L'Chayim ul'Shalom, L'Sasson ul'Simcha, Lishua ul'Nechama . . .: Howard, thank you for your blog hospitality.
Since the resurgence of the
intifada two years ago and then the
Durban-berg Rally last year, I had been bombarding friends, email lists and news site forums with URLs about Muslim fanaticism and increased anti-Semitism worldwide. When the planes hit the WTC, I was actually relieved. "Now this shit will come out in the open and we can draw some lines," I thought.
I have always described myself as
socially liberal, fiscally conservative and associate with "political progressives" much of the time. I have seen leftist anti-Semitism before, and although I am angry and disappointed at its resurgence, I can't honestly say I'm
surprised when
people who I thought were independent thinkers swallow Palestinian
propaganda without questioning.
Even so, I was discouraged by the time I discovered the blogosphere around March. A new outlet for my outrage! I excitedly sent URLs and commented to bloggers, several of whom urged me to strike out on my own. Howard is actually the 2nd blogger to offer me guest privileges (which I think of as blog training wheels), but I was leery of feeding the blog addiction until I decided that I wouldn't be spending any more time at it if I did it under my own name rather than in
someone else's comment section.
Today -
Rosh Chodesh Ellul - is a good day to start a rewarding new activity. Not only does a new month begin today, but it is a special month in which Jews traditionally begin spiritual preparations for the intense self-reflection of the High Holy Days. Although not a morning person, not only did I show up at
morning minyan at 7 AM, I also chanted one of the
special Torah readings for this day.
In addition to the
psalm of the day, on every Rosh Chodesh we recite
Psalm 104 (my favorite of them all), and throughout Ellul and into the
Yamim Noraim we also recite
Psalm 27 (which certainly has resonance for Jews and our friends during these frightening times). So a plethora of psalms this morning.
Just in case anyone misses the point that they had better apply themselves to cleaning up their internal shit before Yom Kippur, at the end of each morning service during Ellul we also blow the shofar, which is the best incentive to get up this early, because it is a sound unlike any other on earth, an untamed animal sound that grabs you by the lapels and shouts in your face: "Listen!" Our shofar blower had a beautifully long twisty ram's horn (much like the one in
this picture) with a forceful yet mellow sound, something like a French horn.
I am going to try to get to minyan every morning this month - wish me fortitude and the desire to go to bed early.
Jewish Porn revisited: I've not had any posts on Judaism and sex for a long while, but I discovered that someone reached Kesher Talk through a google search for "Jewish porn." So, being the curious type, I looked to see who else got pegged in this search...
- An editorial from the World Union of Jewish Students, which wonders what is so special about Jewish porn.
- An old article from Jewsweek profiling the repulsive porn star Ron Jeremy, who happens to be Jewish.
- A cartoon of a man looking at a poster, which advertizes the movie "Hymie Does Dallas: 5% sex, 95% guilt"
- A San Francisco Bay Guardian profile of porn-afficionado LukeFord, an Orthodox Jew who happens to run a porn culture web site, which google also links to.
- A movie review from the repulsive Vangaurd News Network, which blames any filth in films on Jewish influence. (No, I won't link to them)
It goes on from there -- Google turns up 191 sites. Some are kinky, some innocuous, some disgusting.
Interestingly, Kesher Talk appears rather far down the list.
3,727 synagogues in the United States!: OK, so there are apparently not three synagogues for every two Jews, according to a new census from the American Jewish Committee. Jim Schwartz and his co-researchers collected and analyzed data from all organizations representing synagogues to compile the census for the AJC's American Jewish Yearbook 2002. The AJC says this is the first survey of U.S. synagogues since the 1936 Census of Religious Bodies, which counted 2,851.
Interesting findings?
- Orthodox congregations represent a full 40 percent of U.S. synagogues, followed by Reform with 26 percent and Conservative with 23 percent. Every other denomination or group representing synagogues – Reconstructionist, Sephardi, Traditional, Humanistic, Gay/Lesbian – accounts for 3 percent or less of synagogue affiliations, according to the 2001 census of synagogues.
