tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35936579244422668922024-02-08T13:41:06.328-06:00not quite mainstream...flows from the tiny mind of adam shachor and tends to focus on jewish egalitarianism, middle-east peace, veganism, and environmentalism. adam is a left-leaning web strategist come jewish studies doctoral student. he lives in austin, texas with his brilliant, beautiful, and patient wife kati, their twin sons thing one and thing two, their twin cats bomb and butterfly, and raffi the dog. adam loves gardening, seitan, and em dashes.adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-76419869535674429932009-07-31T12:15:00.009-05:002009-07-31T13:01:10.567-05:00Rahm Emanuel: Jew and Zionist<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I've been busy or exhausted every evening this week, with no time to write. (I do have a couple of topics in mind, and maybe I'll get to one on Sunday.)</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That said, and in light of several poisonously deranged members of the Knesset</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">including the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rosh Memshalah</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, or Prime Minister</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">calling Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod self-hating Jews, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1104187.html">this wonderful Ha'aretz article is well worth reading</a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Let me know what you think.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Also worth reading: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31fri1.html?ref=opinion">today's New York Times Editorial</a>, which follows yesterday's <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072903167.html">Washington Post's plea to Obama to keep on keeping on the Middle East peace train</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">two, count 'em, two 70's soul classics referenced there</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—while moderating his tone.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "></span>In the meantime, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shabbat shalom</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, good Shabbos.</span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-73076810125856457772009-07-24T10:57:00.007-05:002009-07-24T14:27:48.896-05:00No more Mr. Nice Guy<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">As the healthcare “debate” turns war of attrition, I find myself, variously, seething at mean-spirited Republican rejectionists like Jim DeMint, who previously was most famous for proposing to ban gays and single mothers from teaching; exasperated with self-serving Democrat reactionaries like Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus, whose reelection in Montana—home to a whopping three-tenths of one percent of the U.S. population—seems largely financed by healthcare corporations and lobbyists; and plain frustrated with a floundering, ineffectual President Obama, who needs desperately to recalibrate his approach.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Don’t get me wrong: I like Obama, I LOVE Obama. But Mr. President, here are some free pointers:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Stop worrying about appearing bipartisan</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">. In the long run, no one cares. Like our monkey and ape cousins, we are, by nature, partisan, or tribal, animals. As a human creation, politics is, therefore, necessarily partisan—which, by the way, is a word rarely in currency until Republicans lose elections. (Where was their spirit of bipartisanship when they railroaded through tax cuts for the wealthy? Where was it when they introduced torture by secret fiat?) Anyhow, they lost and you won—decisively. Screw them.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Don’t let the obstructionists lure you into the murky mire of dollars and cents</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">. That’s where they want you—where they can bog you down forever. Stick to the big picture, or as </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/opinion/24krugman.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Paul Krugman wrote in this morning’s New York Times</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">, remind the country that “when it comes to reforming health care, compassion and cost-effectiveness go hand in hand.” Treat us openly and like adults. Tell us the truth: be patient, because the cost efficiencies will come only in the long term, as a flood of thankful and healthy young families enters a government backed insurance alternative and helps average down premiums; as insurance companies become (unwillingly) more competitive; and as doctors, hospitals, and drug companies start focusing on results, not pills and procedures. </span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Talk about human rights and security, and not patient rights</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">. Americans have long accepted as fundamental the right of the individual to live securely. Except for a few extremist libertarians, we happily pay for a military to secure us internationally, for police and firemen to secure our safety, and for paramedics to secure our well being in emergencies. None of these examples is substantially different from, or more fundamental than, our right to good health, which is quite simply the greatest source of individual security. </span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Keep on task</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">. Voters elected you because you impressed with your ability to break down and explain complicated issues and to remain focused under duress. Two nights ago, a journalist suckered you into a rash response to a loaded question. Talking off topic about </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates,_Jr."><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> unfortunate arrest, you accidentally implicated the whole Cambridge police department in a potentially racist action. Now while I am, like you, pretty much convinced that, consciously or not, race played a focal role in the way the arresting sergeant treated the professor, I am also convinced you should have answered (for now) in a more considered, more measured way. Sadly, I’m sure your election didn’t signal the dawning of racism-free new day in America. (If only it had.) But by providing the moronic press with a sloppy sound bite, you ensured that healthcare would not lead off that evening’s or the next morning’s news broadcasts. And that’s just a shame.</span></span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Unfortunately the fight ahead is a tough one, and I have to agree with </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/opinion/23collins.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">the New York Times’ Gail Collins</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">: “Watching Barack Obama trying to push members of Congress toward some kind of agreement on a health care bill gives you a new appreciation for why Hillary Clinton decided to just write the whole thing herself and dump it on them.” But it’s not a fight that you—that WE—can afford to lose. Ultimately, it’s not even a fight about costs or rights, but a battle to prove our compassion, our humanity, as citizens of the wealthiest nation in history. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">As a Jew, my duty is clear. It’s contained in the concept of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">tzedakah</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">, which is an amalgam of justice and helping the poor, and is an attribute of Gd we’re obligated to emulate. The Talmud describes </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">tzedakah</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> as greater than all Temple sacrifices, and Moses Maimonides (a doctor upon whose oath many Jewish physicians swear) demands we give freely so the poor don’t have to ask. Historically, many Jewish communities built communal hospitals and retirement homes, employed doctors, and established mutual aid societies because they understood </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">tzedakah</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> to demand care for all. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">But because we Jews are an insignificant minority, I’ll close with the words of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Pope Benedict XVI</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">, the leader of America’s and the world’s biggest Christian denomination. In his </span><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">June 29, 2009 Encyclical, CARITAS IN VERITATE</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">, Benedict seems to agree largely with Jewish tradition by telling us that in caring for others we find “the Face of (Gd’s) Person,” that as a collective the more we “strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them. Every Christian is called to practice this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of influence he wields in the (nation). This is the institutional path—we might also call it the political path—of charity, no less excellent and effective than the kind of charity which encounters the neighbor directly, outside the institutional mediation of the (nation).”</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Stay healthy my friends.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Good Shabbos. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">S</span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">habbat shalom</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-52076729644443290322009-07-20T14:15:00.015-05:002009-07-20T18:13:15.456-05:00My kinda town<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Back again after a week spent on my third trip in a month-and-a-half. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This time it was the big one, the one I’ve been waiting for since returning to graduate school in the late spring: the summer seminars at <a href="http://www.spertus.edu/degreeprograms/index.php">Spertus College</a> in Chicago. And despite missing the family and a torturous stomach upset—thank you <a href="http://www.imodium.com/">Imodium</a>—I had the best time. Some highlights:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">I found a new academic home in the <a href="http://www.spertus.edu/">Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies</a>. Its building is a stunning work of abstract art in concrete, steel, and glass; its location on <a href="http://www.themagnificentmile.com/">Michigan Avenue</a>, opposite <a href="http://www.aviewoncities.com/chicago/grantpark.htm">Grant Park</a>, is perfectly central to everything; and its physical, technological, and human resources are amazing, including my teachers and fellow doctoral students. I learned more than I’d imagined possible, which is, of course, a double edged sword—now I have a million new paths to follow.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">I spent hours shooting the shit with old friends. It was great hanging with you and catching up. Those of you I didn’t get to see, I’ll hook up with next spring. I promise.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">I learned that beyond being the home of meat, Chicago’s also a foodie heaven for those with a vegetarian bent. With Daliah, I threw down a mind blowing <a href="http://www.veggiediner.com/wp/?p=75">seitan Radical Rueben</a> at the deservedly famous <a href="http://www.veggiediner.com/wp/">Chicago Diner</a>; with Brad, I enjoyed (slightly modified) tapas at <a href="http://www.emiliostapas.com/solynieve.htm">Emilio’s</a>; and with Geoff, I tasted two spectacular Asian dishes (and a delightful bottle of Rioja) from the <a href="http://www.opera-chicago.com/ClientFiles/Opera/Menus/OperaVeganMenuSpring2009.pdf">vegan menu</a>(!) at <a href="http://www.opera-chicago.com/">Opera</a>.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">I remembered why Chicago has always been my favorite American city. (Well, for the 25 years since I first visited.) It’s not simply because of the stunning skyline and world-class museums. Rather, and away from the skyscrapers, bright lights, and beautifully tended gardens that line <a href="http://www.themagnificentmile.com/">the Magnificent Mile</a>, it remains an honest and tolerant Midwestern city of human-scaled neighborhoods filled with good people and the camaraderie born of years spent laughing in the face of brutal winters. And when, like last week, her days are mild, clear, and sunny, Chicago is as great a place as any on earth.</span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All that and and a Jewish community of almost 300,000. What's not to love?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So now it’s back to whatever reality is.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shavuah tov. Have a great week.</span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-20169033848749318332009-07-09T10:58:00.012-05:002009-07-09T13:56:02.010-05:00Really? You've got to be kidding me!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I've neve</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">r planned on blogging American politics, but this is more about posing questions than proposing answers: Is it just me, or are the Republicans losing their embittered minds? (How do these people walk? Eat? Breathe? Face themselves in the mirror?) </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In just the past 24 hours, I've learned </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">from senior Republicans</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that:</span></span><div><div><div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/50152/demint-america-is-where-germany-was-before-world-war-ii"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Socio-politically, the United States is where Germany was at the dawn of World War II </span></span></a></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/jeb-bush-interview-0809"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Recent evidence suggests the globe is not warming, but even if it is, the warming is unlikely caused by human activity</span></span></a></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-millhiser/sessions-uses-sotomayor-a_b_228482.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Judge Sotomayor's past </span></span></a><i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-millhiser/sessions-uses-sotomayor-a_b_228482.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">pro bono</span></span></a></i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-millhiser/sessions-uses-sotomayor-a_b_228482.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) disqualifies her from the Supreme Court</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); line-height: normal; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">for rightists, the PRLDEF is another NAACP, an "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" organization that forces civil rights "down the throats of people."</span></span></a></span></li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And in the unlikely case that these and myriad other </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">faux pas</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> aren't enough, </span></span><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">USA Today</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> reports that, even in the wake of her most recent attempt at political suicide, "</span></span><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-07-palin-poll_N.