Monthly Archives: April 2016

Obama’s Economic Legacy – Naomi Chazan on Israeli Democracy – A 24 Year-Old Feminist on Hillary

29 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Israel/Zionism, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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These are three articles I recommend you read right now!!!!!!

  1. President Obama Weighs His Economic Legacy – Andrew Ross Sorkin, NY Times, April 28, 2016

Eight years after the financial crisis, unemployment is at 5 percent, deficits are down and G.D.P. is growing. Why do so many voters feel left behind? The president has a theory.

“I actually compare our economic performance to how, historically, countries that have wrenching financial crises perform. By that measure, we probably managed this better than any large economy on Earth in modern history….Anybody who says we are not absolutely better off today than we were just seven years ago, they’re not leveling with you. They’re not telling the truth.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/magazine/president-obama-weighs-his-economic-legacy.html?emc=edit_th_20160429&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=61675258

  1. How to build a better Israeli democracy – Naomi Chazan – Times of Israel Blog – April 25, 2016, 1:00 pm

Professor Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, is Dean of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo

“Three ideas, each addressing a different aspect of the problem of governability in the country, might together provide just such a formula to re-energize Israel’s lackadaisical public arena…. The first, and ostensibly the most simple, relates to leadership rotation… The establishment of term limits, so common in the democratic world, distinguishes working democracies from present-day autocracies and from past and contemporary monarchies…. A second, allied, reform, concerns the enhancement of public performance through the enlargement of the Knesset. An increase in the size of Israel’s parliament — one of the smallest per capita in the democratic world — is essential for the effective conduct of its legislative and oversight functions…. A third possible measure for the rejuvenation of Israeli politics centers on the improvement of checks and balances. One of the oft-discussed steps in this direction is to consider the establishment of a second, upper chamber, which would serve not only to review governmental actions and prevent flagrant abuses, but also to enable inclusive representation that would cut across increasingly intractable social divisions.”

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-to-build-a-better-israeli-democracy/

  1. Not Just Any Woman: I’m Voting for Hillary Clinton, and It’s Personal – By Laura Donney on April 28th, 2016 – She wins We Win blog

I’m a 24-year-old feminist who is loudly supporting Hillary Clinton for President.

Note on my relationship with the author of this blog:

I love Laura Donney – she is like a daughter to me, a member of my family, and this blog is among the most moving statements I have read anywhere about why Hillary Clinton needs to be elected President of the United States! Read it – and you will understand not only why this is true, but why I love Laura!

http://shewinswewin.org/blog/not-just-any-woman-im-voting-for-hillary-clinton-and-its-personal/

 

Video clip of “Women of the Wall” – Fighting for the right to pray at the holiest site in Judaism

27 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Per Anat Hoffman this morning to me:

“John – The prayer service was the culmination of an exhausting few days, yet we were reinvigorated by the good energy brought by the participants who were so thrilled to be at the Wall with WOW.  Many had never experienced a women’s prayer service like this before.

We pulled off the Birkat Kohanot to the degree that was “permitted” by the police and the Israeli government. The movie points out how absurd were the restrictions placed on WOW. This is what we need to show the world.

Please watch … Scroll down a bit until you see the box with the arrow: https://www.facebook.com/womenofthewall.

As ever,
Anat

Note about Leonard Nimoy’s belief in the state of Israel as a democratic Jewish state

I had helped facilitate the gift by the Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy (z”l) Estate to support this Women of the Wall event at the holiest site in Judaism. Susan is my first cousin (her father and my mother were brother and sister) and Leonard was very dear to me and my family. He would have been proud to have helped this noble and important cause.

Leonard cared deeply about the people and state of Israel and about its democratic tradition. He shared with me that when he played Golda Meir’s husband, Morris Meyerson, in the 1982 film “A Woman Called Golda” opposite Ingrid Bergman as Golda, for which he received an Emmy nomination, it was one of the most important and moving roles in his career. They filmed the scene of dancing in the streets immediately after David ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel in May, 1948 on the very day that President Anwar Sadat arrived in Israel to speak to the Knesset. Leonard believed in Israel, was proud of its achievements and its democracy, and he frequently bemoaned to me the growing right-wing fanatic nationalism and ultra-Orthodoxy that he witnessed taking over the spirit and soul of a growing number of Israelis and American Jews.

I am grateful to Susan for honoring Leonard’s memory in this manner. He would most certainly have emphasized to the Jewish people “Live long and prosper.”

Only men can bless the people of Israel at the Western Wall – Press Release Today from WOW

24 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Holidays, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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This letter came to me this morning from Anat Hoffman, Chair of Women of the Wall and Executive Director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

Dear John, Haver:

The Birkat Kohanot was a success – with buses bringing women and men from all of the corners of Israel. Young, old, Orthodox, Reform…you name it, they joined with Women of the Wall to pray for peace.

