The Pesach Seder – 3rd in a Series of 5 Blogs

06 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Holidays, Inuyim - Prayer reflections and ruminations, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Christian Relations, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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American Jewish Life, Ethics, Holidays, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious Life, Social Justice, Women's Right

The Very First Seder in Jewish History – The first Seder was held in Egypt before the Exodus itself. Consequently, the Seder is not a celebration of redemption because the redeeming event had not yet taken place. Rather, the Seder is an expression of faith that there will be redemption in the future, that the world is not yet just and compassionate and that there is to be a more peaceful order of human affairs in a time to come.

The Seder as a Night-time Ritual – The Seder is the only full ritual that occurs at night and in the home. It is also the only time that the Hallel is said at night. Rabbi Levi Meier (z’l) suggested that whereas in daylight all things are public, at night our higher selves are revealed. When Jacob wrestled with a Divine/human being at the river Jabok we learn that following that struggle “Ya-akov shalem – Jacob became whole.” This night-time ritual moves us towards wholeness and integration (per Jungian theory – Rabbi Meier was a certified Jungian therapist) – i.e. the unification of body, mind, heart, and soul with God.

Birth Imagery in the Exodus Narrative – Birth imagery and the role of women in the Exodus narrative is prominently reflected in the Seder and therefore, alongside male images of God as a warrior and liberator, women are ancient Israel’s savers and sustainers of life. Feminine imagery is evoked especially at the Passover season because of the concurrence of the spring equinox when the lambing of the flocks took place. Most importantly, Passover celebrates the birth of the Jewish nation out of slavery. Israelite new-born boys were saved by two Hebrew mid-wives, Shifra and Puah. Yocheved (Moses’ mother) and Miriam (Moses’ older sister) saved the future liberator from certain death by placing him in a basket in the river, watching over him as he floated down the river, watching as he was drawn out of the river and saved by the Egyptian Princess, and by Miriam arranging with the Princess to have Moses’ own mother, Yocheved, act as his wet-nurse in the palace. Moses grew to manhood, never forgetting who he really was because of his engaged mother and sister, Yocheved and Miriam, and he eventually led the people through the opening of the Sea of Reeds, a metaphor of the opening of his womb. The Hebrew name for Egypt (Mitzrayim) means “coming from a narrow or constricted place,” such as a new-born moving through the birth canal. The salt water of the sea might suggest the amniotic fluid heralding both the birth of the Jewish nation into freedom and the beginning of spring.

Moses is Never Mentioned in the Hagadah – This obvious oversight was a deliberate attempt by the rabbis who developed the Hagadah in the first centuries of the Common Era (CE) to remind the people that it was God and God alone that redeemed the people from slavery. Much of the Hagadah developed in the centuries after Christianity made inroads into the Jewish community. The rabbis were concerned that Jews not deify any human leader as the Christians had done with Jesus.

Nachshon Ben Aminadav – The Midrash (rabbinic commentary) describes what happened when the Israelites arrived at the Sea of Reeds with the Egyptian army behind them in hot pursuit. Moses began to pray that God would save the people yet again while a little known figure, Nachshon Ben Aminadav, jumped into the sea and took history into his own hands. This is the first time a former slave acted on his own and on his people’s behalf. At that moment, in response to Moses’ prayer and Nachshon’s courageous deed, God split the sea and allowed the people to pass into freedom on dry land. Judaism affirms that God is a liberating force for justice and good, especially for the most vulnerable in society, and that we Jews are obligated by the Covenant to be drawn at Sinai to emulate God Who acted compassionately, defied injustice and strove to create a Jewish people (the early Zionist movement and the founding of the state of Israel is reflective of this earliest impulse in Jewish history).

Wine and Matzah in Christian Tradition – Jesus reportedly said at the Last Supper (thought to be a Passover Seder) while pointing at the matzah and wine, “This is my body and this is my blood!” (Matthew 26:26) Christian theologians developed the doctrine of transubstantiation (i.e. the Eucharist) and claimed it as legitimate continuation of first century Judaism. The deification of Jesus into a wholly Divine being, however, constitutes a significant theological leap and departure from traditional Judaism that affirms God as unknowable, infinite and eternal. For Jews, the bread represents the lamb of the Pascal offering. For Christians, Jesus replaced the lamb, and the wine symbolized his blood which led Jesus’ followers at that Seder to not be shocked by his alleged identification with the pascal offering. The anti-Semitic defamation in the “blood libel” is a convoluted distortion of the Eucharist turned on itself and against the Jewish people who had refused to accept the divinity of Jesus as the Christ Messiah.

