Kesher Talk: 09/14/2003

Friday, September 19, 2003

Cool stuff. Black holes sing a low B-flat.

This site is just magical. Be sure to mouse over the photos for the full effect. Thanks, Real Live Preacher.

Flying inside the eye of the hurricane.

"How's this for an Isabelle pic?"

Ellul countdown. On Rosh Chodesh Ellul I linked to a wonderful commentary on Psalm 27 which can be used as a guide to self-examination during the month of Ellul, leading up to and preparing for the Yamim Nora'im. (As part of our spiritual preparation we recite this psalm everyday from the first of Ellul through Hoshanah Rabbah.) You don't have to be Jewish, or even religious, to find this moving and useful.

I have divided Psalm 27 into four sections with the thought in mind that you might like to concentrate on one section during each of the four weeks of Elul, as you prepare for your own teshuvah. I have correlated these four sections to four steps of repentance.

Week 1: Responsibility.
Week 2: Regret.
Last week: Rejection.
This week: Resolution.

Jews in odd places: Ethiopia: The North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry helps Ethiopian Jews survive in Ethiopia (though not many of them remain), assists them in reaching Israel, aids their absorption into Israeli society, and helps to preserve their unique and ancient culture.

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Welcome wagon. Like me, "Hans ze Beeman" made the leap from frequent blog thread commenter to a blog of his own. Also like me, Hans is in the field of Organizational Development (I have my grad degree, he's getting his). Welcome to the blogosphere, Hans! (If you can keep your blog from taking over your life, let me in on the secret.)

The Jewish press are still ragging on Schwarzenegger: "Why can't a Republican be more like a Democrat?"

Go on, you know you want to ask the question! As I noted earlier, the Jewish newspapers seem incapable of understanding why anyone would want to vote for a Republican, especially Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Marc Ballon rambles across numerous anti-Arnold topics in the Jewish Journal, drawing upon the same set of Nazi links that have already been hashed and rehashed a dozen times: "Jews might have difficulty voting for the son of a Nazi storm trooper."

God help me, I have to defend Kurt Waldheim from Marc Ballon's poor reporting. As I noted in my last post, Arnold has some peculiar undefined relationship with Kurt Waldheim. But Marc Ballon does not stop there. He also shows himself to be ignorant of UN politics, by trying to blame Waldheim for the 'Zionism-is-racism' resolution, which passed under his tenure as UN general secretary. Waldheim may be an ex-Nazi, and I think that is bad enough on its own, but the anti-Israel sentiments of the UN body were most definitely universal, not the result of any Waldheim scheming or leadership. UN members don't like Israel, period. Waldheim's views were completely immaterial.

But back to Arnold. I'm quite tired of reading about the "Jewish" view of the California recall. With the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals postponing the recall until March, you woul think there was enough entertainment--excuse me, I mean politics--for journalists to report...

Women are not all alike Dept. I noted an earlier round of this discussion of romantic gestures at the end of my feminism post (Exhibit A). It gets better and better. I am definitely in the same camp as Andrea and Michelle - I hate gooey frilly touchy-feely crap.

Jews in odd places: Peru: Head Heeb discovers that the First Lady of Peru is a Jew, and not the first Jewish female leader in South America either....

Radio times. Salam Pax the Baghdad blogger is going to be on NPR's Fresh Air this afternoon (Thursday).

This would almost be worth tuning in to Fresh Air for - I was a devoted listener from the salad days when Fresh Air was a local Philadelphia show (and I was a Philadelphia art student), but stopped listening to NPR altogether after its 9-11 national call-in guilt-wallow.

If you miss the show, they are usually archived as audio files on the Fresh Air website a few days after broadcast.

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Hurray for reader Lenore Gittis Her latest mitzvah was a nice donation to keep Kesher Talk on the web. All hail Lenore!

