Reform Judaism: October 2008 Archives

Strengthening Reform 18: The Leaky Glass
October 30, 2008 (44 Comments)

By William Berkson
In response to several of my posts in critique of the current state of Reform theology, fellow RJ blogger Larry Hoffman has said that he views the glass as 'half full', as opposed to my 'half empty'. So while good changes are always welcome, we are in pretty good shape. In particular, he has pointed to the fact that Reform movement is growing in numbers, while the Conservative movement is shrinking.

This last fact is indeed true, but it masks grave problems. That is because the "glass" is leaking, according to what I have read. Right now I can't put my hand on the sources, but I have read that a significant part of the increase comes from formerly Conservative Jews joining Reform Synagogues. And I believe that if you take away these, the numbers of Reform Jews have actually shrunk. Hopefully someone here can correct me if I got this wrong. But I believe what is happening is that those who are raised in a Conservative synagogue marry either a Reform Jew or intermarry, and then they join a Reform synagogue, where their spouse feels more at home or more welcome.

read MORE

Filed Under: Ethics | Religious Life | Torah

Growing the Green Economy
October 29, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Rachel Cohen
(First posted on the RACblog)
With special thanks to Legislative Assistant Micaela Hellman-Tincher for her contributions to this post.

Last week, Mayor Ron Dellums and Rep. Barbara Lee unveiled the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, a program designed to train young city residents to participate in green industry, which is rapidly expanding throughout California. While the program starts small by giving 40 young adults skills in green construction and solar panel installation, advocates hope that it will become a pilot for green jobs programs around the country. At a time when both jobs and new energy solutions are in high demand, there is clearly fertile ground for such initiatives. Weatherization programs, like the Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program, have already provided 8,000 jobs weatherizing homes in low-income communities. These workers not only help communities reduce their carbon footprint, but they also help to lower the cost burden of heating and cooling by an average of 15% for low-income families.

Filed Under: Community | Social Action

What Lingers On
October 29, 2008

By Marge Eiseman
Many years ago, I got married in my parents' living room. For years afterwards, every time I walked into that room, I felt the warmth of that day, as if the love still lingered in the walls and the air.

At the time, there just wasn't any good space at our synagogue for a small-ish wedding - either one used the conference room which held 20-30, or the sanctuary, which looked empty with less than 100. Now of course, we could use our new Living and Learning space, one of the five simultaneous additions/renovations of our synagogue that was recently completed.

Filed Under: Community | Shabbat | The Future

Met any lamed vavniks lately?
October 28, 2008 (8 Comments)

By Gardening Grandma
Trying to stretch in a new direction, I'm taking a fiction writing class. This week's assignment: write a character description of a superhero. For me, who never watched Batman or Spiderman and only begrudgingly saw Superman since his alter ego was a reporter, I was at a loss. Who can believe in - let alone imagine - a superhero?

But then I got to thinking about our Jewish tradition, and the role superheroes have played throughout our history. Perhaps the superheroes of 5769 aren't people who fly through the air or lift cars with the flick of the wrist. Maybe today's superheroes are the 36 Lamed Vav Tzadikim - the 36 righteous people who, were it not for them, the world would come to an end.

Tradition tells us no one knows who the lamed vavniks are, but we can all guess who might be. Anyone have any nominations?

Filed Under: Community | Religious Life

Remembering
October 27, 2008

By JanetheWriter
At last week's Yizkor service, just before the El Malei Rachamim, the rabbi asked people to recite the names of those they were remembering and to say a few words about them. Knowing that my mother would, of course, speak about her parents, I planned to mention two bachelor uncles -- great uncles, really, -- one whom I knew and one whom I did not.

Uncle Irv was my mother's uncle, my grandfather's brother, about whom I've written before on this blog. He was a gardener's gardener. As one who kills houseplants with great regularity, I most certainly did not inherit any of his DNA. In a small plot of soil - indoors or out - Uncle Irv could coax tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, beans, flowers and more to burst forth from the earth, all the while smoking forbidden cigarettes and "hiding" them in his pocket whenever one of us came out in the yard to check on him. It's a wonder he never set himself on fire. He was as loving to all of us -- his nieces and their families -- as he was to his beloved plants, and we miss him terribly.