To be continued…

Israeli and American Jews – The Struggle for Consensus and Current Tensions

04 Friday Apr 2014

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

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In recent weeks Israeli and American Jewish activists, writers and thinkers have been discussing political and ideological trends within both the American Jewish community and Israeli society vis a vis the nature of pro-Israel activism and what Israel would need to compromise should the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, now seriously threatened, ever advance.

There are, at the very least, two truths that seem to permeate much of our two societies these days. The first is the most consequential for the future security, Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel; the distrust of Israelis towards Palestinians and Palestinians towards Israelis resulting in political/ideological recalcitrance of each side’s negotiating positions. The second is the growing ideological and emotional divide in the American Jewish community between left and right especially concerning the meaning of pro-Israel activism.

In the Middle East, it is unclear in the short-term whether American supported peace negotiations will continue. In the American Jewish community, conservative pro-Israel activists have undertaken a new campaign to discredit the pro-Israel legitimacy of J Street most recently reflected in a film called “The J Street Challenge” that is producing a great deal of ink.

J Street is the largest pro-Israel Political Action Committee in Washington, D.C. and over the nearly six years of its existence has attracted growing support among an increasingly large segment of the American Jewish community’s liberal pro-Israel community. The film “The J Street Challenge” reflects the American Jewish community’s right-wing disagreement with J Street’s policy positions (www.jstreet.org) and is fueled by strong animus towards the organization’s leadership.

[Note: I serve as a co-chair of the national Rabbinic Cabinet of J Street representing nearly 800 rabbis from all the American Jewish religious streams, and my son has served as a member of the J Street national staff almost since the founding of J Street six years ago. However, I appreciate and respect the long history of support in the nation’s capital for the state of Israel by AIPAC, though I am sad and continually disheartened to say that so many in AIPAC do not hold similar appreciation and respect for J Street].

I offer the following two articles that address American Jewish internal tensions and the concerns of the broad majority of Israeli citizens that make up the Israeli political center.

As events unfold it is important to understand the short-term and long-term implications of what is occurring within the American Jewish community and Israel alike especially relative to the following themes: The future of Israeli democracy and the Jewish character of the State of Israel; The lack of agreement that will bring about a two-states for two peoples resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; The meaning of pro-Israel activism in the United States; and the state of civility within the American Jewish community today.

The first article was written by Yossi Klein Halevi, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a contributing editor to The New Republic. His piece “The Quiet Rise of the Israeli Center” (Times of Israel, March 23) is an insightful look at the dreams, concerns and worries of the largest bloc of Israeli citizens, the political moderate center – http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-quiet-rise-of-the-israeli-center/

The second is written by Larry Gellman, one of America’s top money managers and financial advisers, who has been active as a lay American Jewish leader for thirty years with Jewish Federations, State of Israel Bonds, AIPAC, J Street, CLAL, and Hillel. He has helped to create and fund Jewish Day Schools in two American cities. Gellman lectures widely in the United States and Israel on Judaism and business ethics. His op-ed that follows is therefore significant because of his standing as a mainstream leader in the American Jewish community – “Donor Slams Federation for Divisive ‘Political Attack Ad’ Aimed at J Street” (The Jewish Daily Forward, April 3) http://forward.com/articles/195784/donor-slams-federation-for-divisive-political-atta/?p=all

The Pesach Seder – 2nd in a series of 5 Blogs

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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American Jewish Life, Holidays, Israel and Palestine, Jewish History, Jewish Identity

Let us not forget that despite the disturbing news concerning the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, we Jews are a people of hope and the Pesach Seder is all about hope and the promise of redemption and peace. As an Israeli friend, Yaron Shavit, once shared with me – “B’Yisrael y’ush lo optsia – In Israel despair is not an option!”

Here is the 2nd of 5 blogs on the parts of the Passover Seder:

Purpose of the Seder – The Seder’s goal is for each participant to personally experience and empathize with our people’s historic struggle for liberation, for each one of us to confront the spiritual and psychological enslavement that stands in the way of our growth as individuals and a people. The ultimate spiritual and metaphysical goal is to glimpse sh’leimut (i.e. wholeness –the unity of humankind, the people of Israel, the world and cosmos, and the unity of God’s Holiest Name – YHVH. Mystics teach that the ultimate goal is to empty oneself entirely into God’s Oneness – Achdut.