Is there no civil marriage in Israel? The question arrises from a peculiar article in the Guardian, which opens with the following correction:

The following feature contained the statement, "Jews and Arabs are forbidden to inter-marry in Israel". Some clarification is necessary to avoid a racist interpretation of this policy. It is, rather, an anti-secular piece of legislation: civil marriage is not permitted in Israel but those of the same faith may marry in front of their respective clergy, be they Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, etc. The only alternative is to marry abroad, as the piece said, or live together without the legal benefits of a recognised marriage.

Can any of our Israeli readers shed some light on this issue? Is this an accurate portrayal?

COMMENTS:

Larry Yudelson: Yep, that's right. No secular marriage. And the rabbi performing your wedding -- assuming that you and your spouse both are approved as Jewish by the rabbinic bureacracy -- won't perform the ceremony without a certificate from a local mikveh that the bride has immersed first. Or so I learned when I reported on the issue back in 1990.

Anonymous: The original Guardian article, and even the correction, reflect that newspaper's ignorance of the history and culture of the region, abetted by its eageness to try to besmirch Israel in every possible way. Under the British mandate, all matters of personal status, such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance etc, were reserved for the religious authorities of the respective communities -- Moslem, Jewish and Christian. A similar situation had obtained under Ottoman rule (the millet system). The British mandatory authorities and the Israeli government broadly retained the status quo regarding marriage and other personal status matters.

Ben: this is not completely accurate. marriages conducted abroad are recognized by israeli law. plus, with the shinui party in power, i dont think the status quo is going to last much longer.

Diana: Yup, it's true, although I wouldn't say that "Jews and Arabs are forbidden to intermarry." I'd say that Muslims, Christians and Jews have no civil option to marry. I've written about this on my blog.

Mike: I don't know how true or false that article is, but I do know that it sure as hell seems laced up with hyperbole, if you know what I mean.

Ilana: And he has to be an Orthodox rabbi - no Conservative or Reform rabbis are allowed to perform marriages. People who can't marry in Israel for various reasons go to Cyprus, and when they get back their marriage is recognized as perfectly legal.

Jews in odd places: Kulanu is a web site dedicated to finding and assisting lost and dispersed remnants of the Jewish people, just like my ongoing columns...

Calling a spade a spade. On many occasions Israel's role at the UN has been to speak truth to power. Yesterday, Israel's UN ambassador Daniel Gillerman continued in that fine tradition.

If you want to read some more kick-ass Israeli speeches to the UN, check out Chaim Herzog's speeches from the '70s.

Ambassador Herzog's response to the "Zionism Is Racism" resolution.
(At the end of this speech he ripped up the draft text of the resolution in front of the General Assembly.)

Racism, Human Rights and Double Standards.
One of the lies about Israel that circulated for years was that everyone else in the world boycotted the apartheid state South Africa except for Israel. Even staunch supporters of Israel become abashed when someone brings up Israel's trade with South Africa. Herzog describes in great detail how every African nation (plus the Soviet Union and Europe and the Arab bloc) continued to trade with SA during the boycott years in much greater volume than Israel, but lied about it.

The Scourge of International Terrorism.
This speech was made after the Israeli raid on Entebbe, which the UN condemned, although it did not condemn Idi Amin for assisting the hijackers. Herzog also names other nations and individuals who helped the hijackers.

If you think the "new antisemitism" is new, read these speeches.

UPDATE: The Herzog memorial site seems to be down - I hope temporarily. I have been trying to find the last two speeches somewhere else on the web - if anyone else find a link for them let me know. In the meantime, I found an address to the UN by Herzog, on the topic of Israeli settlements. No date is given, but it was given during his tenure as ambassador to the UN, which would place it is the mid-'70s. Again, it shows that not much has changed in 3 decades in the attempts to delegitimize Israel.

Here is a little snippet of the Entebbe speech.

Here is a movie of Herzog tearing up the "Zionism=Racism" resolution.

Monday, September 15, 2003

No, I'm a hawkish neo-liberal independent! As I told some friends a month ago at a picnic, during a mild argument about the Iraq war, when asked if I was a Republican. But according to this quiz, I'm a neo-conservative. I think I'm more likely a Realist, but given the choices offered (and the concentration on foreign policy) it's close enough. After all, I had years of brainwashing at a tender age by Heinlein young adult novels. Thank God.

