tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23824340946423308712024-02-20T08:20:10.155-08:00Jihadi JewThis blog is a space for me to share my struggle, the struggle to be a good Jew and a good person. It is virtually never about politics and always about faith. The root meaning of "Jihad" is to "struggle" to strive against ones own negativity in the pursuit of spiritual mastery and submission to the One true G-d, Hashem, Allah (swt).
The following video explains the choice of name. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP1x6TtYjmE
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-40702377541731144532020-08-04T10:06:00.010-07:002020-08-04T10:26:34.107-07:00Why the Selfies?<div><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; width: auto;" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQdVU7vXD9mhPzn-IgcCRSOruHSn2FxXTVcxjZS7VFSG7_Tco3nB4hebAMTS2Rip9Ar1O7MYovVdpk0iaPfWMybyLVq3zI9M7ySGQWtl1_Cqk0hx9d8psxBAz3YCqZc3WyijBZHfBXig/s960/me+again.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQdVU7vXD9mhPzn-IgcCRSOruHSn2FxXTVcxjZS7VFSG7_Tco3nB4hebAMTS2Rip9Ar1O7MYovVdpk0iaPfWMybyLVq3zI9M7ySGQWtl1_Cqk0hx9d8psxBAz3YCqZc3WyijBZHfBXig/s640/me+again.jpg" /></a></div><div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">Why the selfies?</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span; font-size: 14px;">As you have no doubt noticed, I am not particularly handsome. I am not a brilliant photographer. I am not a celebrity. Not a star. No one special in the great scheme of things.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">I decided a few years ago to share myself on social media in the areas where I am a little exceptional. I am an observant Jew who is more open to other kinds of people than most observant Jews. That is interesting. Nowadays I write poetry. I like to share little comments about the world and snippets of wisdom or thoughts that come to my hand. I have something to share, I think.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span font-size: 14px;">If you were my neighbor. You would see me taking down my garbage cans. You would see that I dress funny. Sometimes I dress very traditionally Jewish, sometimes kind of Moroccan and I wear lots of different kinds of hats. You would see books in my hand, Torah books, books of Sufi poetry, all sorts of books. You would see my ever-present phone and computer.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span s; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">I would be a person among all the people you know. We are not static photographs in each other's minds. I am not fixed forever in my neighbor's mind dressed in my Shabbat robes. He has also seen me in my jeans. We are changing from day to day. So I let my images change with my mood or circumstance. I try to choose photographs that "say" something important about the guy you might encounter if you were here. Or maybe better, about something you might miss. Sadly we miss a lot about one another. Selfies can be a way to reveal those things. They are a double-edged sword. We can use the selfies to hide behind some ideal curated version of who we are or we can use them to reveal hidden faces. I hope and try to do the latter. I am sure I sometimes fall into the former.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">So the "selfies" are mostly a way of putting "a face" to me.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">Is it an expression of "ego?" Yes, to the extent that I have unilaterally decided that I am interesting enough to be worth sharing with the world. That is a fairly egotistical assertion and it is fair that I own it. My saving grace is that I am grateful that others choose to share themselves with the world too and just as i hope you have an authentic curiosity about me, I hope i have an authentic curiosity about you.</span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font></div><div><font color="#1c1e21"><span ; font-size: 14px;">So how about you? How do you choose or not choose to use your own image?</span></font></div></div><div><font color="#1c1e21" face=""><span : white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font></div><div><span ;"><font color="#1c1e21" face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></font><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; width: auto;" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></span><div class="fbCommerceProductMiniListHscroll" id="fbPhotoSnowliftProductMiniListHscroll" style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13px;"></div><div class="pts fbPhotoLegacyTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftLegacyTagList" style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13px; padding-top: 5px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div></div><span ;"><div class="fbPhotosPhotoButtons" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCallToActionButton" style="color: #1c1e21; cursor: default; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; position: relative; user-select: none;"></div></span><div id="fbPhotoSnowliftPhotoFundraiser" style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13px;"></div><div class="mvm fbPhotosPhotoOwnerButtons stat_elem" id="fbPhotoSnowliftOwnerButtons" style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><div class="_51xa _3-8m _3-90" id="photosTruncatingUIButtonGroup" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 4px; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap;"><a aria-label="Tag Photo" class="_42ft _4jy0 fbPhotosPhotoActionsTag taggingOff photosTruncatingUIButton _4jy3 _517h _51sy" data-buttonname="tagPhoto" data-ft="{"tn":"+;"}" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157799155253920&set=a.501677018919&type=3&theater#" id="u_fetchstream_15_c" role="button" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-radius: 2px 0px 0px 2px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 208, 213); box-sizing: content-box; color: #4b4f56; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; justify-content: center; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 8px; position: relative; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none; text-shadow: none; transition: all 200ms cubic-bezier(0.08, 0.52, 0.52, 1) 0s, all 200ms cubic-bezier(0.08, 0.52, 0.52, 1) 0s, all 200ms cubic-bezier(0.08, 0.52, 0.52, 1) 0s; vertical-align: middle; z-index: 1;"><i class="_3-8_ img sp_giMcVu2SXpo_2x sx_62dd1e" style="background-image: url("/rsrc.php/v3/yq/r/01Ml8XqHDHa.png"); background-position: 0px -17px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 17px 47px; bottom: 1px; display: inline-block; height: 16px; margin-right: 4px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></i></a></div></div></div>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-63583351974060941172020-07-31T13:44:00.001-07:002020-07-31T13:44:49.357-07:00So, Am I A Religious Fanatic?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Zjur62UTd238VXAAWkq-HYX1kNSBuYBRhtkB6HuDBofOiHrUCTxJDUh1PXmMrD8E0b9BpRVhQtlNJBJxOZRNWzwW9YO3lO_gWm8s0wWDD7CRxXBGxiriEi_oyisfQz0tRidpctfDGA4/s1280/fanatic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Zjur62UTd238VXAAWkq-HYX1kNSBuYBRhtkB6HuDBofOiHrUCTxJDUh1PXmMrD8E0b9BpRVhQtlNJBJxOZRNWzwW9YO3lO_gWm8s0wWDD7CRxXBGxiriEi_oyisfQz0tRidpctfDGA4/s640/fanatic.jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />So I am a religious fanatic?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The great Chassidic master, Rebbe Nachman said: <br /><b>`Don’t be a fanatic. Serving God is not fanaticism. Those who run after worldly goods are the true fanatics. The world will consider you a lunatic if you abandon all worldliness in your quest for the Godly. This is said to be fanaticism. Yet even this is not necessary. You can serve God with restraint’ <br />(Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom p.159).</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Rebbe Nachman makes two points here. One is that there is no need to be extreme in the service of God. That is very powerful and I will return to it. The second point is very powerful too and tends to be overlooked. Being a “fanatic” is not restricted to religion. “Fanaticism” is extreme imbalance in any area of your life. So, while the world is pretty clear that someone who studies scripture and meditates for 18 hours a day is a “fanatic”, so is the person who works 18 hours a day, late into the night. It would seem extreme to meditate 6 hours a day but when the average American watches TV for 6 hours a day, we rarely call them a “fanatic.” When people expend huge amounts of money on lavish rituals, they are fanatics. If they expend that same money on golf fees or gourmet restaurants, we rarely call it fanaticism. Rebbe Nachman’s point is that our tendency to extremism and imbalance is not restricted to religion. Oftentimes, the label “religious fanatic” is not so much about the extent of the imbalance as in the area of imbalance. Fanatic pursuit of wealth, and other forms of entertainment or self-satisfaction are rarely deemed fanatic, though clearly those pursuits have profound impact on a person’s life and well-being as well as the well-being of those around them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Rebbe Nachman’s second point is that on really does need to avoid imbalance and extremism in the religious life. He is not cautioning against having an observant life but about pursuing extra stringencies. He recommended keeping Jewish law faithfully but without extra stringencies (except for one commandment, done with all the “extras”)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">`<b>It would be enough,’ he said, `if we were worthy of keeping all the Torah’s commandments according to the law, without going beyond it…. True devotion consists mainly of simplicity and sincerity. Pray much, study much Torah, do many good deeds. Do not worry yourself with unnecessary restrictions. Just follow the way of our forefathers. `The Torah was not given to ministering angels’ ‘(Talmud, Brakhot 25b)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b>-Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom pp. 370f)</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">In practical terms, Rebbe Nachman recommends a moderate approach to religious observance defined by the parameters of Jewish law. To be clear, this is not moderation defined by Protestant-influenced Western secularism. To the Western eye, a moderate practice of Jewish law might still look pretty “fanatic.” Still, this message is powerful. It is a much needed corrective in the “frum (observant Jewish) world of today where there is an ever increasing tendency to embrace the most stringent religious opinions and extreme practices. Religious practice seems to have embraced the materialist motto “more is better.” Rebbe Nachman’s call to a sincere and simple practice of traditional Judaism defined by halacha (Jewish law) is certainly as salient today as when he made that call. The great danger is that one say will come to blame God for the torturous life-style we have created for ourselves in His name.<br /><br />It also carries with it an air of judgment by which we tend to judge those less extreme as inferior or heretical. Remember though, that you can also be fanatically anti-fanatical as well. So while the fanatic is branding you a heretic, you are branding the fanatic an imbecile or maniac. It all gets very messy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Rebbe Nachman invites us to see extremism and imbalance as not just a religious problem but a human problem. It is an approach to life that we can carry not only into our pursuit of spiritual goals but in our pursuit of just about everything. And in every area of life, it kills our happiness and squashes our souls.<br /><br />Am I a fanatic? Sometimes more. Sometimes less. Like everyone, I struggle to find balance and moderation, not just in religion but in my other passions and pursuits. I am content to be in the struggle and rarely with my victories. The main thing is never to give up. Spoken like a true fanatic.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-28667823272657699592017-12-10T13:51:00.001-08:002017-12-10T13:51:41.064-08:00What we have in common. A short list of values and principles shared by many Muslims and Jews. <br /><br />We believe that God is a absolute simple unity without parts or likeness of any kind<br />
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We believe that God has communicated to man through prophets<br />
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We believe that we relate to God, even to know God’s will for us through the medium of law, through divine commandments revealed in scripture and understood through certain oral traditions and to varying degree logical reasoning. <br />
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We believe that God cares as much about how we interact with other people as He cares about how we interact with him.<br />
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We believe in regular prayer at set times with set liturgy, a spiritual script said multiple times every day.<br />
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We believe that God wants us to dedicate ourselves to Him in all areas of our life including things like eating, drinking,sleeping and marital relations<br />
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We believe that man is the “viceroy” of God in this world, the pinnacle of creation who bears a special responsibility for this world.<br />
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We believe that our actions matter, and have implications that go beyond this life in the form of reward and punishment after death.<br />
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We believe that life is a purposeful journey tailor made just for us, including its most difficult trials.<br />
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We believe that in matters of moral choice we are given free will by our Creator.<br />
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We believe that part of the mission of mankind is to create ever more perfect societies.<br />
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We believe that the property of other people is precious and that business should be done with the utmost of integrity.<br />
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We believe that our actions shape us and make us who we are.<br />
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We believe that giving to others in the form of both charity and acts of kindness are pillars of what it means to be truly human.<br />
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We believe that out of self-respect should come modesty and true humility.<br />
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We believe that the physical distinction between male and female is spiritually significant, giving rise to somewhat different practices for men and women and varying degrees of gender segregation when deemed appropriate.<br />
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We believe that religious action should be infused with intention.<br />
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We believe that the religion that God commands is moderate and balanced. Extremism, especially violent extremism, is an aberration and distortion of our faith.<br />
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We believe that peace is our highest value and that without it we are unable to enjoy the many gifts which God gives us.<br />
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We believe in supporting and defending the most vulnerable in society, the widows and orphans<br />