- The 50 metropolitan areas with the largest Jewish populations contain 82 percent of all U.S. synagogues, a total of 3,075. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area alone accounts for one-third of the synagogues. Seven metropolitan areas – New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco – contain 58 percent of the synagogues.
- In the New York metropolitan area, relative to their national levels, Orthodox synagogues are over represented (57 percent), Conservative are in their proper proportion (24 percent), while Reform (14 percent) and Reconstructionist (1 percent) are underrepresented.
- Though less than 10 percent of American Jews are estimated to be Orthodox, Orthodox synagogues represent 40 percent of all U.S. synagogues.
- The highest synagogue density (the number of synagogues per 1,000 Jews) is found in medium-size communities such as Providence, Rhode Island; Albany, New York; Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; and, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The relatively high ratio in these cities may "reflect the length of Jewish settlement, the more traditional Jews who tend to live there, and the priority given to institution-building" in these areas.
- The states with the highest synagogue density tend to be rural and have relatively small Jewish populations: South Dakota, Mississippi, Montana, and Arkansas. This may be a residual effect of earlier Jewish settlement.
- Reform synagogues are predominant in small communities and more rural areas such as Arkansas, Idaho, and Mississippi, where 90 percent or more of all synagogues are Reform.
- Several communities with substantial Jewish populations such as West Palm Beach and Phoenix have low synagogue density which possibly can be attributed to a time lag — the number of synagogues commencing operations has not kept pace with the recent growth in Jewish population in these areas.
Kesher Talk expansion continues! Please welcome a new contributing editor to Kesher Talk, Judith Weiss. You can find out more about her on the
FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.
Jew by choice? That was a question I had to answer on my application for membership at Olom Tikvah, the conservative shuel my fiancee and I joined on Tuesday. When I first saw it, I quickly checked the YES box. Of course I'm a Jew by choice. I could have run off to Bahai or Methodist or something wacky. But I chose to stick it out.
Then it occured to me... aha! They're asking if I'm a convert! This is an issue which I thankfully don't have to grapple in my personal life. Both my fiancee and myself were born into our religion.
According to
Ha'aretz, a recent Hillel poll of American Jewish students "found that 90 percent of the young people with two Jewish parents defined themselves as Jews. On the other hand, when only the mother is Jewish, the number of young people identifying themselves as Jewish is just 40 percent. When the father is Jewish and the mother is non-Jewish, only 16 percent identified themselves as Jewish. These figures confirm the stronger influence of the mother in developing the child's awareness, and its significance is nothing new to Jewish experts either, even if the relatively small impact of the father's influence surprised many."
Anyhow, given the depletion of Jewish demographics, some people are interested in encouraging conversion to Judaism -- that's right, bring on the dreaded word, "proselytization."
Moment magazine has an article on the debate this month.
One thing that has always set Jews apart from Christians and Muslims, something we point to with pride, is that Jews don't push their religion on other people. Jews don't tell non-Jews that they're going to hell, that they'll be denied salvation if they don't accept the halachic yoke. Jews don't proselytize.
But we sure used to. Most Jews today may not be aware of it, but Judaism has a long history of not only welcoming, but encouraging gentiles to become Jewish. From the day Abraham picked up a flint and performed his own circumcision, thus becoming Judaism's first convert, ancient Israelites openly spread their teachings among the nations they encountered.
Jewish proselytizing was so successful, it's estimated that by the first century C.E. fully 10 percent of the Roman Empire was Jewish, close to 8 million people.
... Jews only stopped open proselytism because of pressure from Christian and then Muslim rulers, beginning in 407 C.E. when the Roman Empire outlawed conversion to Judaism under penalty of death. But the internal, theological impetus to be "a light unto the nations" (Isaiah 42:6) persisted through the centuries, albeit undercover, advancing and retreating along with Jewish fortunes in the Diaspora.