But I don’t mean to make the picture so rosy. There was a lot of turmoil over the past couple of days which brought stress to our staff and Board right before Passover began. I am sharing with you the Press Release which was sent out after today’s event:

Only men can bless the people of Israel at the Western Wall. The Minister of Religion and the Rabbi of the Wall have decreed that “women may not raise their palms to the sky“ or “place their prayer shawl on their head” or say out loud the three lines of the Priestly Blessing.

The Jerusalem Police enforced a ban this morning on Women of the Wall raising their hands, placing a tallit on their heads and reciting the Priestly Blessing.

These absurd demands originated from the Minister of Religion David Azulai (Shas) and Rabbi of the Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz. Tomorrow the two of them will participate in the Priestly Blessing for men. There will be no bans of any kind there. The Rabbi of the Wall, in his press release this morning, accused Women of the Wall of making the Wall a scene of clash and conflict. Anat Hoffman said, “The Wall will remain an arena of clashes as long as the government does not implement its own decision to provide Jewish people with two distinctly separate plazas: one under the jurisdiction of the Rabbi of the Wall and the other which is operated under the principles of gender equality, pluralism and egalitarian prayer.”

When Women of the Wall arrived at the Wall this morning, they were herded into a pen made of police barriers and surrounded by policemen. Even though the women’s section was nearly empty, the police preferred to separate and segregate the group. A police cameraman filmed our prayer and made sure that no woman raised her palms in the air, covered her head with a prayer shawl.

Police commander Doron Turgeman demanded that no Torah would be brought in or read and that the prayer will last no longer than 60 minutes and the number of participants would not exceed 200. Throughout his dialogue with Women of the Wall, he called us “girls.”

Despite the hard conditions, Women of the Wall conducted a halachic, festive Shacharit and Musaf prayer. Hundreds of women and men who came from all over Israel to participate felt that it was a worthwhile experience to wake up at 4AM to attend. Buses came from Karmiel, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Nazareth Illit and Tel Aviv in a show of solidarity and partnership in prayer. The transportation to and from these cities and others was provided by a generous grant from the Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy Estate.

Every participant received a Priestly Blessing pin commemorating today’s prayer. The pin was derived from the hand symbol employed in Star Trek by Mr. Spock, a role played by the Jewish actor Leonard Nimoy (z”l). Nimoy made the Blessing, “Live long and prosper” an international symbol.

Women of the Wall believe that even though the Priestly Blessing is an unusual custom at the Wall, in due time, it will become local custom. We believe that the nature of local custom changes as time passes- in the past, wearing a tallit, blowing a shofar, and lighting a Chanukah candle were all considered contrary to local custom, and it is through our persistence that these are now local custom.


Sign Petition to get Safety and Rehabilitation Act on the November Ballot

22 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Social Justice

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What’s the problem that the Safety and Rehabilitation Act is meant to address?

Answer: Currently California’s prison population is exploding. We spend more than 10% of our general fund on prisons. This Act would provide for substantial savings and reduction of our non-violent population. For Governor Brown, it provides him a personal opportunity to reverse the harms of the mandatory sentencing bill he had passed in his previous term in the 1970s. This is not an action that will gain Governor Brown political favors. He told 25 of us rabbis 10 days ago that this measure is a matter of “prophetic justice.”

What can we do to significantly protect public safety, reduce California’s prison population of non-violent criminals, reduce tax payer expense, and help convicts rehabilitate?

Answer: Help get one million signatures by May 1st to get this measure on the November ballot.

What does “The Safety and Rehabilitation Act” specifically do?

For a complete answer, see http://safetyandrehabilitation.com/.

Also, see my blog “The Public Safety & Rehabilitation Act of 2016”  https://rabbijohnrosove.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/the-public-safety-rehabilitation-act-of-2016/

Quick answer: There are three main points to this bill:

1. Provides for discretionary parole of non-violent criminals after the main determinate sentence is served. California has a system of “determinate sentencing” that mandates minimum sentences for many crimes and mandates additional years (called “enhancements”) to sentences if the main offense involved such circumstances as, but not limited to, prior crimes, guns, gangs, great bodily injury, or carjacking. The Act would (It is important to note that parole would be determined by the State Parole Board, made up exclusively of law enforcement so no violent criminals and threats to public safety would be released.)

2. Requires judges, rather than prosecutors to determine if youth as young as 14 should be tried as adults. The bill mandates a process whereby the judge will take into consideration the youth’s prior record, life circumstances and facts of the crime. Currently this is solely up to the prosecutor who makes the decision in 48 hours.

3. Reinstates funding for rehabilitation and other educational programs within prisons. The change in sentencing would incentivize the enrollment and completion of these programs, as well as other “good behaviors.” Those who have undergone rehabilitation have a 1% recidivism rate!

My synagogue’s Social Justice Committee Task Force, as part of Reform California (the statewide partnership between Just Congregations, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis), has made a commitment to gather a mere 500 signatures!

