Category Archives: Ethics

There’s No Such Thing As ‘Half-Jewish.’ Just ‘Jewish.’ – The Forward by Alyssa Pinsker

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Women's Rights

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Half-Jewish

This article published by the Forward breaks my heart. Why should Alyssa have to suffer the indignities of being excluded from Jewish life when she herself has a Jewish parent and identifies as a Jew?
 
The story of the Reform movement’s acceptance of patrilineal descent as a determiner of Jewish status that accompanies a public commitment to living a Jewish life is already 35 years old. We Reform Rabbis at our 1983 CCAR Conference in Los Angeles voted in a large majority to accept as Jewish any individual born of a Jewish parent (father or mother) as long as he/she identified with the experience of the Jewish people and led a Jewish life.
 
This wise and far-reaching decision has impacted a generation of children of families in which the Jewish parent is the father. The Forward article explains quickly the historical reasons for matrilineal descent as recorded in the Mishna, namely that a Jew is born of a Jewish mother and it is irrelevant what the religious identity is of the father. This is not a biblical law. Rather, it is rabbinic passed during Roman times when intermarriage or rape cause a pregnancy. Out of concern for the dignity of both the mother and the child in those years, the rabbis determined that the Jewish status of the child was according to the Jewish status of the mother. In the Hebrew Bible, the priesthood follows the father’s line and not the mother’s. So much the more so should Jewish status follow the line of either parent as long as the child is raised as a Jew and identifies publicly as a Jew.
 
The Patrilineal Descent resolution passed by the CCAR is operative for Jews living only in the United States. Those living in Israel, Canada, and elsewhere have not yet arrived at this logical and compassionate evolution of the tradition – I’m still waiting. In the meantime, they would need to go through a conversion to be fully accepted in those other countries as Jewish.
 
Though Alyssa decided that at some point she is going to convert for the sake of her future children not having to suffer the indignities that she has suffered, my heart breaks for her and anyone in her situation.
 
They should all know that the American Reform movement accepts them as Jewish right now, fully and completely. They are not “half-Jewish.” They are simply “Jewish.”
 

In Defense of Congressman Adam Schiff against the Tweet of President Trump

05 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics

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I sent this letter to the White House this morning (February 5)

Dear Mr President:

Your tweet about my Congressman is deeply offensive to me as the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood, one of Los Angeles’ historic congregations.

Permit me to spell out why I am so offended by what you tweeted most recently:

1. Your designation of my Congressman should be “Congressman Schiff” not “Little Adam” – he is a distinguished Representative in the House of Representatives and he has worked long and hard serving not only his district but the nation in various capacities;

2. You have no idea if Congressman Schiff has aspirations for higher office because he has never said anything of the kind and for you to dismiss him on the basis of ambition speaks more about you than him;

3. You call him a “liar.” I have known Congressman Schiff for many years and he is the opposite of how you characterize him. I suspect you don’t know him at all. He is measured in speech and thought and only speaks specifically when he has the objective facts.

4. You demean not only my Congressman in the way you have tweeted about him but the office of the Presidency when you attack other distinguished leaders for your own personal purposes. I ask you to stop and be the President this country deserves.

Sincerely,

Rabbi John Rosove
Senior Rabbi
Temple Israel of Hollywood, Los Angeles

Let America Be America Again

01 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Poetry, Uncategorized

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Langston Hughes

In light of the corruption in this Presidency and in this Congress, the words of Langston Hughes (poet, novelist, playwright, columnist, and social activist – 1902-1967) are particularly poignant:

“Let America be America again. / Let it be the dream it used to be. / Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed – / Let it be that great strong land of love / Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme / That any man be crushed by one above.”

 

“If nine out of ten people think you are drunk, you better lie down.”

31 Wednesday Jan 2018

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

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That’s how I thought of President Trump as I watched him drone on and on about how much he has done to lift the United States out of the “carnage” that he described in his inaugural address to make our nation only a year later the strongest, wealthiest, and most unified nation in our history, giving no credit to the President who preceded him who dug the country out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

This is nothing new to this Trump who claims credit for an economy he had little to do with, describes a unified America that is anything but unified, that he is a compassionate leader despite shamelessly parading before the nation the tragedies of others for his political purposes, and who denies three of the most important events of the last year, the Russian intrusion into the American election, the Me-Too movement, and global warming that has had disastrous environmental impact.