Chometz – Leavened bread is forbidden during Passover so that the Jewish people may recall the hasty exit of the Israelites from Egypt. Chometz symbolizes “sin” (using classical language). Essentially, sin is an alienation from one’s self, from the community and from God. It is the fomenting of the evil impulse in our hearts (yeitzer ha-ra), and our task is to cleanse ourselves and our homes during the Passover festival. Technically, kosher matzah for Passover must be mixed, kneaded, and put in the oven to bake within 18 minutes. Any dough that stands longer than 18 minutes is presumed to be chometz and unfit for Passover consumption.

B’dikat Chometz (Search for Chometz) – This is a tradition conducted the day before Passover. All chometz is gathered and either burned publicly (bi-ur chometz), sold or given away to non-Jews. Some people collect all their chometz and remove it from the house (i.e. put it in the garage) until after the conclusion of the Passover festival. On the night before the first Seder, children take a spoon, feather and candle and search the house for chometz crumbs. Five grains are considered chometz during Passover: wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye. The following are forbidden to be consumed during Passover: whiskey, beer and bourbon because of the fomenting process. In some Sephardic homes, rice is permissible during Passover but not so in Ashkenazi homes, because of the principle of “mar’it ayin – how it appears” (i.e. rice may in some form look like one of the other forbidden grains). Rice is not considered chometz. Many Sefardim consume rice during Pesach. Ashkenazim do not consume rice for fear that if it is ground into flour, it might appear to be not kosher for Pesach.

14 Sections of the Seder – Kaddesh – urchatz – karpas – yachatz – maggid – rachtzah – motzi/matzah – maror – korech – shulchan orech – tzafun – barech – hallel – nirtzah. At the beginning of the Seder, Sephardim (Jews originally coming from Spain) pass the Seder plate over the heads of all the guests symbolizing the passing of the angel of death over the Israelite homes. While the plate is passed, the sections of the Seder are sung.

Biblical Story of the Exodus – At the end of Genesis, the Israelites had settled in the land of Goshen after a severe famine in the land of Canaan. Joseph had brought his father and the 12 sons and 1 daughter to Goshen. But then (at the beginning of the Book of Exodus) there “arose a Pharaoh in Egypt who knew not Joseph” and put all the Hebrews into slavery and hard labor to build his cities. The story is believed to have taken place around the year 1250 B.C.E. Jews, therefore, did NOT build the pyramids, which date from the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C.E. Though the Biblical story says our people were slaves for 400 years, it is likely that they were slaves for a generation (perhaps 40 years). The Bible also says that over 600,000 men (including women and children the figure would have been 3 to 4 times greater) were freed from slavery. An unruly number, it is more likely that between 10,000 and 15,000 Hebrews and others (i.e. mixed multitude) came out of Egypt. A people used to slavery, they would be condemned to wander for 40 years (a generation) until the generation of slaves died. Moses himself never entered the land of Israel primarily because of his defiance of God at the incident of M’ribah. The Exodus story is completed by the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the building of the Tabernacle, the period of the wandering for 40 years in the desert, and the entering and settling of the land of Israel ultimately resulting in the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. For Jews, Freedom is tied in with Law and the Covenant.

The Very First Seder – The first Seder was held in Egypt before the Exodus itself. Consequently, the Seder is not a celebration of redemption because the redeeming event had not yet taken place. Rather, the Seder is an expression of faith that there will be redemption in the future, that the world is not yet perfected and that there is to be a more peaceful and just order of human affairs.

To be continued…

The Pesach Seder – 1st in a series of 5 Blogs

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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American Jewish Life, Holidays

As Pesach approaches I will offer a series of five blogs beginning here exploring different aspects of the Seder, the historical roots of many of our customs and rites, the religious and spiritual significance of the Seder parts, and suggestions to enhance your family Seder.

The Seder Plate contains six ritual elements: the egg (beitzah), bone (z’ro-a), parsley (karpas), bitter herb (maror), apples/nuts/honey/wine mixture (charoset), lettuce (?). There is a debate among the sages about whether there should be five or six items. The Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) said that there needs to be six items because of the mystical resemblance to the Star of David, a symbol of redemption.