At our synagogue (Temple Israel of Hollywood) we will have a table designated once our full time schools are back in session after Passover break for people to sign petitions. We will also have a table for signatures set up next Friday evening, April 29 before Kabbalat Shabbat for you to sign.

What do you need in order to collect signatures?

Answer: We can mail to you an official petition page – please contact RA@tioh.org

Time is short. Please help! This is not only for the good of the state of California, but it is a core Jewish value to effect t’shuvah (repentance) and rehabilitation. This bill will serve this grand purpose, and that is why we as a Jewish community ought to support it and do everything we can to put it before the voters of California in November.

8 Articles Worth Reading

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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If you are like me, you are overwhelmed by the commentary and news on the US Presidential election, Jewish affairs in the United States, and events taking place in Israel. I read a great deal (usually between 5 and 7 AM)– and as a “service” to you, I offer the following 8 highlights of items I have read in the last week.

The first two are by Deborah Lipstadt and Tom Hayden respectively. They explain why they are supporting Hillary Clinton. I have known both for 35 and 25 years, respectively, and though I’m not surprised by Deborah’s position, I am by Tom’s – he explains why, though he respects Bernie, he must support Hillary.

The next piece (#3), by Uri Avnery, a 90+ veteran left-wing Israeli journalist and a guru to those of us who want his clear-headed thinking, explains why he likes the right-wing President of Israel Ruby Rivlin (my 2nd cousin once removed), and specifically, why he thinks there are possibilities in Ruby’s confederation idea embracing both a Jewish state and an Arab state.

Item #4 is  about the Women of the Wall and a novel action planned for April 24 that will help keep the pressure on the government to stick to its agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Southern Wall of the Kotel.

The remainder of the articles include a NY Times report on Joe Biden’s speech yesterday at the J Street National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. , as well as two pieces by left-wing American and Israeli journalists (Peter Beinart and Chemi Shalev) on the controversy surrounding Simone Zimmerman, an outstanding young pro-Israel activist who was hired and then fired within two days by the Sanders Presidential campaign.

Happy reading!
John

1) Why I’m for Hillary (and Not for Him), by Deborah Lipstadt, The Forward, April 17

http://forward.com/opinion/politics/338754/why-im-for-hillary-and-not-for-him/#ixzz46BcpYin1

2) I Used to Support Bernie, but Then I Changed My Mind – Tom Hayden, The Nation, April 12, 2016 – “I have a variety of concerns about both candidates’ campaigns. But I intend to vote for Hillary Clinton in the California primary for one fundamental reason.”

http://www.thenation.com/article/i-used-to-support-bernie-but-then-i-changed-my-mind/

3) Squaring the Circle, by Uri Avnery, April 15, 2016 – Jewish Business News – “I like the President of the State of Israel, Reuven (“Rubi”) Rivlin. I like him very much…he is a very humane person. He is kind and unassuming. His family has been rooted in Palestine for many generations. He sees himself as the president of all Israelis, including the Arab citizens…This week, President Rivlin published a peace plan…based on a federation of two ‘entities’ – a Zionist-Jewish entity and an Arab-Palestinian one…In present-day Israel, ideas are frozen…a (con)federation can …allow both peoples to be free in their own states, with their own identities, national flags and anthems, governments and soccer teams, while at the same time saving the unity of the country and solving their joint problems in unity and close cooperation…”

http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2016/04/15/uri-avnery-squaring-the-circle/

4) Israel Public Radio Rejects Women of the Wall Ad, April 13, 2016 – Israel public radio rejected a Women of the Wall ad that included a woman chanting parts of the priestly blessing for being “controversial.” Read more here. http://forward.com/video/338622/israel-public-radio-rejects-women-of-the-wall-ad/#ixzz46D8Kqfvt

5) US feels ‘overwhelming frustration’ with Israeli government: Biden, The New York Times, April 19 – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday acknowledged ‘overwhelming frustration’ with the Israeli government and said the systemic expansion of Jewish settlements was moving Israel toward a dangerous ‘one-state reality’ and in the wrong direction.”

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/04/19/world/middleeast/19reuters-usa-israel-biden.html?_r=2

6) As Dems Push Boundaries of Israel Debate, J Street Exults, and Worries, Forward, Nathan Guttman, April 19 – “J Street was born just as Barack Obama took over the White House and has since positioned itself as a group willing to give the administration, as well as members of Congress and candidates, the backing they need in order to take positions on Israel that may be unpopular among the more established American Israel Public Affairs Committee. J Street, through its political action committee, endorsed candidates for the House and Senate willing to voice liberal views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and recently pushed back forcefully against AIPAC’s massive drive to defeat President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Now, the administration is returning the favor with a series of public gestures meant to send a clear signal to supporters of the lobby, and to AIPAC. President Obama invited a group of J Street student leaders to a meeting in the Oval Office on April 15. Then he sent Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry to deliver remarks at the group’s April 18 gala dinner. AIPAC, by contrast, got a detailed, and at times critical, speech by Biden, but no other senior administration officials.”

