Video: Yom Ha'atzm'ut 2011

Another video from last year, this video is of Yom Ha'atzm'ut, Israel's Independence Day celebrations.

Video: Yom Yerushalayim

In going through my videos, I realized that there were two that I had not yet posted here! Shanda! The following video is from Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day, from last summer.

Videos: HUC-JIR Jerusalem Debbie Friedman Memorial Concert

On February 4, HUC-JIR Jerusalem held a memorial concert in honor of the yartzeit of Debbie Friedman. The following videos were the songs we sang at the wonderful event.

My Name is Yisra'Yisrael - He Who Will Struggle with Israel

I have not written much lately about my personal feelings about living in Israel, yet a moment today in the grocery story was completely exemplary of the Israeli mentality and how I am sincerely struggling with עמי מדינת ישראל - the people of the State of Israel. 


Judaism teaches us that we should care for one another. In fact, we at HUC have spent the last 4 days studying the idea of collective responsibility within the construct of Jewish Peoplehood. And then there's the Israeli mentality. The following series of events happened just moments ago.

• I got in line to check out in the super market.

• An Israeli woman gets in line behind me and says, "Oh, I forgot something. Hold my place in line." She leaves her cart.

• A British woman attempts to get in line behind me, getting in front of the woman who was, obviously, not there any longer. She had, indeed, been gone for a minute now. The British woman starts a conversation with me about how this behavior is improper and when the same situation happened to her just days ago in Britain, she was, understandably, allowed to take the vacant person's spot. I asked her for how long she has been in the country. She replies, "I arrived on Tuesday." I responded, knowing what would happen next, "Welcome to Israel."

• Without missing a beat, the Israeli woman comes back, and the two start arguing. The British woman explaining, "You weren't here." She goes on to tell her story of how things are different in Britain. The Israeli woman retorts, "Well, not in Israel. This is my spot."

And there it is. I was here, and my cart was my marker. This is my spot, even though I'm not here. It may not be the courteous thing to do, it may not be the compassionate thing to do, it may not even be the Jewish thing to do. But this is Israel. And my forward movement in line is the only thing of importance.


Shortly thereafter, though, I was walking home and feeling pretty upset about how disconnected my sense of Judaism and Jewish practice and how those integrate to the person I am was to what I have seen over the last 10 months (wow, it's been 10 months) in this country that should be the ideal Jewish homeland. Instead, as I was walking up the stairs, carrying some heavy bags filled with recently purchased groceries, our neighbor, an elderly Russian gentleman who is also our handyman, sees me. I say hello and wish him Shabbat Shalom. "Good boy," he says like a proud parent, and flexes his muscles relating to my task of carrying the bags up the stairs. 


There are courteous, compassionate, Jewish acting individuals in this country. I think I just need to spend more time finding them and forgetting the others.

Mandel Colloquium Day 3

Today's theme was about the responsibility of Jewish Peoplehood.

The morning started with a service that was wonderfully led by Ziggy and Vlad. 

Then, we broke up into our Mabat groups for some text study.

• Exodus 23:1-9
• Main ideas: don't pervert justice, but don't favor the poor. If an ox goes astray, it is your obligation to bring it back to its owner. Don't oppress the stranger, for we were strangers.
• Our level of obligation to community is based on connection to the community, not feelings towards whomever's property is affected.
• Text explains biblical limits of shared responsibility
• Deut. 22:1-4
• Parallel text with further expansion
• Take care of your brother's lost stuff; also means you accept the burdens that come from your brothers - Biblical obligation to house sit
• Common refrain in the text: addressing the idea of "not my problem." 
• Mishnah Bava Metzia Chapter 2
• These are things of "finder's keepers" and what items must be declared
• Adds concept that lost items can belong to someone
• Fidelity between Mishnah and Bible - obligation to take care of items
• Either it belongs to you, or you take care of it
• Raises the bar in terms of a personal sense of responsibility
• If you can't ignore taking care of the physical items, what about the intangible/personal items?

Stuart Saffer:

• Carlebach was very inspirational for Soviet Jewry.
• Jews congregated in the streets instead of synagogue; fear of informants to KGB
• Meeting with Pavel
• Literal photo copied hagadah
• The fear of being sent back to UK was the Jewish community's dream
• Meeting with Pyotr
• How do we rescue the community? Marry them to foreigners. Are you prepared to get married?
• To what extent do we go out on a limb in order to help someone?
• Meeting with Zinony
• How do we take the whole world of Progressive Judaism to Soviet Jews?
• "We have to meet people where they are at" - Important aspect of Jewish Peoplehood

After a quick lunch break, we met up with representatives from and our classmates going to our respective campuses. I had a great meeting with my LA cohorts. I learned a ton and I am now even more excited to come back to Los Angeles and continue my studies at the LA campus.