The Symbolism of the Foods:

Egg = birth and rebirth (personal and national)

Bone = God’s strong outstretched arm that redeemed the slaves

Parsley = Spring time (salt water – tears of slavery)

Bitter Herb = hardship of slavery

Charoset = mortar that held bricks together

Lettuce = unknown, but possibly representing the sacrifice in the Temple

The 3 Matzot on the Traditional Platter – Originally they represented the 3 sacrifices brought to the Temple; the Pascal offering (lamb), the Tamid offering (daily), and the Maaser Sheini (tithing). The number 3 also represents the three classes of Israelites, all of whom are present at the Seder; the Priests (Kohanim), the Vice-Priests (Levi-im – Levites), and the Israelites (Yis’ra-elim).

The Matzah – Sometimes called the “bread of affliction” or the “poor bread” in the Ha Lachma Anya (Aramaic) section of the Seder, the Matzah is a salvationary substance that points to God’s redeeming power. The midrash (rabbinic legend) speaks of bread hanging from trees in the Garden of Eden. The mannah of the desert is thought to be the food of the hosts of heaven, much as Greek ambrosia was the food of the gods. In any event, the matzah (or bread) not only sustains life, but is directly linked to God’s redemptive power.

Afikoman– The last item eaten in the Seder, the Afikoman is the middle matzah on the ceremonial matzah plate and is broken off and hidden (tzafun) before the Seder begins to be found by the children/adults at the end of the meal. Since it is impossible to evenly break the Afikoman, the larger half is hidden symbolizing the larger hope the Jewish people hold out for our future. Afikoman is sometimes translated “dessert,” but in all probability it is an Aramaic word originally derived from the Greek “afikomenos,” meaning Ha-ba, the “Coming one” or Messiah (Professor David Daube, 1909-1999). Breaking the middle matzah symbolizes the broken state of the Jewish people in slavery and the brokenness of the world badly in need of healing. It also symbolizes the kabbalistic idea of the sh’virat ha-kei-lim (the breaking of the vessels) and the introduction of the sitra achra (the “other side” of God, or the dark aspect of the universe) into reality. Finding the Afikoman at the end, we restore it to the other half symbolizing the redemption of the individual, the people Israel, the world, and God’s own name (YHVH) that split apart when the universe began at the time of the “breaking of the vessels.” In effect, the Jewish people are charged with effecting tikun (the restoration of the world – the reclaiming of the Garden of Eden – the reunification of God’s Name YHVH). Then all Seder participants eat the Afikoman together. Prizes are given to those who participate in the hunt.

The Number 4 – The number 4 is repeated many times in the Seder (e.g. 4 cups of wine, 4 sons, 4 sages, 4 questions). Cross-culturally, the number 4 is symbolic of wholeness, integrity and completion, a principle goal of Passover and of Jewish life (Hebrew – Shleimut).

To be continued…

Female vs Male Power – Towards a More Peaceful, Healthy and Sane World

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Social Justice

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American Politics and Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being

“Appeasement” – “Weakness and doubt” – “Effeminacy” – “Soft sentimentalism” – “Naiveté” – “A lack of realism” – “A failure to adhere to demanding moral principles” – “A crisis in values” – “An aversion to martial, manly virtues that make nations strong and give life meaning!”

These are the ways many conservative politicians and pundits are characterizing President Obama and his foreign policy.

John McCain charged that Obama’s foreign policy allowed Putin to invade, take over and annex Crimea because the world now has the “perception that the United States is weak.” (The New York Times, March 14, 2014)

Sarah Palin said that “People are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil. They look at our President as one who wears mom jeans.” (Fox News)

Donald Rumsfeld bashed Obama on his handling of the Afghanistan disengagement saying that “a trained ape could do better” and that “United States diplomacy has been …embarrassingly bad.” (Fox News)

Dick Cheney critiqued the Obama Administration as “incompetent and lack[ing] principles and values.” (Fox News)

Bill Kristol opined in 2002 that the “era of American weakness and doubt in response to terrorism is over.”

None of this is new. For years conservatives have characterized themselves as the heroic defenders of American strength, virility and competence regardless of the complexity of the issues, their own hidden agendas and the dire consequences of their actions.

Peter Beinart analyzed their rhetoric this way:

“Today, hawks still link appeasement and effeminacy. Last month, for instance, after comparing the ‘bare-chested Putin’ to ‘Barack Obama, in his increasingly metro-sexual golf get-ups,’ National Review’s Victor Davis Hanson suggested that Putin’s aggression might finally rouse Americans to peer ‘into ourselves—we the hollow men, the stuffed men of dry voices and whispers’ and get tough.” (“Vladimir Putin – Russian Neo-Con”, Atlantic, March 24, 2014): http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/vladimir-putin-russian-neocon/284602/

It is chutzpah that the very people most critical of Obama and his foreign policy used innuendo, distortion and lies to take the United States into war against Iraq on the false claims that Sadaam Hussein was in league with Al Qaida and had WMD.