... "I welcome the idea of freshening up the gene pool," says San Francisco sociologist Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research and author of Opening the Gates—How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community. "We're doing a great mitzvah if we help make more Jews."
What does "making more Jews" mean? Not just welcoming new converts once they convert, which virtually all Jewish leaders say they advocate, or being more open to inquiries from potential converts—here the Orthodox are more circumspect than the other denominations—but actually encouraging non-Jews to consider choosing Judaism.
... Many people oppose a more active policy. Some fear that Jewish missionary efforts will antagonize Christians and lead to increased anti-Semitism. Some believe that proselytizing is un-Jewish, and by engaging in such activities Judaism will somehow become "Christianized."
But the main opposition Jewish outreach workers encounter is a feeling, deeply held by many, if not most American Jews, that they are special because they are few, endangered, and members of a select blood tribe.
The debate over encouraging conversion turns on competing visions of what the Jewish community is supposed to be. Is Judaism an elite club that only a chosen few may join, or a moral and ethical construct that many people could adopt?
... Some Orthodox and even Conservative rabbis follow the tradition of turning away potential converts three times, a stance based on Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, telling her three times to return to her people (Ruth 1:8,11,12).
Orthodox Rabbi Yaacov Lerner of Young Israel in Great Neck, N.Y., runs Project Identity, an outreach program directed at disaffected Jews, not gentiles, although some non-Jews have participated. "I take a very traditional Orthodox stance," he says. "We don't go out and market Judaism. God gave us the Torah not because we were numerous among the nations, but because we were the smallest. We are interested in quality, not quantity."
... it's a matter of setting priorities. Faced with limited resources and personnel, many of these leaders say the Jewish community should focus its attention on "core Jews"—born Jews who have drifted away from Jewish practice and identification—rather than on creating more Jews.
Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder and director of the [Orthodox] National Jewish Outreach Center, tells Moment that "We need to stop the hemorrhaging before we can start proselytizing." But should Judaism seek out more Jews, better Jews, or more better Jews?
Hands down, it's the Reform movement that goes furthest in opening the spiritual doors to non-Jews. Faced with growing numbers of non-Jews in their own congregations, Reform rabbis and educators have come up with programs both to make these people feel comfortable with synagogue life and—gently—to encourage them to explore the conversion option.
... It was only in 1994... that the Reform movement came up with ... a three-session course called "A Taste of Judaism," conceived of as a "first taste" of Judaism for non-Jews at the initial stages of interest.
Since its inception, the Reform movement's national outreach director Dru Greenwood says 45,000 people have completed the course. About half were non-Jews. A survey of the first 2,000 graduates found that 14 percent of the non-Jews went on to convert.
Indeed. My friend Martha is a recent convert to Reform Judaism. She spent a year of study, effectively trying to cram into after-work and weekend study sessions all the culture and religious teachings someone like myself picked up by experience. And she is not doing too badly. But she still has a long way to go...
Some Jewish leaders from other denominations say the Reform movement's active outreach to interfaith couples, and the fact that many Reform congregations accept non-Jews as full members, actually discourages conversion. Why bother to convert if you and your children are already part of the synagogue family?
Greenwood says that's a spurious complaint. The evidence she's collected shows that proximity to Jewish life breeds love for it, not contempt. Rabbis in the field report that non-Jews in their congregations begin by attending services, then they enroll their children in Hebrew School, and by the time the kids reach bat or bar mitzvah age, the non-Jewish spouse is often ready to convert.
Other denominations have their own responses.
Since 1986, Rabbi Neal Weinberg has directed the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles—the Conservative movement's West Coast flagship institution. About half his students are non-Jewish, many of them involved in interfaith relationships. But growing numbers of his students aren't involved in an interfaith relationship at all. More than 8,000 students have come through his course in the past 15 years. About 2,000 have converted ...
