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Twitcam Shabbat Service - Let’s Make Jewish History!
We live in a whole new world… One with Facebook friends and Twitter followers, one where definitions of community are changing, one where people are increasingly mobile, one that transcends geographic limitations, and one that allows lots of new opportunities… like a whole new kind of Shabbat experience!
Note: We start talking about 2 min and 30 seconds into the clip. Patience pays off.
Rabbi Barr and I are going to be hosting the world’s first Twitcam Shabbat this Friday night (July 31) at 6PM EST (and every Friday following that!). We hope you’ll join us.
We’ll be posting the link here at 5:45 Friday (EST) - so stay tuned for that. If you are on Twitter, you’ll be able to comment directly on the page - and ask us questions.
At OurJewishCommunity.org, we know that there are many people who aren’t members of synagogues - or who can’t (or don’t want to) show up for services at a designated time. We’re bringing services to you - on your computer. They will be short and sweet!
We want your participation. If we get 20 people, we’ll be giving away a great prize. In addition to the gift of a great Shabbat experience, of course!
So join us… have a conversation with us… and you can even pour yourself a cup of wine (we’ll have ours!).
New Jersey Rabbis and Politicians - and Crime
I have been wanting to blog about the scandal in New Jersey for the last couple of days. Which scandal in New Jersey? Oh, the one where rabbis, mayors, and several others were charged with corruption and money laundering.
But, there has been a problem with my blog plan: I haven’t known what I wanted to say about this topic.
Clearly, on the most basic level I wanted to say: “what is wrong with this picture?!?!?!” Do people really do such terrible things (and think they can get away with it?)? The crimes which have been committed are truly awful. And, it really bothers me that some of the criminals are rabbis and politicians. Maybe that shouldn’t matter; after all, I should have the same expectations of human values for everyone regardless of their profession.
The fact that politicians can be elected by their constituents and then commit crimes suggests to me that it is hard to trust any public servant. Clearly, one can attain a high post without playing by the rules (sometimes not playing by the rules even helps one to the top). It is not the first time something like this has happened, and it most certainly (sadly) won’t be the last. But, it still comes as a shock each time. Maybe I am naïve?
As for the rabbis, I’m not sure if I’m embarrassed for us as a group; obviously the actions of one rabbi should not reflect on the rest of us. However, I can’t make sense of these rabbis, who happen to be Orthodox. Yes, Orthodox, as in they adhere to Jewish laws which prevent turning on the lights on Shabbat or mixing milk and meat. Theoretically, being Orthodox means that every aspect of their life is committed to being a good Jew. But how can they rationalize their involvement in this crime? How can they consider themselves good Jews while engaging in criminal acts? In their minds, is it that God cares that they don’t eat shrimp but God doesn’t care if they launder money?
One of the rabbis (Rabbi Saul Kassin) even excommunicated his daughter because she married a gentile. Apparently, in his eyes, you can’t marry a non-Jew but you can scam people and the government out of a lot of money. That’s a bizarre ethical system.
So, I guess my main conclusion is: I hate it that moments like this make me feel so disappointed in people.
I guess one glimmer of hope is that maybe the arrest of Levy Izhak Rosenbaum (who conspired to buy a kidney for $10,000 that he would sell for $160,000) will raise awareness about trafficking in human body parts. There’s a great opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about the dire organ shortage, and the need to provide incentives for organ donors and penalties for organ brokers. Wouldn’t it be nice if something good came from something so terrible?
Separation of Church and State - Where, oh where have you gone?
I admit that while I try to be open-minded, I really don’t get it when people argue for teaching creationism in public school classrooms. Creation is a myth, not fact – and I thought school was just the facts, ma’am. I also thought there was this really cool thing called the separation of Church and State. Right, there is. It’s just that some people want to ignore it.
And, now… it has somehow gone to a whole new level. An article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (The Culture Wars’ New Front) discusses a recent fight over school curriculum in Texas. This time it’s not about biology though. This time the debate is over how much faith belongs in American history classrooms.
