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Will Chelsea Clinton have a Jewish Wedding?
There’s been a lot of chatter lately, particularly in the Jewish world, about whether Chelsea Clinton and her fiancé Marc Mezvinksy will have a Jewish wedding. My primary response is: leave them alone!
While the values, traditions, and religious framework that Chelsea and Marc will adopt in their new life together should be very important to the two of them, I consider these very personal topics. I’m not sure why there has been so much reaction in the Jewish community, except that the underlying message seems to be that some Jewish professionals want Chelsea to convert - it would be like gaining one more for our team - a trophy of sorts (in their eyes).
I did blog about this topic in December - and you can read more of my thoughts there. But of course, I’ve had some more recent thoughts as well.
When I work with interfaith couples to plan their weddings, it is a remarkable opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about what their shared life together will bring. How can we create a ceremony that speaks to the couple? How can their wedding - one of the most important moments of their lives - be imbued with a sense of shared humanity while also appreciating the uniqueness of various traditions?
I like to think that couples should spend more time time thinking about their marriages than they do about their wedding days. How will they create a life together that blends aspects of their families of origin and their respective religions? What new traditions will they create? If they choose to have children, how will they raise their children? How will they deal with the opportunities and challenges that interfaith marriage presents?
As for Chelsea and Marc, I wish them the best in whatever they decide. It is their decision. But, of course, if they need a rabbi to officiate, they should call me. I would love to have some conversations with them about the kind of family they would like to create.
I love Purim!
Purim is a fun Jewish holiday- and definitely one of the most wild holidays. Purim is a story of beauty pageants, royal families, marital problems, bad guys, murder, and more.
King Ahasheurus marries Queen Esther, whom he does not know is Jewish. Haman (boo Haman!!!) decides all the Jews should be killed and gets King Ahasheurus to issue a decree for this. But, when Esther’s uncle Mordechai hears the terrible news he shares it with Esther.
Esther then goes to her husband, the king, and saves the day for the Jews! This is a simplified version - so click here to learn more. Fun holiday traditions include giving charity and gifts to friends, eating hamantaschen (triangular cookies symbolic of Haman’s three cornered hat), reading a Purim play (called a sphiel) and booing every time you hear Haman’s name, dressing in costumes, and getting drunk (that last part is for adults only).
This Purim I am excited for some new items on OurJewishCommunity.org. We are excited to present our Purim twibbons, which are available at bit.ly/purimfun. You may ask, “what’s a Purim Twibbon?” Great question. A twibbon is a design that is added to your Twitter avatar and your Facebook profile picture. We have designed three: a king’s crown, a queen’s crown, and a hamantaschen cookie. You can add any of them to your photos by clicking on the link and then on “support” under the image. If you add one of these twibbons to your Twitter avatar and tweet “Happy Purim” @Rabbi Baum by Tuesday, March 2, 2010, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win your choice of prizes (50 hamantaschen, 10 Passover haggadahs, or a Passover gift basket).
This year we are also launching our Purim Facebook gifts. Who wouldn’t want a free gift? Get yours and share it with others on Facebook.
Happy Purim!
Women in the Military: Israel and the US
CNN has an interesting video posted about women participating fully in the Israeli army (I’ve included it at the end of this blog entry). It’s a great piece – and I admire all soldiers – male and female – who fight to protect their nation’s citizens. In Israel, all young adults join the army - it is a different world than I grew up with and I admire Israelis for what they do. When I lived in Israel for a year, it took some getting used to – seeing soldiers and their guns almost everywhere we went. This photo taken by my friend Barbara shows just how much soldiers and their guns were everywhere… even McDonald’s!
There is a nice opinion piece in today’s New York Times in which Catherine Ross argues that women should be able to participate fully in the US military (like they do in Israel). Like Ross, I believe all people who are physically able should be allowed to serve; gender should not matter.
Speaking of being able to serve… Hopefully, the US government will soon overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policies. In an op-ed piece on this subject Rabbi Steven Wernick explains that Israel has always included gay men and lesbians in the military. I hope that the US will follow Israel’s lead and allow women and homosexuals to participate fully in the military - no differently than straight men.
The CNN video ends by saying “some rabbis believe women and the army don’t mix.” This rabbi thinks they do.
Stained Glass Windows: Creation vs. Evolution
Last month I was invited to speak at a Jewish Day School about my approach to prayer. Over the course of the year, fourth through eighth grade students hear from several rabbis in the community about their personal approach and congregation’s approach to prayer.
Explaining Judaism with a humanistic perspective to a bunch of kids who had likely never heard of it was going to be a daunting task. At Congregation Beth Adam and OurJewishCommunity.org, we have a distinct contemporary philosophy – and our own Religious School kids are raised in it. But explaining it to a bunch of day school kids – mostly from more traditional families – in 30 minutes was going to be more of a challenge.
