Kesher Talk: 06/22/2003

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Real Live Preacher. I hadn't stopped by Real Live Preacher for awhile and I forgot just how great a blog it is. This guy's writing is so fine and so transparent. Just start at the top and scroll down, and then start clicking on the archives. Plan to spend an hour or so. The comments are great too - one of them linked to this amazing rumination on weddings and marriage.

In one way all the people who are thoughtful and serious about religion - any religion - are part of my "tribe" more than people who have a blankness where the awe should be, or who are still knee-jerk reacting to some straw-man stereotype of God they remembered from when they were 14 and thought they were so cool because they had outgrown a child's understanding of God. And got stuck there, never growing into an adult's experience of God. (And then there are those adults who are still stuck in a child's understanding of God, in fact an abused child's understanding of God, combined with a child's need to huddle in cliques and an abused child's need to strike out, and that's trouble.)

Religion is a very sharp knife, and it can cut a lot of things.

Anyway, some people have God-consciousness pouring out of them it seems effortlessly, like RLP.

Friday, June 27, 2003

We're back: Server moves over at Hosting Matters left us incognito for much of the week, but our webmaster seem to have fixed things now. Please excuse us, back to the Jewish blogging... and have a good Shabbos.

Kudos to Stefan, "The Shark Blogger": Stefan was most generous to make Kesher Talk his first "Blog of the Day"-- and I was happy to find out that Kesher Talk inspired him to start blogging because he does some great work.

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

This blog is in Yiddish, and it provides an extensive linkage to other sites in and on Yiddish, as well as to some other blogs in Yiddish. I hope it can disprove the common wisdom that this is a dying language. I understand very little of the Mome-Loshn (mother tongue - another Yiddish name for Yiddish...), but it makes me feel all warm inside every time I hear it or see it written. My grandmother spoke it, of course.

Arguing in New York. I haven't experienced the supposed New York monoculture that Anne Applebaum is talking about, but I hang out a lot with somewhat observant Jews, many of whom are under 30, and their politics are not uniform. I wouldn't go so far as to assume any of them would admit to being Republicans, but quite a few of them were for the Iraq war and are not optimistic about the Road Map.

At BJ you would get dumbfounded stares for supporting the war. I remember Purim in their huge supplemental sanctuary surrounded by "candles for peace," having to sit through a pudgy balding Peter Yarrow singing "Blowing in the Wind" (with all these greying hippies eating him up) (I know these people are my age, but I haven't liked PP&M since I was 12, okay???) before I could fulfill the mitzvah - unlike most shul-related duties, incumbent on both genders - of hearing the megillah. And they started later than all the other shuls in the neighborhood - which is why I went there, I admit it, I was lazy - so if I left everyone else would have been finished already.)

But sometimes they hit just the right note, when they are not trying to be PC, or at least being subtle about it. Their Tisha B'Av services last summer were lovely: they wove some contemporary readings in with the chanting of Eicha, everyone sat on the floor in the dark with candles (which is traditional), and it worked.

The problem of "alternative" or "experimental" rituals is you never know what you are going to get. The problem with "traditional" rituals is you always know what you are going to get. There should be a brocha for being here in New York in the dawn of the 21st century, where you can move the slider along that scale to just about where you want it. But even in a mid-size Bible Belt city the Jewish choices are nothing to sneeze at.

WMDs or no WMDs? Matthew fisks Matthew. And he does a great job. Yglesias' supposition about North Korea is exactly backwards, as I pointed out in the comments, or at least was during the war. (Things change so fast.) And his burning house analogy is constructed to support his argument. You could come up with an analogy just as or more parallel (in fact I saw one earlier this week, but I forget where) to show that the prudent thing to do was to invade.

Penmanship. Palmer cursive is hard to do well and slow. However, chancery cursive (the closest typeface is Zapf Chancery), written without an edged nib, is clean, easy to read, easy to learn, and very fast. People think of this as "calligraphy" because they usually see it written with thicks and thins, but that's just the flat nib, you can make the strokes with anything. (I wonder if this is the "Italic" mentioned in the article?)

I cannot take notes on a computer, because I like to draw arrows to things and go back and insert phrases, and make diagrams, and write sideways, so I feel like I'm in a straitjacket when I take notes typing. But I'm a very visual person and I made a living as a calligrapher for 4-5 years, so that's just me.

(via One Hand Clapping)

Democracy Whisky Sexy Dept. The first Iraqi boy band. (Another picture where I found this, Reason of Voice)

Monday, June 23, 2003

We Five. My judgment may be obscured by the fact that I've owned this record since I was 12 (I am now listening to a tape), but wasn't You Were on My Mind one of the best pop records of the last 40 years?