Then we had a panel featuring travel specialists talking about Peoplehood "practices"

• This morning, we heard about "rescue." This afternoon, we'll discuss ways in which we can positively express our commitments to the Jewish People in a variety of different means.

This was followed by a discussion where we tried to the pieces and thoughts of the past few days together. Of course, we only discussed more questions. Looking back at the questions from the first day, I thought about if lines within Jewish People were necessary, and whether the fences that different communities establish help or hinder the Jewish Peoplehood in general. 

Finally, we had some students compartmentalize the past few days and how we can express belonging to the Jewish People.

This week has been a phenomenal exploration of the Jewish People and what Peoplehood really means. 

Mandel Colloquium Day 2

Today's theme was Jewish Peoplehood through the lens of various movements.

The morning started with a talk from the Rabbi Dow Marmur.

• Triangular Judaism: faith, people, land (this is a description, not a definition)
• Interaction between the sides are ideal, but most run to a corner.
• Faith - usually religious people
• People - Seculars
• Land - As a source of culture
• To understand Judaism, need to understand Jewish Peoplehood
• How have we evolved from Hebrews?
• Late 19th Century view: America is the promised land.
• Platforms in Reform Movement were developed due to lack of (and rejection of) halachah
• Pittsburg Platform from 1885 - Israel has no purpose for us.
• Columbus in 1930s - Change to Israel as cultural center, added dynamic dimension of peoplehood.
• Hirsch - reconciling Leo Baeck telling him that he was not a Zionist.
• Centenary perspective - language cited as first in binding of our ethic group; responsibility in building Israel
• Patrilineal descent - Who is a Jew? Post-halachic movement. Against a narrow definition of halachah, but we still need rules. Widens the scope of who is a Jew.
• 1999 platform - Encourage Aliyah (moving to Israel), inclusive community.
• Reform Judaism opens as many doors as possible to ever-present God.
• Israel secularism embraces triangle Judaism
• Israeli demographics: +50% identify as secular; 80% of those believe in God
• Land & people are essential, but faith is part of the psyche
• "I don't serve the Anglo-Jewish community. I serve the Jewish people."

Then we watched a film on perspectives on Jewish Peoplehood featuring interviews from people across denominations.

Of course, then we processed, which brought up more questions: what makes a people? We also talked about some of the common threads from the interviews, such as the limits of the Jewish people, self-identification, and the struggle with the terms "peoplehood," "mitzvah," and "halachah." One woman said something that really struck me: we can find unity in the Jewish calendar, even if our observance is different.

After lunch, we had a panel discussion with the three stateside heads of the Rabbinic programs (again, no names, just locations).

LA:

• I've never thought of the term "Jewish Peoplehood" as two separate entities; they have always been intertwined. We bring Judaism into being on a daily basis and in tern, the Jewish culture around us shapes us as Jews. 
• In engaging in this Brit with God, we have a commitment to God and each other.
• No trouble loving Judaism and the Jewish people in the concept, but there are some Jewish people and some aspects of Judaism that trouble me. This is just part of living in a collective.
• Once you establish a community, need to recognize that some people may disturb you.
• Every Jewish community at its best should be a microcosm of k'lal yisrael - being a community that's part of a greater community. 
• This feeds into our vision of membership, and as a community, we must establish how we will live out our values.
• Not good to have prophetic education; we cannot know what Judaism will look like 100-200 years from now. Instead of being responsible for that Judaism, we should shape those who will shape it.
• HUC teaches modeling leadership and k'lal yisrael as a way of addressing the ever-changing Jewish Peoplehood
• The communal obligation is to make God manifest in the world and make the world the way we imagine it.

NY:

• Even growing up in NFTY, we had a gut feeling obligation to tikkun olam and peoplehood.
• Gained a greater sense of Jewish diversity spending time on Kibbutz Yahel.
• How do we engage in a conversation where spirituality is hot and God is not?
• The Jewish heritage mission is to build a better world.

