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Tu B’Shevat - New Year of the Trees
Today is Tu B’Shevat - the New Year of the Trees. Yes, trees get their own celebration of the new year - but they don’t wear party hats or stay up until midnight. According to the Mishnah (Jewish text codified around 200 CE), there are four Jewish New Years - Rosh Hashanah, Tu B’Shevat, a new year for kings, and a new year for animal tithes.
Rosh Hashanah is by far the most observed Jewish new year, followed by Tu B’Shevat. Recently, Tu B’Shevat has become a bit like Jewish Earth Day - a chance to think about things like recycling, global climate change, and sustainability. Frankly, connecting Tu B’Shevat to the environment (and before that to Israel) has helped keep the holiday popular. Some people even enjoy a Tu B’Shevat seder (meal with a special order, just like there is a seder on Passover)- sampling different kinds of food and drinks from nature.
I have to say that other than teaching about Tu B’Shevat - I don’t usually mark it in any major way. But there is something nice about the holiday - reminding us that it is not only people who get renewed each year - but the environment around us. And we can all do a part in making sure that we support our environment’s development and sustainability - just as we focus on our own.
Happy New Year!
Virgin Mary Toast and Jewish Star Pasta
No, that’s not what I had for dinner last night. Well, almost. A few nights ago I was rinsing off my whole wheat pasta shells while preparing dinner. I glanced at the shells in the strainer and noticed one had something in it. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was definitely in the shape of a Jewish star.
I posted the picture on Facebook, and there was a great deal of excitement about it. Several of you even mentioned I should sell it on eBay.
A little research indicates that a decade-old toasted cheese sandwich which some say shows the image of the Virgin Mary in it sold for $28,000 on eBay. The original owner of the toast said the sandwich has never gone moldy - in all of its ten years.
A Facebook friend also led me to this - a supposed Virgin Mary in a brain scan. So, if Virgin Mary can show up (and make money for people) in odd places, why not Jewish stars?
If anyone wants to bid on the pasta shell with Jewish star as a fundraiser for OurJewishCommunity.org, just comment below with your bid amount. This shell goes to the highest bidder - and apparently won’t go moldy.
A Rabbi’s Take on the Creation Museum
I haven’t been to the Creation Museum (perhaps it would be more accurate if I called it the Creation Church since it is more Church than Museum). I simply can’t bring myself to pay to enter such a facility.
Rabbi Barr, though, has had opportunity to visit the Creation Museum a couple of times - once with a reporter from German Public Radio.
Rabbi Barr’s visits to the Creation Museum have given him an opportunity to become more informed about the nonsense they have - and then speak out against the so-called “museum” in various settings. The recent article in Vanity Fair by A.A. Gill reveals the museum for what it really is. You can read the article from Vanity Fair (Roll Over, Charles Darwin!) and/or listen to Rabbi Barr talk about his visits in his Creation Museum Podcasts. Each of Barr’s Banter podcasts is around 3 minutes.
Creation Museum Part I (6/19/07)
Creation Museum Part II (6/26/07)
Creation Museum Revisited (11/13/07)
Creation Museum Revisited Part II (11/20/07)
Tragic events in Haiti and a Focus on Heroism
The news from Haiti this week has been profoundly upsetting for all of us. To see so many lives taken prematurely and suddenly is hard to watch. To think about people alive but trapped is beyond upsetting.
To add insult to injury, people like Pat Robertson have made some horrible statements blaming the Haitians for their destruction. The Christian televangelist said last week that the Haitians had made a pact with the devil hundreds of years ago - and are today paying the price. Rabbi Barr and I focused on this during our streaming Shabbat webcast this week (you can watch the archive if you missed it).
However, today, I am more interested in focusing on the positive. I was struck last week by the story of adopted children still living in orphanages in Haiti waiting to come to their new families in America (because of bureaucracy). I was so touched to see on the news last night that some of those children have been taken out of Haiti to their new homes.
I am, of course, impressed by the number of people who want to help. From those of us making donations to doctors flying down to bring supplies and aid, it is amazing to see the outpouring of support. Tonight at 8 PM I understand that CNN will run a 2 hour special on what more we can do to help. I plan to watch.
On a day like Martin Luther King Jr. Day - when we remember one hero - I think of all the heroes who are helping in Haiti right now. All of those who are making sacrifices and acting bravely to selflessly help others. May they go from strength to strength.
Facebook Bra Colors Part 2 - And Grassroots Social Media
After blogging about the Facebook bra color situation, I was interested to read the comments here and elsewhere about it. One reader here wrote “please remember that posting or clicking something on your facebook does nothing to truly help a group or organization other than to create name recognition.” He makes an excellent point.
Many have wondered whether simply clicking to show your support of something actually does anything other than make someone feel good about himself. There is a reasonable fear that people will click and then do nothing more - having gotten the personal satisfaction of feeling like they have made a difference (when they really haven’t).
I think that this click-nertia (my new word for clicking and then not moving to do anything else) is a real concern. Clicking is great and can help bring attention to an issue. However, it’s also important to give one’s support in other ways- whether through volunteering time or donating money.
At OurJewishCommunity.org and on our Facebook page, we’re actually quite pleased to have someone just click on us - it’s a great way for people to learn that there is a contemporary Jewish voice online. We also know that this step is often the first of many others in the relationship between the clicker and OurJewishCommunity.org. Once someone learns of our organization, they often participate more fully later - whether by commenting on Baum’s Blog, listening to Barr’s Banter, emailing the rabbis, joining us for our live Shabbat webcasts, sharing recipes, or participating on our Facebook fan page. We are thrilled to get the first click - and we hope people will come back for more. Keep clicking on us and share your voice as well. We are a collection of contemporary Jewish voices.
Why are People Posting Colors to Facebook Statuses? Power of Social Media
I generally consider myself pretty in the loop when it comes to what’s happening in the world of Facebook. But I was a bit confused when I just logged in and saw a bunch of colorful Facebook status updates, like “purple,” “white,” “teal and its stunning,” “black and some stripes,” “chocolate brown,” “pinkish brown,” and “blue snakeskin.” I have to admit, I was stumped.
So, I did what any self-respecting person would do - I asked Google. Google didn’t fail me - and I hit a few sites that said that women are posting their bra colors to Facebook to raise awareness about breast cancer. Apparently, all females on Facebook got an email about this - but I did not. I would love to see the email if someone wants to forward it to me.
In any case, this is just one more illustration of the power of social media. In the 5 minutes after I saw the colors posted, I discussed it with a few people online and offline. But it’s not all about me. It’s about the gazillions (that’s not a technical term or accurate) of people who have taken the time tonight to post their bra color - because they believe in a cause. It has brought attention to the issue of breast cancer for a lot of people today, I imagine.
While I think it’s bizarre to post one’s bra color on Facebook, this is just another illustration of the power and the potential for social media. A creative idea like posting one’s bra color to Facebook raises people’s awareness of breast cancer - just like countless other important campaigns capture people’s attention online.
Earlier this week I was struck by the friends of Susan Powell, the missing Utah mom, who initiated a social media blitz in order to help find Susan. While their effort has not yet led to finding Susan, it is incredible to think that more than 35,000 people have already joined the Facebook group established for Susan Powell. It can only help to have tens of thousands of people thinking about Susan and seeing her photos.
Social media is extraordinary. I love the ways in which it has allowed us to build a vibrant progressive Jewish community online - uniting tens of thousands of people from 130 countries. People who care about a contemporary and liberal Jewish voice. People who want to use the tools of modernity to have Jewish experiences. Thanks for being part of our community. And we promise never to ask you what color bra you are wearing on Facebook!
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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