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We believe in engaging in a profound spiritual struggle with our lower selves and unworthy motivations and desires.<br />
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We believe that awe of God and love of God are both modes of service.<br />
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We believe that the highest calling of mankind is to be a servant or slave to God, that the greatest fruit of free will is to be obedient to God.<br />
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We believe that all greetings begin with peace and all prayers end with peace.<br />
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We believe that without the peace to enjoy we are collecting G-d’s blessings with a damaged vessel, a leaky bucket.<br />
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<br />Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-11753142779564605382015-06-07T22:19:00.001-07:002015-06-07T22:31:57.294-07:00The KKK / ISIS Analogy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dEgXMU2t_CIHouRNEkjpQU_LEWt4r7tjeB4anAxyjH27oggCQbb86Nhk_l3uexpka1c46uq777idj0AfnnwTZYqBm_ZyvaAVjRgTBYrG394gHOlyZNPELYFPRPcwna41NFSPhbDsSoc/s1600/KKK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dEgXMU2t_CIHouRNEkjpQU_LEWt4r7tjeB4anAxyjH27oggCQbb86Nhk_l3uexpka1c46uq777idj0AfnnwTZYqBm_ZyvaAVjRgTBYrG394gHOlyZNPELYFPRPcwna41NFSPhbDsSoc/s320/KKK.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An ancient Jewish hermeneutical principle teaches that the
“mashal” is not like the “nimshal”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an
analogy never completely matches that which is being analogized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The semanticist Alfred Korzybski expressed
this with the words “The map is not the territory.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we analogize two things we can expect
significant overlap but not perfect correspondence. Here too in this meme (as
many have pointed) the correspondence is not perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still I think the overlap is worth exploring
and meaningful. <br />
<br />
People have asked,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is it really fair to
compare the KKK, a tiny fringe group who define themselves by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>attitudes to race to ISIS which is enjoys
wide popularity in the Muslim world and represents a legitimized, albeit
repugnant to some, interpretation of Islam?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Beneath this question are some problematic assumptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The KKK while now quite small was a major
force in the reconstruction south. They were mainstream and politically
powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The KKK, even today, links its
racist attitudes to Christianity. In fact, nearly all racist groups in America
including the KKK espouse what scholars of American religion call “The
Christian Identity Movement” which roots their racism solidly in
Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day, the KKK uses
the symbols of Christianity, the crusader cross on the uniform and the flaming
crosses. The Christian Identity Christianity claims not just to be an authentic
interpretation of Christianity but THE authentic interpretation of
Christianity. The ADL estimates that there are 25,000-50,000 people who openly
identify with this movement primarily in the US and Britain <a href="http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/christian_identity.html">http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/christian_identity.html</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the ADL, they are heavily
involved in criminal activity ranging from hate crimes so terrorism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CIA estimates that ISIS fighters number something
less than 40,000. So even the numbers are not so incomparable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But OK, so
a bunch of hicks and skinheads believe some weird kind of Christianity but
every one knows THIS is not Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our Christian neighbors don’t believe this stuff but I am not so sure
about the Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get real, ISIS IS
Islam.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Muslim scholar
after Muslim scholar says it isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Here are links to a few <a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonwordcommonlord/2014/08/think-muslims-havent-condemned-isis-think-again.html">http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonwordcommonlord/2014/08/think-muslims-havent-condemned-isis-think-again.html</a>)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Judaism, the parameters of the
religion<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are not decided by popular vote
but by scholarly convention. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If every
major thinker in Islam says its not Islam it is not Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non-Muslims need to get the pain that Muslims
feel at seeing their religion dragged in the mud and represented by a sheer
brutality that Muslims reject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But do they really?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is true
that Muslim organization after organization has completely condemned ISIS, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but don’t people really support them? What
about the Al Jazeera poll?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>81% of Al
Jazeera readers said they supported the victories of ISIS. Wow, that is scary.
It would be if it were in any way a representative sample of anything. The Al
Jazeera poll only appeared on the Arabic service<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(the English service has a very different,
wider audience and seems to have more autonomy than the Arabic service.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It represents a very small sample even of the
Arab world focused in the gulf states and Egypt. Al Jazeera Arabic is regarded
as a propaganda arm of the Qatari leadership, suspected of being the bank
rollers of ISIS. Reporters involved in the poll have resigned claiming that the
poll was falsified. So the Al Jazeera poll is most likely tells us a lot about
the anti-Shia hatred of a small powerful Sunni elite rather than some broad
base of support for ISIS. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>So the analogy is fair in the sense
that both the KKK (and the Christian Identity Movement) and ISIS represent
themselves as THE authentic representatives of their faith. In both cases this
is a claim that is widely rejected by scholars of that faith. In neither case
is their wide popular support.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it comes to
the potential danger of these two movements the analogy reaches its limits. The
KKK and its allied groups appeal to a world of white privilege that has largely
been dismantled by the civil rights movement and largely made irrelevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian Identity<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will attract a small number of the
disgruntled white working class in the US<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and Britain but its appeal is very limited. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ISIS may have a broader appeal. ISIS pitches
it’s call to action in two directions. It pitches to those in the Middle East
who have faced the hopelessness, poverty and oppression of colonialism followed
by tyrannical despotism. To them this vision of a “Just” Islamic state may
seem a plausible alternative to the politics of power and privilege. The other
appeal is to the Muslim youth of the West conflicted by the seeming emptiness and
rootlessness of Western civilization. Teens in the West are barraged with
messages of empty despair about themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One can never be beautiful enough. One can never own enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intuiting the utter bankruptcy of this view
of the world, youth may look for meaning in a cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ISIS and its allies stand at the ready, to
recruit young people to what they describe as a life of meaning and heroic
purpose. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The take-home message here? <br />
We need to get that it is as painful for Muslims to see their religion
represented by the ISIS as it would be for most Christians if the KKK or
Skinhead churches were said to represent Christianity. That news agencies and
other “officializing” media insist that ISIS is somehow a legitimate take on
Islam feels unfair and hatefully discriminatory to Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The meme reminds us that we can legitimately
see ISIS both as a band of religious crazies who, like the KKK, cloak their
politics and their hatred in a perversion of faith. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to think very deeply about the ways that media uses ISIS
to consistently dehumanize and indeed, demonize all Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the implications of these attitudes
for our policies and actions as individuals, communities and nations.<br />
<br />
Lastly, should we take ISIS seriously? YES, VERY SERIOUSLY. To do that we also
need to think about the ground on which ISIS grows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to examine our role in supporting a
culture of despotism and hopelessness in the Middle East. We need to look at
the ways in which we foster a culture of meaninglessness in the West. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught, “If you believe you can destroy, then believe
you can fix.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The threat of ISIS is an invitation to fix the world, to
create a world in which people seek heroism in doing acts of kindness in which
people find meaning in service to humanity not the raw pursuit of power. ISIS
sells false idealism and false hope. We need to sell real idealism and real
hope. <o:p></o:p></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-26677367357027238032015-04-23T12:51:00.001-07:002015-04-23T12:51:09.705-07:00A prayer for righteous indignation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZM7yGh085lanF_rQ_DWqK9rMpU3rMZkl5V5Zs6VKTY11HB44Gwgzv7FV2J-_MGXHrTeWLfFiUfJRzZN7asBCkr5uvC5Zo7SBtQWj0EQl_0yNrilKPyjazXb7PW5WSdN7J6OmDAxSEiI/s1600/Slide36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZM7yGh085lanF_rQ_DWqK9rMpU3rMZkl5V5Zs6VKTY11HB44Gwgzv7FV2J-_MGXHrTeWLfFiUfJRzZN7asBCkr5uvC5Zo7SBtQWj0EQl_0yNrilKPyjazXb7PW5WSdN7J6OmDAxSEiI/s1600/Slide36.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-8258076948717237832015-04-22T21:09:00.000-07:002015-04-22T21:59:39.136-07:00Zayde raises his voice to tell a new story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzazedNNq0antC8qcviXdajeE0_PvOZihggZVmhOjxRlS9K6XnacWRbd4HH66xKZ3g6yQRxwzBRTXLyteACxXX4eTQ8CNyf0w6MmWB5w-dWvGWBRgmjun7KvqXKlZeUifHcjHyJ7v_mo/s1600/IMG_1970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzazedNNq0antC8qcviXdajeE0_PvOZihggZVmhOjxRlS9K6XnacWRbd4HH66xKZ3g6yQRxwzBRTXLyteACxXX4eTQ8CNyf0w6MmWB5w-dWvGWBRgmjun7KvqXKlZeUifHcjHyJ7v_mo/s1600/IMG_1970.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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There I was at the seder table at Passover looking just like
the Zayde in the picture book. Long beard, white robe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked at the book and saw what Zayde was
proclaiming with such great glee and I was more than a little
disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book allows for an
ambiguous reading. <br />
<i>"The bad goyim have always wanted to kill the Yidden."</i> “Bad Goyim” here could mean bad non-Jews who want to kill Yidden versus good non-Jews who do not or
simply that Goyim are by definition bad and want to “kill out” (Yeshivish for
genocidal murder) the Yidden (Yiddish for Jews).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I believe the intent of the Hagadah is the first. There are indeed those in every generation who may hate Jews and despise our the ethical monotheism we stand for and try to destroy us and our message. God protects us and our mission from ultimate destruction. I deeply believe that. At the same time, </span>I think most children would read the words as "Goyim are bad and always want to kill Jews." </div>
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It is a familiar formulation of Jewish history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They hate us and want to kill us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The “they” is interchangeable. If we have friends among the nations for
a time, they will one day be our enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As Rashi brings down in his commentary on Genesis 33:4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Halacha b'yadu'a Esav soneh l'Yaakov “<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It is the law and well-known that Esau hates
Jacob.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The enmities between Jacob and
Esau,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jews<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the European World, and Isaac and
Ishmael, The Jews and Muslims, are eternal unchangeable facts of life and our
history proves it. (Rashi, on the other hand, probably was commenting on the relationship of two brothers not presenting a template for history)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Even the gentile prophet Bilaam confirmed it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As I see them from the mountain tops,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gaze on them from the heights,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Behold it is a people that dwells alone,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not reckoned among the nations. (Num. 23: 9)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br />A people that dwells alone!</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We a
lonely, pariah nation with no friends, no allies, perpetually hated and under
siege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In an
important essay*, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks shares what he calls an "epiphany" in which he realizes how dangerous this thinking can be and has been for the Jewish people.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />He writes;
<!--[endif]--><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">"If
you define yourself as the people that dwells alone, you are likely to find
yourself alone</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. That
is not a safe place to be."</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
The Talmud explains that Bilaam’s blessings were really curses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be alone and isolated is no blessing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, as Rabbi Sacks, points out one of
G-d’s first comments to man is “Its not good for man to be alone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rabbi
Sacks takes his point further,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />"To be different is not necessarily to be alone. Indeed, <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">it is only by being what we uniquely are that we contribute to
humankind what we alone can give</span></i>. Singular, distinctive,
countercultural – yes: these are part of the Jewish condition. But alone? No.
