Occupy Haagen Dazs?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Two weeks ago, the Israel Rabbinate ruled that Haagen Dazs ice cream is no longer kosher. The reason: Haagen Dazs is made with real milk processed by non-Jews.  And while this may be kosher enough for the Orthodox Union (OU) which provides Haagen Dazs’ with its kashrut certification, it’s not sufficient for the Israel Rabbinate.

This is not the first time the Rabbinate has clashed with Diaspora rabbis in recent history .

In 2006, my wife, Michele Chabin, broke the story in the New York Jewish Week that the Israel Rabbinate would no longer automatically recognize Orthodox conversions from the Diaspora.  The Rabbinate demanded that Orthodox rabbis in the Diaspora prove that they and their conversions met the criteria and standards set by the Rabbinate.  This unilateral decision, which took the Orthodox rabbis by surprise, meant that even those rabbis ordained by the most prestigious Orthodox institutions and respected in their communities, now needed the Israeli Rabbinate’s approval.

Two years later, after a series of frustrating negotiations, between the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and the Israeli Rabbinate, an arrangement was finally worked out which stipulated that  only those Orthodox conversions in the Diaspora that receive the official approval of  the Bet Din of America will be recognized by the Israel Rabbinate.  Furthermore, only those Diaspora rabbis on the Israel Rabbinate’s ‘short list’ would be authorized to do conversions. Those who were not could find their conversions disqualified by the Chief Rabbinate in Israel  – even retroactively – unless they could prove that their conversions met the standards set by the Rabbinate!

Why does this matter?  Because the Rabbinate is afraid that these Orthodox converts or their children will eventually come to,  and possibly seek to get married in, Israel — a very likely possibility.  And how can they possibly endorse a marriage when the bride or groom may not be Jewish according to their standards? (Remember, the Rabbinate has sole authority over Jewish weddings and divorces).

So, the Orthodox rabbis in the Diaspora gave the Israel Rabbinate the keys to the kingdom.

Not everybody has been happy with this arrangement.   Even in Israel, the number of “dati” couples who turn to Itim and Tzohar – organizations that provide religious services and support outside the Rabbinate – is on the rise.  Today, in 2012, imposition of Israel Rabbinate standards on Diaspora communities, which the Rabbinate called “leShem Shamayim” – for the sake of heaven, has alienated a significant Jewish population and fragmented a global Jewish community that just cannot afford to be divided.

So what will be the Diaspora rabbis’ response to this ice cream freeze-out? Fight?  Give in?  Wait for the Israel Rabbinate to force its decision on Jewish communities around the world?  Occupy Haagen Dazs?

Talmudic tradition shows that these Israel/Diaspora rabbi wars go quite far back, and offers the following sound byte which seems aptly ironic:

אמר רבי אלעזר אמר רבי חנינא: תלמידי חכמים מרבים שלום בעולם, שנאמר כל בניך למודי ה’ ורב שלום בניך, אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך. שלום רב לאהבי תורתך ואין למו מכשול; יהי שלום בחילך שלוה בארמנותיך; למען אחי ורעי אדברה נא שלום בך למען בית ה’ אלהינו אבקשה טוב לך;ה’ עז לעמו יתן ה’ יברך את עמו בשלום. (ברכות סד:א).

Rabbi Elazar said “Disciples of the Sages increase the peace in the world. As it says ‘All your children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children [banayikh].  Do not read banayikh but bonayikh  [your builders]” – namely, rabbis.  (Berakhot 64a)

The Rabbi Elazar quoted here is Elazar ben Pedat, a Diaspora scholar who moved to Israel.  At first, his Diaspora behavior did not find favor among his colleagues in Tiberias, but he gained their respect and eventually became the head of the academy there.

Perhaps one day the Israel Rabbinate  will recognize that the their  Diaspora colleagues are no less learned than they are — maybe even in our generation —  and are responding legitimately and halakhically to a need the Israel Rabbinate just cannot appreciate.

From Ponevezh To Oslo

Recently, a team of Korean journalists visited the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Jerusalem to see the how Jews study Talmud.  Even for Israel, this was strange photo op -  a  group of Koreans, fully rigged out with a TV cameras,  winding their way through a crowded beit midrash filled with animated yeshiva bochrim shouting, gesturing and doing what they generally do in a beit midrash: learning.  Why were they so interested?  Well, it seems that Asians are impressed by the high achievements made by Jews thoguhout the world.  How, they wonder, could such a relative minority of the world population have captured a majority of the world’s accolades?  The disproportionate number of Nobel prizes won by Jews makes them look for the secret of our wisdom and success.   The answer, they believe, lies in one thing: Talmud.  So they came to observe and learn.

