which is not only according to Jewish law, but also includes personal touches, and can be more egalitarian… and doesn’t need to include demeaning lectures to the couple about their personal lives.
The campaign includes print ads and commercials on radio and Internet sites that direct readers and listeners to a well-put-together website, and has generated significant interest. In the first three days there were more than 25,000 unique hits on the website.
Of course, this has po’d the Establishment:
According to the Masorti press release
The Chairman of Shas in the Knesset, Yaakov Margi, petitioned the Israel Broadcasting Authority to ban the Masorti campaign from the airwaves. In a letter to Mordechai Sklar, IBA’s general director, MK Yaakov Margi charged that the Masorti movement “knowingly misleads and perpetrates a campaign of fraud.†He further claimed to be writing on behalf of “those who are spiritually lost and would not want to find themselves ending up in unseemly places.â€
MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) responded in his own letter to the IBA that Masorti “faithfully combines tradition and progress†and suggested the Shas letter should be buried as “a foolish attempt at censorship.â€
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 Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Day 6 Yesod of Chesed
JTA reports on a “new” “trend” (goodness, how many scare quotes do I need for this post?). Once again, the Jewish press gets on the bandwagon a little late., since Moishe house has been doing this for a while now. But what is new and interesting bout these new kvutzot is that they are affiliated with the Zionist youth movements, Habonim-Dror and Hashomer Hatzair (there appear to be three of these altogether currently, one with Habonim Dror and two with Hashomer Hatzair, two in NY and one in Toronto).
Setting up these collectives in North America represents an overhaul of the Zionist youth movement ideal. Whereas in the past these movements functioned more or less like farm teams, preparing young American Jews to settle in Israel, aliyah is no longer the goal.
“Judaism has always been a global reality,†says Jane Manwelyan, 25, of Kvutzat Orev. “Zionism is the collective potential of the Jewish people. Israel is just one of the physical representations of that, certainly not the only one.â€
Rather than a physical destination, Israel “is central to our idea of Jewish peoplehood,†says Gil Browdy, 25, of the Habonim kvutza.
He notes that the Israeli kibbutz movement still isn’t sure what to make of the North American upstarts.
“It’s a tension,†Beran acknowledges.
But these young urban pioneers wanted to stay at home, to help revitalize Jewish life in the Diaspora, become involved in community-based activism and build good lives for themselves based on the values with which they grew up, even after they age out of their youth movements.
Since I’ve been scolded lately for drinking the hateorade, I’ll just say that I like it. I think that it’s a fine idea, I’m glad that Moishe house isn’t the only ones doing it, and I hope the idea spreads, not only to sinlge 20somethings, but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be a good idea for a way to revitalize Jewish communities of all ages, mixed ages, and with or without kids. Oh wait, someone’s done that too (I know the article doesn’t say so, but although being Jewish is by no means required, there are quite a few Jews living there).
Week one, Day 7
Malchut of Chesed
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, over on Jspot, opines that the seder table seems to have gotten rather cluttered. She notes the dozens of emails calling her attention to the various political agendas that yell “me, me” at pesach and offer an assortment of candles, glasses, fruit, and so on to add to those items part of our regular ritual/
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by shamirpower · Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Rabbi Peter Stein
Over the last few years, I have come to understand that the laws, teachings and exhortations of the Bible can be summed up in one central idea: What the Bible is trying to teach us is how to build a sustainable society. Specifically, it is trying to teach us how to build a society that is economically, ecologically, socially and spiritually sustainable.
These four criteria are the lens through which we must view everything we do. They are the measure by which we must evaluate every choice we make, whether it is a personal decision, such as where to settle or how to eat; a decision at work, such as what kind of product to market; or a political decision such as land use, taxation or trade policy. Everything is subject to the test of sustainability.
When evaluating a decision by these measures, we must ask many hard questions. I would like to suggest just a few in each area.
When considering if a choice is economically sustainable, we must ask basic questions about propriety and scale and responsibility, the most basic of which is ‘Can I afford this?’ or ‘Can our society afford this?’ We must ask: ‘Will this decision create greater equality or greater inequality?’ ‘Does this choice strengthen the essential connections between ownership, profit and responsibility or does it further abstract these notions, severing these essential connections?’ And most importantly we must ask: ‘How much is enough?’
When considering if a choice is ecologically sustainable, we must first remember the intimate and essential connections between all parts of God’s Creation. Then we must ask: ‘Will this decision lead to greater health for human communities and the natural surroundings on which they depend or will it destroy their health?’ ‘Can this decision be repeated on an on-going basis without degrading the soil, plants, animals, air and water?’ ‘Will this decision deplete the abundance God has blessed us with or enhance it?’