http://forward.com/news/national/338902/as-dems-push-boundaries-of-israel-debate-j-street-exults-and-worries/#ixzz46GsEEdd2

7) If You Lose Simone Zimmerman, You Lose the Best of Jewish Millennials, Peter Beinart, Haaretz, April 18 – “Simone Zimmerman cares about Israel. She cares about the Jewish people. She even cares about American Jewish organizations. And she believes there should be a space in those organizations for moral opposition to Israeli policies, the kind of moral opposition once offered by communal leaders like Nahum Goldmann, Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg and Rabbi Arthur Schindler. Treat people like her as the enemy and you make enemies of the best of the younger American Jewish generation. Exile those progressive young American Jews who genuinely care about the American Jewish community and watch who follows in their wake. I’m not worried about Simone Zimmerman. She’ll do fine. I’m worried about a community that punishes its children for challenging its lies.”

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.715096

8) Sorry: As Presidential Contender, Sanders Was Right to Dismiss Simone Zimmerman, Chemi Shalev, Haaretz, April 18 – “Sometimes one suspects that mainstream Jewish leaders would prefer to see the many thousands of J Street supporters and other critics of the occupation get sucked in by BDS and turn into anti-Zionists. That would justify their pigheaded refusal to look at the Jewish community in the mirror and would leave the occupation-denying, Israel-is-always-right crowd of yesteryear in their splendid isolation. Nor does Zimmerman’s dismissal detract from the validity of her views on the occupation, on Netanyahu and on the Gaza war. These are shared by many thousands around the world, including, I assume, the vast majority of Sanders’ own supporters. Running for president, however, involves compromise, a concept that sometimes seems alien to many of Sanders’ and Zimmerman’s fans. To quote a famous Israeli slogan, they would rather be right than smart, but that’s not the way one wins the presidency.”

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.715158

Returning the hearts of parents and children to each other

17 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Holidays, Jewish Identity, Life Cycle, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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“Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of God;
And he [Elijah] will return the hearts of parents to children
and the hearts of children to their parents.”  (Malachi 3:23-24)

These two verses were read yesterday on Shabbat Hagadol (“The Great Sabbath”) that comes immediately before Pesach. They have touched and moved me since I was young in a number of ways.

As a congregational rabbi, so often I encounter parents and grown children who are alienated from each other, and though every situation is different and the sources of rupture in families are as varied as there are people, I wonder what it would take for most of these estrangements to be healed and for families to draw closer to one another. It’s my conviction that in most families, if there’s a strong enough will the breach can be healed.

In this season of Pesach, inspired by the Prophet Malachi, if this is your situation why not seize the opportunity today, now, this week, and reach out to the person or people from whom you feel  distance and seek a way back to each other?

Reconciliation with the most important people in our lives (our parents and children) may tragically be too late for some families after years of alienation. It’s been my experience that unless a child or a parent suffers from mental illness or addiction disorders, it is usually a parent who provoked and/or allowed the alienation to occur with his or her child(ren) to fester over the years. Most children want positive relationships with their parents, but old injuries, accumulated anger, resentment, hatred, and calcification of negative feelings and attitudes towards the other have been allowed to make reconciliation difficult, but not impossible.

Judaism affirms the power of s’lichah (forgiveness) and t’shuvah (repentance – return) to transform our lives. These are themes not only of the High Holiday season but of Pesach too, as both are required for g’ulah (“redemption”). Judaism affirms as well that it’s possible to free ourselves from injuries born in the past and to transform them in the present so as to chart a new, different and positive future. That is the essence of the Exodus and Passover story.

What’s required may be the most difficult challenge we ever face; that parents and children look within themselves, acknowledge their own culpability for the breach, avoid blaming the other, approach the other with humility and an open heart, and then forgive both themselves and the other for whatever occurred in the past. After so long a period, it no longer really matters who caused the rupture in the beginning. Either side, and hopefully both, can and ought to reach out.

Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting. It means “letting go” of the slights inflicted and experienced so long ago, and setting aside the aggravating and annoying quirks of personality that justify, in our minds and hearts, the distance we’ve each perpetuated and sustained.

When we forgive we heal the hurts of the past and the injuries we believe we never deserved. By forgiving, we reverse the flow of our own history. This is the meaning of redemption – that we redress grievances and restore ourselves first to ourselves and then to those nearest to us.

In another way, these Malachi verses have moved me since I was young because they stimulate my memories of my father who died so long ago, but whose voice, smell, touch, and love for me, my brother, my mother, and our family remain alive in me and all of us who he loved and who loved him. This year, these verses evoke memories of my mother too, whose soul passed from this life a few months ago. I imagine my parents’ souls communing together again, as they did with so much love and joy once upon a time, and I imagine my mother restored to her parents and siblings also, people whom she so adored in the 98+ years of her long life.

