Category Archives: American Politics and Life

No matter where we think we are, we are still in Egypt

13 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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With Jacob’s death, the Israelites found themselves in Egypt living in relative safety under the protection of Joseph and the Pharaoh. However, history can change in an instant, as we ourselves have witnessed since the November election.

This truth is confirmed in next week’s Torah portion where it says that “There arose a king in Egypt who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8) and it is signaled at the beginning of this week’s portion.

The children of Israel had been protected by the benevolence of the Pharaoh through the agency of Joseph. But, after Joseph’s death, our people’s life in Egypt suddenly became a nightmare.

In Jewish memory, Egypt is synonymous with enslavement, injustice, and cruelty, which is, I believe, the principal reason that the mitzvah to welcome the stranger became so prominent in the Torah (it occurs thirty-six times).

We Jews learned early on that the way a nation treats the stranger, the foreigner, and the “other” who is unlike the majority of the population characterizes that nation’s morality, and our sages taught that a more welcoming, just, and compassionate community ought to be a core aspiration not only for Jews but for humankind as a whole.

True to that tradition, the Jewish people remains optimistic in spite of the history of antiSemitism. It’s significant that the Passover Seder attracts more Jews to the table in American than any other home-based ritual, and that it is celebrated at night, the only such night-time ritual in our tradition. When the ninth plague of blackness engulfed the Egyptians, Torah says that it was a darkness so thick that the Egyptians couldn’t see their own hands or the face of a person standing right in front of them. The fear that filled the hearts of the Egyptians and the disconnection between even members of their own families represent exile in its most stark nature.

To emphasize the timing of the ritual, we are reminded in the ninth plague that engulfed the Egyptians. Torah describes this darkness as so thick that the Egyptians couldn’t see their own hands or the faces of others standing in front of them. The plague of darkness inspired a fear of terrifying proportions. That state of disconnect with others is the precondition of exile (galut) which is precisely what Egypt-Mitzrayim connotes in Jewish tradition.

The beginning of this week’s Torah portion Vayechi alludes in a unique way to that exile in Egypt. The opening verse (Genesis 47:28) is closed – meaning that there’s no space of nine Hebrew letters separating this week’s Parashat Vayechi from last week’s Parashat Vayigash, an idiosyncrasy that occurs nowhere else in Torah except here.

Why?

Rashi (11th century France) explained that “…when Jacob our father died, the eyes and hearts of Israel were closed because of the affliction of the bondage with which the Egyptians began to enslave them.” (Rashi 47:28, based on B’reishit Rabbah 96:1)

Jacob wanted to reveal to his children the end of days, but nistam mimenu – “It was closed to him…” because, as the Talmud explains, “… the Shechinah (God’s presence) had left him….”. (Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 56a)

Despite the many blessings that we in America enjoy and that our people enjoys in the land and State of Israel, the vision of an end of days will always remain closed to us and we will remain in exile until we succeed in ending the sufferings and correcting the injustices in our society and throughout the world.

In this sense, we are all still in exile even if we live in the State of Israel.

On this Martin Luther King national holiday weekend, his words and vision remain an inspiration to humanity as a whole. Two thousand years ago Rabbi Tarfon taught that “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.” (Pirkei Avot 2:21)

Two thousand years ago Rabbi Tarfon taught that  Jews have an obligation to the world as a whole: “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.” (Pirkei Avot 2:21)

Shabbat Shalom!

Urge your Senators to vote NO on Senator Jeff Sessions becoming US Attorney General

10 Tuesday Jan 2017

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

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As the Senate of the United States prepares to confirm a number of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet appointments this week, among the worst nominations he has submitted is that of Senator Jeff Sessions for the position of United States Attorney General.

Senator Sessions is, of course, entitled to a fair hearing. However, it’s important to note that his many statements and actions over the course of his career are contrary to the values of and the positions taken and advocated by the American Reform movement.