Less we forget, the Iraqi war that the United States initiated resulted in 200,000 dead Iraqi civilians and 6,781 dead American soldiers along with hundreds of thousands of Americans and Iraqis maimed, injured and traumatized.

Nor should we forget that America ran up a bill for that war of $1.7 trillion, an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, and expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades including interest – an equivalent sum of $75,000 for every American household, and that we sent Iraq back into the dark ages while removing the only counter-balance to Iran’s ascendency in the Middle East.

Those who want America yet again to brandish our swords and strike after all we and the victims of violence have suffered at their hands and all the negative international consequences ought to be doing t’shuvah for their sins and then think about whether they ought to speak at all given all the mistakes they made!

If we have learned anything in the past decade, it should be that our response to international conflict should not leave behind the impression that the United States is the nastiest, toughest and biggest bully on the planet. Rather, the world should see America as affirming diplomacy over violence, finesse over force, and negotiated compromise over militancy lest we make a mockery further of our democratic values and our faith in life as a sacred gift. As I see it, that is part of what Obama has been trying to do in several very tough international theaters.

Yes, there are times when an American military response is justifiable and necessary. Yet, it is easy to rush into war and almost always devastating when we do.

The words of the American Civil War Union General, William Tucumseh Sherman (1820-1891), are instructive: “It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.”

When Peter Beinart shined a light on conservative gender rhetoric last week, I recalled what the spiritual teacher David Steindl-Rast wrote years ago concerning the difference between feminine and masculine power:

“The very concept of women’s power is different from that of men. Women’s power is the power to foster new life and growth…If more people would understand how this life-giving power differs from power over others, the world would be a more peaceful, healthy and sane place.” (Essential Writings, p. 11)

The world would be well-served if American leaders from both major political parties were a bit more “feminine” and a lot more concerned about the well-being of every human being who will be affected by what our foreign policy does, more like mothers who instinctively cherish their children and act lovingly and responsibly on their behalf.

Pesach is Coming – It’s Time to Ask Ourselves the Big Questions

27 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Holidays, Inuyim - Prayer reflections and ruminations, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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To be curious is the first quality of the wise. Truly wise people know that they do not know.

The Passover Seder will soon be upon us, and there is much about the Seder itself that is a mystery. Nothing is as it seems. Everything stands for something else. Deeper truths are there for the seeker. Everything in the Seder suggests a question or many questions.

I have compiled a list of questions that might be sent in advance to your Seder participants or asked around the table during the Seder itself. These questions are not exhaustive. You may have questions of your own that you would wish to add.

As no marathon runner would show up at the starting line without preparation and training, neither should we show up at our Seder tables without thinking seriously in advance about the deeper themes and truths of this season. Now is the time to begin the questioning and probing.

Afikoman – When we break the Matzah

Questions: What part of us is broken? What work do we need to do to effect tikun hanefesh – i.e. restoration of our lives? What t’shuvah – i.e. return, realignment of our lives, re-establishment of important relationships – do we need to perform to bring about wholeness? What is broken in the world – i.e. what remains unfair, unjust, unresolved, in need of our loving care and attention – and what am I/are we going to do about it?

Mah Nishtanah – How is this night different from all other nights?

Questions: How am I different this year from previous years? What has changed in my life this year, for better and/or for worse? What ‘silver lining’ can I find even in my disappointments, frustrations, loss, illness, pain, and suffering? What conditions in our communities, nation and world have worsened since last we sat down for the Pesach meal?

Ha-Chacham – The Wise Child

Questions: Who inspired you this past year to learn? Who has been your greatest teacher and why? What are the lessons you have gleaned from others that have affected you most in the year gone by?

Ha-Rasha – The Evil Child

Questions: Since Judaism teaches that the first step leading to evil is taken when we separate ourselves from the Jewish community and refuse to participate in acts that help to redeem the world, have we individually stepped away from activism? Have we become overcome by cynicism and despair? Do we believe that people and society succumb inevitably to the worst qualities in the human condition, or do we retain hope that there can be a more just and compassionate world? Are we optimistic or pessimistic? Do we believe that people and society can change for the better? Are we doing something to further good works, or have we turned away into ourselves alone and given up?