To critics who charge that he's running a conversion mill, Weinberg responds that in 16 weeks of three-and-a-half-hour classes, he gets to know each student personally and is able to judge the sincerity of their intentions as well as or better than a rabbi who meets weekly with conversion candidates one-on-one, the traditional method of pursuing conversion to Judaism.
Weinberg strongly believes that the Conservative movement should be "more proactive" in promoting Judaism to the outside world.
... The Orthodox view is that Judaism does have a universalistic mission, but it is to spread Judaism's ethical teachings among the gentiles without necessarily converting them to Judaism. Typically, an Orthodox rabbi approached by a potential convert will suggest that the person instead consider obeying the seven Noahide Laws—a Talmud-derived moral code God supposedly gave to the nations of the world, while the Torah was reserved for the Jews, his "chosen" people. The Noahide Laws prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual immorality, theft, and cruelty to animals, and mandate the establishment of a legal system (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a).
Rabbi Harold Schulweis, longtime spiritual leader of Congregation Valley Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Encino, Calif., rejects the Orthodox approach. "If seven laws are good, 613 are better," he asserts. Turning potential converts away by telling them the Noahide Laws are good enough for them, whereas Judaism's treasures are to be saved for an elite few, is, Schulweis argues, promulgating a particularist notion of Judaism that is profoundly un-Jewish.
Schulweis... feels there's no reason to hesitate. "Jews need to be convinced they have something unique to offer the world," he says. "It's all up to the rabbi and the congregation to make these people feel welcome. The synagogue should say, 'We want to meet you. We want to help you.'"
Update: John Tabin takes issue with my look at being Jewish because I failed to examine
matrilineal Judaism:
There's another factor at work here that neither Ha'aretz nor Howard mentions: the fact that everyone with a non-Jewish mother is told "you're not a real Jew" (an aspect of Jewish law abandoned by the Reform movement). A little halacha can be dangerous in the hands of cruel children.
I'm very much in favor of the spousal outreach common in Reform temples (they converted my mom), but I must admit I'm uncomfortable with outward proselytizing. It's not that I have a good argument against it, I just have a general cultural aversion to the idea. I'm not sure how valid the concern is that it would increase anti-Semitism; considering how a-religious types feel about Christian proselytizers, this might be worth thinking about.
Responding to the declining Jewish identity of halflings, many rabbis strongly discourage intermarriage. This annoys me for obvious reasons. When I was subjected to one such sermon at Conservative synagogue during a friend's bar mitzvah, I felt like I was being persecuted in temple. (Okay, I tended to overdramatize such things in my head as a 13-year-old.) Encouraging parents to instill at least some Jewish identity in their children is one thing, but if you ask people to choose between love and temple, don't be surprised when they turn their back on the religion.
American Jewish opinions on Israel: The American Jewish Committee has a poll out on American Jewish attitudes. "Jewish support for Israel is rock solid," said Stanely B. Greenberg of Quinlan Research. "The overall number who say they feel close to Israel has jumped 14 points to 86 percent. The proportion feeling 'very close' has jumped from 29 to 48 percent. This is a unified community, and the seriousness of the current conflict has only intensified their commitment."
Eighty-five percent of American Jews supports Israel in the ongoing conflict (64 percent strongly support, and 21 percent support Israel), one percent supports the Palestinians, while four percent doesn't support either side and 9 percent supports both sides equally.
Notwithstanding the continuing violence, 63 percent of American Jews favors the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, while 33 percent are opposed. In the earlier AJC survey 53 percent of American Jews favored establishing a Palestinian state and 39 percent were opposed.
Fully eight of ten American Jews (80 percent) expressed concern that the U.S. will pressure Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians in order to keep the Arab countries in the anti-terrorist coalition, while only 18 percent are not concerned at all. The 80 percent figure is unchanged from the AJC poll conducted last fall.
