This Jewlicious post was the second time in a week that a Yiddish-centric document crossed my desk. The first was an on-line survey of American Jewish language being conducted by HUC-JIR professors Sarah Bunin Benor and Steven M. Cohen. As a regular user of oy vey, schlep, shpiel, kvetch, shmutz, mensch, and others, I happily clicked away to answer their questions.
Both reminded me of a 1970s episode of M*A*S*H in which Hawkeye and Hunnicutt spent the entire show scrambling to finish a crossword puzzle in which the clue for the last word--five letters--was "bedbug." The answer? Vonce!
By David A.M. Wilensky Yesterday a post by Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman appeared on this blog titled "Ten More Minutes of Torah." It was a response to Lewis M. Barth's recent Ten Minutes of Torah for Masei, in which Barth argued that the current Haftarah cycle of three haftarot of destruction followed by seven haftarot of consolation suggest that Reform Judaism should reassess its relationship with Tishah B'Av. Rabbi Schwartzman's post expressed strong discomfort with this idea.
Rabbi Schwartzman's first argument is typical of Reform Jews who are uncomfortable with even talking about the Temple in a Reform context. He tells us that, "Given the importance of the Temple in the Conservative and Orthodox movements, whether spiritually or practically, we Reformists would do well to consider exactly what we would be tying onto ourselves were we to adopt Tishah B'Av observances."
By Marge Eiseman Some of my friends seem to have a lot of drama in their lives. They are either really up or down, and find the middle way quite boring. Another (more rational) friend and I were talking about the place of drama in our lives - and I was filtering this through my recent experience in training to become a Storahtelling Maven.
By dcc This "mini-press release" just came across my desk. The Running Rabbis have some good news to share:
This past Sunday Rabbis Benjamin David (Temple Sinai of Roslyn), Michael Friedman (Central Synagogue), and Scott Weiner (The Hebrew Tabernacle) ran the NYC Half Marathon as part of the Run for Autism program. Not only did they complete the 13.1 mile distance in record times for each of them, but they raised $3,000 in the process. This money will go toward Autism research and support for families directly impacted by Autism. The Running Rabbis
are committed to inspiring others to take on creative forms of Social Action.
Learn more about these healthy Hebrews, these cross-country-ing clergy, these jogging Jews online at www.RunningRabbis.com.
By Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman In this week's comment on the parashat hashavuah (weekly Torah portion), in Ten Minutes of Torah, Professor Barth suggests that for the sake of the Haftarot that appear this time of year and are centered on Tishe B'Av (the Ninth of Av) that we in the Reform movement might re-consider observing this day as well.
While not a Classical Reformer myself and while I can appreciate the devastation that the destructions of the First and Second Temples meant to the Jewish people, I am not taken with the idea to instate this day into my Reform calendar.
By Eboo Patel (First posted on Newsweek/Washington Post's On Faith) "Nobody believes you guys actually exist," I said to the group I was eating dinner with.
I was sitting with the North American Board of Reform Judaism's youth movement (called NFTY) at their summer leadership camp, Kutz.
These five teenagers were responsible for leading programming for thousands of young Reform Jews across the country. This year's study theme: Muslim-Jewish Relations. And these young leaders couldn't be more excited it.
Rabbi Daniel Freelander, senior vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism, spoke at the 50th anniversary celebration at URJ Eisner Camp. Rabbi Freelander and Cantor Jeff Klepper, old friends and former staffers at Eisner, wrote many of the Reform Movement's iconic melodies in the hills of the URJ Eisner Camp. Be sure to hit "read more" to listen to a live recording of Shalom Rav, written in 1974 for the camp.
I bring you greetings from my former counselor, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, who is on Sabbatical this summer. In 1967 he began supervising me: Pulling weeds in the Formal Gardens, harvesting corn on the hill behind the dining room, sliding down to the bath house from my bunk on "cardiac hill" in the rain. Such sweet memories.
By dcc The most obvious of Kabbalah's modern influences is found in the form of red strings circling the arms of Hollywood celbs. However Alexander Gorlin, FAIA, principal of Alexander Gorlin Architects in New York and member of the Union's Architects Advisory Panel, explains that Kabbalah is a major influence in post-modern architectural styles. He writes in a recent edition of Faith & Form, the premier journal focusing on religion, art and architecture, that he often draws on Kabbalah for inspiration, infusing his synagogue designs with a traditional continuity that has been historically absent in Jewish architecture.