It reminds me of the novel from several years ago titled Fugu Plan, a fictionalized account of how the Japanese, believing in the authenticity of The protocols of the Elders of Zion, planned to invite Jews to settle in their country.  It sounds almost racist, but it isn’t.  Because, while the answer might not be found in the books known as Talmud, it can be found in Talmud.

Let me explain.

Most of us identify Talmud as those big books that are warping wood shelves in bookcases in  Jewish homes around the world.  But it’s not the book.   In fact, Talmud wasn’t supposed to be a book.  It isn’t even a noun.  Talmud means learning or studying —  the first part of the phrase Talmud Torah – the careful study of Torah.

Talmud is a scientific method of understanding the underlying message of the Torah, finding the universal meaning (Tao?) that makes it relevant in every generation and applicable to any situation.

Talmud was built on the ashes of the 2^nd Temple.  While nations were erecting imposing cathedrals and soaring spires in immutable stone, Talmudists (that is, practitioners of Talmudic method) were creating a consciousness, a system of inquiry and analysis or a way of seeing the world that enabled generations of Jews to thrive and succeed where other cultures failed.

This method enabled generations  of great minds to soar like eagles while others were plodding along on the ground.  No wonder the Mishnah in Avot says “Turn it and turn it again, because everything is in it.” – הפך בה והפך בה דכולה בה

Talmud is both a mosaic and a web – it covers everything.  If you really study it well, you can see how it works as an integrated whole, and you will cover everything that can  be covered.  And while for Jews it is the ultimate form of worship, as Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz terms it, it is also a method for sharpening the mind as it seeks out the one truth that underlies all.

So who knows?  Maybe you really can get to Oslo from Ponevezh?

Abraham’s Tent

Tomorrow, January 5^th,  marks the Tenth of Tevet, a dawn-to-nightfall fast day commemorating the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in the first temple period (586 BCE).  As with other fast days during the year, more than one historical tragedy has come to be associated with the Tenth of Tevet.  And in Israel, the Chief Rabbinate has also declared this fast as a day of “Kaddish” (prayer for the souls) for victims of the Shoah, the Holocaust.  This is the religious counterpart to the national memorial day – Yom Hashoah – that takes place in Israel after Pesach.

The word “Shoah” is a verbal flashpoint here in Israel, where the wounds of war are still fresh and our collective memory continues to reinforce our outrage against the misuse of Holocaust-related symbols..  The swastika, used by anti-Zionist  propagandists makes our blood boil, while the yellow star and concentration camp uniform have gained special status in the minds of Israelis (I even heard former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau’s son refer to these items as “sacred items”) That’s why, when Haredi Jews wore these symbols at a protest on Saturday night, and dressed their children in these symbols, the media went into an uproar.

First, let’s understand that the protest itself was a rally on behalf of a member of the Haredi community who was sentenced for burning a neighborhood store that sold MP4 players.  It was presented as a general protest against what they see as a spiritual Shoah aimed at them.  They could easily have used the word “pogrom” but the star and the prison uniforms were chosen because they knew it would get the media’s attention.   Was it blatant manipulation?  Yes.  Did it get people angry? Yes. Did it make its point?

I don’t think so.  And the reason why is not because I think of the star as sacred.  Although I am the child of survivors, I find the use of this particular symbol in this case more puzzling than offensive.   (I will talk about my Shoah memories in the next blog)

For me, the yellow star represents the Nazis declaring to all Jews who believed they were like everyone else that they will never be allowed to “pass.”  They cannot sit on public park benches, ride the buses  go to movies, get jobs or be with everyone else.   They would never be like everyone else.  A people apart. Period.

It was a sign of rejection of the Jew who just wanted to be like everyone else.

In the Haredi community, the rejection is self-imposed. The clothes they wear, the stringent dietary rules, the rejection of such things as Israel Independence Day (and Yom Hashoah) are all symbols of that rejection.  But The Shoah was the trauma of our parents’ generation – and  ours as well, and wearing the yellow star not only trivializes this trauma, but also does nothing to convey feelings of spiritual repression the Haredi community want us to understand.

We are taught that we should guard our tongues from speaking evil and the Mishnah in Avot tells us to be followers of Aaron – loving peace and pursuing it.  Therefore, I do not condemn the Haredim for wanting to tell us how they feel.  Nor can I condemn those who complained of their exploitation of Shoah icons for explaining how they feel, even though it’s been done before by secular and religious alike.  These are the first steps towards building understanding.  What I do condemn is the atmosphere that is developing here.  As children of Avraham we would do well to remember the Midrash that describes the tent he kept open on all four sides so that it would be accessible to passers-by. . We would also do well to remember the Midrash that describes how , when he left Haran for Canaan, he took with him an entourage of followers whom he influenced by the simple act of inviting them in (not by imposing his standards on the people who did not enter or abusing them if they did not adopt them).   Haredi, religious, secular all have contributed to Israeli society and to the Jewish people without losing their own identity.  All of us have more to offer together than separately.  The tzibbur (community) is all of us.  Let’s not separate ourselves – or others – from it.  .