That is not a blessing but a curse."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
vision of the world, our despised isolation and the inevitability of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jew hatred colors everything from our
personal interactions to Israeli<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>foreign
policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have
no real friends, only eternal enemies in the guise of fair-weather allies. The drive to isolation can look like the cowering ghettos of pre-war Europe or like the militaristic bravado of contemporary Jewish politics. Whether on the defense or the offense, that internalized sense of perpetual siege leaves us stunted and twisted.<br />
<br />
Given this vision of the world we are lead to two social strategies, isolation or
assimilation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can either segregate
ourselves and protect our fragile world under siege or avoid the hate by giving
up our identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter strategy is
pretty successful in the United States, it would seem. But so it seemed to some
in Germany as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Nazis came
to power even the most assimilated German Jew was not safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we are often warned, “You just wait. It
can happen here too!” Neither isolation or assimilation are reliable refuge.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Isolation
leaves us alone and vulnerable. Assimilation leaves us gone.<br />
<br />
What is the third option?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We in the
United States, at least, have the option of living robust, happy, enthusiastically
observant Jewish lives while actively engaging our non-Jewish friends and
neighbors in such a way as to help them appreciate who we are and what we stand
for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jewish life need not be a mystery.
How many of your non-Jewish colleagues have any idea what Shabbat means to
you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they know why you keep
kosher?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they know what kind of God
you believe in? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my experience, most
non-Jews know little about Judaism or what it means to be Jewish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walls of distrust come down when people share
who they are. In the strength of our own identity and groundedness<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in faith, we are able to be open to others
and to discover common values and concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can embrace the simple human beauty that the Torah boldly calls being
in “the image of G-d” (so to speak)<br />
<br />
Won’t this lead to assimilation? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aren’t
friendships and relationships just the precursors to assimilation and
intermarriage. Maybe. Yet the walls of distrust have not prevented
assimilation. It was this isolation that has driven the vast majority of Jewish
people away from out faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They left
the isolation but they took some with them. Ironically many very assimilated
Jews prefer to live in fear that one day they will be “outed” or to identify
with Israel’s plight as the “pariah” among<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>nation-states. They prove everyday that you can be assimilated and still
be alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
prevents assimilation is the opportunity to live an authentic and happy Jewish
life, fiercely proud of who you are and bold about sharing what you believe and
what you care about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is to live, as
much as possible, without fear. It is to preserve our tradition because it is
precious not because we believe that it is in perpetual jeopardy at the hands
of our non-Jewish neighbors. <br />
<br />
I don’t deny there is plenty of genuine Jew-hatred in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, in the wake of horrific attacks on
Jews in Europe, no one would say there is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know that you can cure anti-Semitism completely but I do know
that you can refuse to let it make you sick. Being hated is not an identity for
a healthy people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rabbi
Sacks writes;<br />"To be a Jew is to be loved by God; it is not to be hated by Gentiles. Our
ancestors were called on to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The
word <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">kadosh</span></i>, “holy,” means set apart. But there is a
profound difference between being apart and being alone…"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />This Zayde too raises his voice and beams with pride at his family and celebrates his Jewishness. I too will assure my children of the survival and thriving of the Jewish people. I too will affirm my faith in God and gratitude for the mission He has given us. I will tell them that embracing
our holiness means re-embracing our mission to be a “light unto the nations”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not in some patronizing way but in the way of
teachers, friends and colleagues. It means <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to share the wisdom of Torah and to be willing to hear its echoes in the voices of other peoples, other nations and even other
faiths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />*</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p>http://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-5771-balak-a-people-that-dwells-alone/</span></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-60261219296682152132014-11-23T11:21:00.002-08:002014-11-23T11:22:44.391-08:00The Hater's Handbook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUTTVe7aMhPeKH1Yd6xNbNieT47G-UN1F0MHLNUr3UJnu-plXNVCFCUmvU587HyZ46Yo4RYs8Cu8qs0nljhsxqnmjJyGFnMOVLQ7bL49gKMvtMxZcZMey1vTs_9HIKrdE0-KWw17EdZs/s1600/hater+of+the+day+award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUTTVe7aMhPeKH1Yd6xNbNieT47G-UN1F0MHLNUr3UJnu-plXNVCFCUmvU587HyZ46Yo4RYs8Cu8qs0nljhsxqnmjJyGFnMOVLQ7bL49gKMvtMxZcZMey1vTs_9HIKrdE0-KWw17EdZs/s1600/hater+of+the+day+award.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p> Many have wondered, "How can I possibly earn the coveted Jihadi Jew 'Hater of the Day' Award?" Here are a few simple guidelines for being a a more effective, and even award-winning hater. These very same principles, adapted for domestic use, can turn your very own home into a war zone.</o:p></div>
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<br />
1) Never refer to “them” by name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try “These people” or “You people.”<br />
<br />
2) “These people” are two dimensional beings who only have one motive at a time
“kill, kill, kill” or “Gimme, gimme, gimme.”<br />
<br />
3) “These people” have no innocent children only enemies in training<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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4) When backed against a wall call them “baby killers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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5) Reject any comparison as "moral equivalency" which
is impossible because YOU are always RIGHT and THEY are always WRONG<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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6) Assume the worst at all times, ESPECIALLY in the presence of
any evidence to the contrary.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-51896286274117644592014-11-23T07:07:00.000-08:002014-11-23T07:15:30.315-08:00Love and Hate Break Boundaries: Do you dare breach the walls of your heart?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Love and hate break boundaries. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i> - Midrash Rabbah 55:8</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
Hate breaks the boundaries of the ordinary. It empowers us to do the
impossible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hate will make us do remarkable things. Hate will blind us
to our own faults. Hate will give us superhuman strength and stamina. Hate will
get us up early in the morning to pursue the hated and keep us up late a night
thinking of how to harm them. Hate will make us do incredibly self-destructive
things. We will tear apart our own world to get at the one we hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will destroy everything and sacrifice
anything for hate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
And love breaks the boundaries of the ordinary. It empowers us to do the
impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love will help us to see
ourselves in the mirrors of our beloved’s eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love will give us superhuman strength and stamina. Love will get us up
early to do good for our beloved and keep us up late at night thinking of how
to please them. Love will make us heal and build. We will beautify our whole
world to make it fit for our love. We will do everything and sacrifice anything
for love. <br />
<br />
The imperative to “Love your neighbor as yourself” or "to want for others what you want for yourself" is God's boldest dare to humanity, the challenge to break the
boundaries of our own hearts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we don't, the world is terrifying. And if we do? Love won't solve the big problems. It won't stop poverty, oppression, or violence against the innocents of this world this instant. In the end maybe opened hearts, and minds and ears will. It is just a start. An experiment. A direction. A dim flicker of light in a world that seems pitch black. <o:p></o:p>I am going to try to take the dare and see what happens. I hope maybe you will too.</div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-91693795538919452132014-11-19T18:16:00.003-08:002014-11-19T18:17:03.728-08:00Yes, I still...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhish41_WNKpSpbN6_UxDeFodnrIaB0Fx-MKkpXbSizvBoo95bmWV1Y3dVG2-q9fsyURZggO5LCF-ey1PZMw2-vXb5T-t99PT3PFotjfXG32M3GCxZIXDheVhEPyyZNRkBsbWWJ0v8tA2M/s1600/grief2-300x298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhish41_WNKpSpbN6_UxDeFodnrIaB0Fx-MKkpXbSizvBoo95bmWV1Y3dVG2-q9fsyURZggO5LCF-ey1PZMw2-vXb5T-t99PT3PFotjfXG32M3GCxZIXDheVhEPyyZNRkBsbWWJ0v8tA2M/s1600/grief2-300x298.jpg" /></a></div>
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The moment a terror attack happens in Israel, the comments
start to come. “So do you STILL think there is someone to talk to?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Still believe in ‘peace’ do you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do you finally see who ‘these people’ are?”
The implication is that there is no rapprochement possible in the face of utter
barbarism. The only possible response to “these people” is force and lots of
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When I see the picture of a man in tallit and tefillin (like
me every morning) shot dead in a pool of blood in synagogue (where I too
customarily go every day) I am overcome with a wave of nausea followed by a
surge of anger. I don’t have words for the fury and the fear at the thought of
a person charging into our place of worship and hacking a fellow Jew, who, like
me, appears before God in tallit and tefillin, to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he weren’t just like me would I feel the
same? I don’t know. I look at the black pants, the white shirt, the build of
the man, the black striped tallis that I wear and this is deeply personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This brutal monster has killed one of US and
I am furious. <br />
<br />
In that, I am just the same as the person who taunts me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Where I differ is that while I get that I am going to feel
more intensely when I have an affinity for another human being as a fellow Jew,
I also strive to see all human beings as “in the image of God”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(so to speak, trust me on this my Muslim
friends, this really is NOT a blasphemous notion- its metaphorical).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each human being is a reflection of the
Divine majesty and precious to their Creator. Where is that well of outrage
when every single day human beings are being hacked, torn, shot for every
possible excuse? Where are my tears for the innocent of every color, race,
language, and faith? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Where I differ is that I distrust the idea of “these
people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t believe that
barbarians<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or the gullible idiots who
are always there to cheer such people on get to elect themselves the moral
representatives of their people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“These
people” whoever they may be in today’s news are like all people a
conglomeration of the best and worst in all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No people deserves to be branded by the moral
ugliness of its most despicable citizens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Where I differ is that as much as I sometimes want to, I don’t believe that I
have permission to give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel
compelled by the example of Abraham, who pleaded to God for the murderous
idolaters of Sodom. My struggle, like his, is to strive to uplift humanity in
any way that I can, not to wish for its destruction, not even the destruction
of the worst of us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abraham believed
that even a few righteous people could turn around an entire world gone crazy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I reach out to the righteous, encourage the
good where I can because it’s the only plan I have got.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I push through the pain and through the fear and do what I
have to do for the sake of my conscience, for the good of my people,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for the good of humanity, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with as much trust in my Creator as I can
muster. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So yes, even today, I still…<o:p></o:p></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-87677780865478217032014-07-30T19:25:00.001-07:002014-07-30T19:25:55.619-07:00Brainstorming! Naive, Crazy and Dangerous Ideas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieytqOdayE1VorNuXyLQD6oHYDUrqghNzUD_bxI62aqxENE0TGBDom9tkPWyEZ-lqRaGpLLI8LwcjLGljPXOHmuLbZEdkOX8PXr9b4wNcq0_2HmgDhoD08l7Fkx4VoEUNhPG3qSIx8OM/s1600/brainstorm3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieytqOdayE1VorNuXyLQD6oHYDUrqghNzUD_bxI62aqxENE0TGBDom9tkPWyEZ-lqRaGpLLI8LwcjLGljPXOHmuLbZEdkOX8PXr9b4wNcq0_2HmgDhoD08l7Fkx4VoEUNhPG3qSIx8OM/s320/brainstorm3.gif" /></a></div>
My naive idea is that God created man with the unique gift of language, a means that should and can replace bashing each other over the head as a means of intra-species communication. On both sides, its time to use that weapon. Now for my crazy idea! To do that effectively I think there are two pre-requisites. First, there is a new moral direction demanded of us, not just to consider our own interests but to actually understand and appreciate the needs of the "other side" and moreover, to want FOR THEM what we want FOR OURSELVES. It is a huge moral leap. It is the ultimate moral leap. Like all good leaps it can also be taken in small discretely do-able steps. The second moral leap is the dangerous idea of engaging in a process of truth and reconciliation, to acknowledge wrongs done on both sides in the past and seek ways to reconcile for the future. (A process like this was pretty successful in South Africa) One the one hand it involves people diverging from "their story" and facing up to some very hard facts on all sides in relation to the past. It also means, abandoning the persistent fantasy that "other side" will miraculously disappear or move out of the neighborhood and imagine a future together. Anything that changes both the way we see the past and how we create the future is, by definition, dangerous.