Here are some highlights of Senator Sessions’ career that make this claim clear:

  • He voted to ban marriage equality;
  • He supports so-called “religious freedom” laws that would protect discrimination against LGBTQ people;
  • He voted against extending hate crimes laws to include gender and sexual orientation;
  • As a US Attorney in the 1980s, he persecuted civil rights workers who were helping to register to vote poor African Americans by bringing bogus election fraud charges against them;
  • He called the Voting Rights Act “a piece of intrusive legislation”;
  • He publicly applauded the Supreme Court’s decision in 2013 to gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act;
  • He opposed the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill in the last Congress;
  • He was rejected by a bipartisan vote in the US Senate in 1986 for a federal judgeship when Senators heard testimony that he had referred to a black prosecutor as “boy” and said that he thought the KKK was fine “until I found out they smoked pot;”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights notes that Senator Sessions received awards from groups designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-Muslim hate groups.

The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) released today (January 9, 2017) through the Reform movements Religious Action Center (RAC) its “Statement on the Nomination of Senator Sessions for U.S. Attorney General (see complete statement at http://www.rac.org/statement-nomination-sen-jeff-sessions-us-attorney-general). Here are a few excerpts:

“The Reform Movement has significant concerns about the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General of the United States. As the nation’s top law enforcement officer, Senator Sessions would be responsible for enforcing key civil rights laws that he has demonstrated hostility toward over more than 30 years in public life. On issues of vital importance to the Reform Movement, including voting rights, women’s rights, LGBT equality, and immigration, Senator Sessions has a voting record and a history of statements that raise alarm.

On civil rights in particular, Sen. Session’s record is deeply troubling. The Reform Movement is fiercely committed to protecting the right to vote and reinstating the full strength of the Voting Rights Act, which was partly drafted at our headquarters in 1965. Senator Sessions has called the Voting Rights Act “intrusive” and hailed the Shelby decision that eviscerated it as “good news.”

Now is the time to stand up for justice, equality, and human rights by calling your Senators today in Washington, D.C. (phone – 202 224 3121) and urging them to vote NO on the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions as US Attorney General.

Note: I do not speak for my synagogue or any other organization. I thank Rabbi Fred Guttman for compiling the list of positions as cited above that Senator Sessions has supported over his career.

Flathead Valley of Montana Jewish Community’s Response to White Supremacist Anti-Semitism

05 Thursday Jan 2017

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

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The rabbi who serves the Glacier Jewish Community/B’nai Shalom in the Flathead Valley of Montana, shared this letter with “T’ruah – Rabbis for Human Rights” and gave me permission to post it, but first a few words of context:

As a consequence of the Trump presidential campaign and election, hate speech and hate crimes have dramatically increased against minorities in communities around the United States. In the past few weeks, the small Jewish community in the Flathead Valley of Montana has been the target of threats from white supremacist anti-Semites. The organized Jewish community in the United States has come to their assistance, but many American Jews and others are unaware of what has been taking place. Hence, I am posting what the community’s rabbi sent to Rabbis around the country. At the end are a series of articles that have appeared concerning this matter.

The last several weeks have been difficult for us, but they have also reminded us of the essential goodness of our Montana neighbors and our fellow Americans.

We have been truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we have received from individuals and organizations around the country. We deeply appreciate all who have expressed concern about haters targeting us, disrupting our lives, and threatening to conduct an anti-Semitic white extremist rally in our community. We are especially grateful for our wonderful neighbors in Whitefish and the State of Montana, who have stood by our Jewish community here in the Flathead Valley every step of the way.

Many supporters have asked what they can do to help now. First, let us state what would NOT be helpful: There should be no effort to engage in a counter-protest rally should the extremists decide to come to our community. 

We have been in constant contact with law enforcement and other government officials, and also with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, all of whom have significant expertise in monitoring and dealing with extremist individuals and groups. They are emphatic and unanimous in their belief that any such counter-rally would be counterproductive; a bad idea that would only serve to feed the extremists’ craving for attention and legitimacy.  We live in a small town and creating a bigger conflict or larger demonstration is only disruptive to our lives.