As Jews were often expelled from one place to another, it was difficult for them to establish an authentic style of their own. This lack of a historic tradition of Jewish architecture, apart from Polish wooden synagogues, encouraged me to seek out texts of the Old Testament. Noah's Ark, the Tabernacle in the desert, the Temple of Solomon, and the prophet Ezekiel's Vision of the Temple are all described in great detail, including dimensions and materials. These are, however, literal descriptions, as opposed to the more abstract concepts from the Kabbalah, which are more open to interpretation in a modern sensibility.
The article is very interesting and worth the read.
By William Berkson In writing the last post in this series, on the JuBu movement, I looked at the beginning of a video of the Dalai Lama talking about the "four noble truths", the basis of Buddhism. He has an introduction in which he explains his attitude toward other religions. He says that other religions have important truths, and he is not just saying that to be polite. Other religions have truths that can help people to become good people, compassionate people, and that is the main thing. And, he says, he is not expecting the whole world to become Buddhist, which he thinks is unrealistic. Still, he says, "If you ask me, 'What is the best religion for me?' of course I will answer, 'Buddhism'."
By JanetheWriter Recently, someone I know told me he is a gun owner. When I heard this, I was dumbfounded and I was speechless.
In my head, guns and associated imagery, most of it violent, churned--a visual stream of consciousness. His handgun, a compact, weighty black rock nestled among dark socks in a nightstand drawer...the McDonald's in San Ysidro, CA, where 21 people were killed and 19 injured, all by gunfire...the aerial view of Columbine High School, a single line of students streaming from its doors... DayGlo orange-vested hunters traipsing into the woods, just yards from my office on a cool fall morning in rural New England...a photo of Rabbi Eric Yoffie speaking at the Million Mom March, the only religious leader to do so.
For much of my adult life I have studied, taught and worked on King David Street in Jerusalem. It is certainly no ordinary work address. World leaders stay there - in recent months we have played host to Bush, Blair, then Bush again, Blair, Rice, Blair Carter, Sarkozy, Blair (I'm beginning to think that man has nothing better to do), Brown, Mc Cain, Obama - and that doesn't do justice to the tens of less famous officials - Fishing Ministers from Ruritania and Tax Inspectors from Uzbekhistan.
Then there are the Life Cycle Events. Families compete with each other to hold the most opulent and often gaudy events: barmy Bar Mitzvahs, wild weddings, and far from circumspect circumcisions.
By William Berkson I have been exploring what Judaism should be in the future, given that most of us are skeptical about individual Providence--that God rewards and punishes us each according to our deeds, either in this life or the next.
In the previous post, I was critical of 'new age' spirituality as being weak, and out of tune with Jewish tradition because it its lack of an ethical focus. A more serious current version of Judaism without a firm belief in Providence is the "JuBu" movement.
The fall of the U.S. dollar in the last few months put the IMPJ, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, into a financial crisis. RJ.org spoke with Peter Weidhorn, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism, as he and the other major North American initiated a major campaign to raise $500,000 in the next six weeks. To learn more about how you can help please visit the Union's IMPJ Emergency Campaign site today.
The last month has been an important one for international
war crimes proceedings.Monday night the
"most wanted man in Europe," a Serbian war
criminal was captured.Even more remarkable, on July 11, just six
days before the 10th anniversary of the ratification of the Rome Statute which
established the International Criminal Court (ICC) -- a treaty which the U.S.
and Israel have still yet to become a party to -- Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the
maverick Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, announced that he was brining charges
against President
Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.
In
indicting Bashir the ICC not only made a commitment to holding individuals
responsible for the ongoing genocide in Darfur, it also sent a signal to all
sitting world leaders that they would no longer have immunity from perpetrating
unthinkable crimes simply because of their status as heads of state.
By Larry Kaufman You all know about the man from Mars who finds himself on Earth in front a deli, wanders in and begins scrutinizing the display case. "What's that?" he asks the counterman, pointing to a ring of dough with a hole in the center. "We call that a bagel," the counterman replies. "And that?" pointing to an orange slab. "That's smoked salmon, colloquially known as lox." "You know what," the Martian says, "I'm going to try some of that lox on a bagel, and why don't you add a shmear of cream cheese."