When asked what policy the United States should have regarding Israel, the poll found a strong 45 percent of American Jews want the U.S. to allow Israel to do what it needs to do to defend its citizens, and 25 percent want America to support Israel's diplomatic and military positions. At the same time, 18 percent of American Jews say the U.S. should pressure Israel to negotiate for peace, and 6 percent say the U.S. should stay out of the conflict all together.
See more about this
interesting (but small sample) poll.
Peruvian Jews in Israel: The Guardian profiles the strange story of a group of
Jewish converts from Peru now living and prospering in Israel.
It is hard to be a kid...:
A leader of the Hamas terrorist organization said that he supports having his own son become a suicide bomber.
His wife, however, said the next day that she is against having their son become a suicide bomber.
I hate it when parents try to meddle in their children's career choices ... pulling the kid in all different directions ... tough being a kid these days.
courtesy of Mike Sultan
Posting your Mezuzah: A common (and Kabbalistic, I think) notion for putting a mezuzah on your doorpost is to ward off eveil spirits. But the mezuzah is also "
a daily reminder -- and a public declaration -- of Jewish identity and faith."
Though mezuzah literally means "doorpost," it commonly refers to a scroll of parchment containing biblical verses, placed on the doorpost.
The mezuzah recalls the Exodus from Egypt, when the lamb's blood smeared on the doorpost "identified" the Jewish homes that God passed over during the plague of the first born.
From that day forward, the mezuzah has always identified a home as being Jewish. Travelling throughout the world, one can often seek out fellow Jews by looking for a mezuzah on the door. In areas where Jews have been exiled (e.g. Eastern Europe and Middle East countries), many doorposts still bear the mark of a mezuzah removed.
The scroll contains the first two paragraphs of the "Shema" prayer, declaring the oneness of God, and commanding us "to write [these words] on the doorpost of your house and on your gates" (Deut. 6:4-9). The second passage (Deut. 11:13-21) teaches that Jewish destiny, both individually and nationally, depends upon fulfilling God's will.
... If we want our internal world to reflect Godly ideals, we have to protect it against the outside world at the point of interface: the doorway. ...
... As well, having a mezuzah on each room means that whenever we move from one domain, one sphere of activity, to another, we must renew our consciousness of God's presence and act in a way that sanctifies His Name.
This article, by Rabbi Shraga Simmons, goes on to explain even further the significance on the mezuzah, where to get one, how to put it up properly, and so forth. My fiancee and I could have used the advice when we were putting ours up on our new house in February...
Successful weekend: While my parents-in-law-to-be created a certain drama by not arriving at shuel until just before we were called to the Torah, everything else went off without a hitch. I was happy to have the aufruf in the synagogue (and with the rabbi) with which (and whom) I grew up. Plus, the party in the evening that my parents threw was a grand time, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law to be made it for the shindig as well. Now, aside from exhaustion, I am altogether pleased.
McKinney Donors Under Investigation For Terror Ties:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Saturday that "Rep. Cynthia McKinney's re-election campaign has accepted contributions from several people who have come under federal investigation for suspected links to Middle Eastern terrorists or have voiced support for extremist groups." The "outspoken DeKalb County Democrat, a frequent critic of US Middle East policy, has long drawn Arab and Muslim financial support. Most of McKinney's individual donors listed on disclosure reports in 2001 and this year have Arabic names and live out of state." Her donors include "Abdurahman Alamoudi, leader of a Muslim organization, who during a 2000 rally outside the White House expressed support for the violent Palestinian group Hamas and for Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite party linked to bombings," a "professor who was jailed in 1998 on contempt charges for refusing to answer a grand jury's questions about alleged money-laundering links to Hamas," and five businessmen" whose homes or businesses were searched in March during an FBI raid investigating financial links to terrorism." McKinney's campaign "reported most of those contributions as having come Sept. 11, the date of the terror attacks in New York and Washington." McKinney is "locked in what a poll released this week shows to be a virtual dead heat against former DeKalb County State Court Judge Denise Majette in the Aug. 20 Democratic primary. Majette declined to comment Friday on McKinney's fund-raising."