There are things you CAN do – actions that would mean a lot to us. First, while at this time we do not believe that the hate rally will actually happen, you can support efforts such as the initiative that encourages people to pledge money for every minute the haters march should their rally materialize. The funds will go to the Montana Human Rights Network, which supports diversity throughout Montana. This is a wonderful way to turn lemons into lemonade.  Indeed, even if there is no march, this organization is worthy of your support,

Second, you can use the Whitefish story as a way to engage individuals, organizations, and schools in your own communities in positive discussions on how to stand up to hate. We never expected to be the target of a hate campaign, but this experience has made it clear to us that today no one is immune from cyber terrorism, trolling, doxxing, and other manifestations of hate online. The good news is that there are also now many resources to help people address this, including these from ADL and the SPLC.

Thank you again for your concern, your support, and your willingness to stand up and not be bystanders when anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice, bigotry and hate surface. Our community is stronger because you have been there for us.

Montana Delegation Condemns Anti-Semitism … – Flathead Beacon

flatheadbeacon.com/…/montana-delegation-condemns-anti–semitism-white-nationalis… Dec 27, 2016 –

50 Faith Leaders Supporting Jewish Communities of Montana …

flatheadbeacon.com/2016/…/50-faith-leaders-supporting-jewish–communities–montan… Dec 22, 2016

Montana faith leaders speak out in support of beleaguered Jewish …

http://www.jta.org/…/montana-faith-leaders-speak-out-in-support-of-beleaguered-jewish–co…Dec 26, 2016

In Montana, Activists and a Rabbi Resist Richard Spencer, the …

forward.com/…/in-montana-activists-and-a-rabbi-resist-the-resident-white-supremacist… Dec 15, 2016

Christian Clergy Post Menorahs Against Neo-Nazi March · Jewschool

https://jewschool.com/2016/12/78455/christian-clergy-whitefish-neo-nazi-march/

Anti-Semitic march organizer tells ABC FOX Montana plans are ful …

http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/…/whitefish-march-against-jewish–community-full-steam-ahe…

Neo-Nazis and white supremacists launch online attack against …

http://www.haaretz.com › U.S. News Dec 19, 2016 –

White Supremacists Threaten ‘Armed Protest’ In Montana Ski Town …

unofficialnetworks.com/2016/12/white-supremacists-whitefish Dec 27, 2016

White Nationalist Group Targets Whitefish, Montana – IREHR

http://www.irehr.org/2016/12/25/white-nationalist-group-targets-whitefish-montana/ Dec 25, 2016

2 States for 2 Peoples – Secretary Kerry, American Jews, Israelis, and why it hasn’t happened?

01 Sunday Jan 2017

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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There is no more intractable conflict in the world as that between Israel and the Palestinians. When one attempts to understand the conflict historically, ideologically, nationally, tribally, religiously, morally, and contextually, the result is necessarily confusion, anger, exhaustion, frustration, and cynicism.

Why does this conflict continue unresolved? What options are there going forward that will preserve what Israel most needs – security, democracy and the Jewish nature of the state; and what the Palestinian people most need – security, sovereignty, and a state of their own?

When I stand in the Old City Southern Kotel Plaza, look down to the ancient Roman street and see the boulders that were knocked down by the Romans two thousand years ago, I recall the Talmudic explanation for the catastrophe: “Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because of sinat chinam, senseless hatred of one Jew for another.” (Bavli, Yoma 9b)

There is one antidote to senseless hatred – ahavat chinam, senseless love of one Jew for another, which, of course, will not come easily in today’s polarized environment.

What we Jews so desperately need today is to be able to communicate directly with one another. We need to listen more intently and not presume nefarious motives lurking in the other’s heart. We need to understand what the other says and believes and the merits inherent in his/her position. Even when we disagree we have to resist being disagreeable.

Though we Jews have always had our share of conflicts, this past month President-Elect Trump’s designated US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, exacerbated the polarization by slandering a very large segment of the pro-Israel American Jewish community by calling them “worse than kapos!”