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">71% of Republicans say they'd be likely to vote for Palin if she ran for president in 2012</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yes, I realize I'm posing a rhetorical question. And yes, I realize the Democrat caucus is mediocre and disorganized at best</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">actually, it reminds me most of a circular firing squad</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">but here's anoth<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">er question: If one (or more) of my friends is a vocal Republican, how do I treat him or her seriously? (How do I respect him? How, indeed, do I remain friends with her?)</span></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-3497522226214524122009-07-03T08:56:00.010-05:002009-07-03T12:44:44.311-05:00Sad, but inevitable<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In a well researched article in today's </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Washington Post</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span><i><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html?hpid=topnews"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Purity of Federal "Organic" Label Is Questioned</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kimberly Kindy and Lyndsey Layton confirm long circulating rumors that the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">USDA's 2002 organic certification program's "shortcomings mean that consumers, who at times must pay twice as much for organic products, are not always getting what they expect." </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In support of their argument, Kindy and Layton offer a barn-full of evidence, including: </span></span><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">USDA provides exceptions for "organic" foods to contain "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">245 non-organic substances"</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">USDA never implemented its mandate for annual pesticide testing</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dairy farms sell "organic" milk from cows that spend little or no time grazing outside</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Farmers feed "organic" livestock "non-organic fish meal, which can contain mercury and PCBs"</span></span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This simply must change. Now! And I don't want to hear fellow liberals blaming the Bush administration</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">even though it did eviscerate the USDA, the FDA, and the EPA. Shrub and his cronies are discredited and gone. Our Democrat Executive and Congress should act immediately to protect our food supply, our health, and the environment from the excesses of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">agro-conglomerates.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But this isn't only about the government. We must take responsibility for ourselves and our children. You can play a major role by: </span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Visiting </span></span><a href="http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/Openair.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">local farmer's markets</span></span></span></a></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Getting to know the people who grow our food</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Asking them about their practices</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Supporting their work</span></span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><a href="http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Learn more from Farmer's Market Online</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span><a href="http://farmersmarketonline.com/OpenAir/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">read its blog</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and heed its byline: "Shop Smart. Buy Responsibly. Buy Direct from the Producer." </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009070203371"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Read the full article in the Washington Post</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31719136/ns/health-more_health_news//"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Or read it at msnbc.com</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shabbat shalom</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Good shabbos.</span></span></div></div></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-73472865549749118672009-07-01T10:24:00.011-05:002009-07-02T17:10:21.741-05:00The evidence mounts: yet more reasons to eat a varied vegetarian diet<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Today, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) updated and significantly expanded its position on vegetarian diets. The ADA argues that well-planned veggie diets are salubrious for people of all ages; that they can help prevent and treat heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_22003_ENU_HTML.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Read the ADA press release</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Also today, Cancer Research UK announced a British Journal of Cancer (BJC) study declaring v</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">egetarians 12 percent less likely than meat eaters (on average) to contract some form of cancer. According to the study, the most striking gaps concerned "cancers of the blood including leukaemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The risk of these diseases was 45 per cent lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><a href="http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressreleases/2009/july/Vegetarians-less-likely-cancer"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Read the Cancer Research UK press release</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><a href="http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v101/n1/full/6605098a.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Read the BJC study</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: normal; color: rgb(41, 48, 59); font-size: 13px; ">Eat local. Eat organic. Eat vegan.</span></span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-7077670074845789362009-06-30T13:19:00.012-05:002009-07-20T17:00:06.968-05:00Falafel Bistro<div>We’re just back from five days in Florida, some spent delightfully on <a href="http://www.marcoislandmarriott.com/">Marco Island</a>'s expansive white beaches, others frittered away in Coral Springs, an inland boomtown gone bust sandwiched between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale. </div><div><br /></div><div>We did, however, make a major find in Coral Springs: <a href="http://falafel-bistro.com/Pages/home.html">Falafel Bistro</a>, a tiny-but-superb Israeli restaurant hidden in a dowdy strip mall on the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=11570+Wiles+Road,+Coral+Springs,+FL&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=38.22949,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=26.287797,-80.281177&spn=0.010581,0.019226&z=16">southeast corner of Coral Ridge and Wiles</a>. <a href="http://falafel-bistro.com/Falafel%20Bistro%20Images/Current%20menu.pdf">Falafel Bistro's menu</a> is broad, deep, and intentionally vegetarian friendly; the hummus there is the best I've tasted in years; the falafel b'pita the best I've eaten outside Israel; and owner/chef Ilan Cohen is warm and engaging (and opinionated) in a prototypically Israeli way. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're ever on Florida's Jewish coast, <a href="http://falafel-bistro.com/Pages/home.html">Falafel Bistro</a> is a must visit. Now if only they'd deliver to Austin, Texas.