Filed Under: Community | Religious Life

Ever hear the one about the Rabbi, the minister and the bagpiper?
October 27, 2008 (3 Comments)

By Steve Arnold
I know it sounds like a corny joke, but it's the situation I had to balance recently in finally laying the ashes of my late wife to rest. In a world where more than half of all Jewish marriages are interfaith, finding a way to balance those different cultural demands is something we're all going to face.

My story starts in April when my wife Marg died suddenly. She was a believing, but non-practicing Anglican and I'm Jewish. Her relatives are hard-right Pentacostals. The funeral service and visitation were marred by some serious and bitter conflicts with her relatives over fundamental questions - Marg and I had always talked about cremation, but her relatives were horrified at the idea her body wouldn't be ready for the rapture. I would sit shiva after the funeral, but for the service itself I wanted a dignified Anglican funeral - they wanted their family pastor to preach "hell fire and damnation." Emotions ran high.

Filed Under: Lifecycle | Religious Life

The Name Game, the Blame Game
October 26, 2008 (3 Comments)

By Larry Kaufman

If a man is alone on a desert island, is he still wrong? And is the condition of a man alone on a desert island comparable to that of Adam in the Garden of Eden before Eve is created?

The dvar Torah on B'reshit this morning at our Kahal was given by a professor of speech, who pointed out that God created the world with words: Let there be light, let us create man in our image, etc. He further reminded us that in Creation Version 2, Adam is tasked with naming the animals. And he called attention to two different accounts of the creation of woman - in Version 1, she is simultaneous, in Version 2, she comes later when God realizes that Adam needs someone to talk to, besides the Divine Self. (I choose this term in the interest of gender neutrality, since if God created humans male and female, AND in the Divine image, God's gender duality goes with the territory.)

Filed Under: Torah

Bereshit: New Beginnings
October 25, 2008 (5 Comments)

By Andi Rosenthal
This morning, my weekly Torah study group, along with thousands of b'nei mitzvah children all over the world, began the Torah over again. The beginning comes, in my opinion, at the exact perfect moment, when the chill in the air and the gorgeous vibrant leaves and the deep azure of the Sound all bring the beauty of G-d's handiwork into sharp focus. It's as if, no matter what troubles or joys you are facing, you simply have to notice what a beautiful world we live in. And as a writer, very few narratives intrigue me as much as our sacred story of creation. Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim v'et ha'aretz - in the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth - is one of those perfect first lines - in fact, it is THE perfect first line. And I think any writer worth their keyboard would agree.

Filed Under: Lifecycle | Religious Life | Torah

The Jewish Vote
October 24, 2008 (19 Comments)

By Larry Kaufman
I've always made it my business not to talk politics with my business associates, especially those who are likely to be on the opposite side of the political spectrum. But my wife has no such inhibitions, and one night my very WASPy, very right-wing client banged on the table and said, "Dammit, Barbara, you live like an Episcopalian and vote like a Puerto Rican." He also remarked to me one day, "I just don't understand why my Jewish friends are all so ready to vote against their pocket-books." To which I replied, "Joe, I can live with an extra thousand dollars on my tax bill, but I can't live with prayer in the public schools."

Four years ago, my friend Ralph emailed me almost daily, sending highly partisan screeds inveighing against a presidential candidate I had never told him I supported. I think he figured out by my abstention from rebutting or responding to any of these missives that I was on the other side, and he too expressed surprise that his Jewish friends were going to vote against a candidate he described as the best friend Israel had ever had. My answer to him, similar to my answer to Joe -"I can't speak for your other Jewish friends, and I'm sure none of them is a stauncher Zionist than I am, but ultimately I have to vote for the candidate that I consider the best choice for the United States."

Filed Under: Community | Israel

A Bad Day at School
October 24, 2008 (12 Comments)

By dcc
I have a cousin in his mid-80s who often reminds me that it was good for the Jews in Austria before Hitler. He was a scholar, his sister was a lawyer (yes a woman in the 1930s), their family was well connected in Vienna. I often remind him that the United States is not inter-war Europe and we know better now. He then waves his hand at me and calls me naive. On days like today I think he might be right.

Reading the award-winning Dallas Morning News Religion Blog I found this gem of a post. A group of children in Suburban St. Louis, as part of the officially sanctioned school "Spirit Week" comprised of "High Five Day" and "Hug a Friend Day," choose to celebrate "Hit a Jew Day" as just one more way to be true to their school.