This comment should disqualify Friedman as US Ambassador and earn a solid rejection by Republicans and Democrats alike in the US Senate. If you agree with me, I urge you to contact your Senators and let them know your view.

Mr. Friedman’s sinister disrespect for fellow American Jews has given license to others to do as he has done. This past week, I myself received an email calling me a “kapo.”

Such myopic demagogic pronouncements are destructive to the fabric of the American Jewish community and to the Jewish people as a whole.

In the spirit of educating ourselves and being current with current thinking by American Jews and Israelis, I recommend the following:

1. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech at the State Department – https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/12/266119.htm

2. American Jews Divided Over Strain in U.S.-Israel Relations – By ADAM NAGOURNEY and SHARON OTTERMAN – NYT, December 29, 2016

While some Jewish groups have applauded the administration’s efforts in regard to Israel, others have seen the steps taken by a departing president as a mistake. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us/american-jews-john-kerry-israel.html?_r=0

3. In ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Israel, Separate Lives and Divergent Narratives, by PETER BAKER – NYT, December 29, 2016

The reactions to international criticism of Israeli settlements made clear that Israelis are just as polarized as Americans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/middleeast/israel-benjamin-netanyahu-john-kerry-speech.html?ref=world

4. The Two-State Solution: What It Is and Why It Hasn’t Happened, by MAX FISHER, NY Times, December 29, 2016

The two-state solution has for decades been the primary focus of efforts to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here’s a basic guide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-two-state-solution.html?ref=world&_r=0

 

Note: I represent only my views and not that of my synagogue or any Jewish organization.

I invite you to follow me on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/RabbiJohnLRosove

Getting to 100 – What Makes for a Long and Healthy life?

30 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Israel and Palestine, Life Cycle, Social Justice

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Today, December 30, would have been my father’s 111th birthday. He made it only to #53, and every year I ponder what he and I would have become together and individually had he lived longer.

My mother, who died a year ago, almost made it to 100. She was eighteen months shy of that millennial milestone.

Their birthdays, yahrzeits, Yizkor, and other significant family events always raise for me the questions “What if…?” and “How do those who live to 100 do it?”

Here are eight responses by people who’ve reached 100 to the question “Why have you lived so long?”

“Eat boiled corn with codfish and cream, and laugh…”

“Smoke a good cigar, avoid alcohol, drink water, stay positive, and sing.”

“Thumb your nose at sadness, turn the tables on tragedy, laugh instead of getting angry, and don’t feel envious of anyone.”

“Find a good wife and drink two scotches every night.”

“Fight injustice, help people in trouble, and keep your mind active.”

“Do something new each day, avoid drama and stay far away from difficult people.”

“Mind your own business, don’t eat junk food, treat others well, and work hard at what you love.”

“Live for God, pray, and surround yourself with nice people.”

So… there you have it – but, not so fast, because even if we do everything right – i.e.  eat well, exercise, manage stress, maintain social connections, and live with faith – there’s no guarantee of anything.

After all, some of us are more prone to disease, accident, and rotten luck than others.

Longevity researchers say that both genetic factors and behavioral factors contribute to longevity. These include health and health behaviors, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, stress, social and environmental support, mental health, and life satisfaction.

Perhaps the most important study on longevity is “The Longevity Project” written by psychology professors Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin of UC Riverside. They culminated an eight-decade-long study, begun in 1921 by Stanford University psychologist Lewis Terman, of 1500 precocious children. Terman died in 1956 so future researchers picked up where he left off, including Drs. Friedman and Martin. (see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/science/19longevity.html)

The 1500 children were followed in meticulous detail throughout their lives. In studying them Drs. Friedman and Martin conclude:

“The best childhood predictor of longevity [is] conscientiousness—the qualities of a prudent, persistent, well-organized person—somewhat obsessive and not at all carefree….It’s not the happy-go-lucky who thrive—it’s the prudent and persistent who flourish through the years.…conscientious people do more … to protect their health and engage in fewer [risky] activities …. are less likely to smoke or drive too fast. They buckle their seat belts and follow the doctor’s advice…They are not necessarily risk averse but they tend to be sensible in evaluating how far to push the envelope. [some are]…biologically predisposed to be …more conscientious and healthier ….less prone to develop certain diseases, … these people have different levels of the chemical…serotonin in their brains [serotonin helps to determine happiness and well-being]…Individuals with low levels of serotonin tend to be much more impulsive… and they eat more and sleep less… Having a conscientious personality leads a person into healthier situations and relationships… happier marriages, better friendships and healthier work situations.”

This study showed that kids described as cheerful and optimistic didn’t live as long as those boring and serious kids (i.e. nerds!?) who worried constantly about school, studied and worked hard.

The one factor that best predicted long life, even more than happiness itself, is purposeful goal-oriented work, whether for a paycheck or for its own sake. People drawn to live their lives with other like-minded, healthy, active, and involved people significantly increase the odds of their living longer and more happily.

Judaism emphasizes that it’s not the number of days or years that we live, it’s the quality of those days that matters and that is the surest way to wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

In this New Year 2017, there’s much about which to be thankful and much cause for  worry – e.g. Israel’s security, its isolation and the lack of a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;  epic changes the Trump administration promises; the well-being of our children, grandchildren, extended family, friends, community, nation, people, the world, and the environment.

We cannot know what’s going to occur in the year to come. However, we can control how we ourselves cope – that is our challenge going forward.

I hope that each of us will be blessed with good health, length of years and the knowledge that did all we could to live our lives ethically, compassionately, patiently, and with love.

Note: This is a blog I posted initially on December 27, 2013 with updates.

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The Venue is all wrong – but it isn’t anti-Israel

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

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

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I offer five important documents and statement that I believe every member of the Jewish community ought to read relative to the recent UN Security Council Resolution 2334, as well as statements from the State of Israel and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Jewish Committee, the ADL, etc. relative to UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Three of the following come from liberal and progressive pro-Israel American Zionist Organizations. The other two include the full text of UNSC Resolution 2334 and a review of the history of US abstentions and vetoes in the UN on resolutions critical of Israeli policies and of the State of Israel.

[1] Full Text of UN Security Council Condemnation of Israel, Resolution … http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/full-text-of-un-security-council-condemnation-of-israel-resolution-2334/2016/12/24/

[2] ARZA’s statement on UNSC Resolution 2334
http://www.arza.org/blog/post/arza-response-to-un-security-council-resolution-2334

The Association of Reform Zionists of America is the Zionist organization of America’s 1.5 million Reform Jews. (Note: I serve as ARZA national chair)

[3] T’ruah Statement on UN Security Council Resolution – truah.org/…/805-t-ruah-statement-on-un-security-council-resolution.html

T’ruah – The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights includes American rabbis from across the religious streams.

[4] J Street Welcomes US Abstention on UNSC Resolution – J Street: The … jstreet.org/press-releases/j-street-welcomes-us-abstention-unsc-resolution/

J Street is a pro-Israel pro-peace political and educational organization in Washington, D.C. and is the largest pro-Israel PAC in America. It has a large and growing university contingent called J Street U which is recognized by the Jewish Federations of America and the State of Israel as one of the most effective voices on college campuses against the Boycott, Divestiture, and Sanctions Movement (BDS).

[5] “Abstaining from history – Here’s all the UN Resolutions on Israel the United States Abstained on” – by Seth J. Frantzman

Abstaining from history: Here’s all the UN RESOLUTIONS on Israel the US abstained on

 

ARZA’s Response to UN Security Council Resolution 2334

26 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish-Islamic Relations

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Note: I serve as the National Chair of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), representing 1.5 million American Reform Jews. See http://www.arza.org – blogs

To AZRA’s friends and supporters:

Many organizations have expressed their feelings and thoughts since the UN Security Council resolution 2334 was passed last Friday, with the extension of the United States.