This coming Shabbat eve, families and friends will gather around the Seder table and Elijah’s empty chair will, hopefully, remind us of our parents and their parents, our sages and teachers, prophets, mystics, and tzadikim, as our people celebrates liberation and the promise of redemption. We’ll recommit ourselves to right the wrongs and injustices in our communities, among our people, in our nation and world, to reaffirm that justice must exist everywhere for us to be truly free ourselves, and that the virtues of compassion, empathy and loving-kindness are the means to affirm and concretize Judaism’s ideals of a world healed of its many breaches.

May this season be one of meaning and joyful reunion for each of us, for everyone we love, for the Jewish people, for the oppressed among the nations, and for all the inhabitants of the earth.

Chag Pesach Sameach!

Israeli Public Radio Refuses to Broadcast ‘Controversial’ Women of the Wall Ad – Letter from Anat Hoffman

15 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Holidays, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Below is a letter Anat Hoffman sent me this morning updating me on an action during the intermediate days of Pesach, on April 24, that Women of the Wall is planning in Jerusalem at the Kotel (Western Wall).

This action is a follow-up to the historic decision taken by the government of Israel, led by PM Netanyahu and coordinated by Natan Sharansky several months ago, that will establish a new egalitarian prayer space in the Southern Kotel Plaza. Women of the Wall is gathering hundreds of women descended from the priestly class (Kohanut) to bless the community at the Kotel.

The ultra-Orthodox political parties United Torah Judaism and Shas, along with the “Chief Rabbi of the Wall,” are demanding that this agreement not be implemented on threat of withdrawal from the government coalition and the collapse of the government that consists of only 61 votes. PM Netanyahu is now trying to manage his anti-democratic coalition partners by promising to take a second look at the agreement that would surely doom its future. This was a negotiated compromise between the parties that included the Chief Rabbi at the Wall. Every detail was negotiated. It was a compromise agreement. To open it up again means that the agreement will fail. Doing this has much larger implications for the state of democracy and religious pluralism in Israel. Surely, the Prime Minister knows this – but maintaining power seems to be more important to him than the honor of his word to the non-Orthodox movements in Israel and worldwide and the cause of democracy and equal rights for all religious streams of Judaism in the Jewish state.

Anat Hoffman, chair of the Women of the Wall and the Executive Director of the Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center, has been a lightning rod on this issue for more than 27 years in her role as a founding member of WOW and now as its chair.

Anat had asked me to make contact with my cousin, Susan Bay Nimoy, to support this effort financially, which Susan did without hesitation and with full heart. She did so in memory of Leonard, who would have supported this effort with an equally full heart. Anat thought of them as supporters because Leonard made the priestly sign world famous in the character of Spock. When developing the greeting in his role, he remembered the blessing of the priests when he attended synagogue as a young boy with his grandfather in South Boston.

The article from Haaretz below notes:

“Funding [has been] provided by the Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy estate [and] was meant to help Women of the Wall advertise the event as well as bus in women from around the country so that they can attend at no cost.”

Here is Anat’s letter (see the two articles in Haaretz):

Shalom, John, dear friend,

It was a challenging week for Women of the Wall. Kol Yisrael, the Israeli public radio body, determined that it would not play our paid voice ads for the Birkat Kohanot. Please click this link to an article in the Forward so you can hear how simply beautiful it is: http://forward.com/video/338622/israel-public-radio-rejects-women-of-the-wall-ad/?attribution=home-video-1. We petitioned to force them to play the ads and will appeal the decision on Sunday – all the way to the [Israeli] Supreme Court.

Next, Haaretz gave us plenty of press. One article is Public Radio Refuses to Broadcast ‘Controversial’ Women of the Wall Ad and the other is Western Wall Rabbi Attempting to Prevent ‘Women’s Priestly Blessing’ During Passover. Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, has even gone so far as to call Women of the Wall “Satan Incarnate.” He said that we need to be committed to an asylum, YET he went on – for the first time – to devote his whole sermon on Pesach to the importance of women in Judaism.

Here are the links to the articles:

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.714113
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.714229

But, we keep persevering. The number of participants continues to grow, and we are confident that we will fill the Kotel plaza on April 24.

Shabbat Shalom,
Anat

The Public Safety & Rehabilitation Act of 2016

14 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Social Justice

≈ 2 Comments

Yesterday (April 13), 25 rabbis from San Diego to Sacramento met with Governor Jerry Brown in Los Angeles who presented The Public Safety & Rehabilitation Act of 2016 (see – http://safetyandrehabilitation.com/) as an important advance in the criminal justice system. Governor Brown has been approaching all citizen groups and religious leaders to promote this initiative and acquire one million signatures by the middle of May to get this initiative on the ballot.

He was persuasive as he argued that this bill offers not only an advancement in public safety, but also an incentive to non-violent criminals to retrain in prison and reform their behavior so that they can return to society and be productive citizens thereby reducing prison populations and saving tax payer money.