My answer: None.
That would be too simple though. Three reviewers of Texas’ state social studies curriculum have said the K-12 curriculum should “emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith, and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history.” Two of the reviewers also want to de-emphasize historical figures like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall because they are seen as liberals. Wow - liberals. Huh.
The reviewers want children to know that America’s founding principles are biblical. What does that mean? That there were people who established this country by using the Bible as a roadmap?
These reviewers also say that the principles of the separation of powers established in the Constitution come from the Bible which sees man as inherently sinful and in need of a system of checks and balances. Really? What else does the Bible say - and by the reviewers’ logic, shouldn’t everything in the Constitution be based on it? Since when do we use an ancient document written in an entirely different cultural setting to apply to modernity? And do we really need the Bible to tell us that people sometime do things they shouldn’t? I figured that out pretty young – on the playground.
I am a fan of teaching Bible – in religious schools. I am a fan of talking about Torah – in synagogue. I do not think there is a place for teaching Bible in history or science classes (unless it’s to learn about various religions in a history class). Schools and governments should not make choices about the Bible children learn – families should.
The article quotes a Christian minister saying “We’re in an all-out moral and spiritual civil war for the soul of America.” I suppose that he would consider winning to mean that we all learn about how important Christianity is and embrace that religion. Sorry, Minister. I like being Jewish. And I really like keeping faith out of the public schools.
New Media + Judaism = Change
This past Friday night at services I talked about the changing Jewish community. I started more globally and showed the following video which shows how quickly the world is changing… (I can’t vouch for the statistics 100%, but I do think the trends are totally realistic and compelling.)
We watched the video as a context for our discussion of the Jewish community. I also shared some facts about the Jewish community:
• Many Jewish households are struggling financially, and income is strongly correlated to synagogue membership.
• Fewer than half of American Jews are affiliated with congregations; of those who are, around 20% participate monthly or more often.
• More than half of the Jewish population in the US regards itself as secular or somewhat secular in outlook.
• Many young Jews are drawn to educational opportunities, small emergent communities, cultural expressions of Judaism, online media, and social action.
• Of adults married since 1990, only 40% marry a spouse who is also of Jewish origins.
So what do we do with all of this information? Do we continue doing the same things we’ve always done – and getting the same results we’ve always gotten – or do we try something bold and different? What are we seeking from Jewish institutions? What does it mean to be Jewish today – in a world where information is everywhere, where communication happens online and via text messaging as much as it does in person, and where change is rapid?
It seems to me there are a lot of tensions right now in our Jewish world:
• Do we strive to be a uniform or a diverse Jewish community?
• Should we build megasynagogues or more intimate groups (like the chavurah movement)?
• Do we want professionalism or democratization in our synagogues?
• Are we maintaining denominations or moving toward transdenominationalism (which my spell check doesn’t even think is a word!)?
• Do we prefer meeting face-to-face or in virtual settings?
For me, humanism is about embracing tensions – living in a world of gray – rather than black and white. Judaism is about struggle – always asking questions. OurJewishCommunity.org is about engaging in really great conversations. Click “comment” above!
“Penitents Compete” - Turkish Game Show Tries to Convert Atheists
I grew up watching game shows like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and the Price is Right. I don’t watch as much TV now and I haven’t jumped on the reality tv show bandwagon – or seen any of the more recent (i.e. last 10 years’) game shows. A friend just alerted me to “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” and frankly, I’m not sure I understand the appeal (although it did remind me of watching Double Dare when I was a kid!).
One new game show (“Penitents Compete”) did get my attention though. It’s a Turkish show that puts ten atheists in a room with a rabbi, a priest, an imam, and a monk. Their goal: to convert the group of nonbelievers. The makers of the show argue that they have only the highest motive: “the gift of belief in God.” Critics argue that the show will cheapen religion – for the sake of increased ratings.