From Midat Hasid to Midat S’dom

In about an hour, thousands of people will converge on Beit Shemesh to protest the behavior of certain self-styled Haredim who have been polarizing the community.  They and their fellow fanatics have recently dominated the headlines in the Israeli media these last few weeks by their misogynist actions, such as erecting  mehitzot (dividers) on sidewalks to separate men and women pedestrians or holding up buses when women refuse to sit in the back.  But the big rallying point that made all the media happened last week when on of the men spit on an eight year-old Orthodox girl going to her religious girls’ school in Beit Shemesh.

Now, I live in the Ba’aka neighborhood of Jerusalem where my two nine year old boys attend the religious school across the street.  I don’t worry about them being harassed.  But I do worry about is that these intolerant ignorami have successfully Talibanized Judaism.  Not only are the Haredi religious leaders themselves afraid to voice opposition but even our own chief rabbinate is staying silent.

It reminds me of the story cited by Rabbi Yochanan in Masechet Gittin (54b). Rabbi Yochanan explains that the second temple was destroyed on account of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza  (You can read the story in Wikipedia by clicking here ).  And while ultimately Rabbi Yochanan lays the blame on an overly pious Rabbi Zacharia ben Avkolus who refused to accept the less radical solutions of the majority of rabbis regarding Ceasar’s tainted sacrifice, thereal blame rests on the rabbis and scholars who were at the party where Bar Kamtza was humiliated and remained silent.

Today, in Beit Shemesh, and in other places in Israel, we have examples of both parts of the tale.  First, we have a fanatical minority  imposing its standards on a majority afraid to act in its defense.  And each victory brings increasing demands, each one more outrageous than the last.  Meanwhile, we wait for the religious leaders to do something to stop it — which they haven’t. (Notwithstanding the defensive statement of Beit Shemesh Haredim released earlier distancing itself from these violent acts but blaming the media, we have nothing official from that community or any other religious community).    In fact, just this week, a neighborhood synagogue which prides itself on its open, modern Orthodox image announced it was hosting a Hanukah puppet show for young children stipulating that only mothers could attend — no fathers welcome.   It’s as if our leaders are afraid of what the fanatic minority will do to them!

Meanwhile, a popular video interview with one of the Beit Shemesh fanatics  has gone viral.  In it, the man explains that it is right and proper to spit on little girls who fo not comply with his community’s standards.  The bar is rising with nobody to keep it at an attainable level.

The Mishnah in Avot states that one who says  ”What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine” is evil.   Those who cloak their coercion in the guise of piety and force their standards on others are doing just that.  But more importantly, the Mishnah also tells us that  one who says “What’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine” is a Sodom type.   If we do nothing to stop this we are the Sodom type.

The same can be said of silent Rabbinic leaders.

Let’s not be like that.  Let’s be like the one in the Mishnah who says”What’s mine is yours and what’s your is yours.”  The Mishnah calls him a “hasid” — pious and generous.  Let’s be like that.  Let’s give our strength and support  whichever way we can, to the ones who are victimized by this kind of antisocial behavior.

I invite you to see the my wife, Michele Chabin’s related post on her wHoLy Jerusalem  blog.

Why not a Holocaust Seder?

Today, I gave a student of mine a little pamphlet I received a number of years ago called “Megillat HaShoah” The Holocaust Megillah. I explained to her how uncomfortable I am about the ritualization of something that is so personal — almost all my uncles, aunts, cousins and two grandparents from Trochenbrod/Lozhist and Luck (Lutzk) were killed in the Shoah. My parents barely made it out alive, staying one step ahead of the Nazis for the better part of the war.

Yet, as I read the posts today from othe people, and as I was confronted by my own 2 small children with questions about the Shoah, I realized that maybe there is something to ritualizing the memory of the Shoah.

But I would suggest another route.

I think we should take our ritual cues from the Passover seder. The entire seder is built around explaining to kids the history and the significance of slavery and the freedom that came after so many years of suffering. We ritually re-enact our slavery and we celebrate our liberation (We even spill a little wine in respect for the suffering of the Egyptians, though I don’t think I can do this just yet.)

Perhaps we need a Holocaust “seder” — a formal setting where we allow the children to ask the questions, and provide them with the answers — there are plenty of answers for every type of question from every type of child, including the one who doesn’t know how to ask.
Lest you think I am being cavalier about all this, remember that there is a Midrash that recounts how 80% of the Hebrew population died in Egypt before the Exodus — that’s four out of five! Yet we celebrate Passover as a national holiday. By the same token, we shouldn’t forget that in Israel the commemoration s called Yom Hashoah veHagevurah — Holocaust and Empowerment day. Every time I put on Tefillin, turn on the radio, learn with my kids or just walk the streets of Jerusalem I see the Jewish people overcoming the Nazi terror, going through the crucible and emerging, refined.