Filed Under: Ethics

Strengthening Reform 17: Reasons for the Mitzvot
October 23, 2008 (7 Comments)

By William Berkson
As I wrote in the last post in this series, because in Reform our sacred texts are no longer regarded as authoritative, the "Reasons for the Mitzvot", ta'amei hamitzvot, have moved from being incidental to being central. In Reform, the reasons for the mitzvot become standards for interpreting, accepting, rejecting, and modifying the mitzvot as expressed in our sacred literature.

That is why I have been alarmed by the latest turn in Reform thinking, as seen in the 1999 Pittsburgh Principles and in Rabbi Richard Levy's A Vision of Holiness, which expands on the Principles. For in this discussion, the predominant philosophy seems to be, as I said, Romantic Individualism. We as individuals 'try on' mitzvot to see if they are spiritually uplifting, and as part of our 'dialogue' with God we are moved to practice the mitzvot or not.

Filed Under: Ethics | Religious Life | Torah

Getting Out the (Disabled) Vote
October 23, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Rabbi Lynne Landsberg
(First posted on the RACblog)
Rabbi Lynne Landsberg is the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's Senior Advisor on Disability Issues. She is a former Associate Director of the RAC and a former regional director of the URJ's Mid-Atlantic Council.

Earlier this month, I blogged about the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) Amendments Act and the work the Jewish Disability Network engaged in to see it passed this year. With one success under our belts, the coalition is now looking ahead to the future: Among our immediate priorities is making sure that the 37 million Americans with disabilities who are eligible to vote get to the polls on Election Day.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was followed by the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, ensuring that Americans of color were not prevented from voting. Although the original ADA guaranteed voting rights to individuals with disabilities, greater effort must be devoted to enforcement of the law.

Filed Under: Social Action

Lashon Tova
October 20, 2008 (7 Comments)

By Larry Kaufman
A recent discussion in these precincts about Lashon Hara, intended to present a Jewish "take" on permissible and impermissible political discourse, gave rise to a peripheral discussion about the propriety of using words and phrases from languages other than English.

That article provided a literal translation of lashon hara as "the bad tongue," and provided as English explanations defamation, character assassination, or 'bad mouthing." The subsequent discussion suggested another meaning, malicious gossip.

As a relatively new entity, this blog had not previously articulated any "rules of the road," but the discussion provoked messages from the blog managers at the Union for Reform Judaism reminding bloggers the Union is not and cannot be in the business of endorsing or supporting candidates, and that the blog exists to look at the world through a lens of Reform Judaism. I propose an additional rule - we should follow the minhag (custom) that prevails on the Union list-servs, and translate expressions from languages other than English.

Filed Under: Ethics | Holidays

Control
October 20, 2008 (4 Comments)

By dcc
Tamar Fox at Mixed Multitudes writes about Y-Love's finding that there are "activists" in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg who are destroying advertisements because the food pictured in these billboards is "excessive and indulgent." These ultra-Orthodox food-pleasure police are defacing property of surrounding businesses because they think photographs of food that is just too tasty will distract people and lead them into a life of crime, mischief and non-Jewish activity. Stop me anytime now, but isn't vandalism criminal, mischievous and non-Jewish?

Outside of the somewhat backwards tactics of resistance, why can't the ultra-Orthodox practice restraint and control?

Filed Under: Ethics | Religious Life

Tzedek, tzedek tirdof: My Father's Legacy
October 20, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Andi Rosenthal
My father Leo - may his memory be for blessing - had some definite ideas about justice. A 22-year veteran of Manhattan South Homicide, a detective first grade, and later in his second career, a tireless VP of Protective Control for Bank of New York, he spent a lifetime bringing people to justice, righting wrongs where he could, never afraid to stand up for what was right and see that the appropriate penalty was handed down. And he managed to do it all with tremendous style. Above all things he found a way to connect with people whether they were do-gooders or perps, always with an irrepressible grin and a twinkle in his eye. His way with people was a weapon far more powerful than the .44 he carried or the Glock he kept in the kitchen cabinet.