So I talked to the kids about several things. I talked about how our ancestors got to write down what was important to them in the liturgy – so why shouldn’t we be able to do the same? I talked about how our congregation writes its own liturgy – liturgy that is inclusive. I talked about how our philosophy blends commonsense and Judaism. The kids were engaged and asked some good questions, but I wasn’t sure they got it.
And then I caught a glance of the windows in the school’s sanctuary where I was standing. Behind me were stained glass windows portraying the story of Creation – a la Garden of Eden from the book of Genesis. Ahhh. This was a teachable moment. I explained to the students that our sanctuary at Congregation Beth Adam (the brick-and-mortar synagogue where I work) also has stained glass windows that represent the origins of the world. Except our windows are not based on the Bible. Our sanctuary windows show the Big Bang, evolution, and science. Just as our liturgy is consistent with our philosophy, so is the design of our building.
Our eternal light (hanging over the ark containing the Torah scroll) has a DNA helix design – representing that science and religion both belong in our sanctuary. The ark is off center as well – to represent that authority lies with people. The students had an aha! moment. What we do at Beth Adam is a slightly different kind of Judaism than they had been exposed to previously. We take a contemporary approach to Judaism. We are committed to saying what we mean and meaning what we say. What we say in the hallway is consistent with what we say in the sanctuary. We are bringing Judaism into the 21st century.
Online Shabbat Memorial Service - Submit Names
Since September of 2008, OurJewishCommunity.org has been videostreaming webcasts of our services. Hundreds, and often thousands, of people watch each of our services. We videostream our High Holiday services directly from the sanctuary at Congregation Beth Adam. Our Shabbat services are specifically designed to be online; they are short (20-30 minutes) and include a Shabbat candle lighting, kiddush (blessing over wine), and challah (bread). They also include a discussion - each week on a different topic - between me and Rabbi Barr - with all of you participating through Facebook, Twitter, and Livestream. Occasionally, we stream other special services or programs, like a Q&A session with the rabbis or an outdoor Sukkot service for all ages. You can watch archives of all of our services in our on-demand library.
Last Yom Kippur, we had a very special online experience. We asked people to submit photos of deceased loved ones whom they were remembering during the Jewish holidays. We streamed a beautiful Yom Kippur Memorial service, incorporating a lovely slide show of those individuals’ photos and names. It was extremely touching, and hundreds of people watched it together - at their computers - many of them writing in their memories of other loved ones.
So far, at only a few of our Shabbat services have we included a memorial reading. For example, we read one the week of the Fort Hood shootings. At that point, many of you asked for a memorial service on a more regular basis. So we’ve decided that at the first Shabbat service each month, we will include a memorial reading and read the names of individuals.
So if you have a name of someone you are remembering and would like us to include them in our service, please send an email to rabbi@ourjewishcommunity.org to let me know. We’ll add the name to our list. If you have a name for February (someone who died either recently or at this time in years past) feel free to send it to me. Or, if you have a name for an upcoming month, send that to me as well and I will save it for the month you designate.
May the memories of good people bless our days.
Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad Controversy
Most years the big conversation about Super Bowl ads happens on the Monday after the game. But, this year a controversial situation arose more than a week before the Super Bowl.
A conservative Christian group (Focus on the Family) is planning to air an ad featuring football player Tim Tebow and his mom with the theme “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.” Seems like a nice message, except that all speculation says this is likely to be an ad with an anti-abortion message. Focus on the Family is known for being anti-equality, anti-choice, and homophobic.
We don’t know yet how subtle this ad will or will not be. What is striking here is that in the past, issue ads were not included among Super Bowl advertisements. Apparently, networks have strict policies about showing contentious issues in national commercials.
According to Andrew Sullivan in the Daily Dish Blog at the Atlantic just this year CBS denied an ad for a gay dating service. Can we say hypocritical? It seems to me that a network should either be airing both ads – or neither. If they want to make judgments about which life style choices are acceptable, they shouldn’t only approve of anti-abortion Christian groups.
So I take issue with CBS deciding certain issues are okay to share on Super Bowl Sunday and certain issues are not. I’m also concerned that the Tim Tebow ad might not even be truthful. A story in today’s Huffington Post says that the ad, which will likely focus on Pam Tebow’s 1987 pregnancy, is based on a falsehood. Tebow claims that she fell ill in the Philippines during her pregnancy and was advised by doctors to have an abortion. She went against medical advice and gave birth to Tim. However, it turns out abortion under any circumstances has been illegal in the Philippines since 1930 – making it unlikely that the doctors there recommended it.
If the ad is false, then I am particularly disgusted that CBS will air the ad. In either case, I think CBS needs to have a clear position about the ads it will and will not show. The way they are acting now suggests that they may choose to run this ad but not pro-choice ads. Given the viewership of the Super Bowl, I would hope CBS would be more responsible. When I watch the Super Bowl next week, I hope to see no wardrobe malfunctions or issue ads and to see lots of great soda and website ads. It just seems simpler to keep the issue ads out.
That said… if CBS is going to air issue ads, then I want an ad showing religious choice. Please share your ideas for what they ad would look like.
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.
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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