That is where I start. How about you? Got any naive, crazy or dangerous ideas of your own?
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-6826759605951201552014-07-27T10:22:00.003-07:002014-07-27T12:22:22.305-07:00The Lonely Man of Questions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2VqSYGvpeifTumg0_pg7Y15GJo1tpEoMoiWY6vEvmo3h_E0myNZhlstz6qSPYv6P5zCWq1nrO3PP52AfYfyvYMV5k-J74sRefIlSNffThS6Hke5uMwP0d9fC63uVb9VXDpOK8V8KHrg/s1600/question+5.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2VqSYGvpeifTumg0_pg7Y15GJo1tpEoMoiWY6vEvmo3h_E0myNZhlstz6qSPYv6P5zCWq1nrO3PP52AfYfyvYMV5k-J74sRefIlSNffThS6Hke5uMwP0d9fC63uVb9VXDpOK8V8KHrg/s1600/question+5.gif" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<span 13.63636302947998px="" 20px="" arial="" e="" font-family:="" font-size:="" grande="" helvetica="" line-height:="" lucida="" sans-serif="" tahoma="" verdana="">On both Twitter and Facebook I shared a piece by Shira Lipkin on her struggle to reconcile her attachment to Judaism and the Jewish people with her distaste and disgust for the violence she now sees in Gaza and the negative attitudes she now sees permeating both societi</span><span 13.63636302947998px="" 20px="" arial="" class="text_exposed_show" color:="" display:="" e="" font-family:="" font-size:="" grande="" helvetica="" inline="" line-height:="" lucida="" sans-serif="" tahoma="" verdana="">es, Israeli and Palestinian, Jewish and Muslim.<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/07/26/israel_is_not_my_birthright/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/2014/07/26/israel_is_not_my_birthright/</a><br /><br />Several people have expressed wonder as to why I would post such a thing. This is the start of an answer.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;">While I am surrounded by people who seem so certain, I am find myself questioning. Throughout the past two weeks, my questioning has been understood as "breaking ranks" with one or another side. My moral exploration and reflection has been dismissed as seeking "moral equivalency". From where I sit (and I think Shira Lipkin experienced the same thing) I am engaged in a genuine struggle. It is a moral struggle and a spiritual struggle. It is a struggle with myself, with my faith, with my sense of the world and sometimes with friends and family.<br /><br />Here are a few of the things I struggle to understand:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How my friends, neighbors and acquaintances so quickly manage to get their opinions in line with each other when I can not.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style=; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 13.963635444641113px;">How is that people who live in a pluralistic society here in America, who profoundly benefit from that society and its values of tolerance can so completely abandon those values to the extent that any kind of coexistence with "others" is unimaginable or even anathema to them?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13.963635444641113px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">What God's promise of a "Promised Land" means when the grip on that land must be held through a violence that can be both oppressive and brutal</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How does what is happening in the Land of Israel relate to the Torah's "conditional use permit on the land" the promises of security in the land if we are righteous and absolute insecurity if we are not. How much of this is US, how much is THEM, how much is God?</span><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How much of what people say about THOSE PEOPLE is true? The claims are so black and white and exaggerated. "Palestinian mothers really hate us more than love their children. Palestinians are content to be used as human shields. Palestinian children a fed on a childhood diet of pure hate. Israelis are racist haters who won't be happy til every Palestinian is gone. Zionism is Naziism." The world is awash in these messages. What do you DO with all that besides say everything WE say is true and everything THEY say is a lie?</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How the same people who could quote hundreds of ahadith demonstrating the gentleness of Muhammad, and may be very gentle in their private lives can be so harsh in the context of strife.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How is it that in conflict so many of us who LIVE great values in our interpersonal lives somehow drop them when we are in conflict? Polite people become rude. Merciful people start to sound cruel.</span><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How to square my fierce love for Judaism, Torah and the Jewish people with Rabbis and others (who may know much more than I do) who increasingly de-emphasize the Torah of kindness while promoting a Torah that endorses military force even against "civilians."</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">How what are for ME deep and difficult questions have been replaced by hashtags, memes and slogans that seem to discourage any creative thinking.</span><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">What does peace mean? Everybody seems to want it and nobody seems to want it.</span><span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span 13.63636302947998px="" 20px="" arial="" class="text_exposed_show" color:="" display:="" e="" font-family:="" font-size:="" grande="" helvetica="" inline="" line-height:="" lucida="" sans-serif="" tahoma="" verdana="">I have lots of questions. These are really just a few of the greatest hits. I am too mentally exhausted to write a complete inventory.<br /><br />So, if I seem confused, I am. Some of you wish I wasn't. I kind of wish you were.</span>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-23914493619263959882014-07-27T00:31:00.001-07:002014-07-27T00:45:32.330-07:00A quiet and questioning voice of sanity.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt2tAlriLhisCLO8Ki7oERGzyTT6ZPf-uwJGd4z1xrRmdaDEerjhAPwlpyzIxcNB80l-iM-uruvj6_287izNl0giwr96uusEDkQmvU2P5P2bRApE7Aa6l0Hem97U0u3ff_WHlKm2KQak/s1600/sara+weissman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt2tAlriLhisCLO8Ki7oERGzyTT6ZPf-uwJGd4z1xrRmdaDEerjhAPwlpyzIxcNB80l-iM-uruvj6_287izNl0giwr96uusEDkQmvU2P5P2bRApE7Aa6l0Hem97U0u3ff_WHlKm2KQak/s1600/sara+weissman.jpg" height="200" width="144" /></a></div>
<i>My daughter Sara posted this on Facebook before shabbat (the sabbath). I share it as a quiet voice of personal struggle for sanity in an insane world of competing perspectives reduced to hashtags, memes and slogans. </i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;"><br />"Briefly breaking my promise to myself to not talk about this on Facebook, and I apologize to be commenting at all as an American not on the ground. I realize it's not my right. But why does choosing to </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/supportgaza" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">#supportGaza</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;"> and choosing to </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/supportisrael" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">#supportIsrael</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;"> have to be a binary? And why do we reduce these issues that are so complex and deeply personal to hashtags and memes? Let's support civilians. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;">May there come a day soon when not a single one, on either side of the Gaza border, has to live in fear of rockets or bombs. Shabbat shalom le'kulam - A peaceful shabbat to all (G-d willing)"</span>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-17211122383155824782014-07-14T07:33:00.001-07:002014-07-14T07:33:21.601-07:00A Prayerful Goodbye to the Social Media War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmdkPcxfXsOEdEwVnUpSd13W5SHfGCsyz-m0uuP91sSIugFdP5-9-PjGvP5NxRcwoB8d84kxKGirco8b5gZAZEXF9WUD2caxJges9OS870OH49OtzkuKDu768BzhzLMb3PmkZ_z5O8EQ/s1600/heart+purification.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmdkPcxfXsOEdEwVnUpSd13W5SHfGCsyz-m0uuP91sSIugFdP5-9-PjGvP5NxRcwoB8d84kxKGirco8b5gZAZEXF9WUD2caxJges9OS870OH49OtzkuKDu768BzhzLMb3PmkZ_z5O8EQ/s1600/heart+purification.jpg" height="115" width="200" /></a></div>
May Hashem/ Allah (swt) grace us all with purified hearts to serve Him in truth!<br />
<br />
It is with sadness and resignation that I will not be reading any more posts or contributing to any more posts on the conflict in Israel/Palestine on social media. There is no way for me to measure and certainly no way to express my disappointment at friends, family and acquaintances for an inability to see beyond the narrow confines of one side or the other to the human realities of the conflict; the reality of Israeli families hunkered down in bunkers with sirens wailing over their heads as rockets rain, the reality of families in Gaza with no place to go facing bombs, destruction of homes and a rising death toll which inevitably includes many who are innocent. I deeply believe that our Creator will judge us for our refusal to grant humanity to one another. I will continue with my work in Abraham's Tent and I will continue in my personal life and my personal mission as "Jihadi Jew" to try to create love and connection between Muslims and Jews.<br />
<br />
To speak what is in my heart. I want to share a prayer from Rabindranath Tagore.<br />
<br />
"Give me the supreme courage of love, this is my prayer — the courage to speak, to do, to suffer at thy will, to leave all things or be left alone. Strengthen me on errands of danger, honor me with pain, and help me climb to that difficult mood which sacrifices daily to thee.<br />
<br />
Give me the supreme confidence of love, this is my prayer — the confidence that belongs to life in death, to victory in defeat, to the power hidden in frailest beauty, to the dignity in pain which accepts hurt but disdains to return it.”Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-91705499064385721692014-07-02T08:17:00.002-07:002014-07-02T08:17:43.443-07:00Is there room for pacifism in Judaism and Islam?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnNV2AXFnsBqzWACbesj9Zc0hozxbdbie2ZqAxy9XATjeqvngTGJ1vhK1KxGSaRkOdhiDVxzw_woV5KwjxUxkXRj2ZqkjwseXg7cfOGykPfyWp1h-ol00g2X-i0acLUixBvYJ3ggWjI0/s1600/quakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnNV2AXFnsBqzWACbesj9Zc0hozxbdbie2ZqAxy9XATjeqvngTGJ1vhK1KxGSaRkOdhiDVxzw_woV5KwjxUxkXRj2ZqkjwseXg7cfOGykPfyWp1h-ol00g2X-i0acLUixBvYJ3ggWjI0/s1600/quakers.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A Quaker can be a pacifist on the basis of his religion.
Maybe a Christian can too “Turn the other cheek.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jews and Muslims can not be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is quite clear that our scriptural and
legal traditions view violence as a reasonable and often unavoidable<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>means of resolving human conflict. Both
traditions set limits on who you may hurt, when you may hurt and the conditions
under which you can hurt them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both
traditions are very realistic about recognizing the ugliness that violence
raises in its participants, the possible abuses that place in time of war. Both
traditions strive to manage that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
create limited room for dividing the spoils (which in ancient times certainly
included humans as property) and for the harm of non-combatants who happen to
be in the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judaism and Islam both
decry the intentional attack on innocents and the wanton destruction of
property. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not pacifist religions
in principle. In practice though, I wonder however whether the nature of
violence in the modern age, may not call us to be pacifists, in practice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The scriptures, narratives, examples and legal precedents upon which both
Jewish and Islamic legal traditions base their rulings on war and violence are
largely ancient and medieval and nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They speak of a time of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>relatively
small scale warfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armies lined up
against other armies or perhaps small groups of insurgents fought guerilla wars
with larger armies. Combatants were clear and well-defined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weapons were smaller. There were stones, knives,
hatchets,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>swords, bows, long-bows, cross
bows and eventually cannon and muskets. These<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>short range weapons required a virtual face to face engagement with the
enemy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in the heat of battle, it
would be hard to forget the humanity of your opponent. Though tragic, such wars
were necessarily limited in scope and damage. They were wars that could be won.