The Governor appealed to us not only on the basis of the merits of the initiative, but on the religious truth that people can and do change when they have incentives and choose to do so. People can repent and live more productive lives.

What specifically does the Public Safety & Rehabilitation Act of 2016 do?

  • Invests in proven public safety strategies that work.
  • Authorizes parole consideration for people with non-violent convictions who complete the full sentence for their primary offense.
  • Incentives people in prison to complete rehabilitation and education programs.
  • Requires the Secretary of Corrections to certify that the regulations implementing these policies protect and enhance public safety.
  • Requires judges rather than prosecutors to decide whether a youth as young as 14-years-old should be tried as an adult.
  • Mandates that a judge carefully reviews all of the circumstances of a youth’s crime and life before making a decision on whether that young person should be charged as an adult.
  • Saves taxpayer dollars by reducing wasteful spending within our correctional system.
  • Keeps the most dangerous offenders locked up.

 

  • READ THE FULL TEXT HERE –

http://safetyandrehabilitation.com/images/The_Public_Safety_and_Rehabilitation_Act_of_2016_%2800266261xAEB03%29.pdf\ Why does California need this Initiative?

The following is taken from the initiative’s website:

“Over the last several decades, California’s jail and prison populations have exploded, and California now spends nearly 10% of its general fund on our prison system. We are simply spending too much taxpayer money locking up nonviolent offenders, when we know that rehabilitation actually keeps our communities safer. Today, California’s prisons are under a court-ordered population cap. Without a common sense, fiscally responsible plan, the court will order the arbitrary release of prisoners. This is an unacceptable outcome that puts Californians in danger.

The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 stops the arbitrary prisoner release and improves public safety. Countless studies have shown that the more people are rehabilitated, the less likely they are to re-offend. By investing in strategic rehabilitation, the initiative will protect California communities and ensure the most dangerous criminals stay locked up.”

I ask you to sign the petition and circulate it to all your friends. 1 million signatures need to be collected by the middle of May to qualify as an initiative on the California ballot. Please help. This is in everyone’s best interest.

 

4 Articles and 1 video you ought read and see right now

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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By all measures, Israel is the strongest nation in the Middle East and the only democracy. This strength, however, is compromised by the fear-mongering of Israel’s right-wing government, continued settlement building in the West Bank, its anti-democratic attack on NGOs and free speech, its growing exclusionary militant Jewish nationalism, and its resistance to all attempts to reach a compromise resulting in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These trends have not served Israel’s best interests as a democracy and majority Jewish state. Though the Palestinians certainly must share the blame for a lack of progress over the last two plus decades, they are the weaker party. Despite legitimate fear and distrust of both sides towards each other, it is the stronger party that has the least to lose by initiating serious peace proposals.

Here are four important articles describing not only the depth and breadth of Israel’s strength, development and ingenuity, but also the threats against it. These articles offer a sober and clear-sighted view of the reality in which Israel finds itself, as well as showing how President Obama has been one of the greatest friends Israel has ever had in the oval office (item #3 from the NY Times).

1. A Wake-up Call: Celebrating Half a Century of Israeli Occupation – Ari Shavit, Haaretz, April 7, 2016

“At the end of 50 years, it will be clear what our revealed choice has been: We prefer the Land of Israel over the values of Israel. …

Clinging to the places where the prophets walked has caused us to lose touch with the prophets’ vision. The fanatical zeal for mountains, hills and land of Israel has caused us to abandon the precious breastplate of the Jewish heritage. The idolatry of the land cult and the idolatry of power and the idolatry of the tribe have worn away the commitment to universality, which was the foundation stone of our culture. The land has blinded us and has dulled our senses and has caused us to betray what we are. Half a century is a milestone. Half a century is also a wake-up call. There are no more excuses and justifications and there is no more “tomorrow.” The permanency of the occupation is becoming an integral part of our life and our identity. Thus it is endangering the State of Israel, the Jewish people and the Jewish heritage. Before the Palestinians embark on the 50th-year intifada and before the international community imposes the 50th-year sanctions on us, it is incumbent upon us to find the courage to end the 50-year curse by ourselves, for ourselves.”
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.713117

2. Will Israel Reach age 100? Aaron David Miller (RealClearWorld), April 12, 2016

“Having worked the Israel issue for half a dozen secretaries of state, I’m more convinced than ever that Israel is here to stay….

The region in which Israel lives is melting down at a rate no one would have anticipated. Yet if any states disappear, these may be on the Arab side….