My tastes are usually more edgy, but the arrangements and soaring voice of Beverly Bivens overcome any resistance to the clean-cut wholesomeness of We Five. They just had an incredible chemistry and artistry, and they chose great material for that first record.

Nextbook is an excellent, excellent Jewish news blog. Check it out, bookmark it. Nextbook. (But the name sucks.)

What kind of Jew are you? Gavriel Aryeh Sanders has the best answer yet to the superficiality and willful ignorance of "making a career out of my mid-life crisis" Douglas Rushkoff.

I haven't read Rushkoff's book, just some interviews. But based on those, he seems to have invented a meme ("open-source Judaism") and is riding it for all it's worth, but his complaints aren't new, and his "solutions" have been part of normative Judaism since at least the rabbinic period. If the Jewish community didn't get itself so easily worked up over every demographic bump in the road, nobody would pay any attention to this guy.

UPDATE: Protocols is hosting an online discussion of Rushkoff's ideas, and the author has already commented. (Permalinks hosed - scroll to "Tuesday, June 24, 2003. Alright, it's time to get started on our Rushkoff discussion.")

Author asks, 'can Judaism remain relevant?': Douglas Rushkoff, in his new book Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism, argues that Judaism is on the brink of becoming irrelevant because its most core value of open-ended inquiry has been obscured by an obsession with self-preservation and idolatry.

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt has an interview with him in Manhattan about the stir resulting from his book, and what it means.

Jews in odd places: Russia: To be fair, it wasn't always an odd place to find Jews, but since the refuseniks were allowed to escape as the Soviet Union collapsed, the population has been on a sharp decline.

Some Orthodox Jews in Russia hope to change that. The Federation of the Orthodox Jews of Russia, formed at a three-day congress held recently at a Moscow synagogue, hopes that increasing Jewish knowledge and lifestyle among Russia’s Jews will help them entice Israeli Orthodox rabbis, hit by the economic crisis at home, to come to Russia. Without the Rabbis, it is hard to build the communities that will keep Jews from leaving the country.

The organization adds to the already fractious mix of Jewish organizations in Russia today. Reform Jews “and the Chabad are making great strides” in Russia, Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s chief rabbi and one of the group’s leaders, told JTA, but the Orthodox movement “is left behind.”

Of the few dozen rabbis living and working in Russia today, approximately three-quarters are believed to be representatives of the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch organization, which operates through the umbrella Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

While most of the Reform congregations have learned to live without permanent rabbinical guidance — there are only two ordained Reform rabbis in the Russian Federation — the movement’s Russian arm, the Union of Religious Organizations of Modern Judaism in Russia, is credited with creating a viable network serving Reform Jews in some 30 Russian cities.

Can a Jew become president of a soccer club? Not in Spain, apparently.

Democracy, whisky, sexy! in Palestine. These days I am flogging two memes:

Baghdad 2003 = Prague 1990. (Maybe 2004, depends on how bad the news is from the reconstruction.)

Let the Palestinian middle-class build the peace.

These both derive from the same theory: entrepreneurs build things faster and cheaper than governments, and they would rather trade than fight, so create a solid foundation of law and property rights and then let them loose. The "solid foundation" is easier said than done, but the policy wonk world is generally in favor of this approach to Iraq, but its application to the Palestinian problem and to the Middle East in general has a lower profile. The fact that the Palestinian standard of living rose under Israeli occupation, and dove after Arafat returned in 1994 is also not well-known.

PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad is the key to the whole thing. Bush likes how he is handling things. We know personal rapport is crucial to Bush and he and this guy bonded. (I don't know if they were introduced by Omar Karsou, but it would stand to reason he is involved at some level.)

Just months ago the administration was seeking to bypass the Palestinian Authority; now it will be pushing to fund it. The U.S. government went from viewing the Palestinian Authority as a corrupt, untrustworthy apparatus, marred by terrorism, to a financially-transparent, responsible partner in the peace process. . . . "The emergence of an accountable Palestinian leadership that has put in place a finance minister, and transparency and accountability measures that I think are starting to give people confidence that the money would be used for what its intended to be used for is another one of those new conditions that we're going to want to take a look at."

The proposed changed in policy comes in response to a request from the Palestinian finance minister, Salam Fayyad, when he met with Bush in the White House two weeks ago, well-placed Washington sources said. Fayyad, who previously represented the International Monetary Fund in the West Bank and Gaza, reportedly forged an immediate rapport with Bush. Fayyad's cooperation with Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche, the two financial consulting companies hired by the United Nations and the United States government, respectively, to audit the Palestinian Authority's finances, has earned him broad praise.

It would certainly be significant if Fayyad has managed to wrest control of the pocketbook away from Arafat to the extent that prestigious international accounting firms are satisfied; if the US can keep the EU (especially France) from rushing in to rescue Arafat and Hamas like the co-dependent enablers they are, this could be a genuine turning point in how the PA operates.