So what would the man from Mars make of Reform Judaism if he should happen to land on this blog? He would find a chorus singing, "Give me that old-time religion - it was good enough for Einhorn and good enough for Kohler, and it's good enough for me, and should be good enough for you, too - universalistic, minimal Hebrew mumbo-jumbo, no middle-Eastern aspirations, no shtetl accoutrements around our shoulders or coverings on our head," or, as my cousin Miriam used to say, "Ve are vun-hundred pehrcehnt Omericans."
By JanetheWriter One night last week, a friend and I spent a little more than an hour in a room full of Jews. Everyone was dressed up, on his or her best behavior and appeared to be trying really hard to listen to what was being said. No, it wasn't Kol Nidre; it was a JDate mixer for the 40-plus crowd. And, as in synagogues and Jewish communal life in general, there were many, many more women than men involved--nearly a 9:1 ratio, Amy and I guesstimated.
Yitz Jordan, aka Y-Love, brings people together with his "Torah Centered hip-hop." He writes at ThisisBabylon.net and you can hear his latest album at ylovemusic.com. Jordan, who is a black, Orthodox convert, sat down with RJ.org to talk about Jewish communal unity and music for this podcast.
By dcc This week the Saudi government sponsored an interfaith meeting in Madrid, Spain. Rabbi Scott Sperling, director of the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union and representative of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs, is there for the Reform Movement. Ari Alexander, co-founder of Children of Abraham, is also attending. He is live blogging at Mixed Multitudes about the event. He was shocked to see so few female participants at the conference. In a week were where we read Parashat Pinchas, a seminal work of feminism in the Torah, his point resonates even louder for me.
It is all too easy for men to say nothing about the lack of women in a room, Alexander writes. As a young man working in a world with far more women than men, but where there are very few women in positions of power, not saying anything is not an option. We must say something when there is a clear issue of discrimination. It is also the responsibility of all involved--both those in the majority and those being discriminated against--to work against these trends.
By Judy Gangel Until last week (July 10/11, 2008), I had, and still do have, many blessings to recall and for which I was and still am thankful ...but last week brought an incredible Shehecheyanu experience/blessing unlike any other...a moment that my former rabbi might have referred to as a liminal one...I floated back and forth over the threshold of the time of my youth (I am now 65, almost 66) when I was deeply involved as a proud member and regional officer of NFTY, and the present.
The experience/blessing came upon me during the live streaming broadcast from the HUC in Israel and from Masada, where my 16 year old grandson was a part of a NFTY in Israel experience (NO, it's not just a "trip").
By William Berkson In the previous post in this series, I advocated a humble theology: God is a unity within or above nature who calls to us act with justice and kindness, and to have a grateful, joyful attitude toward our existence. Beyond these basics our attitude can be one of awe at the mysteries of existence. We don't have to be committed to the idea of God's intervention in our individual lives, or in other words we can be skeptical about Providence. Our sacred literature is an effort to understand God and what God wants of us, but is fallible. We can and should learn from it, but we can reject and revise it with good reason.
I argued that this humble theology is enough to provide a strong basis for liberal Judaism. We can experience some contact with that Unity in loving relationships and the beauty of nature and study. In fact, asking for more certainty about God weakens the foundation.
By Larry Kaufman So here we are on a blog labeled "Reform Judaism," and it seems appropriate to cogitate on what that brand name stands for, and on some of the issues that relate to it. In the interest of full disclosure let me state that I served on the committee that paved the way for the name change from Union of American Hebrew Congregations to our current style, Union for Reform Judaism - and let me further state that I thought the change was appropriate, even though I think the name is inappropriate.
What's right with the name Reform is that people know it, and recognize it as applying to the most permissive strain of mainstream Judaism in North America. What's wrong with it is that the dictionary meanings of the word itself have relatively little relevance to who we are or what we believe or what we do today. (I find support for my discomfort in the preface and prologue to Michael Meyer's magisterial history of the movement, Response to Modernity.)
By David A.M. Wilensky Two summers ago, here at Kutz, a girls' cabin led services one day. As we all entered the tron, they were standing at the front singing and clapping their hands. The song goes like this:
Lord, prepare me To be a sanctuary Pure and holy Tried and true With thanksgiving I'll be a living Sanctuary for you
It's a nice song. The message is fairly basic and unobjectionable. The tune is catchy and sounds slightly gospel. I like it. Since then, I've also heard a variation that incoporates a quote from Torah, "V'asu li Mikdash, v'shachanti b'tocham" ("Build me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst you"). I like that version even better. When people found out that this verse of song is actually part of a larger song from the wonderful world on contemporary Christian music, they went nuts.