</div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-73231155509253129662009-06-23T11:52:00.007-05:002009-07-02T14:58:28.666-05:00Restating the case for women orthodox rabbis<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><div><a href="http://www.thejc.com/articles/women-rabbis-why-ever-not">Professor Geoffrey Alderman's momentous op-ed piece</a> in last Friday's <a href="http://www.thejc.com/">Jewish Chronicle (JC)</a> seems either to have slipped under the radar or to have been brushed under the rug. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some <i>bona fides</i> for those unfamiliar with Alderman and the <a href="http://www.thejc.com/">JC</a>:</div><div><ul><li>Professor Geoffrey Alderman is a Fellow of the <a href="http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/">Royal Historical Society</a> and the <a href="http://www.thersa.org/">Royal Society of Arts</a>. He recently received an honorary second doctorate from <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a> for his work on Anglo-Jewish history, which includes his <a href="http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/British/General/?view=usa&ci=9780198207597">Modern British Jewry</a>, the first such comprehensive rejection of top-down community apologetics. He is a strictly observant Orthodox Jew.</li><li>The <a href="http://www.thejc.com/">JC</a> is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world (since 1841) and, perhaps more importantly, the unofficial mouthpiece of the <a href="http://www.boardofdeputies.org.uk/">Board of Deputies of British Jews</a> and the Orthodox <a href="http://www.theus.org.uk/">United Synagogue</a>, Britain's largest Jewish denomination and Europe's largest synagogual organization.</li></ul></div><div>In <i><a href="http://www.thejc.com/articles/women-rabbis-why-ever-not">Women rabbis? Why ever not?</a></i> Alderman goes beyond endorsing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avi_Weiss">Rabbi Avraham Weiss'</a> decision to train and ordain women rabbis, to actively encouraging the practice, even noting that today's "Orthodox prohibition on women holding positions of authority derives [not from within Tradition but] from a purely Maimonidean view, and that even while he lived Maimonides was widely regarded as a heretic." (Maimonides, of course, borrows many of his positions from outside Tradition; from the decidedly non-Jewish Aristotle, in whose scheme women are less than human.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I've spoken at length with Professor Alderman and know his diverse work well, so his response doesn't shock me in-and-of-itself. I'm glad, however, that he's gone public with it in the <a href="http://www.thejc.com/">JC</a> at a time when Modern Orthodoxy is struggling to prove its moniker meaningful. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now <i><a href="http://www.thejc.com/articles/women-rabbis-why-ever-not"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">read </span>Women rabbis? Why ever not?</a></i> for yourself.</div></span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-68962475880040947872009-06-22T11:07:00.017-05:002009-06-24T10:51:28.348-05:00Living Room Minyan<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">On Saturday evening, June, 20, the peripatetic Living Room Minyan (LRM), which comprises, in most part, 30s and 40s something couples and their children, stepped into our house for a Havdalah prayer service and pot luck.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We attended our first LRM Havdalah just three weeks ago in a nearby south Austin home and enjoyed it so much we volunteered to host. Kati takes the organizational lead on all social matters—that way, we actually have social matters!—but from what I've gathered, the group is organized by evite and tries to meet somewhere in Austin, TX at least once a month for Friday night or Havdalah services. (Once each per month would be really nice.)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some random observations:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Between the three or four families that seem to form LRM's core—all of whom are members of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><a href="http://www.caa-austin.org/">Conservative Congregation Agudas Achim</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">—the five or six that are also long-term participants, and the five or six newbies we added to the mix, there were approximately 50 attendees—roughly 28 adults and 22 kids. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">The attendees were born on at least four continents and represent a broad spectrum of Jewish socio-economic groups. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">At least two thirds of those present live in southwest, south, and east Austin, rather than the Jewish community's "traditional" heartland of north central and northwest Austin. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Judging by the noise level, mingling, empty bottle count, and comments, the adults had fun: judging by the relative harmony and the time it took us to hose down the patios, tidy the yard and playroom, and touch up a few paint chips, the young ones had a scream. (Building fun memories of Jewish gatherings is essential to their future as Jews and to our survival as a religious community.)</span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">With concerted effort, we newbies could help the LRM in its efforts to continue personalizing the somewhat less than close-knit Austin Jewish community. (That is, if that's what LRM wants to do.) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Most importantly for right now, however, having about 50 friendly, open people share Havdalah in our home was wonderfully moving—the perfect way to start a new week. Thanks everyone for coming.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Shavua Tov</i>. Have a great week.</span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-82868823748209820612009-06-17T08:41:00.004-05:002009-07-02T11:23:47.050-05:00There will be no peaceThe most eloquent indictment yet of Bibi's Bar Ilan speech comes from the pen of David Grossman: award-winning author of several fiction and non-fiction books including the stunning <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312420692">Sea Under Love</a>; outspoken peace activist (along with fellow literary giants and friends Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua); father of Uri Grossman, a 20-year-old staff sergeant killed immediately before the end of Israel's 2006 Lebanon folly. <div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093572.html">Read <i>Netanyahu's message is there will be no peace</i></a> in today's <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/">Haaretz</a>.</div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-79733943506453373072009-06-15T09:52:00.036-05:002009-07-02T17:03:26.337-05:00Giving ground without giving in<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><ul></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When it comes to Israel's future, I'm often at odds with otherwise close friends. (You know who you are and that I love you anyway.) Many are liberal in all other aspects of their lives, but fear that simply recognizing Palestinian grievances and claims to human rights risks threatening Israel’s legitimacy. They also refuse to accept, for example, that Iran’s ability to target semi-guided missiles at Tel Aviv obviates the (always specious) occupied West Bank-as-buffer argument in the same way that Syria’s ability to do the same obviates the (albeit once valid) occupied Golan-as-buffer argument.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There's no good reason to not make peace. From a materialist perspective, the Palestinian population is growing so fast that a Greater Israel will become a minority Jewish state sooner rather than later. From an idealist perspective, Jews can make no ethical sense out of occupying and persecuting another people. Now America finally has a President who treats us Zionists and/or Israelis not as impetuous children, but as mature partners, we have the opening, impetus, and support to make a just and mutually favorable peace with the Palestinians in particular and the Arabs in general.