(via Bill Herbert)

Batten down the hatches. This could be worse than the blackout. I guess it wouldn't hurt to buy a new flashlight and some bottled water now. (via Meryl, who's already shopping)

UPDATE: According to Michelle, it may be already too late.

When pigs fly Dept. Jeff Jarvis heard this report on NPR:

Palestinian residents of Nablus are welcoming the return of Israeli soldiers. Yes, you read that right; I heard it right; you can listen here. [That link won't open for me, but try it. You can probably search NPR's site for the broadcast also. - ed.] Linda Gradstein reports that armed Palestinian gangs were terrorizing the town, killing and kidnapping -- yes, terrorizing -- innocent Palestinians. Naturally, she finds someone to blame the Israelis, but that's a throwaway. The gist of the report remains the same: Palestinian control has brought anarchy to Nablus; Israeli occupation has brought order.

BTW, Johann Hari describes the root of the Palestinian malaise in one sentence:

More than 50 per cent of the population of the Occupied Territories is under 16; a middle-aged Palestinian is in a tiny minority.

(Read the rest, link via Michael Totten.)

This week's Pintele Yid recommendation - For our gentile friends and Jews who want to rediscover their heritage - recommending quintessentially Jewish cultural works (books, TV specials, CDs, Torah teachers, poets, websites, and more) which transport you inside a Jewish skin and show you the world through Jewish eyes.

Last week's recommendation.
Week 10 recommendation.
Week 9 recommendation.
Week 8 recommendation.
Week 7 recommendation.
Week 6 recommendation.
Week 5 recommendation.
Week 4 recommendation.
Week 3 recommendation.
Week 2 recommendation.
Introduction to the series and first recommendation.

And now, a break from reading, but not a break from text. Aviva Zornberg has written two books interpreting Torah in the tradition of rabbinical exegesis. I haven't read them and they are reputed to be somewhat dense and scholarly.

However, I have seen her lecture several times, and I strongly recommend sitting in on a class of hers if you are in Israel, or in a city in the US or England when she visits. She speaks well, but is not flashy or entertaining, nor does she create a participatory experience. She sits at a table and talks for about an hour and a half, and the attendees usually have a handout with the texts on which she is commenting, in the original and English translation if necessary. In other words, a traditional shiur, or lesson in Torah or Talmud.

However, I know of no other Torah scholar who combines Torah, Talmud, Jacques Lacan, The Little Prince, Rashi, and Jane Austen in one lecture, and produces an interpretation that is intricately reasoned, psychologically nuanced, emotionally moving, and original yet solidly based on traditional exegetical methods.

. . . she doesn't hesitate to bring texts from Nietzsche to Freud to Foucault to bear on her interpretations of the Torah. . . . Recently, Zornberg has been delving more deeply into psychoanalysis and is using what she is discovering to analyze Torah. "I believe that the Midrash can be compared to the unconscious side of the Torah," explains Zornberg. "The slips that come through the pshat, the basic understanding of the words of the text, indicates that there's more beneath the surface than meets the eye." . . .

In line with her attempts to "crack the unconscious codes" in the Torah, Zornberg has been particularly attracted to chasidic commentaries on the Torah, like the "Sfat Emet," the commentary of Judah Aryeh Leib Alter, the Gerer Rebbe, as well as the "Mei HaShiloah," the Ishbitzer Rebbe's commentary. "They take the unconscious for granted," she explains. "They'll start from the midrash, and ask how one can interpret it as a dream work. It's quite creative," she beams with pleasure. "It's often so different from the schoolbook versions of the Torah."