He cared about justice as much as he cared about his family, because he cared about families who had been touched by the damage that unchecked injustice can do. He never forgot a victim, never forgot a name, always made sure that he remembered that no matter what sort of evil or physical or emotional mutilation or destruction had occurred, that what he was bearing witness to was the human relationship of life-to-life in an ultimate transaction gone awry. He understood that all human beings contained the yetzer ha-tov and yetzer ha-ra - the good and evil impulse - in equal balance. But what he never let himself understand or accept was how people could justify their actions when they led to such a destructive end.

Filed Under: Ethics | Shabbat

The Marriage Equality Trifecta
October 17, 2008 (4 Comments)

By Kate Bigam
(First posted on the RACBlog)
Kate Bigam is the Press Secretary at the Religious Action Center.

The fight for marriage equality is heating up in California, Florida and Arizona, states that will see November ballot initiatives to amend their state constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. Here's a quick update on each state's grassroots campaign to oppose these dangerous and discriminatory initiatives (including a little help from Ellen DeGeneres!) and some insight into how Reform rabbis are helping out:

Arizonans voted no on a similar measure in 2006, and now they're up against the same thing this year. Now, Vote No on Prop. 102 is seeking volunteers to help spread the word about this dangerous initiative and offering $5.00 yard signs that advertise opposition to the amendment. Reform Rabbis Helen. T Cohn (Congregation Chaverim) and Thomas A. Louchheim (Congregation Or Chadash) joined an oppositional statement with other faith leaders, saying, "This amendment is morally, religiously, and financially divisive, and would be destructive to many Arizona families."

Filed Under: Lifecycle | Social Action

Dinner in the Sukkah
October 14, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Marge Eiseman
The sukkah we were sitting in had history - the galvanized pipes and green oilcloth walls full of tape residue were probably 35 or 40 years old by now, imported to Wisconsin from their original home in suburban Chicago by my brother-in-law. The "chandeliers" were the original light fixtures from the bathroom at my step-mother's old house, and it looked especially festive with the new strings of colored mini-lights that aren't really in season in stores yet (if you know what I mean).

Filed Under: Holidays

I put together my own Lulav! (kind of)
October 14, 2008

By David A.M. Wilensky
(First published on The Reform Shuckle)
This year, intoxicated by the coolness of the videos at this post at Jewlicious, I decided that I wanted to not only get my own Lulav and Etrog, but that I wanted to assemble the Lulav myself. Jonathan Golden, a a professor here at Drew and our wonderful Hillel adivsor, had his brother, a Sephardic rabbi, pick up the parts for me in Brooklyn while he was picking up several other peoples' sets of Sukot magic rain stick wand things.

The Rabbi put it together Sephardic-style. This involved a single-cradle handle thing. The Ashkenazic version that we see most often in the US, has three parts that hold the palm, willow, and myrtle seperately. The Sephardic version has a single-compratment braided handle that all three plants go in together.

Filed Under: Community | Holidays

"Our Pagan Yom Kippur" from FailedMessiah
October 13, 2008 (6 Comments)

By David A.M. Wilensky
(First published on The Reform Shuckle)
Over at the excellent blog FailedMessiah.com, a whistle-blowing blog out to expose far right wing orthodox Judaism as a harmful force in the world (by covering stuff like child molestation and Agriprocessors), there's a really interesting post about the ancient Mesopotamian holiday of Kapuru, held in the Babylonian month of Tashritu. Sound familiar? It's a cool post. Here's an excerpt:

Our ancestors borrowed a great deal from a towering, imperial Mesopotamian culture that for centuries dominated the Fertile Crescent. That we used Babylonian calendar names is widely known. Semitic peoples had used the lunar calendar from time immemorial, but named their months differently. What the (Hebrew-speaking) Canaanites called Aviv, Ziv, Eytanim and Bul, the practical-minded Hebrews first renamed months One, Two, Seven and Eight. The Babylonians called them Nisanu, Ayaru, Tashritu and Archasamnu. In time, our ancestors replaced their numerals with the Babylonian names, many of which are named in honor of Mesopotamian gods.

Filed Under: Holidays | Religious Life

Lashon Hara and Elections
October 13, 2008 (29 Comments)

By William Berskon
The last few days have dramatized the gravity of the sin of lashon hara, literally "the bad tongue." Known in English as defamation, character assassination, or in slang 'bad mouthing,' lashon hara is part of the vidui, the confession at Yom Kippur which we have all just said. It has traditionally been seen as one of the most common, yet also most serious of sins.

