Politics On The Pulpit: Is There A Line And Where Do You Draw it?

11 Thursday Apr 2019

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

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Last evening I participated on a panel at the American Jewish University with moderator Rabbi Elliot Dorff and with fellow panelists Rabbi Sharon Brous and Rabb Elazar Muskin in a conversation between rabbis of different religious streams (Reform, Conservative/non-denominational, and Orthodox) that, if not checked, can tear apart the fabric of the American Jewish community.

The three of us panelists represent similar and dissimilar approaches to what we believe is appropriate for rabbis to discuss on the bima and within the synagogue setting. We didn’t always agree – in truth, at times we disagreed substantially.

For my full statement and a link to the discussion, go to my Times of Israel blog at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/politics-on-the-pulpit-is-there-a-line-and-where-do-you-draw-it/

A place of senseless hatred, rage, and violence instead of love and the unity of the Jewish people

08 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Divrei Torah, Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Note: The following d’var Torah was written by my friend, Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, Vice-President of the Union for Reform Judaism on Israel and Reform Zionism and President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA). This week marks the 30^th anniversary of Women of the Wall and their peaceful prayer was interrupted by violence from the Ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem.

The unfolding drama this week takes us to the center focus point for all Jews from time immemorial. Reports of angry mobs showing up to kick, fight, spit at, and rip off the tallitot and kippot of those coming to pray and celebrate with the Women of the Wall on the occasion of their 30^th anniversary, filled the air of the Western Wall plaza this morning. Rabbi Noa Sattath left bloodied but unbowed, and Yizhar Hess, head of the Israeli Conservative (Masorti) Movement wrote that in “ten years of praying at the Kotel each Rosh Hodesh, he had never seen such hatred, such violence, and such rage in their eyes.”

The drama has been at this place, and at this exact place on earth, for three-thousand years. In fact, it is this week that we read in the Haftarah of Parshat Pekudei (Kings I Chapters 7-8) about that moment when King Solomon built his Temple.

בָּנֹ֥ה בָנִ֛יתִי בֵּ֥ית זְבֻ֖ל לָ֑ךְ מָכ֥וֹן לְשִׁבְתְּךָ֖ עוֹלָמִֽים׃ (מלכים א’ ח:יג)

“I have now built for You a stately House, A place where You May dwell forever.” (Kings I 8:13)

This was the place that was meant to be for worship, for pilgrimage and as the single symbol meant to unify our people. The Temple Mount is the single most important symbol that we have as a people. It served as the focal point for all of Jewish society while it stood, and its memory served as the most important force in keeping us alive during our centuries of exile.

The term Zionism was coined (c. 1890) to connect directly to the memory of the Temple in Jerusalem as the last time we had sovereignty in our Land. It was also to say that the establishment of a Jewish sovereign political entity would, in fact, be the Third Commonwealth, the Third Temple.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, when the famous 3 words roused the entire Jewish world “הר הבית בידינו” “The Temple Mount is in Our Hands,” we then had sovereignty over the remnants of our ancient site. Soon after it again became a point of contention. The Israeli government and the antiquities authorities could have turned the area surrounding the Temple Mount into a historical/archeological preservation site, and place of pilgrimage, a ceremonial plaza, and tourist attraction like Massada, Tziporri, Gamla, and many more. But instead, it became an Orthodox synagogue. Yes, Jews have been praying there since we had access, and yes it was a mystical custom to place a note in the cracks of the wall, but no other site became an officially sanctioned prayer space like this one.

The significance of the Temple Mount is more than just a place of prayer. It in fact symbolizes the national struggle and for some is a symbol for national liberty.
Philosopher Tomer Persico wrote in 2014:

“Make no mistake – this is not about untrammeled longing for the burning of sacrifices. It is neither the observation of the biblical commandment nor the upholding of the Halakhic stricture that matter to these Knesset Members, even the religious ones among them. The Temple Mount serves Regev, Feiglin, Edelstein, and Elkin as a national flag around which to rally. The location of the Temple to them is nothing more than a capstone in the national struggle against the Palestinians, and the sovereignty over the mountain becomes a totem embodying the sovereignty over the entire country in its commanding figure”

And today, it became once again a place of senseless hatred, of rage, of violence, a place where Jews showed up to fight and to prevent their fellow Jews from welcoming this happiest of months.

Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz appealed to the groups saying, “that the Western Wall plaza is not a… demonstration area and asked [for attendees] to refrain from provocations, and to guard the Western Wall as a unified place, and not a place of division.”

“On Rosh Chodesh Adar II (Friday), I urge everyone to refrain from bringing their war to the Wall,” he said. “Please – the Western Wall is not a platform for ideas and not a platform for holding demonstrations.”

Oh, the irony. Not a platform for ideas??? Huh?

This is the exact spot where Hillel and Shammai argued, where our sages sat in the Sanhedrin, where Christians attribute some of the most important actions of Jesus, the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven (according to Islam). Not a place for ideas???

If you don’t want demonstrations Rabbi Rabinowitz then please call on the leaders of your movement, and movements such as Hazon (not the Jewish environmental organization) who placed a fake front page newspaper showing that “The Reform Jews Have Conquered the Kotel” and calling on everyone to show up this morning to rescue it. Call on those who spit, rip clothing and tallitot, and physically assault fellow Jews that this is not a platform for holding demonstrations.

Just imagine that today, on the beginning of the month of Adar II, the authorities of the Western Wall said “Today we are commanded to be happy, and we welcome you with open arms! Today, we realize that you are not a threat to our form of Judaism, and you are just trying to pray and exalt God’s name like we are! Please come, read the word of the living God, and rejoice in this most joyful of days.”

Just imagine what would happen if so many people were praying and dancing and singing and celebrating that they didn’t even notice a couple of hundred women coming to this holiest of spots.

Now, there is great debate among us, even in the Reform Movement about the place, significance, and efforts around the Kotel. Some say it’s insignificant, and some say it is.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall shared with us this pearl of wisdom in his drasha on this weeks’ Torah portion today: “But ongoing and persistent action has the power to create real change in someone’s life.”

Thank you, Rabbi, that is sound advice.

Dr. Martin Luther King – In celebration and Memory

13 Sunday Jan 2019

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

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I can’t help but feel how much further we’ve come as a nation since Dr. King’s life ended so suddenly and tragically. Anyone alive then will remember where you were when you heard the news, and we’ll remember Robert F. Kennedy’s poetic, compassionate and eloquent response in the rust belt states that evening of Dr. King’s death.

With the blaring light of this corrupted Trump era, it ought to be clear to anyone with a conscience that we still have much distance to travel to fulfill Dr. King’s aspirations and the aspirations proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence.

Trudge on we must! I’m confident that these next two years will move us forward as a nation in many areas with our new Congress, and as candidates begin to declare their quest for the White House, we’ll be setting the stage for another epic battle at the polls next year which, with effort, a far better outcome will be forthcoming than was the case in 2016.

We at Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles celebrate Dr. King’s life and vision every year on the weekend commemorating his birth, and we’ll do so again this coming Friday during Kabbalat Shabbat services – January 18 at 6:30 pm. If you live in Los Angeles, please come and join us. The community is welcome.

We will play 13 minutes of a 43-minute sermon Dr. King delivered from our bimah at Temple Israel of Hollywood in April, 1965. The recording is so clear it’s as if he’s in the room with us, though it has been nearly 54 years since he stood before a packed congregation.

You can hear the entire speech here – https://www.tioh.org/images/audio_collection/MLKSpeech_TIOH_1965.mp3

For a longer selection of Dr. King’s most memorable quotations – go to my blog at the Times of Israel where I have posted them – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dr-martin-luther-king-in-celebration-and-memory/ .

Note: The final quote is Dr. King’s statement of support for Zionism and the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people.

Request – Share the list with your friends from the Times of Israel. They will remind us not only of the greatness of the man, but of our own prophetic tradition and engagement as Jews in the struggle for human rights.

The LA Women’s March

04 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Human rights, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Note: This was sent to our congregants at Temple Israel of Hollywood in support of the LA Women’s March. Please note the strategic activities we have scheduled around this event.

To Our TIOH Family,

It would be impossible to overstate the power and uplift so many of us have felt witnessing and participating in the past two Women’s Marches. These marches, harnessing multigenerational expressions of women’s dignity and power and bringing to light so many issues of critical importance to our country, have been catalysts for much good in our world.

