thinking jewish

On Post-Denominational Judaism

For all you post-denominational Jews out there, Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman commented on the ideological trend in the current issue of Reform Judaism Magazine... interesting, to say the least.

"Some people think that we live in a post-denominational age--that denominations just don't matter anymore. I disagree. More than ever, in this age of choice, Jews have to decide what kind of Jews they are. People who say they are "just Jewish" have not yet processed their Judaism beyond its bare essentials. Mature and full Jewish identity requires choices, and choices imply denominations. And the prayer book is the gateway to Jewish identity; more than anything else, how we pray defines what kind of Jew we are. I grew up in an Orthodox shul, and while I can still appreciate traditionalist services, I find the Orthodox prayer book unreflective of the Jew I have chosen to be. I chose Reform Judaism because of what it stands for, and we as a Movement have to make that message clear to ourselves and to others."

What's your opinion?

My Space, Not Yours

The Times has an interesting article exploring the latest way in which teens' diarrhea of the mouth on weblogs is getting them and their organizations in trouble.

Why kids have a need to tell the world their intimate hateful thoughts on their peers and to share the details of their latest hook-up is beyond me.

Coincidentally, the NFTY Board ran a program for participants here at Kutz tonight on such web networking sites. The entire Beit Am was plastered with 6,000 pages of web postings ranging the gamut from explicit to profane to disgusting.

We were then asked to read aloud quotes given to us which were taken from NFTYites' websites. Mine read:

"Booty Call! Have fun tonight! Shabbat shalom."

The Epidemic

I'm not much of a student of sociology, nor do I pretend to feign an understanding of life as a homosexual in America. I do not fully appreciate their struggle for equality, nor have a ever truly supported the effort like my conscience tells me I should.

In any event, there's a moving Op-Ed in today's Times, written by Jonathan Rauch. In it, he describes the gay-marriage struggle as having been dependent upon the AIDS epidemic to finally receive its needed backing in the minds of most Americans. What the gay-rights movement was unable to win through activism, it won through sympathy - raw emotional outrage at the horrors afflicting the homosexual community and the realization, at least implicitly, that marriage rights could help avert much of the devastation.

The real kicker of the piece comes at the end:

Yes, the idea of same-sex marriage predated AIDS. But would gay America have internalized as deeply the need for marriage if it had not first internalized H.I.V.? Would straight America have been as willing to consider gay marriage if not for AIDS? Impossible. In gay cultural history, marriage is to AIDS much as Israel is to the Holocaust in Jewish cultural history. It offers a safer shore, a better life, and a promise: never again.

So the real question that I ask is what space does our community's struggle for independence and national determination in the wake of utter destruction occupy in the minds of the world, or at least American, community? Can we truly provide hope for those in despair's depths, or are these the ranting's of one lone Op-Ed writer, probably a Jew himself? Is this one way we can be a light unto the nations - not a moral beacon, but rather a lighthouse offering hope to those in rough ocean waters?

Round and Round in the Circle Game

Somewhere within my current rebellion against the Jewish People, God, and observance in general, I found the strength, courage and desire to go to shul last night. And it wasn't all bad either.

I got to sit next to a bunch of Germans visiting the States. I wonder how much the Aleinu resonated with their own ideologies....

And then came the time for announcements, an act that goes on way too long at all synagogues, especially BJ, especially given that they already hand out a newsletter. Oh well.

With all of the nonsense that goes on within our world - that being the insular world of 8 million people who seem to make up the majority of everywhere I go - it amazes me that we actually do get a lot of things right.

For example, Birthright Israel. Simply amazing. Stellar. Unbelievable. Awe-inspiring. If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars) I'd donate it all to the organization right now (after I kept enough to buy myself a llama, of course). Better, I'd then drop out of school and become a professional Birthright madrich for the rest of my life.

I never imagined that witnessing 41 young adults grow into their Jewish shoes would be so moving an event. Who could know that there actually is hope for the Jewish people - that amcha is quite bright, and interested, just in need of a little push and inspiration.

I want to stay.... I can't wait to get more involved at home.... I actually think I want to go to synagogue.... Could I join the IDF right now?

Some say that religion is all about giving people meaning in their lives. I'd argue the opposite for Judaism. The world is already full of Jewish meaning, embodied, in many respects (though certainly not all) in a place called Israel. Most American Jews have simply been blinded to this meaning by virtue of 3,000 miles of ocean. Judaism, or Birthright Israel at least, is about showing Jews the meaning that already exists - the significance in life that is waiting to be cared about, to be dealt and argued with.

Six years later, 100,000 Jewish young adults have been given the gift of a lifetime and shown what Judaism's potential is. Our Jewish future has been altered irrevocably.

Why am I still fighting?

And then, back at BJ, the leader of the 20-30 somethings group came up to give an announcement. And then he got down on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend whom he had met a few years prior through the group he now leads. And then she said yes, and then we celebrated. It all made sense. We sang, we danced, I went home and fell asleep.

It all made sense. It all makes sense.

Who cares about incorrect and unexpected grades? Screw rules and precedent and expectations. Embarrassment? Who needs it! There's a real world out there, with real Jews, Jews who need substance, crave knowledge and want leadership.

My fight will end tonight at sundown.