Social sustainability addresses some of the most emotionally and politically charged issues we know, most of which our society is not prepared to deal with. We must ask: ‘Will this decision increase segregation by race and class, or will it reduce it?’ ‘Will it create communities in which people of different racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds live together in close proximity and relate as neighbors and equals?’ ‘Will this choice create opportunities for reconciliation and sharing and trust, or will it promote division, fear and distrust?’
Finally, we must inquire if our choices are spiritually sustainable. This is the most difficult of the four to conceptualize, but I think it can be explained in two ways. On the one hand, it is the sum-total of the other three. If our decisions are not economically, ecologically and socially sustainable, they will not be spiritually sustainable. If we make decisions that perpetuate economic injustice, degrade God’s Creation or provoke social tensions, there is no way that we will be on good terms with God or ourselves.
But spiritual sustainability is more than just the sum of the other three. It has its own meaning and its own set of questions. When considering if a choice is spiritually sustainable, we would ask such questions as: ‘Is it beautiful?’ – for the soul needs beauty to survive and flourish. ‘Will this increase my material needs and dependencies or reduce them? – for a spirit reliant on ever more material goods will never be satisfied. ‘Is it meaningful?’ – for if we spend our time doing things that are void and worthless, we will not feel good about ourselves. And finally: ‘Is it humble?’ – for while we were meant to create and aspire and achieve, if we do so without bounds of humility and propriety, we will suffer despair when we one day, unexpectedly, reach our bounds.
These are the questions we must ask.
And we must be very clear about their implications: if we do not choose what is sustainable, then we have chosen what is unsustainable, and what is unsustainable, by definition, will not last. These questions will be hard and they may make us uncomfortable. They may call into question many of the comforts and material standards to which we have grown accustomed. We may not like the answers we find to these questions. But they are the right and necessary questions.
Rabbi Stein can be reached at peterdstein-at-yahoo-dot-com.
Cross Posted on Radical Torah
by LastTrumpet · Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Today was Shushan Purim Katan here in Jerusalem. That is, in a year with two months of Adar, the first month we don’t celebrate the full holiday, but we maybe drink a little bit, and a day later than non-walled cities.
I wanted to tell y’all about the new Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo Podcast - you can subscribe here, or click here to add the podcast to itunes.
So far, we have a special talk on R’ Shlomo Carlebach’s music with Ben Zion Solomon, probably the world’s most knowledgeable person on that topic, as well as Reb Chaim Kramer of the Breslov Research Institute giving over a teaching of Rebbe Nachman on Purim.
Soon to come, Kabbalistic and Chassidic Insights into Purim with Rabbi Avraham Aryeh Trugman.
I had no idea the depths of Purim until recently - and these talks should help you reach the heights of the highest day of the year.
Last week, one of my teachers remarked to me before class that he’d almost had a heart attack when he looked at my facebook page, due to one of my friends wearing a bikini in her profile picture. He then picked up the theme and taught this Torah from the Mei Hashiloach (at the end of the PDF) all about Purim and nudity. Gevaldt.
Purim sameach to everyone!
(also, there’s a shiur here from Aish Kodesh in New York on Purim Katan that’s probably worthwhile)
by shamirpower · Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
Below is a belated guest post from a recent hip Jew event in Seattle:
This Tu B’Shvat, 60 Seattle-ites gathered to reclaim and re-direct another Jewish tradition. Using the Jewish Voice for Peace Tu B’Shvat Haggadah for Healing and Reparation, the Seattle Chapter of JVP kicked off a new national campaign: Trees of Reconciliation. With the goal of planting 3000 trees in the Jenin-Nablus-Salfit triangle of the occupied West Bank by donating funds to the Palestine Fair Trade Association, the Seattle chapter was one of 14 hosts of such a seder.
The Seattle seder began with the acknowledgment of Martin Luther King Jr Day and a recognition of the slavery this country was built upon and the groups commitment to ending racism. The room had 9 tables full of folks from at least 11 different Seattle zip codes who range from veteran-leftists to political newbies, ages 7 – 70. The seder, broken into four sections — the seed, the blossom, the fruit, and the harvest — drew on Jewish tradition quoting everyone from Rabbi Yokhanan ben Zakkai from the Talmud to Yehuda Amichai, a modern Israel poet. Each section was segued with small group conversation at each of the 9 tables beautifully set-up with a candle in a bottle of Palestinian Peace Oil, a product of a local Seattle Jew who buys olives from Palestine to make his own oil. Folks shared stories of their upbringing ranging from Zionist to anti, socialist to consumerist.