It is a frustration to me that public discourse in America has lacked this concept: that it is wrong to say something bad about another person, even if true, without a compelling reason. Such compelling reasons include testimony at a trial, preventing serious harm to others from a bad actor, and self-defense against lashon hara.

Filed Under: Community | Ethics | Holidays

Making Do
October 13, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Larry Kaufman
A topic in our discussion of Haazinu at Torah study on Shabbat was the survival of the Jewish people over the millennia, in the face of all the odds against us. Shlomo, our resident scholar, suggested that this was because of the Jewish capacity for "making do." Aryeh supported his position, pointing out that this had even been enshrined in Mishkan T'filah, albeit spelled differently: morid ha-tal, making dew.

Of course, with Sukkot upon us, the dew will make way for the wind and the rain - but we pray our capacity for making do will not abate. Ken yehi ratzon - so may it be.

Filed Under: Holidays

On the Subject of Tallit
October 12, 2008 (11 Comments)

By Mary Hofmann
I've been on a strange quest for an answer that never comes, so one more college try! I love wrapping myself in my tallit. I feel safe and cozy and experience a sense of balance and oneness with the One that is missing when I don't wear it. When I've asked about why we aren't supposed to wear our tallitot except for morning Torah services, I receive only responses that tell me that the Torah enjoins us to wear it during morning services, not why I SHOULDN'T wear it in the evening. Different question. Am I alone out here in the wilderness on this one, or are there others out there who'd like to add to, not break with, tradition on this subject?

Filed Under: Religious Life

Yom Kippur Minhag
October 12, 2008 (10 Comments)

By JanetheWriter
Last year on Yom Kippur, my father and I ducked out of temple following the morning service, drove down the road to the mall and--while the children's and tot services were underway--spent time browsing in Barnes and Noble, comparing notes about our most recent (and not so recent) reads, discussing what's on each of our "to read" lists and seeking out new treasures to add to those lists. Among the books we thumbed through that afternoon was Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost, which, later in 5768, I subsequently purchased and we both read. So profound was its impact on me that I wrote about it twice for this blog--once before the read and once after.

This year, the day before erev Yom Kippur, I sent my father the following email:

Dear Daddy,

Do you want to go to Barnes and Noble again on YK afternoon the way we did last year? That's where we saw The Lost. Who knows what we might find this year!

XO,
B!

Filed Under: Community | Holidays | Lifecycle

Learning from youth
October 10, 2008

By Gardening Grandma
A story in this morning's New York Times about the growing army of "eco-kids" not only grabbed my attention, it made me proud: "Pint-Size Eco-Police, Making Parents Proud and Sometimes Crazy" highlights how children are teaching their parents a lesson or two about caring for this earth, sometimes to the frustration of their parents.

While Judaism was not mentioned in the story, nothing could be closer to our hearts than protecting the earth and working to repair the damage we've created. As today's emailed Ten Minutes of Torah by Rabbi Marla Feldman notes, "to neglect our role in maintaining the fragile balance of nature is to default on our very first commitment in our covenant with God - our sacred duty to be stewards of God's Creation." She goes on to note that Sukkot is a perfect time to reinforce our connection to the natural world around us.

For more ideas about what to do this Sukkot, check out www.urj.org.

Filed Under: Ethics | Holidays | Social Action

Prostration II
October 10, 2008 (4 Comments)

By David A.M. Wilensky
(First published on The Reform Shuckle)
I've posted about prostration before.

Some of the more chazanishly demanding parts of the Yom Kipur liturgy at Chavurat Lamdeinu were tackled this year by one of our members, a guy named Steve. Steve grew up in the Conservative movement and later studied super-amazing-loud-operatic chazanut in a yeshiva. He later served for many years as a chazan at a conservative synagogue here in New Jersey.