Many – most especially Prime Minister Netanyahu – are furious with the US for not vetoing the resolution and thus enabling it to pass. On the other hand, numerous friends of Israel support of the resolution’s rejection of settlements and identified with its message.

We are emphatic that the UN, with its well-established anti-Israel bias, should not be the venue for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, and that gives the resolution of veneer of hollowness and hypocrisy. It is a grave concern that the resolution will become means for unjustly prosecuting Israel in the international arena.

ARZA is issuing this statement to clarify some of the issues, express our opinion and concern, and provide helpful language to use in ensuing discussions. As Rabbi Eric Yoffie has written, there is a general agreement that the US was an error, yet there is little consensus about the broader meaning of these events and what to expect in the weeks ahead. Our statement’s purpose is to provide clarity as to how we want to proceed.

Jews in Israel and around the world are justified in questioning the motives of the United Nations due to its historic antipathy to the State of Israel. To date, 223 UN resolutions have been submitted against Israel, far more than against any other nation in the world including those with abysmal human rights records. Only six resolutions have been passed against the murderous Assad regime in Syria that is responsible for the death of 500,000 men, women, and children. On the same morning that UNSC Resolution 2334 came to a vote, the UNSC could not agree to stem the flow of arms to the murderous South Sudanese regime. And UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has acknowledged that the UN has passed a disproportionately high number of resolutions against Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 has released a firestorm of criticism by the Israeli government and leaders in the American Jewish community against the United Nations and the Obama Administration for its abstention in the vote. This is the first time in recent years that the United States has not vetoed a UNSC resolution against Israeli policies, primarily because nothing in the resolution conflicts with long-standing American policy held by successive administrations.

The resolution condemns Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal as defined by UN Resolution 242. Following the vote, American UN Ambassador Samantha Powers noted that part of the rationale for the US abstention was Israel’s continuing commitment to what the international community regards as illegal settlement expansion:

“Israel has advanced plans for more than 2,600 new settlement units. Yet rather than dismantling these and other settler outposts, which are illegal even under Israeli law, now there is new legislation advancing in the Israeli Knesset that would legalize most of the outposts – a factor that propelled the decision by this resolution’s sponsors to bring it before the Council.”

However, the resolution does not distinguish between settlements inside the West Bank, in the large settlement blocks, in the Jerusalem neighborhoods, and in the Old City, all of which were taken in Israel’s war of self-defense in 1967.

A distinction in these different areas must be the subject for negotiation between the parties and not in the context of UN and other international resolutions.

As time has passed without a resolution of the conflict, ARZA has become increasingly concerned that the two sides’ polarization, hostility and lack of trust will diminish the possibility of a two-state solution.

Whereas Palestinians charge that the settlement enterprise is the principal obstacle in the way of establishing a Palestinian State alongside Israel in the West Bank, Israelis suspect that the Palestinians will never be willing to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state nor live peacefully alongside Israel.

Palestinian suspicions and lack of trust towards Israel are buttressed by statements made by a number of Ministers in the Netanyahu government who have called for continual settlement expansion, annexation of the West Bank, legalization of heretofore illegal settlement outposts, and opposition to a two-state solution.

Israelis suspect Palestinian intentions because the Palestinians have refused all past efforts to negotiate a peace agreement with Israel and now refuse to sit down without conditions with Israel to negotiate an end-of-conflict agreement.

ARZA worries further that the Obama administration’s abstention in this vote will encourage intensified partisan posturing over American support for Israel, rather than the continued bipartisan support for Israel among Democrats and Republicans alike.

And ARZA is deeply concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s and his allies’ negative and hostile reactions against the UN Resolution, the Obama Administration, and other countries that supported it is diverting attention from the root issue. In light of the incoming US Administration’s promise to initiate epic moves in the Middle East, ill-considered policies and actions can light the region on fire.