The region’s three non-Arab states – Israel, Turkey, and Iran – are probably the most highly functioning polities in the region. All are domestically stable, have tremendous economic power, and are capable of projecting their power in the region. Of the three, Israel by far has the best balance of military, economic, and technological prowess and brain power. By any significant standard – GDP per capita; educational assets; share of Nobel prizes; even the global happiness index – Israel leads the region, and much of the rest of the world, by wide margins…Compare the situation Israel faces in 2016 with any other period since the founding of the state 68 years ago, and there is little doubt the country is stronger, more secure, and holds a more pronounced qualitative military edge than it ever has. Furthermore, with the exception of Iran, its traditional adversaries are weaker and are falling further behind…

The situation, of course, is far from perfect. Israelis face a rash of attacks by Palestinians, as well as more substantial threats from Hizbullah, Hamas, and ISIS wannabes in Sinai. But these aren’t existential security threats to the state, and Iran’s putative quest for a nuclear weapon has been constrained for now…

Functional cooperation with Jordan, improving ties with Turkey, close relations with Egypt, and an emerging alignment of interests with Saudi Arabia against Iran, all suggest a certain lessening of the Arab state allergy to Israel…

In a region with not a single Arab democracy, a rising Iran, and threats from transnational jihadists, Washington will almost certainly continue to look to Israel as an ally in the region. Indeed, the threat of significant terror attacks on domestic soil from a Middle East in meltdown will provide the best set of talking points for the continuation of the U.S.-Israel special relationship…

Israel is a highly functional state that has powerful agency, extraordinary human resources, a demonstrated capacity to deal with its security challenges, and neighbors who seem to be growing weaker, not stronger.”
http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2016/04/will_israel_reach_age_100_111810.html

3. Israel’s Unsung Protector: Obama – By Lara Friedman, NY Times, April 10, 2016

“With the Obama administration in its final year, several officials have said that the president has grown so frustrated with trying to revive Middle East peace talks that he may lay down his own outline for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state peace agreement, in the form of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council…

If that happens, count on two reactions: Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will oppose it, and a chorus of American politicians and commentators will suggest that it would be unprecedented — even unthinkable — for an American president to support a Security Council resolution that Israel opposed, rather than veto it…

Over seven years, Mr. Obama has not permitted passage of any Security Council resolution specifically critical of Israel. But a careful examination of the record shows that, since 1967, every other American president allowed, or even had America vote for, Security Council resolutions taking Israel to task for actions and policies toward the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors….

President Obama, in contrast with his predecessors, has completely shielded Israel from such resolutions. This fact is all the more striking given that his presidency has overlapped with governments that have been among the most right-wing in Israel’s history — governments that have continually and openly defied American-led peace efforts and American policy opposing settlement expansion.

The two-state solution is the only path to preserving Israel’s security and its character as a Jewish state and a democracy, while delivering freedom, dignity and sovereignty to the Palestinians. We can hope that President Obama may now recognize that preserving this solution for the future is the most important legacy he can leave in this arena. But to accomplish that, he must be willing to resist, rather than court, the anti-peace bullies in Israel and the United States; he must be willing to stand up for American interests in obtaining a Middle East peace, and to stand with America’s allies in the Security Council in supporting a two-state solution.

If he does that, President Obama will not be betraying Israel. He will be Israel’s true friend. And he will walk in the footsteps of all eight other presidents since 1967, Democrat and Republican alike.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/opinion/international/israels-unsung-protector-obama.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

 
4. Israel School Scraps Death Camp Trips Amid Fears of Right Wing Radicalization, Forward, April 13, 2016

A Tel Aviv high school principal will no longer send pupils on an annual educational trip to former concentration camps in Poland because of its perceived “ultranationalist” influence on the students.
http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/338485/israel-school-scraps-death-camp-trips-amid-fears-of-right-wing-radicalizati/#ixzz45eLibGpp

5. Skunk Spray!  – You Tube

A degrading form of abuse – or a safe, ingenious, effective, non-lethal, and non-toxic crowd control method that smells indescribably foul? The Palestinians want it banned. What’s your opinion? An Israeli creation (2 minutes 41 seconds).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4_XZE3r3oU?rel=0

“INJUNCTION IS HEREBY GRANTED” – A First Amendment Establishment Clause Victory

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Social Justice

≈ 3 Comments

On February 6, 2014, I joined with eight other plaintiffs representing Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in the County of Los Angeles in a law suit against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors alleging that the Board’s January 7, 2014 motion approving the restoration of a Latin cross to the official LA County seal violates the separation clause of the United States Constitution.

The nine plaintiffs include Reverend Father Ian Elliott Davies, Reverend J. Edwin Bacon, Jr., Shakeel Syed, Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (z’l), Rabbi John L. Rosove, Reverend Tera Little, Reverend Peter Laarman, David N. Myers, and Rabbi Amy Bernstein.

The Federal Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion” or undertaking any act that unduly favors one religion over another, and we nine religious and community leaders were convinced that our rights as citizens of Los Angeles County and the rights of millions of LA county residents were being violated.

At the time, the LA County Board of Supervisors consisted of Gloria Molina, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Zev Yaroslavsky, Don Knabe, and Michael D. Antonovich.