I’m reminded of what Dr. George Vaillant, a psychiatrist, and Professor at Harvard Medical School, described as illustrative of the denial of Truth that Trump displays every day:

“It is all too common for caterpillars to become butterflies and then maintain that in their youth they had been little butterflies.”

I am hoping that the 20 percent of independents who Trump was clearly trying to woo in his SOTU speech so as to lift his dismal poll numbers out of the gutter didn’t fall for the pablum that he was selling last night.

Reform Jewish Movement Statement on Expulsion of Asylum Seekers from Israel

26 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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1/26/2018

You shall not wrong nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:20)

January 26, 2018 – The statement below is issued by the following organizations of the Reform Jewish Movement, the largest movement in Jewish life:

We strongly urge the Israeli government to reverse its decision and recognize the legitimate status of the 37,885* asylum seekers in the country.

These asylum seekers, including men, women, and children—primarily from Eritrea and Sudan—are likely to face imprisonment, indefinite military conscription, additional expulsion, physical harm or even death if they are deported. The plight of Jewish refugees inspired the nascent State of Israel to ratify the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, a commitment that is being ignored today. A State founded by refugees should feel a special responsibility to provide safe haven to those facing persecution and violence.

We are equally disheartened by the rhetoric used to incite the public against asylum seekers. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s blanket rejection of the status of “refugees” for those who have fled to Israel (calling them all “infiltrators”) and his assertion that granting refugee status to these asylum seekers endangers the Jewish character of the State belie the facts.

We recognize that there are many in the world in need of assistance, and it is unreasonable to expect Israel to accept an indefinite number of newcomers. Still, Israel has the ability to assist and absorb the 37,885 asylum seekers already in the country. The real threat to its Jewish character is the refusal to provide shelter to the persecuted.

*According to the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority

American Conference of Cantors
Arzenu – International Federation of Reform and Progressive Religious Zionists
Association of Reform Jewish Educators
Association of Reform Zionists in Canada
Association of Reform Zionists of America
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism
Men of Reform Judaism
North American Federation of Temple Youth
Reform Pension Board
Union for Reform Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism
World Union for Progressive Judaism

Living in the Light, Being in the Light to Others – D’var Torah Bo

18 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Poetry

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“I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars 
Did wander darkling in the eternal space, 
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth 
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came, and went and came, and brought no day,
And [people] forgot their passions in the dread 
Of this desolation; and all hearts 
Were chill’d into a selfish prayer for light:…”

Lord Byron describes well what must have been the experience of the Egyptians when the 9th plague of darkness befell them, as described in our Torah portion, Bo, this week.

This was not an ordinary darkness. So dense it was that a person couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face. The Midrash says that this darkness, choshech, wasn’t of the natural world. It wasn’t a solar eclipse nor the darkness that comes on a moonless night. While it oppressed the Egyptians guilty of enslaving the Israelites, the sun and universe operated normally. It was as if each Egyptian was imprisoned in a black box of isolation.

This darkness catapulted the Egyptians back to a time before creation itself when “darkness covered the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2)

From where did this darkness come, and what did it mean?

In Psalms (105:28) we read: “Shalach choshech va-yach’shich – God sent darkness and it became dark.”

In our portion, God instructs Moses: “N’tei yad’cha al ha-shamayim vi-hi choshech… – “Hold your arm over the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched.” And Moses did so.

This darkness of heart and soul reflected the debased spiritual and moral condition of the Egyptians.

The Psalms (18:12) tell us something else as well: “Yashet choshech sitro s’vivotav sukato – He makes darkness be His screen round about him,” suggesting that the light that could not enter the Egyptian heart is always hidden, only with them it was nearly extinguished because they were slave-masters.

The Divine light, however, shone in all the Israelite dwellings. In its purest form it was a luminosity so brilliant that no one could see it and live. The mystics say that the Torah is a veil shielding the light which is revealed to each of us according to our capacity to fathom it.

Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher (14th century Spanish Kabbalist) taught that God shut off every Egyptian’s antenna to receive this Godly light without interfering with the source of its transmission. But the Israelite antennae were open because our hearts were not hard.