While I have no idea what the motives of the TV station are, I don’t really care. I just find it a crazy concept – but I guess most game shows are these days. I also have no idea why anyone would want to be a contestant on this show (and I find it lol funny that “a team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.” Right, like there’s a litmus test for real atheists.)
All of that aside, it’s also hard for me to understand why anyone would seek to change another person’s belief system. I am also curious how this show defines “atheism” and how it defines “belief in God.” It seems to me that in conversation we use the word God to convey many different concepts. Is God a ruler in the sky? Is God a guy with a gray beard? Is God representative of whatever we cannot understand – something beyond ourselves? Is God omnipotent? Is God omnipresent? Is God responsible for our destiny, or are we, or neither? I could ask a million more questions like that (but I won’t right now). I could answer those questions for myself (but I won’t do that here). I think these are important questions to think about, along with the kinds of language we use and the assumptions we make in discussing belief and religion.
From a Jewish perspective, I see that the concept of God has changed quite a bit over the course of Jewish history. Plus, at any moment in time, there are a variety of beliefs and God concepts. To be a Jew has never meant that one must accept some predefined concept of God. Rather, the classical definition of a Jew is someone who was born to a Jewish mother or someone who has adopted Judaism through a conversion process. They don’t take away your license to be a Jew if your belief system changes.
I value religion that offers flexibility and allows me to grow and evolve within the framework of my traditions. My belief system may change many times – I would just prefer to be thoughtful about it and feel welcomed by my community rather than converted by a game show (or anyone else!).
Let the game begin (but, without me)!
A Mystic’s Humanistic Judaism
Editor’s Note: Peter is a participant in OurJewishCommunity.org and submitted this short essay. We hope it will generate great conversation here!
A Mystic’s Humanistic Judaism
by Peter Schogol
As I’m sure is the case with many Jews who’ve abandoned theistic religion in general, synagogue Judaism in particular, I’ve sojourned with a number of different religious communities in search for, well.. whatever it is nontheistic Jews search for that they haven’t found in shul. I’ve spent time with Baha’is, Quakers, Episcopalians, Vedantists, Pure Land Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists, Humanistic Jews, Reform Jews, and Sect Shintoists. I came to appreciate `Abdu’l-Bahá, Lucretia Mott, Frederick Denison Maurice, Vivekananda, Taitetsu Unno, Pema Chödrön, Yaakov Malkin, Leo Baeck, and Konko Daijin, but with regrets in hand I kept on moving.
I’ve reached the point where moving for its own sake has become enervating and counterproductive. I wish to settle down. I wish to settle down in a community which is a part of the wider world which raised and nurtured me. I wish, for all the heartaches and heartburn, to be a contributing member of the Jewish people.
But I don’t want to bury myself in the part.
Each time I tried to find my place in Jewish life I’ve had to tuck some part of myself in. Either I’ve been too ethnic, too left-wing, too gay; insufficiently theistic, insufficiently Zionistic, insufficiently Holocaust-obsessed. I’ve been, in other words, what I am rather than what the neighbors should think I am.
I’ve been exceptionally fortunate in stumbling across an author, artist, liturgist, and hymnodist who was as curmudgeonly, as opinionated, as narcissistic and as brilliant as I in the person of the late Universalist minister Kenneth Leo Patton. In his many books (all but one out of print), Patton described a “religion of realities” suitable to his spiritual personality as a “mystical humanist.” In prose and poetry, lyrics and images, Patton chronicled a life immersed in the nitty-gritty of the human condition, singing as gloriously as Whitman, snorting as righteously as Clarence Darrow.
I believe in a mystical humanistic Judaism.
It’s not enough to be a rationalist. It’s not enough to be an atheist. It’s too late to be an objectivist. It’s disempowering to expect vicarious righteousness from one’s rabbi. It’s time to experience humanism as a project of the spirit charged with awe and mystery as well as justice and mercy. It’s time to once again cast our liturgies in the first person, owning our searches and our fallings away.