Of course, I know that during a particular Aleinu on Yom Kipur, we're supposed to prostrate ourselves. But after years of a Reform synagogue on Austin, HUC in Jerusalem, and, last year, a Reform synagogue in New Brunswick, I've never seen it done. read MORE

Filed Under: Holidays | Religious Life

Seeking Israel Travel Advice
October 10, 2008 (7 Comments)

By Larry Kaufman
My wife Barbara and I are beginning to plan our fifth trip to Israel, and are already discussing what we want to do and see this time. Our first trip, more than thirty years ago, was a three-week group tour, which covered the major tourist sites/sights quite well. Our subsequent visits, the most recent two years ago, have allowed us to fill in many of the touristic holes. So the question is, what should be on our itinerary, either because Israel has changed so much over these three and a half decades, or because it's relatively new, or it's so far off the beaten path that we may have missed it previously, or it just hasn't made its way into the general travel canon?

Filed Under: Israel

A Forgotten Man
October 10, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Larry Kaufman
Raise your hand if you can identify Maurice Samuel.

Maybe a little prompt will help. Choose the right identifier from the list below:

American author of a novel about the Borgias
Radio partner of Mark Van Doren in discussing the Hebrew Bible
Translator of Erika Mann from the German
Translator of Edmond Fleg from the French
Translator of Sholem Asch and I.J. Singer from the Yiddish
Executive of the Zionist Organization of America
Polemicist/critic of Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History

Actually this fascinating personality was all of the above - author of six novels and twenty works of non-fiction, translator into English of 22 books from the French, German, Hebrew and Yiddish, popular lecturer, investigative journalist, aide to Henry Morgenthau Sr. in his investigation of Polish pogroms, aide to Chaim Weizmann in the writing of his autobiography. You can learn more about him in an article written eleven years ago by Louis Kaplan to commemorate Maurice Samuel's 25th yahrtzeit.

Filed Under: Community

An easy fast?
October 8, 2008 (4 Comments)

By Gardening Grandma
As Yom Kippur approaches, many people have wished me an "easy fast."

I find it very strange - and disconcerting.

The fast is meant to force us to do some deep and not-so-easy reflection and self-examination. It's meant to push us beyond our normal comfort zone. Why then, should it be easy?

I think I'll stick with G'mar Chatima Tova when I'm at temple tonight. And so, to you, the readers of this blog, "may you be sealed in the book of life."

Filed Under: Community | Holidays

Top Priority or Empty Promise?
October 8, 2008

By Jeff Oakley
(First posted on the RACBlog)
Jeff Oakley is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Last week, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin stated that "a two-state solution is the solution... and that will be [a] top of an agenda item, also, under a McCain-Palin administration." Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden stated, for his part, that "no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden" and that Obama will bring "thoughtful, real, live diplomacy that understands that you must back Israel in letting them negotiate, support their negotiation, and stand with them."

Filed Under: Israel

Authentic Judaism
October 7, 2008 (2 Comments)

By dcc
In the most recent New Voices, Josh Nathan-Kazis interviews Rabbi Rick Jacobs of Westchester Reform Temple about the threat of Chabad to the Reform Movement. The interview, Rabbi Jacobs's answers and even the questions are worth reading. However I completely dismiss the premiss of this article:

"Chabad constitutes a challenge to the Reform movement. When Chabad's rabbis come to town, the local Reform synagogue faces the risk of appearing less authentic than the competition."

Filed Under: Community | Religious Life

Reflecting on 5768: A Victorious Year in Disability Rights
October 7, 2008 (1 Comment)

By Rabbi Lynne Landsberg
(First posted on the RACblog)
Rabbi Lynne Landsberg is the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's Senior Advisor on Disability Issues. She is a former Associate Director of the RAC and a former regional director of the URJ's Mid-Atlantic Council.

In 1999, I sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury when my Jeep skidded on a patch of black ice and wrapped around a tree. When I awoke from a six-week coma, I was unable to remember how to live. Through years of intensive rehabilitation, I re-learned how to walk, talk, concentrate, read and perform daily activities. Now, I walk with a cane, speak slowly and require assistance with minor tasks.

Filed Under: Holidays | Social Action

Olmert lets it all out
October 6, 2008 (2 Comments)

By Hanan Cidor, KESHER Shaliach
First published in It's an Israel Thing
In a very unordinary interview with, who I guess you could say is not a very ordinary man, resigning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made some relatively dramatic proclamations regarding his view of Israel's future in the coming years. Olmert basically stated in his otherwise dull traditional holiday interview that it is his belief that Israel will eventually have to let go of most if not all of what is regarded as the "occupied territories" of Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in order to achieve true and lasting peace with the Palestinians, Syrians and basically the entire Arab world. Obviously enough, the importance of that statement lies in its speaker rather than in the content. Olmert's announcement marks the very first of its kind coming from the highest Israeli executive. Although of somewhat lesser practical importance because of it being his last few weeks in power, still, it is bound to set some sort of precedent for future deliberations with Israel's neighbors and more importantly, with in Israeli society.