What does all this mean for us?

If we live long enough we will suffer broken hearts. Some suffer chronic biochemical imbalances that need medical attention. Everyone needs love and support when we or our loved ones become ill, when we divorce and when a cherished loved one dies. Others among us lose our jobs and income. All these losses necessarily bring with them a pall of darkness.

Rabbi Isaac Meir Alter (19th century Poland) taught that the worst darkness of all is that blindness in which one person will not “see another,” and will refuse to look upon another’s misery and to help him. Such a person who can’t see another will become incapable of “rising from his/her place,” that is, of growing spiritually and emotionally.

Rabbi Yochanan taught that every eye has an area of white and black. We might think that the human being sees out of the white part. But no; we see out of the black part, which means that when we’re in the dark we’re capable of seeing what is in the light, but when we’re in the light we cannot see what is in the dark. (Yalkut Shimoni 378).

In other words, there is always hope, and there is always light, even when we suffer our darkest moments. In Egypt, wherever a Jew went, light also went because the light was in them. That is what it means to be a Jew. To live the light, to be a light to others, and to hope.

Shabbat Shalom!

Why Judaism Matters – Letters of a Liberal Rabbi to His Children and the Millennial Generation

16 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Life Cycle, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Stories, Uncategorized, Women's Rights

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My book by the above title was first published in October, I wanted to offer it again. Here are the endorsements for the book on the book jacket. You can also check out what readers have said at amazon.com. This is not only for millennials, but for their parents and grandparents.

“John Rosove does what so many of us have struggled to do, and does it brilliantly:  He makes the case for liberal Judaism to his children. As Rosove shows, liberal Judaism is choice-driven, messy, and always evolving, “traditional” in some ways and “radical” in others. It is also optimistic, spiritual, and progressive in both personal and political ethics. Without avoiding the hard stuff, such as intermarriage and Israel, Rabbi Rosove weaves all of these strands together to show the deep satisfactions of living and believing as a liberal Jew. All serious Jews, liberal or otherwise, should read this book.” —- Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie is President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism and a regular columnist for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. 

“Rabbi John Rosove addresses his intellectual and well-reasoned investigation of faith to his own sons, which sets this book apart for its candor and its ability to penetrate not only the mind but also the heart.” — Matthew Weiner is a writer, director, producer, and the creator of the AMC television drama series Mad Men and he is noted for his work as a writer and producer on the HBO drama series The Sopranos and earned nine Primetime Emmy Awards Matthew has received nine Primetime Emmy Awards.

“Rabbi John Rosove gets it. Here is a religious leader not afraid to tell it like it is, encapsulating for his audience the profound disaffection so many young Jews feel towards their heritage. But instead of letting them walk away, he makes a powerful case for the relevance of tradition in creating meaningful lives. In our technology-saturated, attention-absorbing age, Rosove offers religion-as-reprieve, his fresh vision of a thoroughly modern, politically-engaged and inclusive Judaism.” —-Danielle Berrin is a columnist and cover-story journalist for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. She is known for her Hollywood Jew blog, has appeared as a commentator on CNN and MSNBC, and published work for The Guardian, British Esquire, and The Atlantic. 

“Rabbi Rosove has written a wonderful book, a love letter to his children, and through them, to all our children. Prodigiously knowledgeable, exceedingly wise, and refreshingly honest, Rabbi Rosove has described why Judaism matters. It should serve as a touching testament of faith, spanning the generations for generations to come.” —-Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is Senior Rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, New York City  and is the co-author of One People, Two Worlds: A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi explore the issues that divide them with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman.

“Rabbi Rosove’s letters to his sons are full of Talmudic tales and practical parables, ancient wisdom with modern relevance, spiritual comfort, and intellectual provocation. Whether his subject is faith, love, intermarriage, success, Jewish continuity or the creation of a meaningful legacy, you’ll find yourself quoting lines from this beautiful book long after you’ve reached its final blessing.”  —- Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a writer, speaker, social justice activist, and author of eleven books including Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female & Jewish in America and Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate. She is also a founding editor of Ms. Magazine, is a regular columnist for Moment Magazine.