Territory could be conquered and successfully held.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one to one engagement with the enemy, the
killing of non-combatants was certainly possibly but not likely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Commanders fought at the head of their
troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When those in power face the
same imminent danger as their troops, it can create powerful incentives to make
peace (or accept submission).<br />
<br />
In modern warfare,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we move further and
further from face to face engagement. The incentives for peace are largely gone.
The war makers are in boardrooms far removed from their battlefields. Aerial
bombings and the use of unmanned drones alienate even the soldier from the heat
of battle, reducing the enemy to pixels on a screen. The <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>drone soldier who prowls the plains of
Afghanistan for his targets from the air-conditioned comfort of Las Vegas knows
nothing of the ancient “nobility” of war or has any reason to avoid its
savagery .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big powerful weapons from
assault rifles to cluster bombs make “collateral damage” the killing of
innocents and absolute certainty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
human beings crowd themselves into denser and denser population centers, war
begins to look more and more like shooting rats in a barrel. Collective
punishment also becomes a certainty. Nuclear and biological weapons make the
wanton destruction of environment an inevitable consequence of pulling those
triggers. There is little face-too-face engagement to humanize the enemy. The
horrors of war make less impression on minds and hearts awash in endless
dramatized violence. <br />
The limitations that our religious traditions put on the practice of violence
have effectively become meaningless today. If war was ever noble, it can’t be
now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jews carry the image of the
God-commanded struggle to conquer The Land in the time of Joshua. Muslims see
the glory days of Islamic expansion, the violent struggles of the early Muslim
community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans fantasize about the
conquering of the West, the brave cowboy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have come to believe that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>F-16s, drones, assault rifles, bunker-busters, cluster bombs,
phosphorous weapons, and biological weapons have rendered all of that a quaint
fantasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goals and values that our
religions teach us can no longer be furthered by modern war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the facts on the ground make the limitation on violence
an impossibility, we have two possibilities;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>to obliterate those limitations or to embrace some kind of collective
practical pacifism. The movement has clearly been to do the former.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The definition of non-combatant becomes more
and more narrow. Scholars will find reasons to consider children and women as
“legitimate targets.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They dig deep into
our complex traditions to find texts to defend the indefensible We invent
euphemisms like “collateral damage” to cover up our wanton destruction of human
life and human environment. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not really a pacifist. I recognize that people
sometimes have to defend themselves. I would use violence to defend myself, my
family, or others from harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not prepared to argue that somehow it
would have been better not to fight the Nazis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(The inevitable challenge.) I humbly recognize that my faith
acknowledges the legitimate use of violence and I take that very seriously. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, I can’t ignore the growing
disconnect between the kind of warfare we see in the real world and any possibility
of building the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>world that both Judaism
and Islam envision, a world devoted to the service of God in peace. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am struggling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and now sharing the struggle with you. I look
forward to your reasoned, polite, heart-felt thoughts and comments.<o:p></o:p></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-16647682116477383652014-06-30T15:56:00.000-07:002014-06-30T15:59:18.200-07:00In Mourning for Three Young Men and For All of Us. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD37JdJFArqpKZ9osQakBcSXXLyze3lwgUg_EHanLX96d-A2tRqFRyMH25Xkrc-V2JRv2CsVryPqpTVudixKYvONr7u7AOD2IhC7qWxtUVIdRGkSZpdiO5UDftxXc1yXaxfzxAwZdKOAg/s1600/Yahrzeit+Candle+JTS.jpg.opt253x291o0,0s253x291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD37JdJFArqpKZ9osQakBcSXXLyze3lwgUg_EHanLX96d-A2tRqFRyMH25Xkrc-V2JRv2CsVryPqpTVudixKYvONr7u7AOD2IhC7qWxtUVIdRGkSZpdiO5UDftxXc1yXaxfzxAwZdKOAg/s1600/Yahrzeit+Candle+JTS.jpg.opt253x291o0,0s253x291.jpg" height="200" width="173" /></a></div>
I join with the entirety of the Jewish people and with our many friends in mourning the senseless murders of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaer. It is only right that we mourn for our own. At the same time, we mourn for a world so broken that the murder of children has really become a commonplace. If we are sensitive to the cries of mothers who look and sound like us, maybe one day will be respond to the cries of mothers who don't.<br />
Those of us who believe ourselves to be faithful, decent people need to raise our voices, not in cries of vengeance but in prayer and words of peace. We need to own up to the fact that we are creating a world so rife with violence that it is virtually unlivable for many of its inhabitants. We are failing at our mission to be God's viceroys and stewards on earth.<br />
<br />
Three Jewish boys dead. Five Palestinians. Hundreds jailed. The rationalizations, the recriminations, the calls for revenge, the clamp-down, the resistance, the clamp-down on the resistance are soon to come. We can take the well-worn and easy route and spiral ever-downward or we can seek to climb the steep ladder that ascends to friendship and peace.<br />
<br />
We do have choices. Every time we claim that we do not, we belittle the great gift of moral choice which is the common inheritance of all mankind. When we choose good, when we choose peace and compassion we honor that same gift.<br />
<br />
Master of the World! Please help us give the world the comfort of our best choices.Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-24805026007955026712014-06-24T20:34:00.002-07:002014-06-24T20:50:50.017-07:00Giving Our Muslims Friends a Break.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Sxl_11q5cqYVIyghn5_UOHyALViVYmPjhZqSbT4s8B4Xdv5FE8-PSHStwSNfbBnv9Q_V8Ine04XLSVifCgt4cbUid6hdgAeylw-CVoi2jpOKBHclQyPsJyb6gXmRqDF4FwCIXzaaDgg/s1600/islamic+medallion.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Sxl_11q5cqYVIyghn5_UOHyALViVYmPjhZqSbT4s8B4Xdv5FE8-PSHStwSNfbBnv9Q_V8Ine04XLSVifCgt4cbUid6hdgAeylw-CVoi2jpOKBHclQyPsJyb6gXmRqDF4FwCIXzaaDgg/s1600/islamic+medallion.gif" /></a></div>
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Just how are you supposed to respond when someone acts
hatefully in the name of the religion you love? I have no idea. </div>
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<br />
The rise of ISIS and the recent outburst of sectarian violence and the
kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers have put Islamic extremism on the front
pages again. It has also put Muslims in the now familiar position of having to
defend their faith or remain silent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Either choice seems to result in a no win game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
If you remain silent you run the risk of being accused of assenting to the violence.
You are silent not because there is nothing much to say to people who will not
listen but because you secretly agree with the evil agendas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, if you defend your faith
too loudly, you may be accused of being edgy, nervous and defensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you defend too articulately, you may be
accused of cleverly lying to cover up the truth. If you defend too sincerely,
it may be mistaken for naivety and stupidity as if, being a western Muslim, you may
not even know the evils of Islam first hand. Whether you speak or whether you
are silent, you are an accomplice to crime you did not commit. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist we have to be boldly honest
with ourselves and with others about the atrocities which are done in the names
of our faiths. In the world, at this moment, that responsibility falls
disproportionately on Muslims. I will let the sociologists, anthropologists,
historians and political scientists explain why that is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are reasons why at particular times,
some groups will use religion to justify violence and cruelty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "Islam" is not that reason. </span>Anyone
who has taken the time to study Islam in any depth or detail will understand
that there is not some evil hidden in the DNA of Islam that makes this
inevitable. These are rather choices, evil choices that can even strip a beautiful faith
of much of its beauty. <br />
<br />
Muslims are not the only ones making those kinds of choices. We live in a world
where Hindu nationalists march with spears, Jewish settlers sit on hilltops
armed to the teeth fueled by an intolerant messianic ideology, Christian
preachers frame the “War on Terror” as a new crusade, and goon squads of Buddhist
monks burn mosques in Burma. It is clear that Islam has not cornered the market
on violent ideologies, and that many of these other violent ideologies are
headed in their direction. We, non-Muslims also have a responsibility to
address the dangerous ideologies now growing in your own communities and perhaps in our own hearts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Above all, we have a responsibility to give our Muslim
friends and neighbors a break. It is simply not fair or reasonable to hold them
responsible for the horrific behaviors of people they cannot control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of making them come to the defense of
Islam, or critiquing their silence, maybe ask them what it feels like to watch
the faith you love and cherish dragged in the mud. Ask them what its like to
explain to their children, that the faith and tradition they want them to value
can be and is horribly misused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
been involved with the Muslim community and I have seen their pain and their struggle
in dealing with this. I have learned to talk less and listen more. I have
learned to listen not just with my mind but also with my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no clever answers to the challenge of
terror and extremism, not for my Muslim friends and not for concerned
non-Muslims. My best answer is to stop looking for the best answers and start
looking for the best questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My best
answer is to share the struggle against evil as best as we can, as friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-68898500347276417822014-06-18T22:25:00.003-07:002014-06-18T23:25:58.119-07:00Thoughts on "Moral Equivalency: "Apples and Oranges or Chicken Pox and Shingles?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP33wJ1pzYOHsx9OKV_TzfRpNdaR1YMp3lPOpUWkFu1FiytK0tWYbKPpqEQ73_7AK1B_1xSHlfIT7SWedLPkdpM1NIbXqkPMlGzWArKfRMEswygub0EMOUiSatro84L3DYTQypsulsppI/s1600/shinglesmain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP33wJ1pzYOHsx9OKV_TzfRpNdaR1YMp3lPOpUWkFu1FiytK0tWYbKPpqEQ73_7AK1B_1xSHlfIT7SWedLPkdpM1NIbXqkPMlGzWArKfRMEswygub0EMOUiSatro84L3DYTQypsulsppI/s1600/shinglesmain.jpg" height="155" width="200" /></a></div>
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Both Jewish and Islamic spirituality link our understanding
of the human spirit to our understanding of the human body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great thinkers like Maimonides and Imam al
Ghazzali speak of diseases of the soul or diseases of the heart. They see
religious practice as a medical regimen to cure these diseases administered by
righteous scholars who are, in effect, doctors of the soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it is fair, I believe, to use medical analogies
to understand how the human spirit works. <br />
<br />
Consider the case of Chicken Pox and Shingles. These are two very different
diseases. One, Chicken Pox, affects children as an itchy but relatively
painfless rash over much of the body, The other, Shingles, affects older people
(most people over 85 will get it) as an intensely painful thick rash over a
small area of the body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are two
very different diseases., one clearly worse than the other. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or so it would seem.<br />
<br />
In fact, Chicken Pox and Shingles are both caused by the very same virus, <i>varicella
voster.</i> The virus contracted in childhood lies dormant in nerve cells after the
pox-like symptoms are long gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Triggered again in adulthood, that virus presents as Shingles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are they equivalent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They certainly don’t feel equivalent but
there is no escaping the fact that their etiology, their origin is the same.<br />
<br />
This is a commonplace of the diseases of the heart and soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The self-same disease of "anger" gives rise to
wanting to tell lies about someone and to punching them in the nose, or even to murdering them. The same "self-loathing" can lead to simply letting our bodies go to waste
through neglect or G-d forbid shooting ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some manifestations of these diseases are
more benign and some are less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without
addressing the root pathogen, though, neither disease can be cured. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Is sitting around your living room and talking disparagingly
about an individual or a group the same as taking pot shots at them with a
rifle? No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are they “morally
equivalent?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No. There are better and
worse, more and less violent, more and less harmful ways of being and behaving
in this world and it is our job to foster the better and do what we can to curb
the worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
For the doctor of the soul and/or their aspiring patient that may be less
interesting and less useful than knowing the root of disease. For those of us,
whose faith moves us to seek the higher ground , it is crucial and important to
know, that the pangs of anger, jealousy and greed that we attend to in our
moments of solitude are the seeds of some very bad things both great and
small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its important for us to look
under the microscope at our own spiritual viruses and know that there are many patients
out there with the same virus. Some are better off than we are, some are worse
off, and some seem to be suffering from something so severe that it bears
little relation to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the moral universe, it does not allow us
to excuse the extreme breaches but it allows us to understand them from the
inside out, to seek a cure and to help others seek a cure.<br />
<br />
It may not be fair to compare apples with oranges but any doctor who failed to compare
Shingles to Chickenpox wouldn’t be much of a doctor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-83930658677012744302014-06-17T15:19:00.000-07:002014-06-18T09:04:29.233-07:00Taking the Path to Empathy: Killing the Inner Stork<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS3aFmhl_TvRxHPoxlfESC7-lhHyyoulwYRnUpJn4KxGnmCavbeIIIR4DmBiN0qS_KD_SFgF9RKTRhoQZAc_Ay2aVN3mfwelA-J1reLNJwzSszzmyd8_3VBWpaGtJyiOmI2jCn738rws/s1600/stork.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS3aFmhl_TvRxHPoxlfESC7-lhHyyoulwYRnUpJn4KxGnmCavbeIIIR4DmBiN0qS_KD_SFgF9RKTRhoQZAc_Ay2aVN3mfwelA-J1reLNJwzSszzmyd8_3VBWpaGtJyiOmI2jCn738rws/s320/stork.gif" /></a></div>
It always amazes me what we don’t know about each other, what we don’t really want to know about each other and the tragedy that creates when in critical moments we are left unable to empathize with one another. We mock each other’s fear, we mock each others dead, we mock each others grief.