Which may be why Bush and Powell think the PA is ready to be tested in Gaza. Fayyad has delivered financial accountability, the foundation of a productive society. Now Mazen and his police force must deliver political accountability, legitimizing the state by enforcing its monopoly on force: they must sink their own Altalena. And Hamas - in their stupid "we only know one thing but we know it really well" kind of way - are presenting them with a big fat target.

All the pieces are lined up, although in this multi-dimensional chess game played Alice in Wonderland style, each mutually hostile piece has its own agenda. There are so many independent uncontrollable factors that could derail this approach, but the ideas behind it are sound. Will Abu Mazen have the guts to take out Hamas? (I don't think it's a question of arms or personnel, because to make this work I'm sure Bush or Sharon would loan him a few Special Forces guys.) But the light bulb has to want to change. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Like I said, the news changes hour by hour. According to Ha'aretz, the Pals are getting cold feet.

. . . it appears the Palestinians are still waiting for Hamas to announce whether it agrees to the cease-fire proposal before accepting any such responsibility.

Dahlan, the task before you is not to reach an accomodation with Hamas. Hamas is not a co-ruler of the Palestinian State. Your task is to establish a monopoly of force and authority. Otherwise, your "state" is a fiction.

In Washington, the IDF director of military intelligence, Major-General Aharon Ze’evi (Farkash), is to . . . present the Americans with Israeli intelligence’s assessment of the Palestinian Authority’s efforts and ability to fight terror, and will also touch on regional issues, such as Iran and Syria. Last week, the head of the Shin Bet security service Avi Dichter visited Washington, where he presented Israeli’s assessment of how the PA could best act against the terror infrastructure of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Like I said, the US and Israel are willing to help the PA along, if only the PA will take responsibility.

(For those who are pessimistic about this scenario - I'm not optimistic either, I'm just pointing out that this seems to be Bush's plan. And Fayyad's success in putting the PA's finances in order is a big deal.)

UPDATE: Contrary to some handwringing in the blogosphere about the intentions of the Bush administration, their eyes are on the prize.

Israel and the Bush administration want the Palestinian prime minister . . . to use the lull as an interlude for consolidating power, after which they expect him to crack down on Hamas. Abu Mazen, however, has said he has no intention of cracking down. Instead, he has said on several occasions, he hopes to use the cease-fire as a first stage toward domesticating Hamas, leading to a power-sharing arrangement at the helm of the budding Palestinian state.

Publicly, the administration is skeptical of the trustworthiness of such an intra-Palestinian cease-fire and condemns Hamas in the strongest possible terms as a terrorist organization that strives to undermine peace efforts. In private, however . . . they know that a cease-fire is the only feasible result they can get out of Abu Mazen," a former American diplomat with close contacts to the administration said of President Bush and his aides. "Although the president strongly dislikes the idea of negotiating with terrorists, he now understands that this is the only thing you can do at the moment."

However,

. . . Bush "exploded with anger" when Abu Mazen told him he is trying to reach an agreement with Hamas and other opposition factions. . . . when he explained to Bush at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit two weeks ago that he is negotiating with the Palestinian militants, Bush replied: "There cannot be an agreement with terrorists." Later, according to the report, Bush told Abu Mazen that "a cease-fire is not the whole story," apparently meaning that the lull will have to be followed by a disarmament effort, and perhaps more.

Bush exploding in anger is a good thing. I think the last time he did that in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it was when Arafat lied to him about the Karinne-A, which was a milestone in Bush's enlightenment on the issues and approach to the conflict.

I think this is rope-a-dope all over again. I think Mazen will fink out just like France and Germany did at the UNSC over Iraq. At which point Bush can say "I gave him every chance" and give the Israelis leave to go in and clean up.

. . . Abu Mazen may have effectively sealed his fate by declining to accept security responsibility for Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the Aqaba summit. Mofaz believes that since then, Hamas has only strengthened its position in Palestinian public opinion and that Abbas himself, because of his hesitation, has grown steadily weaker. . . . Israel is already "preparing the ground" for "the day after" the probable collapse of the cease-fire, in both the diplomatic and operational arenas. The defense establishment believes that if and when the P.A. proves inept at fighting terrorism, the Bush administration will have no choice but to support an all-out Israeli offensive against Hamas.

Sunday, June 22, 2003

The Jewish future: gays, women, and shul-hopping. Ah yes. One of those topics we never get tired of discussing. The future of the Conservative movement, otherwise known as: time to play musical chairs with all the denominational labels. I don't know how long comments on Protocols stay up, so here's mine:

I could see any of those possibilities. The facts on the ground are that Jews don't pick congregations because of movements. They want egalitarian, or they like the rabbi, or their kids are friends with kids who go there, or the shul is a 10 min. drive or a 5 min. walk.