“Rabbi John Rosove has given a gift to all of us who care about engaging the next generation in Jewish life. The letters to his sons are really love-letters from countless voices of Jewish wisdom across history to all those young people who are seeking purpose in their lives.  From wrestling with God, to advocating for peace and justice in Israel and at home, and living a life of purpose, this book is a compelling case for the joy of being Jewish.” —Rabbi Jonah Pesner, is the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C and is Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism.

“If you’re a fellow Reform millennial, give yourself the gift of John’s insights. This book is written in a breezy, gentle, readable style that is welcoming without losing sharp insight. It makes an even better case for Judaism than challah. It was so enjoyable and refreshing to read and persuasive without ever being pushy. Rosove managed to do what only a truly worthy slice of kugel or chance viewing of Fiddler has done for me: reactivate my sense of wonder and gratitude about being Jewish. I am a huge WJM fan.” —-Jen Spyra is a staff comedy writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) and formerly was a senior writer for The Onion.

“John Rosove’s letters to his sons based on his life, philosophy, and rabbinic work address what it means to be a liberal and ethical Jew and a lover of Israel in an era when none are automatic. He writes in an unassuming personal style steeped in traditional texts as he confronts conflicts of faith and objectivity, Zionist pride and loving criticism of the Jewish state, traditional observance and religious innovation. He is never gratuitous and invites his readers into his family conversation because what he says is applicable to us all.” —-Susan Freudenheim is the Executive Director of Jewish World Watch, was formerly the Managing Editor of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal and an editor at the Los Angeles Times.

“Rabbi John Rosove has written a book of the utmost importance for our time. It is an imperative read for all those who struggle with the changing and evolving attitudes towards belonging, behavior and belief. His analysis, stemming from deeply personal contemplation and decades of rabbinic experience, offers clear yet sophisticated approaches to tackling the challenges facing this generation and those to come. This book offers a treasure of wisdom through the lens of Jewish texts – both ancient and modern – which help to frame life’s major issues taking the reader from the particular to the universal.  Israel is one of the most complicated of issues tackled in this volume and his chapter on Israel bridges the divide between Israel’s critics and staunch supporters offering a comforting approach to those who are deeply at odds with Israel and offers and important opportunity for a shift in our basic narrative.  Moving beyond the conversation of crisis is critical for the millennial generation.” —-Rabbi Josh Weinberg is President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America and is a leading young voice in world-wide Zionist politics and affairs.

 

Human Rights Organizations: Everyone With a Heart Must be Against the Expulsion of Refugees

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

I have written about the tragedy of the 40,000 Eritrean and Sudanese Refugees who walked across the desert to Israel escaping chaos and terror in their own countries several times over the past years and am heartsick that the government of Israel refuses to welcome these tempest-tost people for political asylum or in any other temporary status.

I love Israel but this government action is unacceptable and contrary to the liberal Jewish values of welcoming the stranger.

The following is a report from the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, Amnesty International Israel, ASSAF – Aid Organization for Refugees, ACRI – The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Kav LaOved, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, ARDC – African Refugee Development Center:

“Israel is sending refugees to an unsafe state and many of them to their deaths. Rwanda is not safe. All eyewitness accounts tell us that those who are deported from Israel to Rwanda find themselves without status or rights and exposed to threats such as kidnapping, torture, and human trafficking. They are forced to continue their lives as refugees. Few of them succeed in surviving the journey and arrive in the end to a safe haven. The expulsion to Rwanda endangers the very lives of these refugees. 

Israel deliberately prevents Africans from applying for asylum and then says that since they did not submit their requests, they will expel them. This year alone, 7,000 Eritreans and Sudanese tried to submit asylum applications, but the Population and Immigration Authority prevented them from physically doing so. The only office in the country where one can apply for asylum doesn’t even allow for Africans to use their rights and refuses to take in the asylum applications of the thousands of them that wait in line for days.”

 

 

 

 

 

Cult of the Ignorant

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Quote of the Day, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

2018 will be a pivotal year in American politics. It’s impossible to know what will be the mix of Republicans and Democrats in Congress after the mid-terms a year from now, what will have taken place vis a vis the special prosecutor investigating collusion and obstruction of justice charges in this White House, and whether the “year of the woman” will continue to evolve.