A few days ago, in a moment of pain and worry, I tweeted out “Three Yeshiva boys kidnapped between Hebron and Jerusalem. #BringBackOurBoys.” The response surprised me. “You mean SETTLERS don’t you?” “They are teenagers, fair targets.” “Probably just kill them but best case scenario a prisoner swap.” “What about kids in Gaza?” “Who cares, the IDF uses Pali kids for target practice.” It went on like that. My twitter following, which happens to be overwhelmingly Muslim, seemed not to empathize at all. The Israeli-ness or the Settler-ness (one kid is American and I don’t know that the other kids are “settlers”, only that they go to a Yeshiva High School run by a prominent Rabbi on “the other side of the green line”) so totally trumped the reality that these are teenage kids, somebody’s sons and brothers that even the fact that they were likely to be hurt very badly, tortured or killed was essentially irrelevant. I was shocked. How is it possible that so many bad people had been listening to me for so many months, even years now? Where were the tears? Why can’t they get this? What is wrong with them? What is wrong with me?<br />
<br />
The obstacles to empathy are many. I said “YESHIVA BOYS.” Most of my Muslim friends have no clue what that means to me. These are kids who are studying Torah. To religious Jews , they are symbols of innocence, piety and dedication. They represent all that is not threatening or violent in this world. It means they are doing the “right thing” by serving the God we all believe in full-time. Bad things are not SUPPOSED to happen to them.<br />
<br />
They are teenagers. We don’t know what to do with teenagers. They are simple-minded and can be as sweet as little children or as vicious as the most twisted adult.
The can be Yeshiva boys, Madrasa students, hafiz qur'an, kids who love their mother and play with their little brothers and sisters and/or Palestinian terrorists or Settler “price-tag” exacting thugs. Sometimes innocent, sometimes culpable, both gullible and cunning, they defy our black and white thinking just enough make us reinforce it. We paint them black and white, though they are often gray.
<br />
<br />
The obstacles to empathy are shared. A few minutes of soul-searching and its clear its not just THEIR problem. When between 89-318 Palestinian children (IDF gives the low number, B’Tzelem the high) were killed in war on Gaza a few years ago, my Jewish friends did not cry. The pictures of Palestinian mothers weeping at gravesites, didn’t much move them. When Palestinians complain of their teenagers being hauled off to jail , beaten and interrogated for little reason, we turn a deaf ear. We are not much interested.<br />
<br />
I can’t name a single Palestinian innocent killed in the conflict. I have never reached out to an Arab family that lost a family member. Never sent a card or an email to express my pain and outrage because in spite of my best intentions, I never allowed myself to feel that. Not because I am a cold-hearted jerk. I am not. The lack of names, itself a quiet strategy of dehumanization is second nature. I am a decent man but in the language of Rabbinic symbolism, I am a “stork.”<br />
I will explain.<br />
We are all storks. *<br />
In Hebrew the stork is called a “chasida” and the Torah tells us that it is a non-kosher bird. Chasida means “Kindly one”. How could a bird with such a nice name not be kosher? The Rabbis explain, it is called “kindly” because it is exceedingly kind to its own, its own family, children, even other chasidas. But let an outsider come, and they are vicious..
We are storks. We are nice people. We are great to the people around us. We are chock full of the values of mercy and kindness and generosity until we are faced with “the other.” Then all bets are off.<br />
<br />
We, all of us, have been MADE into storks, trained into a lack of empathy. Training can be undone. Here are the steps I am undertaking for myself, as an Observant Jew living in an observant community with friends and grandchildren in Israel to begin to undo my training. I hope other people will join me and suggest more and better steps. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim or Christian, I urge you to join me in this discipline. Choose whoever is “the other” to you and do it. Challenge yourself to see humanity in a new way. I can’t ask you to do what I am unwilling to do. It is not a lot but if I make a start, I hope you will too.<br />
<br />
1) I want to know the names of Palestinian people (in particular but no exclusively) who face harm or have been hurt and killed, to know them as human beings. I want to know them as parents, children and friends.<br />
<br />
2) I will count on my friends to help me reach out to families that might benefit from my comfort and concern.<br />
<br />
3) I will not tolerate around me disparaging talk about Palestinians or anyone else.
4) I want to offer my friendship, openly to all those who want it and are willing to respect it and me for who and what I am.<br />
<br />
<b>When attempting to start something worthwhile never say “I am the only one.” Say rather, “ I am THE FIRST!”</b>
<i>- The Chazon Ish. </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*I thank my friend Rabbi Zalman Kastel for an earlier essay in which he made this point.Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-79944931550888847322012-07-30T10:07:00.001-07:002012-07-30T10:13:14.197-07:00What I most want you to know about my religion is...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Please write one brief paragraph entitled <b>"What I most want you to know about my religion is..."</b> Please make your comments as personal and heartfelt as possible. At the end of the paragraph please include your first name, age, occupation, rough location and anything else you think someone would most want to know about you.
These responses will be culled and appear on my new site www.abrahamstent.comLee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-76149535794453816742012-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:002012-07-08T09:57:31.780-07:00Why Should Muslims Care About The Three Weeks?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbB4nAkkr2VxIsZzoSfzlsW9pMmXLX1T9dPpQGU4tMYio365G30_AgkHbNP0exjdUrqXT_e7tmV3q7P0u17WbGxyBo9uszOL0p_LNJyA60qnevRTJpY6Q5ScQ0ZolrKThRoQgMwzYxPc/s1600/Depression-signified.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbB4nAkkr2VxIsZzoSfzlsW9pMmXLX1T9dPpQGU4tMYio365G30_AgkHbNP0exjdUrqXT_e7tmV3q7P0u17WbGxyBo9uszOL0p_LNJyA60qnevRTJpY6Q5ScQ0ZolrKThRoQgMwzYxPc/s200/Depression-signified.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
At this time of year, from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Av, a period of the three weeks known as “Between the straits” “ observant Jews decrease their happiness and observe a partial state of mourning. We fast at least the first day and the last, we refrain instrumental music, during the last 10 days we refrain from meat and wine (traditional foods of “pleasure”) and do not bathe for pleasure. The last day, the 9th of Av which commemorates the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem is the saddest day of the year. We sit on the floor, we cry, we lament our state of physical and spiritual exile. Mourning the loss of the temple, of this vital connection with God is absolutely fundamental to Jewish thought and to Jewish life. There are those who arise in midnight every night to lament its loss. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov suggested that this is, in fact, the main service of the Jew, to yearn for its loss and long for the restoration of our relationship with God.<br />
<br />
<b>Why should a Muslim care?</b><br />
<br />
The Qur’an mentions the two destructions of the temple in Jerusalem in a beautiful verse:
<b>[And said], "If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to yourselves." Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.
~Al Qur’an 17:7</b><br />
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<b></b>Ibn Kathir draws from the beginning of the verse a very fundamental principle:
<i>It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you, but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our punishment). And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.)</i><br />
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This message is precisely the Jewish message of the Three Weeks. The brokenness of the world is OUR responsibility. If we continue to experience punishment and exile its because we continue to sin in the very same way as those who went before us. We have a choice. We can do good and we can do bad and we will face the consequences of our deeds. God may indeed be merciful to us but our job is to fix our deeds. The message is simple. The message is shared. The message is vital for all humanity.
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This message is echoed in the Qur'an in a powerful call to action which makes explicit the transformative collective power of change:
<b>For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
~Al Qur’an 13:11 </b><br />
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The Three Weeks are an invitation to reflect on the past, not as an exercise in historical commemoration or nostalgia but for the sole purpose of identifying what we need to change in our condition. We are called to discover what we need to do to create the opening for God to change us both individually and collectively.<br />
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The point of fasting is never to cause suffering but to awaken us to repentance, to help us experience enough of our own fragility to turn us back to God. The connection to the events of the past is not just "commemorative" but a reminder that the mistakes of the past are still with us today, and we have to repair them TODAY. Though the events are long over, the spiritual wrongs that created them are still with us. The tree may have died but the roots are alive and still creating shoots. The goal of today and of the Three Weeks to come is to identify those trends and wrestle with them, repair them in the hopes that the ultimate destruction of the 9th of Av will not come and instead of fasting, we will this year have a day of rejoicing.<br />
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Today on 17th of Tammuz we commemorate 5 events and address their spiritual roots. Here is a review. (based partially on Rabbi Moshe Weinberger)<br />
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1) The first tablets of the law were destroyed when Moses descended the mountain to see Bnai Yisrael worshipping the golden calf. – We address all of our missed opportunities, our continued failure to create and maintain a committed solid love-based relationship with our Creator<br />
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2) The daily offerings at the temple were disrupted- Connection to God requires constant effort, daily, consistent disciplined acts that reinforce our relationship with God and establish our humility in relation to Him. We are inconsistent in our efforts.<br />
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3) The walls of Jerusalem were breached - Destruction always begins with a weakening of our spiritual defenses. Little cracks in our ability to stand up to pressures of the world put our entire mission in jeopardy.<br />
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4) The Torah was burned. - We are told that when R. Chaninah ben Tradyon was burned in a Torah he saw the parchment burn but the letters fly up to heaven. The spiritual part of the Torah was separated from the physical. Every time we fail to study, engage in idle conversation when the Torah is read in synagogue, or regard the Torah as “just another book” we “burn the Torah” by letting the spirituality of the Torah fly away.<br />
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5) An idol was placed in the temple- Our hearts and minds were created to be a sanctuary to Hashem (Allah swt) What have we placed there instead? Love of money, love of celebrity, obsession with worldly position and knowledge? In the midst of our “enlightened” world, the spirit of idolatry is alive and well and as strong as ever.<br />
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The message is clear enough. "If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, you do it to yourselves."