How do I explain the Holocaust to my kids? The same way as I do the Passover exodus. We were slaves. Now we are free. Do we become like our oppressors or do we rise above them?

Let’s go  learn.

The Three Weeks — Jews Just Don’t Wanna Have Fun (preface)

Dani Sanderson — \”Just Me & My Surfboard\” — What if there were no \’bein hametzorim\’?

Introduction

A religious act or observance is a juncture of law, custom and superstition. It’s also an expression of belief in a system that is, at its heart, irrational.  We can’t tolerate the irrational, so we come up with rationales that give it meaning.  This is a process that has been repeated throughout religious history.

The observance of three weeks, too,  has its roots in law, custom and superstition.  The true measure of its validity is how reflects a value that is worthy of our belief.

Summer for many of us has become a time of escape and relaxation.  The sun is out, it’s either too hot or too nice to work, the kids are off from school, so let’s take it easy.  Let’s have some fun. Hofesh hagadol.    in Jewish tradition, we approach summer with a sense of impending dread.  The 3 weeks – bein hametzorim (between the straits).  Don’t start any new project, don’t get into dealings with non-Jews, don’t get a haircut, don’t dress up, etc. In this 3-part article we will look at the story behind this season, not only the do’s and don’ts (and there are a lot of those), but also some of the thinking that went into it and still applies. We’ll also examine how it fits into our outlook on life, on our shared history and nationality, and ultimately our common purpose in all our calendar years.

RAMBAM, and later Mishnah Brurah talk about fast days.  In Hilchot Ta’aniyot (The laws of Fasts) RAMBAM writes that we fast because it open us to teshuuvah –repentance. The Mishnah B’rurah in (549:1) goes on to say that without teshuvah, fasting is meaningless.

Why, then, do we fast on specific days? What’s so special about fasting for Gedaliah – what did Gedaliah ever do for us? If Teshuvah is so important we should fast all the

The answer is that fasting on specific days has a collective dimension.  Fasting all the time would be extreme. Much as we moderate our joy so too we have to moderate our sadness.    A shared opportunity, however, is an educational moment, whose collective experience not only bonds us through our shared history buts also guides and supports us as we work towards a common goal.  When that opportunity arises, how can we not take advantage of it!

The season provides us with a mnemonic for peoplehood.  Judaism is, after all, a collective experience.  It is built on the principle of mutuality and shared experience.  These three weeks represent that experience for us.

Next: The Three Weeks — Part 1

Navigating the Sea of Talmud

“I’m gonna rise above and go below,
ride with the tide and go with the flow”
(Inez and Charlie Foxx, covered by James Taylor and Carly Simon)

Years ago, my response to the question “What is Talmud” would have been to point to the bookcase and say “See those 20 huge volumes of text which are bending that shelf out of shape? That’s Talmud.”

Wrongo!

The real answer is to point my finger at you and say “You are.” Or rather, “Your question is.”

See, Talmud is not written. It’s an ongoing conversation that traditionally started at Sinai (& probably even earlier) and is refreshed with every added contribution. It’s a trickle that grew into a creek that became a river which flowed into a bay and is now an ocean. It’s the proverbial body of water you can’t step into twice, because it changes – and we change—every time we enter.

It’s not a book. We have only one “book” and that is the “Written Torah”. Had history been otherwise, Talmud may have remained oral. It’s only persecutions and the fear of knowledge being lost that our sages tried to record the oral traditions.

It’s not a book it’s a process.

Click on the graphic above and you’ll see how far back Talmud goes and how far it’s come. Where will it take you? I don’t know. Just jump in and go with the flow.

But make sure you find a swimming buddy.

 

 

ABSOLUT TALMUD

Thanks to Evan Winiker of Steel Train fame who showed me Talmud’s creative possibilities.

Talmud is a verb, not a noun.  It’s not Gemara.  Gemara denotes finality, a closed book.  We are Talmud, a living conversation, a flow of ideas that began thousands of years ago and will probably continue thousands of years into the future.

In this sense, Talmud is the original “open-source” platform.

You who are here will have the opportunity to direct that flow.

We will start with classic scenarios, Mishnaic sources, original conversations as our starting point and moving onward after taking aclose look at what the discussions were all about.  We will try to understand the people who took part in these conversations, “get into their heads” and learn to see the world through their eyes.  They will accompany us on our journey, as will many others, as we make this journey.

So hop on board and prepare for a refreshing journey into the sea of Talmud.

Got Tamud? You bet you do!