Cinci:

• This will be the last time that we will all be together (students with directors) until placement. 
• When I was here, it was after the Yom Kippur war, so we had to sit guard duty. Instead of weapons, we were given a flashlight, an air horn, and a token to call for help.
• You're hearing a lot of theories this week. Your job is now to take those theories and make something with them.
• What is HUC for the future: Whatever HUC's curriculum is today, it's not what it was 3-5-10 years ago, and is not what it will be 3-5-10 years from now. 
• The synagogues of today are nothing like the synagogues of your parents, and your synagogues in which you will serve will look nothing like the synagogues in which you grew up.
• Peoplehood is a completely different experience today than what it will be when you serve communities. 
• Membership, participation, and leadership will all be different.
• "What you put into your own life will come into your own."

After an afternoon break, we came back together in the evening to enjoy the comedic story of Yisrael Campbell. He talked about his story, how he found Judaism, his two conversions, and his connection to Rabbi Jim Kaufman z"l (one of my camp mentors) and Marla Bennett, a student from San Diego who was murdered in a Hebrew University bombing. His story was incredibly touching and really funny. If you find him on YouTube, you won't be disappointed.

Mandel Colloquium Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of our mid-year colloquium. This event, as well as many others throughout the year, are sponsored by the Mandel Initiative. Below are my notes from our first day of talks, discussions, and speakers. It was an incredible day, if not one of the best days of learning I have experienced this year. I can't wait for the rest of this week's discussions!

The morning started with a talk from the Dean of HUC-JIR Jerusalem, Rabbi Na'ama Kelman.

• New word in the Hebrew language: עמיות (amiyut) - meaning, "peoplehood"
• Why was the Torah given outside of Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel? If it had been given in Israel, where would it have been given? Jerusalem? Beit El? Ramla?
• Difficult to use analogy of Israel (both the people and land) as a family considering modern families.
• Big question for this week: what is the glue that holds us all together?

We next heard from Dr. Sara Lee (no, not that one), the overall coordinator of the Mandel Initiative for HUC-JIR.

• Mandel's purpose: expand the student's Israel identity through our opening and closing programs, this colloquium, our study tiyulim (trips), the Israel seminar (once weekly class), and our Mabat inquiry groups (once monthly discussion groups).

Our first discussion session was about our sense of Jewish Peoplehood. 

• We were asked, "In what ways do I see myself as belonging to the Jewish People? What implications does this sense of belonging have to how I live my life? What experiences have I had that have strengthened or challenged my sense of connection to diversity of the Jewish People?" 
• In my answers, I talked about how I was born into a Jewish family and have always been engaged in the practices of the Jewish People, therefore, I also have an obligation to live a Jewish life and educate others on the possibilities of Jewish life. When it comes to experiences that have challenged my sense of connection to diversity of the Jewish People, I discussed two examples where I have felt like a complete outsider (I won't go into the details in this forum) and how these experiences taught me the importance and power of the inclusion/exclusion dynamic. 
• One of my classmates talked about a Facebook group called "Jews By Association." We had a good chuckle, then thought about the implications of that group.
• One of my classmates, who I'll only identify by initials, said, "Somehow, we are all under the same umbrella," and yet, "somehow, we are all part of a Jewish peoplehood." -EM
• We left the discussion asking ourselves what questions we would like to address throughout the colloquium. My questions were, "What makes our Peoplehood 'Jewish?'" and further, "Where are the lines of definition for Jewish Peoplehood?"

Our next speaker was probably one of the best speakers I've ever seen - Avram Infeld. I have a lot of notes, because he was just incredible.