Cheirut – Thoughts About Freedom

Questions: If fear is an impediment to freedom, what frightens me? What frightens the people I love? What frightens the Jewish people? Are our fears justified, or are they remnants of experiences in our individual and/or people’s past? Do they still apply? Are we tied to the horrors of our individual and communal traumas, or have we broken free from them? What are legitimate fears and how must we confront them?

Tzafun – The Hidden Matzah

Questions: What have we kept hidden in our lives from others? Are our deepest secrets left well-enough alone, or should we share them with the people closest to us? To what degree are we willing to be vulnerable? Have we discovered the hidden presence of God? Have we allowed ourselves to be surprised and open to wonder and awe? If so, how have we changed as a result?

Sh’fach et chamat’cha – Pour Out Your Wrath

Questions: Is there a place for hatred, anger and resentment in our Seder this year? How have these negative emotions affected our relationships to each other, to the Jewish community, the Jewish people, the Palestinians, the State of Israel, to any “other”? Have we become our own worst enemy because we harbor hatred, anger and resentment? Do the Seder themes and symbolism address our deeply seated anger, hatred and resentment?

Ba-shanah Ha-ba-ah Bi-y’ru-shalayim – Next Year in Jerusalem

Questions: What are your hopes and dreams for yourself, our community, country, the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the world? What are you prepared to do in the next year to make real your hopes and dreams? Have you ever visited Israel?

The Big Bang and “Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey”

21 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Art, Beauty in Nature, Ethics, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Poetry

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Art, Beauty in Nature, Mujsings about God/Faith/Religious Life, Poetry

“What are you doing earth – in heaven? / Tell me – what are you doing – silent earth?”

I recalled this two-line poem by Giuseppe Umbaretti (1888–1970) recently because in the last two weeks the relationship between heaven and earth has come sharply into focus in a new 13-episode Fox television series called “Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey” that explores the beginnings of the universe. It is narrated by the astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that scientists have detected in patterns of gravity waves in the radiation that lingers in space that they believe is the faint afterglow of the big bang. Before, the big bang was only a theory of the universe’s origins, but with this discovery astrophysicists and astronomers believe that the big bang actually occurred 14 billion years ago.

“Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey” has stunning graphics and spectacular photography, so it is a magnificent series to watch. As I experienced that first episode I was struck by awe and wonder and by how very small we human beings are against the staggering size of the cosmos and the enormity of time that has passed since the big bang.

In the first episode Dr. Tyson sought to make intelligible the enormity of cosmic time by placing the events of the last 14 billion years on a single one-year cosmic calendar.

The first two hundred million years, he said, were quiet, but then things began to happen. The first stars appeared on January 10, thousands of galaxies emerged on January 13, and hundreds of billions of suns on March 13. The birth of our own sun came much later, on August 31, four and a half billion years ago.

On September 21 life began. On December 17 sea creatures filled the oceans. The first flower bloomed on December 28, and on December 30 a great asteroid crashed into the earth wiping into extinction the dinosaurs.

On December 31,at precisely 11:59 PM and 46 seconds, 14 seconds before the cosmic year ended at mid-night, our human ancestors stood erect, walked the earth, looked up, and contemplated the cosmos.

Consider how far we’ve advanced in just the last 57 years since Sputnik and 35 years since Neil Armstrong walked the lunar surface.

Where formerly imagination and the spirit world claimed heaven as their domain, the space age has enabled us humans to enter that formerly inaccessible realm.

Everything connected with our space program has brought us deeper scientific knowledge and achievements the ancients could not have imagined.

The staggering immensity of it all boggles the mind. Science is now postulating, as religion has always affirmed, that every species of life, tens of thousands of diverse forms, have come from a single atom exploding in the big bang.

This recognition of our oneness with the universe is where science and faith come together. Both inspire surprise and awe. Both evoke appreciation and gratitude. And in our hearts our response can only be one based in love, because in oneness we understand that all things, all creatures and all existence belong to each other, are a part of one another and share together our one universe.

We live, each of us, in a sea of energy that moves all things forward. Our task is to attune ourselves to that flow of energy, to the life of the world and the surprise of being, that we might flow with the greater family of life, and become one with the same force that moves the sun, moon and stars.

Our yearning to belong and be a part of that oneness is fulfilled when we give back of ourselves in love to others and the world, thereby preserving and perpetuating what has been given to us.