By dcc While Chocolate Chip Cookies (CCC) may be delicious--especially right out of the oven, with milk, under a blanket in the dead of winter while it is snowing outside (I am pretty hungry right now)--what do they have to do with the future of Judaism? Well, pretty much everything.
With ingredients as simple as flour, eggs, butter, sugar and chocolate, it seems that anyone can put a batch together. However as Hervé Poussot, a baker from Brooklyn interviewed by the New York Times for its recent article outlining the search for the perfect CCC said, "If it was just a matter of a recipe we'd all be out of business. It's what goes into the making of the cookie that makes the difference."
Ok, fine. So cookies have little to do with Judaism, but this quote got me to thinking about our Jewish community.
By David A.M. Wilensky As readers of Reform Judaism magazine will recall, the RJ Magazine's summer 2008 issue included a series of important questions regarding the Reform Movement and their answers as given by 30 adult members of the Reform Movement.
I'm currently at the URJ Kutz Camp with a group of people who will be the future lay and professional leadership of the Reform movement in North America. I'll be featuring many of them as well as many of the younger Kutz staff members this summer in a series of posts here on the RJ.org blog, in which I will be asking Reform high school and college students (and perhaps a few 20-somethings) for their take on Reform Judaism via questions similar to those used in the Magazine.
Tyler Benjamin is a 16-year-old rower/ultimate Frisbee player from Tampa, Florida. He is in love with the opportunities that are afforded him via NFTY, especially as the President of the Southern Tropical Region, and overall his life as a Reform Jew in America.
By Gardening Grandma We ate the first cucumber from my garden this weekend. I brought it into the house, washed it, cut off a large chunk and relished the crisp crunch of a totally delicious and sweet fruit of the vine. A true shehecheyanu moment, I thought, but, even more, I realize now, a moment to simply stop and realize what a blessing it is to have a garden and to be healthy enough to work in it.
I had never learned about all the occasions for a blessing -- new clothes, new fruit, seeing the ocean, seeing a rainbow; being in the presence of a scholar, on hearing good news or even bad news -- I was exhilarated! God is present at every moment; it is up to us to acknowledge God's presence. We do it through saying blessings. Rabbi Kravitz said, "There is no important moment in the lifetime of a Jew for which there is no blessing."
By JanetheWriter In an article in this week's Science Times Michael Bicks recounts the tale of his recent heart attack and how his decision to go straight to the hospital has enabled him to say, "I get to hug my wife and my kids, understand how wonderful my friends are and realize exactly how much I love my life."
Amidst the hassles and demands of everyday living--the missed buses and missed deadlines, the packed lunches left sitting on the kitchen counter, the unrelenting phone calls and emails, the spilled coffee, the winding line in the grocery store--it's too easy to lose sight of the wonders and richness of hugging our spouse, valuing our friends and loving our life.
By William Berkson So far I have argued that a God who gives meaning and unity to nature and humanity exists, but probably is not the interventionist God of the Torah. The question is, how to we relate to that God, both individually and communally?
The key issue in theology is how we relate to the unknown and probably unknowable. Einstein wrote: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science." (From 'The World as I See It.') And, I would add, it is also the emotion that stands at the cradle of true religious belief.
By Rabbi Richard Address A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the impact of the current economic difficulties on the elderly, especially those who are on fixed incomes and frail. The article reminded me of ways that our congregations can enhance their mission of being a "caring community" (with no or little cost to the congregation).
By Larry Kaufman From my first visit to Israel, some thirty-three years ago, one of my strongest memories is the guide telling our group at the beginning of the tour, "You come to Israel as tourists; you will leave as pilgrims." And so it was.
We Jews have given new meaning to the phrase, the wandering Jew. Last year we went around the world - this year we want to go somewhere else. That's why you can walk off a cruise ship in Sitka, Alaska, into a jewelry store where you will be greeted by a Frank Meisler Chanukah menorah.