• When he was growing up, the mantras and slogans of Jewish identity, specifically the non-religious messages, were music to his ears.
• "I am an Athiest, baruch hashes (praise God)." -His Dad
• "You're a Jewish youngster, there's a Jewish state. Goodbye!" -His Dad encouraging him to make Aliyah
• And as if he pulled it straight out of the famous George Carlin bit, "Judaism is not a religion! Look, nothing happened."
• "I know this because my father told me so."
• About the Jews: "We're not normal!"
• The two most important dates in Jewish existence: The giving of Torah at Sinai and the beginning of Emancipation. The former because it began Jewish uniformity, and the latter because it shattered that uniformity.
• "We are in the situation we are in today because different Jews responded differently to the offer to stop being different (after Emancipation)." Four responses:
• 1) Stop being different? No! Modernity frightens me, so I'm going deeper into my ghetto. Rejection of emaciation. (Think Haredim, broadly speaking)
• 2) Opposite reaction: The Messiah isn't coming. We're not waiting any longer. Solution to the Jewish problem is to stop being Jewish. Embrace emancipation.
• 3) Become just like them (the surrounding, non-Jewish communities) except in religion only. Judaism is only a faith. This is the point of creation of religious denominations.
• 4) I've tried to assimilate but have not been accepted. Therefore, since I can't be you, I will be like you. Be Jewish by being a modern nationalist. This is the beginning of Zionism.
• Thus, this marks the end of uniformity amongst the Jewish people.
• "Is it possible to be unified without being uniform? Not answering 'Yes' is more dangerous than the Iranian bomb."
• In talking about a conversation between a Jewish American and an Israeli when discussing Birkat Hamazon: American - "I said the Birkat because I'm Jewish." Israel - "Yes, but I understood it because I'm Jewish." Two sides to the same coin.
• "There is no right of religion to have a state." Except the Vatican, and we are not willing to accept that option.
• Nationalist mentality: Diaspora Jewry can make Aliyah, succumb to Anti-semitism, or assimilate - this is a nationalist approach, but not peoplehood.
• He tries to build a table with 5 legs. It's very sturdy. And if each person attaches to only 3, we may not be uniform, but we will be unified as a Jewish Peoplehood.
• 1) Jewish memory. Jews don't have history, they have memory (as he defined it, memory asks "who am I in light of our past?"). A Jew is forbidden to suffer from amnesia. If you cannot dream, you cannot develop a sense of future; and dreaming is a function and development from memory.
• 2) Family. Whose memory are we talking about? Not believing in Christ doesn't make a religion. We are family. How do we know? We're always fighting! Can't be converted, only adopted. Purpose is to become part of family. Don't remind a child that they were adopted, so don't remind a convert of their status. How to become a Jew? You are born or adopted in. A "Converted Jew" is someone who opts-out, but they don't actually leave the family.
• 3) Sinai. The giving of Torah at Sinai (which is an open ended place) is our earliest memory. When we left Egypt, we first visited Sinai. We are committed to be the witness that there is a God. This means that we are human, we are limited. Commitment to tikkun loam (repairing the world). Sanctity in Judaism demands human involvement.
• 4a) Land of Israel. Every square inch is the warehouse of Jewish memory. 
• 4b) State of Israel. Because of the state, there is no such thing as a Jewish refugee anymore.
• 5) Hebrew Language. What does it mean if God doesn't understand English or French or any other vernacular language? Does that mean that God is stupid? All people do important things in the language of their culture: Yiddish, Ladino, etc. In Hebrew, you don't "fall" in love, the word is להתאהב (L'hitaheiv) - which is reflexive - there is give and take. To "fall" in love is a Christian idea because of the original sin. We are not a "charitable people," we engage in tzedakah - righteousness.
• These are the 5 legs of Jewish peoplehood. What can you do to leave room for these 5 legs?

Clearly, this talk gave us a lot to talk about, so we had a session to process. And it led me to a lot of questions:

• If we're a family, who do we complain to / go to when issues arise?
• If Judaism is not a religion, to what end do we engage in rituals? And further, what, then, is a definition of "religion?"
• (note, not a question) You can be a better or worse Jew, but not more or less Jewish. You just are or are not.
• Are Jewish Peoplehood and Jewish religious practice two separate identities/questions/entities?
• What happens when you don't know or have a leg? Does the table fall?

Next, we heard from Steven Israel.

• The previous slogan for Jewish Peoplehood was Jewish Continuity.
• We need more than a Jewish survivalist instinct. Memory is necessary, but guilt trips and the holocaust cannot be the sole reason to go forward as a Jewish people.
• עם Am - means more than "people," means "collective." Collective aspect is the most important part in the Jewish story.
• Being Jewish is more about the "we" than the "I." Judaism is about the "I" in relation to the bigger we (being Nation/People/God/Community/etc.)
• Story as a Jewish people starts with Abraham. It is noted that his future will be different (as many as the stars in the sky…). In the Copper era, cynical time doesn't move forward; stories just go back to the beginning. Lech L'cha is a more linear story with purposeful movement into a better future with an ethical God.
• The story doesn't matter; the tradition is what's important. It is the foundation story of who we are.
• Prophets envisioned what a better future would look like.
• Rabbis tried to write a guide for how to make this better world happen.
• We are part of a tradition with moral obligations.
• People must behave as if they were and are created b'tzelem elohim, in the image of God.
• Better pitch from synagogues: Come because we have stuff to do. We are a doing people, not just a nice time.

It was an incredible day filled with wonderful, thought provoking speakers. It was the closest thing to being at Biennial that we could have received here in Israel.