The following is a review of events concerning the LA County seal, edited from the final court judgement:

On January 2, 1957, the Board of Supervisors adopted an official seal for the County of Los Angeles that depicted an image of the Hollywood Bowl, two stars, and an unadorned Latin cross. The Hollywood Bowl represented LA’s cultural tradition. The two stars represented the motion picture and television industries. It’s unclear whether the unadorned Latin cross was meant to represent “the influence of the church and missions of California,” or, more simply, religion.

In addition, the 1957 Seal depicted an image of Pomona, “the goddess of gardens and fruit trees,” to represent agriculture; the Spanish galleon San Salvador, which sailed into San Pedro Harbor on October 8, 1542; a tuna, to represent the fishing industry; the champion cow Pearlette, to represent the dairy industry; engineering instruments, to represent the County’s “contribution to the conquest of space”; and oil derricks, to represent oil fields discovered on Signal Hill.

The 1957 Seal served as the County’s official seal until 2004.

On May 19, 2004, the ACLU sent a letter to County officials stating that the presence of the cross on the 1957 Seal “reflects an impermissible endorsement of Christianity by the County” and was unconstitutional.

On June 1, 2004, the five members of the Board voted 3-2 to instruct County Counsel to “negotiate with the ACLU” to determine whether the ACLU would refrain from filing suit against the County.

On June 8, 2004, at one of several public meetings when the Board discussed potential revisions to the 1957 Seal, the Board heard testimony from members of the public, many of whom objected passionately on religious grounds to the removal of the Latin cross. Comments included the following:

“This is an attack on the body of Christ.”

“My Lord and Savior died on that cross and it would be horrible for me to just let it be erased.”

“The cross represents not just the passion that we are presenting today but the passion of Christ and [that] this is a Christian nation.”

“It’s a symbol of the love of Christ.”

On September 14, 2004, the County Chief Administrative Officer sent a letter to the Board recommending that it approve and adopt a proposed new County seal that (1) removed the Latin cross from above the Hollywood Bowl; (2) replaced the image of the oil derricks with a sketch of the eastern façade of the San Gabriel Mission, without any cross atop its roof; and (3) replaced the goddess Pomona with an image of a Native American woman carrying a basket.

During the public meeting, the County Administrative Officer stated that a “good figure” for the estimated cost of adopting the 2004 Seal throughout the County was $800,000. Ultimately, the Board voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed revisions, with Supervisors Burke, Molina, and Yaroslavsky voting to pass the motion, and Supervisors Antonovich and Knabe voting against it.

On October 26, 2004, the County Chief Administrative Officer sent the Board a final cost estimate of $700,000 to replace the County seal on County owned and leased facilities, decals affixed to County vehicles, and all computer applications, including websites, electronic letterhead, and software. Thereafter, the 2004 Seal was adopted throughout the County.

In 2009, a Latin cross was placed atop the eastern façade of the actual San Gabriel Mission. The original cross had been removed following an earthquake in 1989 (see motion below).

On December 31, 2013, Supervisors Antonovich and Knabe introduced a motion to add a Latin cross atop the depiction of the Mission on the 2004 County Seal.

Their motion read:

“The current rendering of the Mission on the seal is aesthetically and architecturally inaccurate. At the time that the seal was redesigned in 2004, the cross had been missing from the top of the mission since 1989 when it was taken down to retrofit the structure after damage from the Whittier Narrows earthquake. The cross was returned to the top of the Mission in 2009 after being lost for decades.”

The motion did not address the accuracy of the other images on the 2004 Seal, and Supervisors Antonovich and Knabe proposed no other changes to the seal.

On January 7, 2014, the Board held a public meeting and the ACLU opposed the motion saying:

“The government is returning a sectarian religious symbol to a seal less than ten years after its removal and one of the major objections to the removal in the first place [was] very strong religious objection.”

Zev Yaroslavsky, who a decade earlier had voted to remove the unadorned Latin cross from the 1957 Seal and to adopt the 2004 Seal, said:

“This is not just about history [aesthetics or architecture]; it’s about the cross.”

The Board voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed addition of the cross, with Supervisors Antonovich, Knabe, and Ridley-Thomas voting in favor, and Supervisors Molina and Yaroslavsky voting against.

Last week, on April 6, the Honorable Christina A. Synder of the United States District Court, ruled that the plaintiffs (i.e. the 9 representatives noted above representing Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities) have demonstrated that the addition of the cross to the 2004 Seal violates both the California and United States Constitutions, and that the County’s addition of the Latin cross to the 2004 Seal violates the No Aid and No Preference Clauses of the California Constitution as well as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and thus the court granted a permanent injunction against ever adding a cross to the LA County seal.

At long last this controversy is over, and I want to express my deep gratitude to Judge Snyder, the ACLU attorneys, former Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Gloria Molina and Yvonne Burke, and my fellow plaintiffs.

This decision is a significant victory for First Amendment rights.