Shabbat shalom!

The Invisible Arab Citizens of the State of Israel

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

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Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

The vote last week in the Knesset to raise the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25% has been interpreted by some as an effort to exclude small Arab and Jewish left-wing parties in which 12 Arabs currently sit as MKs. Whether this is true or not, the bill raises the issue, once again, about the status of Israeli Arab citizens in the state of Israel.

MK Esawi Frij, the only Arab member of the left-of-center Meretz party, told me when my synagogue group met with him in the Knesset last October that he believes that Arab Israeli citizens (now 20% of the Israeli population) are loyal tax paying members of Israeli society and are not treated equally. I asked him if he would ever want to serve as a soldier in the IDF – “Sure” he said, “but only after there are borders between Israel and Palestine.” He added, “Israel is my country. I am an Israeli!”

Surveys indicate that when a state of Palestine is created most Israeli Arabs would prefer to stay in the state of Israel and be Israeli citizens.

Many articles in the Israeli press report and opine, as Mr. Frij told us, about the unequal allocations of Israeli state money to Israeli Arab communities in education, social services, business, and industrial investment. These reports leave this pro-Israel American Zionist to conclude that a genuine civil covenant that gives Israeli Arabs their full rights in the state of Israel has not been fulfilled.

It is not enough to say, as many Israel apologists reflexively proclaim, that Israeli Arab citizens have it better and are safer than they would be anywhere else in the Arab and/or Muslim world. In the context of Israeli democracy, whether such statements are true or not, they are irrelevant. If Israel is to live up to its own civil covenant with its citizens, then corrective action must be taken to move Israeli Arabs from second-class to first-class citizenship.

Fifty percent of all Arab families and two-thirds of Arab children live under the poverty line, and many Arab students drop out of school for economic reasons. Yarden Kof of Haaretz reports that the Arab Israeli school system is inferior to the secular Jewish school system, and that Arabs have less access to pre-academic preparatory programs than Jews. She describes 14 specific barriers that Israeli Arabs face in obtaining a college education, ranging from financial challenges to inadequate public transportation. Because the Israeli Arab community does not serve in the IDF they are automatically excluded from consideration in other programs as well. (http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.530660)

According to another Haaretz writer, Meirav Arlosoroff, one quarter of all Israeli school children are Arab, and in five years the Arab population

“is expected to grow at a relatively fast rate of 3%, much lower than the 4.3% figure for the Haredi population, but much faster than the 0% increase of non-religious Israeli Jews. That means that both the Haredi population and Arab population represent increasingly large numbers of the Israeli overall population – and no one has been dealing with the Arab children.” (http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.578944)

Israel essentially has within it two separate states, one Arab and one Jewish, and there is a huge gap between these two populations in their standard of living, income, quality of education, and employment rate. On the one hand the Jewish state of Israel is a developed Western nation, and on the other the Arab state of Israel is a Third World Country.

Professor Eran Yashiv, head of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Public Policy, and Dr. Nitza Kasir of the Bank of Israel’s Research Department, conducted a survey and concluded that it would be good business for Israel to close that gap. They say that the

“huge price the State of Israel pays for being two countries within one state… loses [Israel] tens of billions of shekels because of the employment and educational backwardness of Israeli Arabs. …if Israel would succeed in closing the gap from which the Arabs suffer, the state would benefit form an additional NIS 40 billion through 2030 and some NIS 120 billion by 2050..[It is estimated] that some NIS 8 billion would be necessary to invest in the next five years in the Arab Israeli community and that the annual return on that investment would be 7.3%.” (http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.529415)

From the perspective of advancing Israel’s democracy, her commitment to equality of opportunity for all her citizens, and towards the development of her economy, Israel would be well-served to focus more of its efforts on raising the standard of living of its Arab citizens.

For more information see:
“In Israel, Arabs get less” – http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.579540)
“Ignoring Arab education imperils Israel’s future” – http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.578944
“Upper Nazareth mayor: No Arab school here as long as I am in charge” – http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/upper-nazareth-mayor-no-ara-school-here-as-long-as-i-am-in-charge.premium-1.494480
“Israeli Arabs face extensive barriers to getting college education, report says” – http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.530660
“Study: Integrating Israeli Arabs into the labor market would provide major economic boost” – http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.529415
“Closing the gap between Israel’s Arabs and Jews” – http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.529703
“Discrimination against Israeli Arabs still rampant, 10 years on” – http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.550152

Purim Questions You May Have Wanted to Ask But Never Did – From the Very Basic to the Most Difficult of All

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Holidays, Jewish History, Jewish Identity

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Ethics, Holidays, Jewish Identity

Who are the heroes and villains of the Purim story?