Filed Under: Israel

L'Shana Tovah
October 6, 2008 (1 Comment)

By David Singer
Yes, a good year and a happy year. But to whom? To my family everywhere and to my friends also, and to colleagues, clients, and those I will meet this year. It goes without saying; I want all to have a good year with health and peace for them. And for myself, don't forget myself, who needs good health, who seeks peace for his daughter and wife and clients. But for whom else is L'Shana Tovah said?

It depends where you listen. If you were to visit a synagogue today, would you hear L'Shana Tovah said in honor of families who lost loved ones at wars fought today? Indeed, you would hear thoughts for those Americans fighting in Iraq. But would you hear thoughts of health and peace for Iraqi citizens in their country? Perhaps you would hear words for them, perhaps not. Some Iraqis are part of the war there; most are not and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you hear L'Shana Tovah for them? Not much, I say.

Filed Under: Ethics | Holidays

Third Time's the Charm
October 3, 2008 (3 Comments)

By Jill Zimmerman
First posted on the RACblog
On September 6th my best friend's uncles, Dan Henkle and Steve Kawa, walked down the aisle for the third -- and finally legal -- time.

Dan and Steve first became domestic partners in 1995 and were one of the few couples personally married by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom during the "Winter of Love" in 2004. (Steve is the Mayor's Chief of Staff.) They have shared a home in San Francisco for over 13 years and have two beautiful children, Katherine and Michael. But this September wedding was the first time the couple's commitment was legally sanctioned.

However, a California ballot initiative is threatening to take away the right for couples like Dan and Steve to be married under California state law. Proposition 8, which will be on California ballots November 4th, would amend the California State Constitution to say: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Similar measures will be on the ballots in Florida and Arizona, and one that would prevent gay couples from adopting children will be on the ballots in Hawaii.

Filed Under: Lifecycle | Social Action

Religulous an empty satire
October 3, 2008

By Gardening Grandma
Rosh HaShanah had been over for a few hours when I found myself at the Emelin Film Club for a preview showing of Bill Maher's Religulous.

Most of the time Maher, who didn't know about his mother's Jewish faith until he'd already decided to leave Catholicism behind, spends a lot of time on Jesus and Christianity, but gives Islam and Judaism short shrift. And of course, the only people he interviews--regardless of their faith--are those who are on the extreme edge. So there's not a Jew without payes in the movie.

I'd been looking forward to seeing the movie, but I expected more than some laughs - no matter how good they are. I thought there might be some new insights, some hope that the movie would make fanatics think harder about their actions.

Instead, it's Maher doing Maher. He is stuck in his view that organized religion is both absurd and terrifying, and, by ignoring anyone who isn't fanatical about their faith he deprives himself of understanding the role religion plays for the majority of people living in the 21st century.

Filed Under: Religious Life

Rabbi Bachman knocks it out of the park
October 2, 2008 (3 Comments)

By David A.M. Wilensky (First published on The Reform Shuckle)
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The man is a genius. Check out a transcript of Rabbi Andy Bachman's erev Rosh Hashanah sermon here. Here' an excerpt:

Surrendering total control is never easy-especially as members of a synagogue community founded on principles that value the intellect over the experiential; the rational over the mysterious; Reform over Tradition. Of course, as we continually need to remind ourselves, the historical circumstances that founded this community in 1861 are quite different from those that demand action in the world today. Our membership, ever growing, comes from all walks of Jewish life-Reform, Conservative and Orthodox and non-Jewish life as well. I find that fewer people have an intellectual ax to grind with Tradition and Reform is not much more than: 1. a commitment to egalitarian values for men, women, gays and lesbians; 2. a rationalist and historical view of the authorship of Torah; and, 3. devotion to the principles of Tikkun Olam, Social Justice and Social Action. But "Reforming Judaism?" I've yet to encounter in my years here a single Jew who truly wants to Reform Judaism. After all, in humility, we could easily spend the next 50 years just figuring out what Judaism IS!

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