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the wake of Bibi's Bar Ilan speech, and f</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">or those among you who care, here's a quickly assembled list of "must" haves or positions I've long believed central to Israel's peace and security:</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Israel and Syria must talk immediately and with no preconditions. Israel should, however, expect to give back most of the Golan in return for normalized relations, and Syria should be ready to expel extremist organizations and stop arming radicals in southern Lebanon.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Israel must immediately and without preconditions pursue a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Today!</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jerusalem must be divided between Israel and Palestine. No messy sharing arrangements. No internationalization. This necessitates tit-for-tat border shaping, because Israel can't accept the imposition of a June 4, 1967 border that keeps Jews from our major holy places.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Palestine must comprise Gaza, Arab Jerusalem, and almost the entire West Bank. All parts of Israel’s security wall that divide Arab farms, cities, and villages, and that otherwise misappropriate land, must go. Now! If the Palestinians agree to exchange land occupied by some settlements contiguous with sovereign Israel for land of equal value contiguous with the Arab West Bank, Israel may make that exchange. All settlements not contiguous with Israel must go. No exceptions.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The USA, and only the USA, must form and lead an agency/force monitoring the borders between Israel and Palestine for at least 10 years.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Israel must guaranty anytime and any-reason passage between Gaza and the West Bank. Also Israel must not impose limits on Palestinian airspace, port traffic, or international travel and commerce.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Palestinians must renounce any hope of return to, claim to property from, and right to work in sovereign Israel, unless s/he is an Arab-Israeli citizen or the descendant of Arab-Israeli citizens. It's simple: Israel gives up for good any “religio-historical” claim to Arab land; Arabs give up the same to Israel’s.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Palestine must sign an internationally recognized and mutually binding statement of non-aggression with Israel. In return, Israel must accept Palestine's sovereign right to maintain a defensive army equipped with, for example, tanks and other heavy weaponary. (Any insistence otherwise mocks the term "sovereign.") There is, however, no reason for Palestine to develop purely offensive capabilities including, for example, long-range guided missiles. If Palestine starts building offensive capabilities, Israel has the right to protect herself by legal means.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wealthy Arab countries must help repatriate to the new Palestine those Palestinians who wish to live there. They must help nurture the Palestinian economy and help poorer Arab societies integrate Palestinian refugees who do not wish to live in Palestine. Israel must fund the integration into Israeli society of Israelis displaced from the West Bank.</span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These "must" haves are but ideas. My ideas. They are neither systematic nor complete, but I’ve long held them to be fundamental to Israel’s safe, peaceful future. I'd love to hear what you think of them, good or bad, and what your list of conditions might look like. So please let me know by commenting here, calling me in person, emailing me, or finding me on facebook or twitter.</span></div></div></span></span>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-47194756045820615572009-06-15T09:00:00.006-05:002009-07-02T17:08:35.815-05:00Meat really is madness<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Shavuah tov</i>.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kathy Freston, from whom I learned<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">—among many other things—<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">that f</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">armed animals produce 40 percent more harmful emissions than all cars, trucks, planes, trains, and ships in the world combine</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">d, has another great piece in </span></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Huffington Post</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. In </span></span><i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/shattering-the-meat-myth_b_214390.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, she reminds us</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">or perhaps informs us for the first time</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">that people aren't by nature carnivores or even omnivores, but vegetarians for whom animal products are more or less poisonous. I can't say for sure it's an article to enjoy; I can say it's a must read.</span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Remember: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Eat local. Eat organic. Eat vegan.</span></span></span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-76842605626186902712009-06-12T13:43:00.013-05:002009-06-15T10:00:27.573-05:00Friday thoughtI don't follow new movies like I did 20 years ago. But forthcoming documentary <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food, Inc.</a> has my attention. <div><br /></div><div>To learn more about <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food, Inc.</a>, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105285829">listen to NPR's Steve Inskeep interview director Robert Kenner and food author Michael Pollan</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div>They argue that huge agro-conglomerates with powerful lobbying resources "deliberately" hide the "truth" about what we eat; that the food they shill hurts us and the environment; that they</div><div><ul><li>Market food to hide how they "manufacture" it </li><li>Abuse animals, genetically alter crops, and mistreat workers</li><li>Threaten the safety of the food chain </li></ul><div>None of this is really news, but relatively few are either aware of or care about it. Hopefully <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food, Inc.</a>'s release will highlight this catastrophe in process.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eat local. Eat organic. Eat vegan.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Shabbat shalom</i>. Good shabbos. </div></div></div></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-8128590016342831362009-06-11T09:19:00.015-05:002009-07-02T17:11:05.563-05:00Three for the road<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Just spent a long weekend in an eerily quiet (and surprisingly cool) Scottsdale. The home-price meltdown there has taken a toll. Hopefully it’s a “darkest hour is just before the dawn” thing. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Three Jewish-related places/experiences of note:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><a href="http://www.thenewshul.org/index.php">The New Shul</a>—This wonderful experiment in traditional egalitarianism is maturing nicely. What Rabbis Michael Wasserman and Elana Kanter and their backers started in a nondescript rented warehouse several years ago has blossomed into a 125-family congregation with a beautiful, bright, self-owned facility. Despite its growth, the New Shul has kept its warmth, spirit, and sense of purpose. It was great to catch up with old friends; to take in the rare experience of a non-Orthodox Jewish community firing on all cylinders. I'm sad we've not yet found anything in Austin that even approximates the New Shul's vibrant intimacy. </span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><a href="http://www.thejewishcollection.com/">The Jewish Collection</a>—When Terry Epcar died a few years ago, Phoenix lost a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">mensch</span> and two great Judaica stores. But Nancy Brooks’ Jewish Collection represents a strong shopportunity. The store's stock is broad and attractively merchandised. It includes everything from Guatemalan <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">kippot</span>, through <a href="http://www.oytoys.com/URLrewrite.asp?404;http://oytoys.com:80/Sammy-Spider-p/kbp-sammy.htm&Redirected=Y">Sammy the Spider</a> stuffed toys—and, for that matter, stuffed, or <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gefilte</span>, fish—to Hebrew lettered ASU T-shirts. The store's website and ecommerce don't do it justice. But if you’re ever at the northeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard, it’s worth stopping on by.</span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/fresh-mint-scottsdale">Fresh Mint</a>—In recent trips to Scottsdale, we've eaten delightful Asian-inspired meals at Fresh Mint, a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">vaad</span>-certified Kosher-vegan restaurant. (Yes, according to some standards, it's possible to be vegan and not kosher. And no, I don't know how.) The food there is reasonably priced and wonderfully light, the "home-made" deserts are delicious, and the service is friendly and efficient</span>.</li></ul></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-32493229659142565912009-06-05T12:31:00.001-05:002009-06-05T12:33:36.029-05:00Peace Now<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(58, 75, 85); line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><i>If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends; you talk to your enemies.</i></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;color:#3A4B55;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Moshe Dayan<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;color:#3A4B55;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;color:#3A4B55;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><i>Shabbat Shalom</i>. Good Shabbos.</span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-38601006906125569932009-06-03T12:51:00.004-05:002009-06-03T13:11:04.963-05:00Another fervent Zionist calls out Bibi/Barak's settlement charadeAfter highlighting Haaretz's Monday editorial, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089479.html">Yes, Freeze Settlements</a></span>, I want to point you to Ambassador Marc Ginsberg's thorough exposure of the "natural growth" lie, and his explanation, as a "passionate Zionist," of exactly why and how an immediate freeze on ALL settlement building is essential to Israel's security.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/natural-growth-netanyahus_b_210427.html">Read Amb. Ginsburg's </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/natural-growth-netanyahus_b_210427.html">"Natural Growth": Netanyahu's Road Map to a Mid East Roadblock</a></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/natural-growth-netanyahus_b_210427.html"> here</a>.</div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-90830128726037903952009-06-03T09:26:00.014-05:002009-06-18T09:11:07.018-05:00To everything a season<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Austin's <a href="http://kolhalev.org/">Congregation Kol Halev</a>, which we attended briefly, will likely not exist in its current form past its June 21 annual general meeting. (What braniac set that meeting for Father's Day?) In 49 years of being around shuls, I've never known a 125-family congregation (what's that, 300+ people?) to collapse so suddenly. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As I process details that have dribbled out since last week, at least three things stand out:</span></div><div><ul><li>No one accepts or will even share responsibility for the collapse. Various phone, email, and snail mail communications, both official and unofficial, point fingers at others, and never at the writer or caller.<br /></li><li>While not priced as highly as some <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">shprawntzier</span> (fancier) institutions, membership was not cheap for a shul meeting in a school's general purpose room, that has no cantor, requires significant volunteering, provides no real early childhood programming, pays no movement fees, and...well you get the point. Moreover, Kol Halev maintains substantial class B+ office space and hires staff to do the work clergy does in other small congregations. Perhaps money saved on office space and employees might have paid for a modest but more permanent and welcoming sanctuary?<br /></li><li>Reading between the lines of at least one communication (sent to us as recent non-members), I sense more at play. I sense that some—including those who've now volunteered for lay leadership positions, both executive and clerical—"anticipated" Rabbi Kerry Baker's resignation and the organization's demise with a view to helping "lead a re-invented Kol Halev, if the membership so votes." So they might, let's say, rebuild in their own image.</li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Whatever the causes and ramifications, a 12-year old shul is dead or dying, and several hundred Jews now have to congregation shop in a city of 15,000+ Jews notable for its paucity of synagogue choice. In many ways, that's sad. In others, it creates the chance—the space—for new inspiration to take root, for new shoots to spring.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To everything a season; a time to every delight under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) </span></div></span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-27351523893226215552009-06-01T09:43:00.003-05:002009-06-01T13:11:30.213-05:00No more settlement activity—none!<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089479.html">Today's editorial in Haaretz</a> hits the nail on the head. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089479.html">Yes, freeze settlements</a></span> argues simply that "no more settlement activity" must mean just that: NO MORE SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY.adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-72991584326275782662009-06-01T08:30:00.009-05:002009-06-01T10:21:32.734-05:00The Living Room minyanFinally, Havdala at someone else's home in South Austin<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">—</span>thanks Natalie and David. <div><br /></div><div>With several hundred Jewish families below the lake, we long suspected there must be<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">—</span>and have sought out<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">—</span>signs of traditional/Conservative Jewish life in South Austin. Well now we know it exists in the shape of the Living Room minyan. </div><div><br /></div><div>The minyan's families live on both sides of the lake and, it seems, are drawn largely from <a href="http://www.caa-austin.org/">Congregation Agudas Achim</a>. It is child friendly and meets at least once a month for a traditional egalitarian Shabbat service or Havdala, followed by an appropriately kosher pot luck. The people we met are welcoming, warm, and engaging, and we look forward to getting together with them soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>For us, it's evidence of light at the end of the tunnel.