The G8 Summit begins this week in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to the arrival the world's top political and economic leaders, religious leadership from around the world gathered in Kyoto and Osaka to discuss issues of the environment, ethnic conflict and religious liberty. Rabbi Marla Feldman, director of the Commission on Social Action was there. Listen in to her report by pressing the play button below.
By JanetheWriter Every night when I was growing up, after I'd said goodnight to my father, my mother tucked me into bed. When she did so on this date 32 years ago, she said, "Today is a great day to be an American and it's a great day to be a Jew."
By William Berkson In the previous installment in this series, I pointed out that there has been a quiet revolution in theology of liberal Jews. Most Reform Jews, including Rabbis, have rejected an interventionist God, but still accept and find meaningful a God who gives unity and purpose to the universe and to humanity.
By Andi Rosenthal Since 1948, when my congregation was founded, we've had a tradition of layperson-led Friday night Shabbat services. While some people say that it is a lovely break for our clergy, it's a tradition that means a whole lot more than just a way to give our deserving rabbis and cantor the chance to rest and celebrate Shabbat in the company of family and friends.
Summer services train new leaders, help congregants to strengthen and deepen their connection to liturgy, and in my case, just last Friday night, gave me the opportunity to understand and appreciate the breadth and depth of the new Reform prayer book, Mishkan T'filah.
By David A.M. Wilensky As readers of Reform Judaism magazine will recall, the RJ Magazine's summer 2008 issue included a series of important questions regarding the Reform Movement and their answers as given by 30 adult members of the Reform Movement.
I'm currently at the URJ Kutz Camp with a group of people who will be the future lay and professional leadership of the Reform movement in North America. I'll be featuring many of them as well as many of the younger Kutz staff members this summer in a series of posts here on the RJ.org blog, in which I will be asking Reform high school and college students (and perhaps a few 20-somethings) for their take on Reform Judaism via questions similar to those used in the Magazine.
Leslie Bass hails originally from Austin, Texas. This fall she will be a junior at the University of Denver, where she is a double major in Digital Media Studies and Journalism. This July, she will be travelling to Brisbane, Australia to study abroad at the Queensland University of Technology for five months. In high school, she was an active member of NFTY-TOR and board member of her local TYG. She attended the URJ Kutz Camp in the Summer of 2005 and spent the Summers of 2006 and 2007 as Kutz Camp staff.
The article has been the subject of discussion on the Union's iWorship list-serv, and was particularly well summarized there by Dr. Randi Thompson, based on discussion of the article by the Board of Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, led by Rabbi Joe Black. Here's the collective New Mexican take on what Wertheimer said:
Reform Judaism has avoided the decline that Mainline Protestants have experienced by being welcoming to the intermarried and to the GLBT community, inclusive of women, and liturgically diverse.
JanetheWriter Today marks the first anniversary of my visit to Oświęcim, the Polish shetl town in which the Nazis built the Auschwitz concentration camp. Sometimes, still, when I close my eyes, I see the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" entry gate and the iconic low brick building that marks the entrance to Birkenau, the neighboring extermination camp. On that long, long day last year, I walked the railroad tracks, stood in the barracks and in the crematoria. I gazed into the glassy water of the pond whose dark depths still cradle the bones and ashes of those whose lives were snuffed out there. I saw their tallitot, their tefillin. I saw their shoes, their eyeglasses, their hair. I saw the canisters of Zyklon B used to kill them. Their names--known and unknown--are indelibly etched in my heart. I know these people. I am a witness to their history--to my history.
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By William Berkson In the last post in this series I explained why science will always leave the door open to belief in a God who gives unity and purpose to nature and to humanity, and a God, who, when we experience the sacred, can inspire us. But can God have the qualities of God as portrayed in the Torah and the Talmud?
The most troubled question about God throughout most of Jewish history has been of God's Providence, or caring intervention in the world on behalf of individuals and groups, especially the people Israel. The Torah clearly reports (in Exodus and Deuteronomy) that at Sinai God promised us prosperity--a bountiful harvest--and children if we obey his laws, and horrible punishments if we don't. However, during the revolt of the Maccabees, many devout Jews were killed. This seemed to violate the covenant at Sinai. In reaction to this bitter experience, I have read, the Pharisee branch of ancient Judaism adopted the idea that we can only expect just reward and punishment in a future life after death, olam haba, the world to come.
This past Sunday Rabbis Benjamin David (