Is there room in communal Judaism for such an aesthetic? Should one have to turn to theistic religion for an appreciation of the mystical? Can Humanistic Judaism contain both rationalists and poets? I hope it can even as I realize that for the vocabulary of mystical humanism to be digestible to rationalists it will need careful unpacking. I for one would be happy to be part of such an undertaking. There is, truly, nothing otherworldly about a reverence for life.
Peter Schogol
Lexington, KY
Reform Rabbi’s Use of Jewish Law makes me say: Oy vay!
OurJewishCommunity.org is pretty cutting-edge. While we are not even a year old, we have had more than a dozen articles written about our online synagogue. (If you know anyone who might want to write another article about us – or if you can get me on Oprah or the Today Show - please shoot me an email!).
The most recent article about our online synagogue appeared in the Jewish Advocate of Boston. Unfortunately, I can’t link to it because their site is restricted to paid subscribers. I do want to share with you one part of the article though – the part that I found absolutely astounding.
The article notes that “some rabbis disapprove of the idea of an entirely Web-based synagogue.” That does not surprise me a bit. Certainly, different people have different thoughts about how to best serve the Jewish community – and I appreciate a variety of ideas and opinions.
What strikes me, though, is that the article quotes a Reform rabbi “who said the concept of an online shul does not follow halachic rules of a minyan.” Let me translate that to English: this Reform (!) rabbi said an online synagogue does not follow Jewish legal rules (written long ago) that require having 10 adult Jewish males praying in a room together three times a day.
Hello?!?!?!? Since when do Reform rabbis quote halachah (Jewish law) in such instances as if it is the last word?!?!?!?! I can see how halachah may inform our thinking, but I don’t understand how it becomes the decisive factor for a Reform rabbi.
As a rabbi ordained by the Reform movement, I find this comment from one of my colleagues absolutely upsetting and think that it undermines Reform Judaism. Reform Judaism is about informed choice – it is not about blindly following ancient laws. Reform Judaism is about the spirit of the law – it is not about the letter of the law. Reform Judaism evolves to meet the changing needs of the Jewish community – it is not intended to be stuck in the past.
If this Reform rabbi wants halachah to determine everything (or at least how we attend services), then I shouldn’t be a rabbi (because I’m a woman), girls should not celebrate a Bat Mitzvah by reading from a Torah scroll, a woman’s voice should never be heard by men during services, and women need to sit separately from men at Temple lest they be a distraction. If a Reform rabbi plans to follow halachah then he should not drive to services or turn on the lights, or tear his own toilet paper for that matter.
I am open to a variety of opinions. I totally understand Orthodox and Conservative rabbis who cite ancient Jewish law as the basis of their decision, for that is the basis of their Jewish experience. That makes a ton of sense, and I have complete respect for that. What I do not understand is how a liberal rabbi who is part of a non-halachic movement can selectively call on halachah to criticize what others are doing.
In a sense, this rabbi’s comments very much affirm what we are doing at OurJewishCommunity.org. We are creating a truly liberal and contemporary Jewish experience for those who have not found one locally. With some Reform rabbis using halachah as the absolute basis for decision making, I am more convinced that we need an online alternative that gives voice to a truly progressive and modern Jewish voice.
Let it be known that I did not disagree with everything this Reform rabbi said. He noted that “the most dangerous part of the virtual world is believing that it’s an equivalent to the physical world.” I agree. They are not equivalent – they are very different – and each can fill needs that the other cannot. I love working at a brick-and-mortar congregation and I love working at an online congregation, because each plays different roles and touches different people.
I would like to publicly state as a response to my colleague that the future of Judaism cannot be restricted by the rules of the past. Judaism grows richer and stronger when it is relevant and contemporary. When Judaism fits with modernity, it is meaningful.
An online congregation is an expression of this age. To reject it based upon rules written by people who didn’t even know what a light bulb is limits our people’s future.
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- — Passover page is up!
- — Baum's Blog on Chelsea Clinton and a Possible Jewish Wedding
- — Join us for Streaming Shabbat 6 PM ET Friday
- — Barr's Banter on International Women's Day