thinking jewish

Quote of the Day

"No one sat around in the 14th century and thought, 'Gee. I can't wait to be enlightened.'"

-Rabbi Larry Hoffman

Food for Thought

The Torah blessing praises God for "placing within us eternal life."

I recently learned an interesting explanation of the text. Maybe, instead of being about an afterlife, the prayer is instead creating a correlation between Torah and life; that if the Jewish people continues to cling to Torah, it will live on, generation after generation.

I learned this today from one of my sixth grade students.

Thank God

The Jerusalem Post magazine wrote a great article on post-denominationalism in American Jewry recently...

"Some herald the post-denominational trend as a sign that American Jews finally are beginning to look at each other and themselves as "just Jews," without the barriers, hang-ups and artifice imposed by the established movements."

It's about time.

Heschelian Wisdom

"A [prayer leader] who faces the holiness in the Ark rather than the curiosity of [people] will realize that his audience is God. He will learn to realize that his task is not to entertain but to represent the people Israel....The congregation will then learn that...to pray does not mean to listen to a singer but to identify oneself with what is being proclaimed in their name."

The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 247

Then They Had an Army

It appears that today, with the rise to power of Hamas, that the Palestinians now have themselves a little army. Given, an illegal one committed to the destruction of Israel by means of using humans to blow up other humans, but an army nonetheless.

How cute.

Ode to Technology

Though the New York Times finds it to be nothing special, yes, I love my RAZR. Oh, how I do love it...

This Sucks

I'm sorry I have to teach you this. In fact it makes me mad. Furious.

I don't experience anger too often. I tend to view history through a muted lens of indifference, eager to move on and make the world better today. But I feel like I'm putting a heavy burden on you. Through these words of learning I'm crushing your optimistic views of the world's possibilities. They were evil. The world isn't always nice and happy. Sometimes it sucks.

They wanted to kill us. All of us. They almost succeeded. I'm sorry.

But don't be scared. Being mad is OK. Just never forget.

Never.

Childhood Brilliance

I tutor a kid named Will. He's 12. Along with Hebrew, we study the book of Exodus. Today we learned about the burning bush, when, being asked to describe Himself, God retorts, "I will be that which I will be."

Me: "So what does this teach us about God?"

Will: "Hmmm..."

Silence...

Will: "It must mean that God's really smart."

Me: "Why's that?"

Will: "Cause really smart people always say things that no one else can understand."

3 Jews Walk Into a Bar

Israel issues a new stamp with Bibi Netanyahu, the unpopular Finance Minister, on the front. Complaints arise that people can't seem to glue it to the envelope. Apparently instead of licking the back, they spat on the front.

The New York Times claims today that Ashkenazi Jews are the funniest of all the world's peoples. Along with the runner-up Scots, we are the most self-mocking of people.

Could have told you that one...

Quote of the Day

"If only the Jews had turned right out of Sinai instead of left they'd have end ended up with all the oil!"

-Papa Bill