Egalitarian practice is a big decider. I know a lot of couples where the man likes a particular Orthodox minyan, and the woman won't put up with the mechitza, so she goes to an egal minyan. Sometimes they join each other, but basically they have different shuls. Where do they send the kids? Each couple decides differently based on many factors. The thing is, these guys are not opposed to egal services, and they are feminists for their daughters. They just happen to like a particular minyan. But a woman can't just happen to like a particular minyan, just like a black person in the south 30 years ago couldn't just happen to decide to eat at a particular restaurant. You have to check it out first. There are lists with descriptions to tell you what to expect.

I think few who are egal will balk at fully accepting gay marriage and rabbis.

At the same time there is a simultaneous move to more traditional services and more experimental services, but overall more musical and invigorating services. (I agree lots of singing doesn't = heightened spirituality, but no singing sure doesn't either. Getting the singing part right is subtle.)

I don't think the movement labels will go away, but I think you will not be as able to predict what kind of a service you will get based on the label, except that "Orthodox" will be the label that describes "not egal and not homosexual." and everyone else will be various mixtures of very traditional (looks just like Orthodox only egal) to very "alternative." AND everyone will shul-hop to all those different places, including the Orthodox shuls. Except the Orthodox who will only shul-hop to other Orthodox shuls, of course.

Someone once had an idea that each Jewish community should give an all-purpose synagogue membership with the JCC dues, then you go to shul wherever you want for one fee. I think the Dallas community already does that as an intro membership for people under 25. I think that's what it's coming to for everyone in a mid-to-large city, but I don't know if a shul can break even or build a community in that model.

The other comments are thoughtful and it's a topic on which everyone can sound like a macher, so go check it out.

It's all about ooooiiiiiiiilllllll - for France. Long interesting discussion at Winds of Change about France's recent foreign policy. Among the many comments:

. . . My criticism of the French has little to do with their opposition to the war per se. Indeed, its extreme form of realpolitik, devoid of any regard for human rights, decency, and responsibility, is hardly new. Moreover, French leftism is only marginally similar to American leftism in their shared collectivist approaches. American leftism is far more superficial and diffuse. French leftism is harder to define, since the French parties on the right support a great deal of "collectivism" that Americans would label as "leftist" and the French left is hardly multiculturalist. Indeed, both the left and the right in France have been coopting National Front hyper-nationalist and xenophobic themes for some time. Another important difference is that on neither left nor the right in France do you find any self-reflection, let alone criticism, regarding the morality or even wisdom of that country's own actions abroad: there is a common advocacy of the "Raison d'Etat".

. . . One need look no further than the dozens of French military or intelligence service interventions in Africa over the past 40 years to protect French strategic and commercial interests, with nary a discouraging word among the political classes or the press. Also instructive is the French position in the first Gulf War - the one that really was about oil. The U.S. Senate could barely eke out a majority (52-48) in support of that war. In contrast, the French government approved the intervention by a 92% vote in the National Assembly and a 95% vote in the Senate. And that was with a Socialist Party majority in power! In that case, French commercial and strategic interests truly were at stake: France in contrast to the U.S. produces no oil and is 100% dependent on imports. The French are hardly pacifists.

. . . One might add the recent consolidation of relations by France with Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority. The French of course will cite their so-called "historical ties" with the region and the need for another force to counter the U.S. hegemon. But the whole rapprochement has a distinctly commercial and obstructionist smell to it. It certainly has nothing to do with concern for third world peoples or collective security. Indeed, France more or less openly supports the perpetuation of dictatorships in the Arab world (and elsewhere) in the interests of ensuring the stability necessary to cultivating its commercial and strategic interests in the region.

One Palestinian civil war, coming right up. It's a lab - if they can make the experiment work they get to upgrade to the West Bank. If not - well, there's a fence around Gaza, the experiment is less likely to be costly to the Israelis. And:

Israeli officials, however, emphasised that any failure by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister - also known as Abu Mazen - to seal his end of the deal could still wreck chances of a breakthrough.

Under the provisional agreement, Israel would allow a "grace period" lasting at least a week when it will not respond with force to any attacks originating in the Gaza Strip, Hamas's power base. In return, the PA must deploy its own security forces against Hamas.

Sounds like typical Bush MO: give them enough rope to hang themselves with, and let them knot the noose themselves.

"The idea is to give [the PA] a chance," an Israeli diplomat said. "If it's just a temporary trick to get us out of there, we'll be back in after two or three weeks."

So either way, Hamas is toast. Neat.

Kesher Talk

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Friday, June 27, 2003

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Monday, June 23, 2003

Sunday, June 22, 2003

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