</div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-66531113015224793182009-05-29T08:55:00.015-05:002009-05-29T13:08:44.883-05:00There they go again<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the middle ages, Christian Europe was a dangerous place for Jews. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In addition to blood libels, Crusades, forced conversions, and expulsions, the Church tried to co-opt Reason itself in the one-sided fight against the Jew. Philosophically, Augustine's slightly-less-malign anti-Semitism—Jews happen to be blind to the truth, obsessed with the body, materialistic, and legalistic—gave way to Aquinas' radically Franciscan understanding of Jews as purposefully evil—we purposefully reject the truth, we killed Jesus, and we purposefully misread the Law.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In some communities the Church required Jews to defend their Jewishness in mock trials or debates known as disputations. The most famous took place in Paris, Barcelona, and Tortosa, and their conclusions were forgone: the home team always won.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">While browsing the <a href="http://www.thejc.com/">Jewish Chronicle</a>, I happened on <a href="http://www.thejc.com/geoffreyalderman">Professor Geoffrey Alderman's weekly op-ed</a> and, having assumed disputations were history, nearly tumbled from my barstool.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Remember that I'm a left-leaning, pro-two-state solution peacenik; that I'm all too aware of some of Zionism's mistaken excesses. But also know that like Alderman I'm always a Zionist and am horrified at repeated ahistorical attempts to tie back the existence of anti-Semitism to our existence and actions as Jews. This circular argument is as fallacious and dangerous in this late modern disputation as it was in its medieval predecessors.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Anyway, enough from me, <a href="http://www.thejc.com/geoffreyalderman">read Alderman's <i>It’s not Zionism that fuels hate</i> for yourself</a>.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-47067246598289136962009-05-28T08:27:00.031-05:002009-07-02T17:22:07.579-05:00Nu, did Rabbi Norman Lamm say kaddish too soon?<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">An impromptu post to address a fresh-brewed storm in a teacup. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Full disclosure: theologically and socio-politically, I align most closely—but far from fully—with Conservative/Masorti Judaism.) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In <a href="http://forward.com/articles/106674/">Saying Kaddish Too Soon?</a>, an op-ed for <a href="http://forward.com/">The Jewish Daily Forward</a>, Professor Jonathan D. Sarna takes umbrage at this admittedly clumsy Rabbi Norman Lamm claim in <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1241773223823&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull">a Jerusalem Post interview</a>: progressive American Judaisms are in permanent decline. (A claim which, by the way, is unfortunately supported by some major studies.) Sarna largely avoids defending Conservative or Reform, and instead suggests the Yeshiva University chancellor might best tend to the challenges threatening his own American Orthodoxy, including a:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Loss of members</span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Lack of indigenous leadership</span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Exodus to Israel of its best and brightest</span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Pending right-left schism</span><br /></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;">Funding crisis</span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In his Jerusalem Post blog, <a href="http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/conservative/entry/saying_kaddish_for_conservative_judaism">Masorti Matters</a>, Israel’s Conservative leader Rabbi Andrew Sacks reacts to Lamm in a tone more shrill than Sarna's—reflecting, perhaps, undue pressures on Israel's progressive Judaisms. Like Sarna, he demurs from defending Conservative and Reform based on facts. But whereas Sarna counter attacks under the cover of an elegant straw person, Sacks swings a clumsy <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">ad hominem</span> club, bludgeoning Lamm’s "archaic language." </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Contra Sarna's rhetorical mischaracterization, there is not now, and there never has been, a monolithic American Jewish Orthodoxy, and the many orthodoxies are more vibrant and prepared for future challenges precisely because of their independence. Yes, they've been hit hard by financial crises, but so have all American Judaisms. Yes, they're struggling to find inspirational leaders, but progressive Judaisms aren't exactly producing legions of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gedolim</span>, or great ones. And yes, they are losing some members, but Reform's dry <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">minhag</span>, or tradition, hardly presents a come-hither alternative.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And contra Sacks misreading, I'm guardedly encouraged when Lamm suggests an inter-denominational dialog that avoids both "watering down" Orthodox positions and "demonizing" progressive ones. Further, I'm guardedly encouraged that he reaches out to the liberal-most periphery of modern Orthodoxy by admitting his opposition to women Orthodox rabbis is "social, not religious" and suggesting change will come. And furthermore, I'm encouraged by his stated—and, for Orthodoxy, quite radical—desire to welcome and make "comfortable" homosexuals who keep their orientation private. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Don’t expect me to endorse Lamm's positions. There is no good reason women and homosexuals should not be rabbis, just as there is no good reason homosexuals should remain closeted. But I do endorse the apparent leftward trajectory of his thinking and I insist that Sarna and Sacks’ overreactions to his claim do nothing to improve the tone of debate. In fact, they are juvenile and I expect better. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sarna, for whom I have the greatest respect, misses the opportunity to enter a dialog that might help insure all Jewish denominations against the five shared and very real threats he identifies. And Sacks—who seems, by the way, to miss Lamm’s focus on American Judaisms—bites the hand Lamm extends both to progressive Judaisms and, perhaps more importantly, to key Orthodox liberals—such as the <a href="http://www.hir.org/">Hebrew Institute of Riverdale</a>'s Rabbi Avi Weiss—as they seek to extend the boundaries of halakhic Orthodoxy to include women rabbis and open homosexuals. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Perhaps I'm enjoying one of my rare cup-half-full days, but my take on all this is simple: when someone holds out a hand in friendship, grasp first, ask questions later. Because ours is not an age of miraculous signs and wonders, and because some days it’s difficult to see a future for Jews <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">qua </span>Jews, recognized leaders like Sarna and Sacks must take every chance to reach across communal lines rather than self-indulge in ill-advised polemics.</span></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-69401391989230976842009-05-27T18:18:00.010-05:002009-05-27T20:00:09.609-05:00American Jews and Israel<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/140251/game-changer_american_jews_reaching_a_tipping_point_on_israel/?page=entire">This is a challenging article</a>, written in a challenging way, by a challenging academic. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 500; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 500; line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ira Chernus, professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, takes a more aggressive stance than I might, but we share at least this conclusion:<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> for Israel's sake</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">America's Jews must break down the sky-blue wall of silence</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: 500; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: 500; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I would say enjoy, but you don't have to. </span></span><a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/140251/game-changer_american_jews_reaching_a_tipping_point_on_israel/?page=entire"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Just read the article on AlterNet</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: 500; line-height: 17px;font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span></span></div></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-42961775702354634112009-05-26T14:31:00.030-05:002009-05-27T17:25:01.512-05:00The two-solution two-state solution<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Obama administration's attempts to encourage Israel to dismantle illegal outposts, advance peace talks with the Palestinians, and halt settlement growth in hopes of convincing Iran to suspend uranium enrichment are naive and potentially dangerous. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Consider these recent quotes from men with whom I often disagree:</span></span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Israeli former Prime Minister and current "Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that the United States must be told that Iran's nuclear program and outpost activity in the West Bank are two unrelated issues." (Haaretz, May 26, 2009)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">U.S. Secretary of State's special adviser on Iran Dennis "Ross writes that efforts to advance dialogue with Iran should not be connected to the renewal of talks between Israel and the Palestinians."</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (Haaretz, May 27, 2009)</span></span></span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">My take as a self-styled </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">chovev Shalom<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> or </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">lover of peace, who supports Obama's understanding of a two-state solution? I have to side here with Barak and Ross. While the two issues</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">a just settlement between Israel and the Palestinians and Iran's nuclear ambitions</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">are not mutually exclusive in theory, we should delineate between them sharply in practice. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yes, Israel must dismantle all illegal outposts immediately. Yes, Israel must commit fully and faithfully to peace talks with the Palestinians. And yes, Israel must suspend so-called-"natural" settlement growth during those talks. But none of these explains or justifies Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, which is based in a different set of issues: </span></span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Desire for hegemony over the Middle East and beyond</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Enmity toward the Arab world and its largely Sunni population</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Fear of western ideas and ideals and their perceived corrosive powers</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hatred for Jews both as representatives of the West and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">qua</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Jews</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The quest for peace with the Palestinians and the concomitant rejection of occupation has nothing to do with the frightened, hateful, and ahistorically maniacal ramblings of Iran's reactionary leaders. It has everything to do with our necessary alignment with normative Jewish ethics; with our necessary commitment to Hillel the Elder's formulation of the golden rule: "What is hateful to you, don't do to others." </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pashut</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, simple.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It's possible to be pro-peace and anti-occupation, while being horrified by Iran's vile polemics. It's equally possible to reshape the map in a way that establishes a viable Palestine and returns much of the Golan to Syria, while ensuring a secure, livable future for Israel. But it's not possible to accept that Iran's nuclear program is solely or even largely a reaction to Israeli aggression, because that's a transparent lie aimed at hiding Iran's regional and global ambitions behind a straw golem. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Along with many other </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">chovevi Zion</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, lovers of Zion, who are also </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">chovevi Shalom</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, I am willing to pay a very high price for peace</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">—</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">just not the ultimate one.</span></span></span></div></div></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-66832962446893074502009-05-22T11:10:00.004-05:002009-05-29T13:02:34.329-05:00Orthodox women rabbis or "rabbis"?<a href="http://forward.com/articles/106320/">A Forward follow-up on Yeshiva Maharat</a>, the planned school for women Orthodox "rabbis." Includes further insight from heavyweight academics, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Sarna">Sarna</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_Greenberg">Greenberg</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Certainly worth a read.</div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3593657924442266892.post-63570282995690884232009-05-22T08:19:00.013-05:002009-05-22T11:01:28.307-05:00What type of friend would you rather have?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Ex-Shimon Peres aide <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_Levy">Gideon Levy</a> penned a great op ed for today's <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/">Haaretz</a>. Here's a snippit: </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">"It's already clear: the U.S. president is a great friend of Israel. If Barack Obama continues what he started this week, he might prove to be the friendliest president to Israel ever. Richard Nixon saved Israel from the Arab states in 1973, and Obama is about to save Israel from itself. Nixon sent us arms and ammunition at a critical time, and Obama is sending us, at a time no less critical, the substance of a complete peace plan, a plan that would save Israel."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The type of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">friend who lets you know when you're out of line, who gently forces you to make what seem like hard choices, is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">always </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the best type to have. As Levy points out in the full piece, </span><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087110.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A Friend of Israel</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, Bush was never that type of friend</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> perhaps he w</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">as no friend at all. </span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Good Shabbos.<br /></span></div>adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204090987059278310noreply@blogger.com0