Depending on how you read the story and your values, your notion of what makes a hero might differ from others. Therefore: Possible Purim Heroes/Heroines = Esther, Mordecai (?), Ahashuerus (?) and Vashti (?); Possible Purim Villains = Haman, Ahashuerus (?), and Mordecai (?).

What kind of a document is the story of Esther?

Usually called a megilah (scroll), it is in fact an iggeret (letter) suggesting its impermanence, much like the Jewish people’s experience during our 2000 years of exile living around the globe until the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

What are the 4 principle mitzvot of Purim?

[1] To hear the story – Sh’miat Megilah/Iggeret; [2] To take pleasure in a festive meal – Hana’at Seudah; [3] Sending gifts – Shlach manot; [4] Giving gifts to the poor – Matanot l’evyonim.

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word “Purim”?

Purim means “Lots” and refers to “lottery tickets” used by Haman to determine the date for his planned destruction of the Jews of Persia.

Is the story of Esther historically true?

Probably not, though it is based on real experiences of Jews at the hands of their enemies over time. Some scholars hypothesize that Ahashuerus was Xerxes I, who ruled Persia from 486-465 BCE. Historical records, however, make no mention of Haman, Esther or Mordecai, nor do they refer to any of the incidents recounted in Esther.

How did the story of Esther come to be written?

Some say that Purim co-opted and Judaized popular pagan carnivals. Others say that Esther was written at the time of the Maccabean revolt (165 BCE). In the flush of victory the story reinforced the national mood of confidence in deliverance. A third theory opines that the Babylonian creation god Marduk and the fertility god Ishtar cast lots to determine each other’s fate. Then, elements of the pagan festival were borrowed, rewritten and transformed into Purim with Marduk becoming Mordecai, Ishtar becoming Esther and “Lots” (Purim) playing a pivotal role in the plot.

Why do we make noise when Haman’s name is said?

Exodus 17 describes a bitter battle between the Israelites and the soldiers of Amalek who sought to destroy the Israelites and humiliate the God of Israel. In response, God instructed Moses: “Write this for a memorial in the book…I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the Heavens.” Haman is identified as a descendent of Amalek.

What is the basis of Jews getting drunk on Purim?

“Rava said: A man is obligated to become drunk on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordecai.’” (Babylonian Talmud, Megilah 7b). Rabbi Yehiel Michel ben Aaron Isaac Halevi Epstein (19^th century) warned: “Those who cannot hold their liquor or are alcoholics should certainly refrain from the ‘requirement’ to drink.’”

What is likely the most overlooked “detail” in the story of Esther?

In chapter 9, after Queen Esther persuaded King Ahashuerus that Haman intended to murder all the Jews (based on intelligence she received from Mordecai), the King appointed Mordecai as his chief advisor/Prime Minister in the place of Haman. Mordecai then led a campaign of blood-vengeance that included the public impaling of Haman and his ten sons, the killing of 500 men in the town’s fortress, 300 men in the city of Shushan, and 75,000 men, women and children throughout the Persian Empire. No small wonder that Jewish tradition and Purim celebrations ignore the wanton brutality perpetrated by Jews against the Persians at the end of this story.

Why is this story so popular despite its brutal conclusion?

Perhaps, because the Book of Esther is the quintessential experience of exile (i.e. galut). For 2000 years, until the establishment of the state of Israel, Jews have been subject to the largesse both positive and negative of their rulers. Given the trauma of anti-Jewish hatred throughout our history, Purim offered the Jewish people emotional and psychological release. The danger for contemporary Jewry, though there are still those who hate the Jewish people and the state of Israel, is that we become embittered and hateful like our enemies. Judaism and the state of Israel revere prophetic and rabbinic values as well as democratic norms that promote justice, compassion and peace, and those values are a hedge against the hardening of the heart and the loss of one’s Jewish soul. One might read Rava’s Talmudic call to become so drunk that Haman and Mordecai are indistinguishable from one another in a different way – that these two men were, in truth, the same, each driven by unchecked murderous designs.

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Purim Questions You May Have Wanted to Ask But Never Did – From the Very Basic to the Most Difficult of All