ARZA continues to insist that a negotiated two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians is the only option that can assure Israel’s democratic and Jewish nature, and the only way that Palestinians will achieve a state of their own.

 

 

 

 

With Friends like David Friedman we Jews don’t need enemies!!!

16 Friday Dec 2016

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

≈ 5 Comments

I have been dismayed and outraged by a number of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet appointments and by Trump’s continuing refusal to condemn explicitly anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, and bigotry of all kinds.

As an American and someone who is deeply concerned about climate change and the need to reduce fossil fuels, who worries about the state of public education in America as the great democratic equalizer, and as someone who has served as a public servant for decades and who is finely attuned to and sensitive to the corruption that conflict of interest in leaders can cause, I am alarmed as an American citizen by the policy and ethics dimension of this new administration.

As a Zionist leader, I’m flabbergasted by Trump’s appointment of David Friedman as the new US Ambassador to Israel. Friedman’s utter lack of diplomatic experience and apparent understanding of the complexities of Middle East politics, and his outright support for the building of and expansion of Jewish settlements in the still-contested West Bank territories that are regarded as “occupied” by the international community ought to be enough to eliminate him entirely from consideration as America’s chief diplomat to Israel.

Further – his open hostility to a large segment of the American pro-Israel Zionist community in J Street who Friedman slanders as equivalent to “kapos” and anti-Israel – bodes badly for the American Jewish community and for the Jewish people as a whole.

His appointment ought to be condemned by anyone who loves Israel and who is concerned about its Jewish and democratic future.

Note: I speak here as an individual and do not necessarily represent my synagogue or any Jewish organization.

Human Rights and the Environment

08 Thursday Dec 2016

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

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Sixty-nine years ago on December 10, 1948, forty-eight nations signed the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1]. This historic document resulting as a consequence of crimes committed against humanity during World War II was the first global expression of what constitute inherent human rights for all human beings.

On this Shabbat coinciding with the anniversary of its signing, “T’ruah – The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights” invited hundreds of American rabbis and their synagogues to focus on the most dangerous threat to human rights on the planet – climate change.

The theme of climate change coinciding with the Declaration of Human Rights couldn’t have been calendared at a more propitious moment given President-Elect Trump’s selection this week as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, a proven ally of the fossil fuel industry and arguably the greatest climate change denier in the United States.

Pruitt’s selection ought to chill the blood of anyone who accepts what 90% or greater of all scientists believe to be settled fact, that human-made greenhouse gas emissions have caused a 1.7 degree Fahrenheit warming of the earth since records were kept in 1880 and that virtually all warming since 1950 has been caused by the human release of greenhouse gasses.

In an article from the NY Times explaining what climate change is and does and what are the politics surrounding it, we read this about people like Trump and Pruitt:

“The most extreme version of climate denialism is to claim that scientists are engaged in a worldwide hoax to fool the public so that the government can gain greater control over people’s lives.” [2]

The truth, of course, is otherwise – that if we can’t find enough carbon neutral energy as a way to limit global climate disruption, we won’t be able to grow enough food and there will be no space in which we can protect fundamental human rights around the world. Unless we successfully find a way nor will societies be able to maintain democratic governments.

We need not look very far to see evidence of the danger. In the past year increasing fear of Syrian refugees has helped to invigorate right-wing and proto-fascist policies in Great Britain and Europe.

Rabbi David Seidenberg, an activist, writer, and scholar on environmental issues, has written from a Jewish perspective about the climate change threat:

“The intersection between the economy and human rights is … not only found in opposing the building of a toxic waste incinerator near a poor community, or fighting the exposure of children to endocrine-disrupting pesticides…[or] is it in the perceived moments of conflict between human rights and the environment, such as the false choice between making jobs and saving a forest… A deeper intersection is found in the great human tragedy that could accompany global warming. If predictions hold and the rising sea creates millions of refugees from coastal areas, then shelter, which should be a [basic human right], will become an impossibility. Any government trying to protect the most basic human needs and rights would find itself in extreme crisis under such circumstances, and many governments will be tempted to discard human rights in the name of national emergency…Where we find the deepest depths is…where human rights…makes us blind to our place in the earth …” [3]

Scientists warn that if we allow the warming of the environment, the polar ice caps will continue to melt, the seas will rise, and there will be greater, more frequent and damaging coastal flooding. Rainfall will become heavier in many parts of the world and hurricanes and typhoons will become more intense. There will be a massive extinction of plants and animals, more waves of refugees will flee their lands, and more governments will be destabilized.