It is, at the same time, impossible to ignore published accounts claiming that specific individuals in leadership positions of the National Women’s March have made blatantly anti-Semitic remarks.

We at TIOH have been and remain committed to the Women’s Rights Movement, gender justice, and civil rights. We also refuse to let anti-Semitic statements or actions go without response. Our challenge is to hold both truths in this complicated and fraught time, which at its core, holds so very much potential for change.

We share with you our thoughts on this moment:

If you look to the homepage of the Women’s March Los Angeles (WMLA), you will see a strongly worded statement stating clearly that WMLA “has no affiliation and was never part of the Women’s March Inc. WMLA is its own separate organization with separate leadership, board, and funding.” Part of what has come to light in the face of recent allegations of anti-Semitic comments by a few leaders of the National Women’s March is that the national leadership does not represent, nor is it connected by finances or governance, to many of the hundreds of local marches across the country, including Los Angeles.
Anti-Semitism is a very real problem in our world and lies at the heart of white supremacy. There has been an historic increase, according to surveys published by the ADL, in anti-Semitic hate crimes over the past two years in our country and abroad. Acknowledging, learning about, and fighting anti-Semitism wherever it occurs, including in the National Women’s March leadership group, is of critical importance to everyone concerned about promoting an inclusive and decent America.
That being said, the Women’s March Unity Principles reflect much of the justice work in which TIOH and our partner organizations are engaging. We are pleased that changes have been made to these Unity Principles to explicitly include Jewish women and that representatives of national Jewish leadership organizations were part of the crafting of the 2019 Women’s Agenda. Being involved in the real work of this movement is very much in line with our justice principles.
Despite the anti-Semitic statements by some individuals in the National Women’s March, we believe that it is critical for representatives from the Jewish community to remain in dialogue and actively engaged with them, as well as to continue the important work of eradicating anti-Semitism at every level of our society. Teshuvah, a return to each person’s best self, is always possible. We believe strongly that The Women’s March, as an intersectional movement, must include Jewish women because it is there, in the heart of the movement, that we can both act on our social justice principles and combat anti-Semitism.
We especially encourage TIOHers to participate in our local Women’s March Los Angeles. We also encourage TIOHers to explicitly speak out against all expressions of anti-Semitism whenever we encounter them. Our public engagement in both the women’s movement and our work to combat anti-Semitism is at the core of who we are as American Reform Jews.

Please read these comments from the Union for Reform Judaism and Women of Reform Judaism. You will see that our position at TIOH is cast in the same spirit as our Reform movement’s leadership.

Join us at the LA Women’s March! TIOHers will be joining Jewish Center for Justice (JCJ), as well as folks from synagogues across Los Angeles, at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 19^th to pray and march together. Meetup details will be forthcoming.

In addition to marching, come to the following events:

At TIOH this Sunday, January 4, at 10:00 a.m., join Rabbi Jocee Hudson for bagels, coffee, and an open informal conversation about what it means for us as members of the Jewish community, who are committed to Women’s Rights and Civil Rights, to participate in the Women’s March.
Please join members of the broader community on Sunday, January 13, at 7:00 p.m. at University Synagogue for a Teach-In with Zioness and JCJ.

Please join us at TIOH before Shabbat services on Friday, January 18, at 5pm, to show our public resistance to anti-Semitism as we hear from David Lehrer on “How anti-Semitism Lies at the Heart of White Supremacy.”

For questions about our Social Justice work at TIOH, please contact Heidi Segal heidijsegal@gmail.com.

If you would like to join TIOH’s Gender Justice Social Justice Working Group, please click here or contact co-chairs, Marilyn Szatmary and Margaret Katch.

B’tzedek –

Rabbi John L. Rosove – Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh – Rabbi Jocee Hudson – Shelly Fox, Cantorial Soloist and Musical Director – Heidi Segal, TIOH Vice President, Social Justice – Aliza Lesser, WoTIOH Chair

Jews, Muslims and Christians serve Christmas dinner to 1000 people in Hollywood

26 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Holidays, Human rights, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Volunteers preparing Christmas Dinner for 1070 people

For the past 33 years, my synagogue, Temple Israel of Hollywood, has served a full Christmas Dinner to the poor and homeless of Hollywood. We distributed this year toys, children’s books, hygiene products, blankets, and sox to more than 1000 people. We began the project in the mid 1980s to relieve our Christian brothers and sisters of the responsibility of helping the people in their neighborhood so they could celebrate their holyday with their communities and families.