I came across this quote by Isaac Asimov today (today would have been his 98th birthday) that I want to share. It is prescient and truer than ever today:

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

-Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (born January 2, 1920 and lived to 1992)

“Hotel Everest – One Step at a Time” – A Film Review

24 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by in Ethics, Film Reviews, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Hotel Everest Flyer

The Trailer for this moving documentary describes the film this way:

“In Israel and Palestine, the road to peace is a steep climb. For three activists, one Israeli, one Palestinian and one American, the challenges seem insurmountable. And yet they try to see and understand the humanity in “the other” and forge connections that promote empathy, understanding and, in their wildest hopes, peace. Hotel Everest is their story.”

This 40-minute film was created by the documentary film-maker Claudia Sobral with her writer Sophie Sartain [full disclosure – both are friends and members of my congregation] and centers around the conversations of three peace activists, retired Israeli Colonel Eden Fuchs, Palestinian Ibrahim Issa, and Buddhist American Whit Jones.

Eden attended the showing of the film at my synagogue and Ibrahim spoke to the assembled via skype from Bethlehem. We were joined in Los Angeles by 80 Israelis, Palestinian Arabs, Middle Eastern Muslims, American Jews, Christians, and others.

The film opens with Whit Jones flying from Boise, Idaho to Tel Aviv. A brief history of the conflict is reviewed that includes footage showing the 1947 UN Partition vote that called for the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab state in Palestine, and then states that in 1948 the State of Israel became independent, a coordinated attack by all the surrounding Arab nations followed, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians went into exile many of whom settled in refugee camps.

Colonel Fuchs explained that at the age of 45 he realized that he knew no and had never known any Palestinians personally. It was then that he discovered the Everest Hotel in Beit Jala, an Arab village between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. There, Palestinians and Israelis meet freely, talk and listen to one another, learn of each other’s losses, fears, despair, and dreams, and discover that they share the same fate and must find a way to live together in peace.

When he was 14, Ibrahim was shot by Israeli soldiers in a demonstration. He grew up to understand, however, that violence is not the way to peace. Sitting in Beit Jala alongside Eden, Ibrahim said: “Eden is my brother and I trust him.” Eden responded simply with a full and loving heart: “Thank you!”

In the Q and A I asked Ibrahim how he came to love and trust Eden given their different histories and identities. He said that having a safe space at Hotel Everest opened their hearts to compassion and friendship.

The film did not address the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I couldn’t resist asking what each of them believed to be the best political solution. They agreed that peace can only come when there are mutual respect and acknowledgment of the dignity of the other, when compassion replaces hatred, and Israelis and Palestinians meet as human beings and not as enemies.

Ibrahim said that he believed once in the two states for two peoples resolution of the conflict, but now believes that settlement expansion in the West Bank has foreclosed a two-state solution. A one-state solution, he says, is the way forward, a state in which Palestinians and Israelis share equal rights and acknowledge the dignity and humanity of the “other.”

Eden confessed that he is not a politician and would not express a political position. Rather, he believes that trust, respect, and compassion will result in the right political solution whatever that may be.

Each man has faced dangerous challenges. Eden has been characterized by fellow Israelis as a traitor and as the “seed of Amalek.” He often despairs about this unending conflict, but when he reaches out to his Palestinian partners and they accept his hand with friendship, he knows that “peace can come and my dreams are restored.” He seizes each of the moments as they come.

The film shows Eden arranging for permits with Israeli security services to allow 15 Palestinian Arab women to travel to the Mediterranean Sea to swim in the waters, fully clothed, for the first time in their lives. Though he was gratified to arrange this outing, he felt that his actions forced him to participate in the occupation that he abhors.

Eden worries that the young generation of Israelis who as children were once open-hearted and pure have become hardened as a consequence of serving as occupational soldiers in the West Bank.

Ibrahim too was accused by Palestinian extremists of being a traitor. These extremists regard any Palestinian who cooperates with Israel as contributing to “normalization” of the occupation. Ibrahim rejects the charge explaining that the only way to peace is to engage with and speak to those with whom we disagree.

Hotel Everest is a heart-wrenching and inspiring film that ought to be seen by every Israeli and Palestinian, and especially by their political leadership.

 

See http://www.fjproductions.com/hoteleverest/ and http://www.hoteleverestthemovie.com/