What do we do?

First, we all need to become activists and protest the Trump administration’s expected elimination of regulations on the fossil-fuel industry.

We need to support the Paris Climate agreement’s implementation, and in every way reduce our own individual carbon footprints. If large numbers of people did so it would make a difference. Suggestions include insulating homes, reducing our use of power, using efficient light bulbs, turning off lights and heaters, driving fewer miles, taking fewer airplane trips, and reducing or eliminating the eating of beef.

In the Book of Genesis, the first humans were given dominion over the land [4]. Though we were given the privilege to have use of the land and its resources for our benefit, later Jewish tradition gave a warning to the irresponsible use of and the waste of our natural resources:

“Upon presenting the wonder of creation to Adam, God said: ‘See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I created, for you I created. Think upon this, and do not corrupt and desolate my world; for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you.” [5]

When this Midrash was written some 1500 years ago, the intent was likely focused on specific towns and villages. Today, we are confronted with a threat to all life on the earth.

[Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles will celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday, December 10 at 6:30 PM and we will focus our attention during services on climate change and human rights. All are welcome.]
Notes:

[1] General Assembly resolution 217 A.
[2] “Short Answers to Hard Questions about Climate Change”, by Justin Gillis, NYTimes, November 28, 2015.
[3] https://www.google.com/#q=Human+rights+and+ecology+-+david+seidenberg).
[4] Genesis 1:28.
[5] Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28.

Trump’s Conflicts of Interest and How America Lost its “F**king Mind” – 2 Important Articles

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in American Politics and Life

≈ 1 Comment

So much is being written post-election that it is difficult to find some of the best pieces. These two below, however, offer important information and perspective on the election of Donald Trump and I recommend both.

1. Electoral College must reject Trump unless he sells his business, top lawyers for Bush and Obama say – Ethics lawyers for the last two presidents are in agreement.
Think Progress, Judd Legun, Editor-In-Chief, November 23, 2016

“Members of the Electoral College should not make Donald Trump the next president unless he sells his companies and puts the proceeds in a blind trust, according to the top ethics lawyers for the last two presidents. Richard Painter, Chief Ethics Counsel for George W. Bush, and Norman Eisen, Chief Ethics Counsel for Barack Obama, believe that if Trump continues to retain ownership over his sprawling business interests by the time the electors meet on December 19, they should reject Trump.”

see – https://thinkprogress.org/electoral-college-trump-top-lawyers-8a8b6e0ca916#.vyrujts2v
2. How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind
By David Wong, October 12, 2016 – “Cracked”

I’m going to explain the Donald Trump phenomenon… [The tense divide between Hillary Clinton’s supporters and Donal Trump’s is characterized in this way]…primitive vs. advanced, tough vs. delicate, masculine vs. feminine, poor vs. rich, pure vs. decadent, traditional vs. weird. All of it is code for rural vs. urban…. Blue islands in an ocean of red. The cities are less than 4 percent of the land mass, but 62 percent of the population and easily 99 percent of the popular culture. Our movies, shows, songs, and news all radiate out from those blue islands… the racism of my youth was always one step removed. I never saw a family member, friend, or classmate be mean to the actual black people we had in town. We worked with them, played video games with them, waved to them when they passed. What I did hear was several million comments about how if you ever ventured into the city, winding up in the “wrong neighborhood” meant you’d get dragged from your car, raped, and burned alive. Looking back, I think the idea was that the local minorities were fine … as long as they acted exactly like us.”

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/