The Hollywood United Methodist Church has graciously offered their facility at Highland and Franklin (a block north of the famed Hollywood-Highland Center and Academy Award Theater) these past 28 years. This year Temple Israel co-sponsored this effort not only with the Church but with the ILM (Intellect, Love, and Mercy) Foundation which has roots in Islam. Umar Hakim (the ILM Director) and the Reverend Cathy Cooper Ledesma (HUMC’s Senior Pastor) joined me as “siblings in faith” from the three great monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

This is the largest interfaith Christmas Dinner in Los Angeles County.

Volunteers served over 100 roasted turkeys with stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, and a number of desserts. Retirees, homeless, working families with young children, and other hungry and needy individuals and families came to eat and enjoy their holiday.

Our congregation (Temple Israel of Hollywood) signed a Brit Olam, “a covenant with our world,” via the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C. to address the epidemic problem of food insecurity (40 million people in America) who do not know from where and when their next meal is coming. The problem of hunger is particularly acute in the closing days of the month. The number of homeless individuals in Los Angeles (though down 4% this year due to an aggressive effort by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to house homeless individuals) still hovers around 45,000 people of whom 1/3 are children.

Shelter Partnership provided us with blankets, hygiene products, toys and socks. NBC Universal and Big Sunday provided toys. The Book Foundation provided 250 contemporary books for children. Big Sunday (originally a project of Temple Israel and now its own 501C3 non-profit organization serving the greater Los Angeles area 365 days a year) connected us with a number of non-profit organizations to get the word out to the community that this dinner welcomed everyone.

The chairs of this year’s effort are Temple Israel members Ilyse Pallenberg, Sophie Grossman-Sartain, and Ken Ostrove. They led nearly 300 volunteers for the past few months culminating on Christmas Day.

I was asked by the media at the event why we Jews were doing this. I told them two things; first, there is the dire challenge of hunger that we all have to address actively in projects like this and in advocating public policy efforts in local, state and national government, and second, this co-sponsored dinner is a powerful response to the toxicity and polarization that has infected America in the last several years since President Trump began his presidential campaign of hostility and division pitting one group against another to inspire fear and hate.

Good people, I said, can bridge differences, reach across divisions in class, race, ethnicity, religion, and national origins and reaffirm the oneness of humankind and the principle that we are accountable to and responsible for each other, that walls should be torn down and paths forward together be forged.

That is what we did together yesterday. One interviewer asked me if this was a reflection of the spirit of this season. I responded “yes” but also that this is what we all ought to be doing 365 days a year.

A pure soul – Moses’ selection as prophet

26 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Human rights, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Moses at the Burning Bush – Marc Chagall

Why did God choose Moses to be the most important of prophets and the savior of the Israelites? The Biblical text this week in Sh’mot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) begins to tell the story of this extraordinary leader.

Born of a Hebrew slave-woman, Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince but was at home nowhere. His place was with God.

The Torah tells us that Moses was the most intimate of God’s prophets who communed with the Almighty panim el panim – “face to face” or ‘soul to soul’ (Exodus 33:11). No other prophet is described in such intimate and personal terms in all of Biblical literature. We learn as well that Moses was the most humble human being ever to live (Numbers 12:3).

Moses is our people’s gold standard of a religious, moral, and political leader. In our era the world has benefited from other great figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela. Nevertheless, Moses stands alone.

The prophetic message is old but ever new, and as we ourselves witness cruelty on the southern border of the United States, in Syria, the Congo, and in countless other places, Moses remains our moral standard-bearer.

What follows is my effort, drawing upon Biblical, midrashic and mystic imagery, to evoke Moses’ character and experience as he begins his prophetic mission.

To read my poem – go to my blog at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-pure-soul-moses-selection-as-prophet/ .

Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

Category Archives: Women’s Rights