“In the parks created by the Jewish National Fund you will often see the ruins of a house, a fortress, orchards, cactuses, and so on…these trees were planted by human hands. Wherever [such growth] are found today, there once stood a Palestinian village” reads a section of the haggadah. The booklets were created and compiled by two members of the JVP Philadelphia chapter.
Acknowledging and honoring the dream of past Zionists who meant well for their people often cued an emotional sigh from the collective engaged deeply in learning about the Zionist quest that went wrong, and the personal histories of many in attendance which included giving to JNF.
“We must end the hypocrisy and fix what we have done collectively. None of us are innocent,” a reader stated to the group.
After singing songs such as Lo Yisa Goy and blessing different fruits of the tree, the vine and the earth, two members of Seattle JVP rose to call the group to action and kick-off the campaign. They quoted statistics and called upon their own experiences putting coins in blue JNF tzedakah boxes and even planting pine trees (a non-native plant to the region, ill-suited to thrive) in Israel. “More than 700,000 olive trees have been uprooted to make way for illegal settlements, highways and walls. Let us make a showing of solidarity and move in the direction of fixing what has been done.”
The evening in Seattle raised nearly $1400 for the cause, a quarter of which has been donated to their host, the Cascade People’s Center. That will pay for more than 150 olive trees at $20 per 3 trees. With half the chapter’s 2008 goal achieved, folks are excited about building on this momentum and moving forward.
Give to the campaign or learn more here
Get a copy of the hagaddah here. And check out some pics here.
by Kung Fu Jew · Friday, February 1st, 2008
Other than the media sensation of Israel’s cars going electric, a few other environmental Jew-news mishegas:
- Hazon awarded almost $84K to green projects in Israel and the States, including Adamah, Isabellah Freedman, Teva, Adventure Rabbi, AJWS, the Green Zionist Alliance, several shuls, and Israeli hunger programs.
- The Jew & The Carrot published a list of kosher organic cheeses (to go along with their existing kosher organic wine list, of course).
- Adamah farm fellowship now accepting applications for 2008!
- Teva featured in a film about America’s religious-environmental movements.
- Rabbi David Kraemer teaches at JTS on “Jewish Eating and Jewish Identity†at the Henry N. Rapaport Memorial Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 4, 2008.
- Palestinian alumnus of Arava Institute speaks in Kansas City on coexistance and the environment.
- The Jewish Vegetarians of North America’s new film, A Sacred Duty, is now online at YouTube. Their latest newsletter here covers a new book God Does Not Eat Meat, a vegetarian spoof of Presidential elections, and CHAI objects to Israeli horse racing.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Since we’ve now completed another year, it’s time for our annual, highly idiosyncratic, completely unscientific, best–of round up. Happy (secular) new year from all of us here at Jewschool! More »
by LastTrumpet · Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
From JTA:
Seeing Bob Dylan at a prayer service isn’t all that rare. Hearing a Bob Marley tune played on guitar while a minyan sings the Shema prayer is.
Marley and Dylan tunes are just as likely to be part of the nusach at “Jam Davening” as those of Shlomo Carlebach and Debbie Friedman. The monthly prayer group at the Davidson School of Jewish Education of the Jewish Theological Seminary is part guided meditation, part sing-along, part traditional prayer and part dorm-room musical jam that includes instruments ranging from guitars to didgeridos.
Participants say the result is invigorating and deeply spiritual.
Perhaps this is a new development in the Conservative movement, however I’ve heard the Bob Marley Mi Chamocha for at least 10 years now in the Reform movement. Also, based on my experience, it’s not uncommon in the indie-minyan/chavura world for tunes to be adapted from popular music. Chassidic Niggunim were occasionally adapted from Russian drinking songs - I heard a great teaching once about redeeming those melodies by putting them to holy use.
While I think it’s cool that this is happening at JTS, I wish the author had done a bit more research - this is hardly new, although it is good to see it spread.
Full story.
by matthue · Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
Editor’s Note: When we last heard from The Inner Journey, we were learning about the nature of Jewish tradition. Here, we present the second part of Rabbi Bamporad’s introduction.
SPIRITUALITY
The ancient rabbinic text the Mishnah, in Sanhedrin 4:5, states: “A
single man was created in the world, to teach that if any man has
caused a single soul to perish, scripture imputes it to him as if he
had caused a whole world to perish, and if any man saves alive a
single soul, scripture imputes it to him as if he had saved alive a
whole world… Therefore everyone must say, for my sake the world was
created.” Danby p. 388
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