Most people who attend her lectures have some experience studying Jewish text, but they are conducted in English and don't presume any pre-knowledge. She usually comes to the US in the spring.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Turning my midlife crisis into a second career Dept. So I head towards one of the sessions I want to attend at Lishmah, and I am waved away by a kindly volunteer (a rabbinical student who shall remain nameless in case any guilt by association with caustic me should adhere to him) - the room is too crowded. (Over 1200 people studied Judaism together today at the Skirball Center in a wildly successful multi-denominational day of learning - crowded classrooms and not enough handouts were the norm.)

"There are plenty of excellent alternatives," he says diplomatically to several people with disappointed looks on their faces. He points to a description of a panel in the auditorium downstairs with Steven Bayme and Douglas Rushkoff. "For example, that looks like a great session."

"Well," say I, "I don't dare go to that session because if I did I would be too tempted to clambor up onto the stage and strangle Doug Rushkoff with my bare hands."

"Uh, well . . . ," he stammers.

"I'm sorry, " say I, "but he just annoys the shit out of me."

Exhibit A.

(Via Protocols, of course - scroll down to the heading "Book Discussions" in the right column for all their Rushkoff fiskings.) (I should just leave the poor deluded schlub alone, but having a wonderful time at an event that refutes every one of his contentions and then going home and reading yet another snotty preen full of self-serving stereotypes - I couldn't resist leaving a few, er, comments.) (Doug, if I ever meet you, I promise I won't try to strangle you - that was a rhetorical turn of phrase. But I can't promise not to chortle a bit if you start kvetching about how the Jewish community doesn't recognize your iconoclastic genius.)

PS Speaking of Protocols, the elders were threatening to go to Lishmah and blog via the putative WIFI - I saw several lanky young frumies in dress pants, crisp haircuts, and knit kippas 2 inches above their foreheads, but none with a laptop. Guys?

UPDATE: Steven of Protocols responds with a conference report.

9-11 Memorial Update. Rather than append these links to the bottom of my long 9-11 post, where you probably won't see them, I made a new post.

A timeline of the day's events.

Joan Gato has a delayed reaction.

Individual stories:
Timothy's story. Pretty scathing, ending with an apropos quote from "The Tempest" (scroll down a bit to "Dear Blog Irish").
Greg's story.
The picture that won't go away.
Laughing Wolf's story.
Richard's story.
Tilly's story. (You have to read this one right now.)
Real Live Preacher's story.
Ideofact's story.
Radar's story.
Hans' story.

Memorial:
Another memorial page for Flight 93.
"This day is call'd the feast of Crispian." (In memory of Michael Lynch.)
Really big JPEGs of the WTC - before, during, and after.
The troops in Iraq remember.
The Dissident Frogman remembers.
Ilyka's got some links about Canadian memorial services and reactions.
Exhibit 13 by Blue Man Group.
Huge JPEG aeriel view of about one square mile of Manhattan around Ground Zero.

Words words words.
Andrea fisks a stupid twit.
The only post on September 11, 2003 at No War Blog. (See? If they can get over it, why can't you?)

FDR's "fireside chat" of September 11, 1941.

Solidarity Statement of the Student Movement Coordinating Committtee for Democracy in Iran.

Looking forward:
What Would Roosevelt Do? Okay, What Would Clinton Do?
Connecting the terrorist dots.
Fighting WWIV.
The great divide in American opinion. Andrew Sullivan calls it clarity fatigue. IMHO it is partly Bush's fault for not repeatedly communicating the issues in bullet points. (This is not a reflection on the intelligence of the American public - this is SOP in corporate change initiatives and is applicable here. Roosevelt also understood this. I may expand on this later.)
But they are after you, Old Europe.
Cost of war.

"On the morning of September 11 2003, this is the America I'm thinking about," says Norm Geras. Read the whole thing.

Cool stuff. Funky illuminated manuscripts and their fans.

Some Biblical evidence for the Exodus story. (What's the latest on the Egyptian lawsuit by the way?)

Helvetica beats up on Arial. (For typography nerds like me.)

The wooden mirror project. Almost as cool as the wooden periodic table table.

Kesher Talk

Friday, September 19, 2003

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Monday, September 15, 2003

Sunday, September 14, 2003

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