The destruction of the temple stands for us as reminder of the ultimate power of human responsibility, of God’s great mercy and our capacity to truly return to him.<br />
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The Jewish tradition adds that the 17th of Tammuz was the day that Noah (the Prophet Nuh, pbuh) sent out the dove which would eventually return to him with the olive branch, the symbol of salvation from the flood. Though the world appears to be in chaos, submerged in confusion, we must never despair. God's mercy is beyond our comprehension. Even though we sometimes feel like we are drowning, our rescue is already being prepared.<br />
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It is my privilege to share with my Muslim brothers and sisters a shared message. May this little bit of information bring us a bit closer to inspiring one another and encouraging one another in the service of God. It is also my privilege to share this with my Jewish brothers and sisters, that as we struggle through the Three Weeks, we should know that Muslims can understand and appreciate our efforts.<br />
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<i>Master of the World! Please help the discomforts of these Three Weeks be transformed into an awakening to return to You. Help us to repair the mistakes of the past that linger in our present and to put You and only You always at the center of our world.
</i>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-10554154386607859652012-05-24T08:26:00.001-07:002012-05-24T08:26:04.277-07:00Shavuot - Teacher Torah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAbwvTVEHAYqVEw0E8EwkGyRjmdY9zg3pVmfruWvoixhXfL99fcXw79rapDjwSsJWO0U5Ymj-xf5ycxyrh51Du_pq07wze0awgVW1KDlQC34OEvKh0BDhyjKWGqVCEvWLp8CyMy3a3J4/s1600/torah.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAbwvTVEHAYqVEw0E8EwkGyRjmdY9zg3pVmfruWvoixhXfL99fcXw79rapDjwSsJWO0U5Ymj-xf5ycxyrh51Du_pq07wze0awgVW1KDlQC34OEvKh0BDhyjKWGqVCEvWLp8CyMy3a3J4/s200/torah.gif" /></a></div>
The festival of Shavuot is the celebration of the “giving” of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. As many commentators have pointed out there is no giving without the ability to receive and so Shavuot is also the celebration of the “receiving” of the Torah. The word Torah itself comes from “horah” which means, “to teach.” As educators, we can understand Shavuot as a holiday about the giving and receiving of knowledge, a celebration of the process of teaching.
Like teaching, Shavuot does not just happen. Before Shavuot we undergo the training period of the Omer, a period of 49 days which we are to dedicate to self-reflection and refinement of our character. At Mt. Sinai there were also three days of intensive preparation just before the big event. The Jewish people bathed, separated themselves from family life and turned inward. In other words, education doesn’t just happen. We don’t just hand over the big lesson, the students need to be prepared and built up over time to receive what it is that we have to give. As in the process of the Omer, that building-up has as much to do with their character and their spirit, as it has to do with their intellects.
No matter how great the lesson there has to be a prepared student to receive it. Sinai was the ultimate multi-media presentation. It was a sound and light show complete with lasers and trippy synaesthetic experiences (seeing sounds etc.). The Talmud tells us that it was simulcasted in 70 languages. There was great classroom discipline. (A mountain held over your head gives a whole new meaning to the word “suspension”) It was the most exciting lesson plan of all time. Yet, the beauty of that presentation would have been lost without the preparation. The take-home lesson for educators is simple enough. Our job is not just to give to our students but also to help create the vessel which can receive.
May Hashem (G-d) help us all to build those vessels and fill them with all that is most worthy and good!Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-23959257738532237852012-02-12T18:45:00.000-08:002012-02-12T19:47:13.045-08:00A Reflection on Teaching<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBeHx7YqJIRnlANHoXQvam6ZeXBNB3YNBNRfP66-vOPR77MyDyydAzDpzPYZWcuUbVTMAJypseiuShbR0sjT79XbIFplsfBREBKp-2KJqMKN8ryumCYfPOlBs4xxptPD8Liv2V_mog14/s1600/Lee+teaching.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBeHx7YqJIRnlANHoXQvam6ZeXBNB3YNBNRfP66-vOPR77MyDyydAzDpzPYZWcuUbVTMAJypseiuShbR0sjT79XbIFplsfBREBKp-2KJqMKN8ryumCYfPOlBs4xxptPD8Liv2V_mog14/s200/Lee+teaching.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708446158018890674" /></a><br /><br />A friend of mine is in a graduate program in school administration. I say friend and I mean “friend.” There are people who are colleagues and there are people who you feel a connection of soul. He is one of the latter. He is not Jewish. He asks me bizarre questions on Jewish law, knows more Jewish concepts than most Jews and is a serious Christian. He is one of those rare thinkers whose left side of brain matches right side. He came to observe my classroom. These are his notes describing my Talmud class. I decided to use his excellent description as a moment of self-reflection on my teaching. In the italics is my commentary on his notes. I want to thank him for allowing me to do so.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Classroom Observation, Honors Talmud, Jewish Community Day School, February 8, 2012.</span><br /><br />7.50 a.m. Arrived at the start of class. The students were not present yet—they were in another classroom watching the video announcements since there is no television in the Beit Midrash. The Beit Midrash is a converted music room—the walls are covered with soundproofing material and the windows have been covered over with imitation stained glass window stickers to make the place fee like a holy place. There is a portable white board along one wall of the room and a laptop and computer projector are set up a short distance from it so as to project a PowerPoint slide onto the board. It reads:<br /><br />QUESTION!<br />1) How do you decide which bracha to make first, then second, etc?<br />2) What valuable lessons does this teach you for your future?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I have really tried to make my classroom into a Beit Midrash (A “home of study” I want my students to understand that studying Torah is different from studying math or history. The windows and the back well covered with a photo-mural of the Western Wall in Jerusalem give it the feel of sanctity. There is a television in the classroom but I have left it broken. I often point out to my students that I don’t have a TV. (For some, that is like saying that I am a Breatharian that lives with out eating.) So no TV in class. I decided that that same instrument they use to watch “Gossip Girl” could not be elevated to Torah study. <br /></span><br /><br />A total of six long rectangular tables are set in a U-shape focused around the white board. On one of these tables, along the right part of the U-shape, toward a corner of the classroom the teacher, LW, has set out plate a three plates. One plate has almonds, dried figs, fresh grapes, and dates; another plate has slices of coffee cake; the third plate has carob chips. There is also a bottle of pomegranate juice on the table. Near this table are bookshelves filled with religious texts. Next to the bookshelves is an Aron Kodesh. [a decorated cabinet containing a Torah scroll]<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The set up of the room is based on the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, that says that the teacher must be able to see every student and every student must be able to see one another. Learning Torah is about interaction, the teacher, the students are as much the lesson as the text under discussion. <br />In my Talmud class I provide a lot of food. There is a proverb. “Open mouths = open heart.” I am not sure who said that. Maybe it was me! Whoever said it is true. I also love to be hospitable. Its my "thing" both at home and at school. It was also our father Abraham's thing, so I am in good company.<br /></span><br />7.54 a.m. The students arrive to class. There are a total of six students—four boys and two girls. As they come in, LW says, “Okay holy brothers and sisters, question on the board. Don’t touch the food yet. Sit down and answer the question. If you want tea, the water should be hot.” On a separate table is an electric hot water heater; two students head over and make themselves cups of tea, the rest sit around the table with the plates of food on it as if they were sitting down to a family meal except that they take out their notebooks and begin writing. LW sits among them and engages in light banter with the students as they’re sitting down. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I spend the first few minutes of class re-establishing our relationship. The Beit Midrash is a “bayit” a HOME. Students should feel at home. The presence of religious books, a teacher and a Torah scroll should inspire a sense of caution but beyond that they should feel comfortable in this space and comfortable with their teacher. <br />I am partial to tea with Torah. Some people drink alcohol when they study. I want my kids to prefer tea. Alcohol makes you stupid. Tea does not. <br /></span><br /><br />LW: What day is today?<br />Male student: The eighth<br />LW (in an Indian accent): Today is one day closer to death<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A teacher of mine in India used to say this. I like my students to know who I am and to know who I was. I wasn’t BORN this way. I am the product of lots of different kinds of experiences. Besides, it cracks them up every time and relaxes them. The great sage Rava taught that all classes should begin with a joke, to set the students (and the teacher) at ease.<br /></span><br /><br />8.00 a.m. After all students have had a chance to sit down and write for a few minutes, LW begins class formally by asking for dedications and the names of sick people. Students call out names and after each one, LW says a brief bracha in Hebrew. After a minute or two of this, LW asks what else is happening in their lives. Students describe upcoming tests and projects and one student mentions a college basketball game that is happening tonight to which LW replies, “There’s a certain point in sports when my prayer becomes impossible. This section of the class ends with the students and LW praying together in unison in Hebrew.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is all routine. When my former boss first described this dedication process to me, I thought it was terribly hokey. I now depend on it as a reliable way to focus class attention and to get students to be aware of each other’s needs. We offer the merit of our Torah study as a source of healing for sick family members, and for success in all their endeavors. It’s a way of linking Torh to other important areas of life.<br />We made the blessing on learning Torah, and as usual, I launch into at least a short discussion of pure Torah, usually Jewish law so the prayer is not said in vain.<br /></span><br />After the prayer, LW points to a quotation that’s projected onto the white board. It reads, “Everything you need to know about love you can learn from prayer.” [I made that up] He then goes on to ask the students to answer the opening question. <br /><br />LW: Here we have a plate of food for Tu B’Shavat things. How do we decide which bracha to make first? All items on the plate share a same bracha. Some have different brachas.<br /><br />A bracha is a short prayer said before eating. There are specific wordings for particular kinds of foods. Fruits share a common wording. Cake and non-bread grain products another, and so forth.<br />After some discussion, LW sums up, “For blessings we want to go from the most specific to the most general.” Then he pivots the discussion, “What does this say about love?”<br /><br />8.07 a.m. The students are ninth and tenth graders and do not jump in to answer. LW shifts his question to advice and offers up the following advice, “With apologies to the young women present this will be helpful to the gentlemen. When you say thank you say thank you as specifically as possible. Don’t thank your wife in general. Don’t say thank you for the dinner. Say this was the best broccoli I’ve ever tasted.” Then, as an aside, he offers more advice to the young men. “Gentlemen, whatever you do, don’t buy your wife a potted plant. I did that for my wife once. She told me, it’s enough that I have to take care of you, I don’t have time to take care of this too.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I love teaching Jewish law. I want them to say the prayers before eating. I also want them to be able to connect that practice to other areas of their life. Prayer life is simple, “please”, “thank you” and “I love you.” I want to them to feel deeply that prayer is about relationship and that ALL relationships involve spiritual connection. <br /><br />I teach boys and girls together. If I were someone else that might go without saying and without further comment. Teaching a Talmud class to boys and girls together (Traditionally girls do not learn Talmud.) is the time when I feel most like the sole observant teacher in the school. I am not uncomfortable with teaching boys and girls together or teaching Talmud to girls but I am very aware that it puts me outside the bounds of the other more traditional world that I live in. My traditional self is sometimes at quiet odds with the pluralistic and not-so-tradition bound tone of the school. </span><br /><br />LW tells the students to take the next four to five minutes to get something to eat. Students get up and walk around the room. Some of them fix cups of tea. Others make small plates of food. LW makes a plate of food for me and gives it to me. Next door a rock music class is under way and the students comment on the song being played. <br /><br />8.12 a.m. The students have all gotten food, juice and tea and are sitting back down at their seats around the table. One student sips some juice and says, “Mr. W— this is the best pomegranate juice I’ve ever had.” LW and students chuckle. Chit-chat continues and at one point LW discusses ways to make faux cheese from almonds. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">So by now you have figured it out. This is not really just a class in Gemara (Talmud). Its also a class in life. Its about presenting a model of respectful interaction and mutual concern. Its about the nuts and bolts of Jewish life, saying prayers before you eat and having healthy marriages. That is the context for the text, a healthy well-balanced spiritual life.<br /></span><br />8.14 a.m. LW begins the formal lesson on a sugya [stand-alone discussion] from the Gemara. The situation is about borrowing and collateral. Each student has his or her own copy of the Gemara in which they make notes. They take turns reading in Hebrew and LW works with them each individually as they interpret what they’ve just read. <br /><br />8.19 a.m. They continue working through the sugya and LW weaves in a narrative of how the Gemara came to be in the discussion. Rabbis would receive people and answer their questions. The generations of Rabbis can be traced in each sugya and so what emerges is an intergenerational conversation. The specific sugya being discussed deals with who one should trust when a item of collateral offered up by a borrower is stolen from the lender. If turns out that the lender to be trusted regarding the theft—the lender knows who comes and goes from his house—but the borrower is to be trusted when it comes to value of the collateral since the collateral belongs to the borrower.<br /><br />8.23 a.m. LW starts to sum up, “The borrower has a better idea of the value of the object so we trust him. But he’s also the guy that has the most to gain by not telling the truth.”<br /><br />Students continue reading in Aramaic and LW continues to work with them, translating into English and discussing what’s going on in the text.<br /><br />8.27 a.m. LW draws a distinction between Jewish law and US law. In Jewish law believability is established before testimony is heard whereas in US law the jury decides whether or not testimony is believable. LW uses a student as an example, he turns to a male student and says, “I think you more than anyone else will grow up to be a professional gambler. Now would we believe you in a court of law? No, because you’re on the fringes of society, you’re a gambler, so we wouldn’t consider your testimony.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The kid is has a good head for math. He would be a great card counter. He also likes to win. Its important for kids to know that you KNOW them. You know their strengths (and maybe even a few of their weaknesses)<br /></span><br />8.30 a.m. LW begins a series of rhetorical questions, each one deeper than the previous. “What’s the difference on believability? Why is one person believable and the other guy is not? Why do we not believe them both?” After a pause, he offers up, “Now we’ll get philosophical and have a Calvinist moment.” He sends a student to one of the bookshelves to get a copy of the Tanach. The student brings it back to LW who flips through it and has trouble finding the passage he wants. At one point he offers up, “Thank God for the principle of plausible deniability. It’s not in the Talmud but it should be.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Wow, the dude with the beard knows about “Calvinism.” I flaunt my fancy education in class. I use a lot of big words and refer to concepts from other disciplines a lot. Torah does not exist in a vacuum; it is part of a real world. I am proud of being able to put Torah into a wider context for my students. <br /><br />I am also ok with fumbling. I had trouble finding the passage. So what? It gives my students permission not to be perfect.<br /><br />I am pretty sure that “plausible deniability” IS in the Talmud somewhere. <br /></span><br /><br />8.34 a.m. LW finds the passage he’s looking for. “A man will not become established through wickedness but the righteous will not falter.”<br /><br />8.36 a.m. LW asks, “Why is it that the borrower needs to borrow?” Discussion ensues and eventually the idea that people who are rich are rich because they deserve it and those who are poor deserve it. LW and students alike express dismay at such a conclusion and reject it.<br /><br />8.38 a.m. LW remarks, “I personally am very troubled by it. Even more troubled that the discussion ends here.” <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Teaching Torah means being real and sharing the struggle. Sometimes I don’t get it. Sometimes I am troubled. I have to say that. I take this stuff seriously. I don’t jump to agreement. I also don’t jump to blind opposition. I don’t deny all my other experiences. I try to engage and help my students engage in honest dialogue with the Rabbis of the text and, in general, to feel comfortable with testing ideas out for themselves.<br /></span><br />8.40 a.m. A student asks, “Why did they stop adding to the Gemara?” LW answers. “That’s a good question. No one really knows.” He then goes on to describe the last person who edited the Gemara and also mentions that discussions and exchange of opinions continue to this day so, in a sense, the Gemara continues.<br /><br />8.43 a.m. LW, “What time is class over?” A student answers, “Two minutes.” LW responds, “Okay, we’re not going to start the next sugya.” At this point one student asks, “Mr. W— weren’t the Jews money lenders?” LW answers, “Yes?” The student responds, “So it just seems like the lender who is to be believed is most likely the Jewish guy and the Gemara is pretty nice to lender.” LW, enthusiastically, “That’s a really good point.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I missed an opportunity here. What I should have said is “Look, the Talmud is still happening, RIGHT HERE!” Our discussion is not on that tiny page of closde text. Our discussion is on the page of LIFE. But, we are part of the same discussion and those Rabbis are here with us, right now. Linked to them in common discussion, we all pushed into a timeless present. <br /></span><br />8.45 a.m. As the bell rings, LW closes class with a bracha.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />The bell rings. So much for being beyond time. That last hurried after- bracha, the prayer in thanks for the food is like the stale rolls wrapped in napkins my grandmother used to stuff in my pocket. It is nourishment for the road, a little taste of the eternity of the Torah encounter. As long as the blessing of Torah is in our pockets, we are just a little free of the tyranny of time.<br /><br /></span>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-57896800998565793352012-01-11T18:46:00.000-08:002012-01-15T11:40:29.770-08:00Hijabi for a Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUhmcNNwFAl-myAW7-AZrK7kRKniH51kD5j5IFBVoau-ET5LsV_NXP8XQqqb-GeKot4ZB9ZUTDYT4zGns0z4jINSUP0YiaWsPuwCuhn_9Y6CAhMMuWW2mpZPUiuevSUX1KIQ5KYoGBK4/s1600/Hijabi+Sara.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUhmcNNwFAl-myAW7-AZrK7kRKniH51kD5j5IFBVoau-ET5LsV_NXP8XQqqb-GeKot4ZB9ZUTDYT4zGns0z4jINSUP0YiaWsPuwCuhn_9Y6CAhMMuWW2mpZPUiuevSUX1KIQ5KYoGBK4/s200/Hijabi+Sara.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696571553850635042" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">[The following is an article my daughter has written for the newspaper of her Jewish community day school of which she is co-editor. She asked me to thank the many people who helped her with interviews. She would have liked to use all the words of everybody if only time and space would permit. She looks forward to your comments.]<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hijabi for a Day</span><br />by Sara Weissman<br /> <br /> <br />WHY HIJAB?<br /> <br /> From the businessman’s suit to a goth’s band T-shirt, we all know that clothes are more than cloth. What we choose to wear is a sign of who we are, what we aspire to be, and how we choose to represent ourselves. So imagine wearing your heart on your sleeve, or rather your religious devotion over your head. The concept of hijab, the headscarf worn by Muslim women, is less simple than it seems.<br /><br />For this month’s Challenge to the Editor, I wore hijab for one day. Hijab, which literally means “to veil,” is the code of modesty for Muslim women past puberty. The requirements for hijab consist of covering most of the body including hair and avoiding perfume and tight, transparent, or flashy clothing.<br /><br /> The choice to try wearing hijab for a day was as much as an internal experiment, as an external one. Considering the scary and relatively new phenomenon of Islamophobia, part of it was to see if people treated me differently. But more than that, it was a way to take a tiny glimpse into something larger, a practice meaningful to millions of people and the idea that, though the clothes don’t make the woman, they can say a lot about what she believes in. <br /> <br />A LITTLE BACKGROUND:<br /> <br /> Before taking scarf in hand, I wanted a better understanding of where the idea of hijab comes from. Though there are multiple references to hijab in the Qur'an, in al-Ahzaab 33:59 it says, “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Another, al-Noor 24:31, says, “And say to the believing women…that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers…” and it goes on to list others.<br /><br /> After reading the above paragraph, your inner American, feminist may be a little miffed. Mine was too. In fact she grumbled quite a bit about the seeming patriarchal tone, the same I struggle with when discussing women’s modesty in my own religion. But many Muslim women feel very differently. In fact, they feel quite the opposite, embracing hijab as a freeing as opposed to forced expression of their faith.<br /><br /> “For me, the hijab is more than modesty; it is a liberating fact,” said Sara Khalil, 25. Born in Saudi Arabia, Khalil lives in Canada and has been wearing hijab since 2005. “It has allowed me to perceive myself as an individual outside the bounds of physical beauty and attraction, and further project a confidence that is independent of others' judgment,” she said. Samara Gabriel, who converted to Islam in 2010 and runs a blog called ImInItForTheScarves.com, holds a similar view. “My body is a private thing. Mine,” she said. “Not to be shared with the world. It also means that I dress to please God, not men on the street.” Gabriel’s beliefs were reaffirmed by an incident with her editor, when she worked for a local newspaper. “The editor angrily made the comment ‘What if I WANTED to look at you?’ As if it was his right. That is a good example as to why I love wearing it. I don't feel anymore as if I need to flip my hair around or show off my boobs or my butt to get attention. I love Pink's ‘Stupid Girls’ as an example to what I mean,” she said.<br /><br /> Zara Asad, 19, explained that hijab for her is also an expression of her spiritual struggle. “It’s the covering, the cloth that protects my heart from any filth coming in,” said Asad. “It’s my shield. Everyday is a battle against improving myself and fighting distractions around me. It’s a very vital part of me.” Asad began wearing hijab when she was 17. Though both her mother, originally from Pakistan, and her sister wore it, she was afraid of what her friends and predominantly white, New Jersey community would think. But after she wore hijab, Asad said she could never go back. “When I first wore the hijab I felt like myself, a Muslim, for the very first time in public,” she said. “I felt like I could breathe for the first time.”<br /><br /> Others also relate to this sense of identity that comes with hijab “Our hijab is both our modest covering and a badge of our identity, “ said Rania Abuisnaineh, a 20 year old from Minnesota with family from Hebron. “People immediately recognize us as Muslim when they see our hijab, just as they recognize a Jewish man from his yarmulke or a Sikh from his turban.” However for her and others, hijab’s meaning lies in more than identity and modesty, but in the belief that it is a law from God. “When people ask me why I wear hijab, my first response is always this: ‘Because it is a command from Allah; and He knows what is best for His creation more than the creation know what is best for themselves,’” Abuisnaineh said.<br /><br /> Still, reactions to hijab in the modern world can be mixed and some Muslim women see a disconnect between who they are and how they are perceived. .” Shameela, however, who was born in India and now lives in Qatar, has seen these perceptions overcome. One of few Muslims in her city, she wore hijab since she was 12 and said that when she went to college, her friends saw a new side to Muslims through her activism at the university. “They came to know that wearing hijab is not a sign of oppression, and that wearing it does not make any women inferior.” Hind Yousef Khalifa, who is a resident of Abu Dhabi, also elaborated on this point. “It (hijab) doesn't stop a woman from practicing any aspect of her everyday life,” she said. “We study, we drive, we work, we go out with friends, we volunteer and do community work and are very active in society.”<br /> <br />A DAY WITH HIJAB:<br /> <br /> With all of these women’s words in mind, on a Wednesday morning over winter break I decided to put on hijab. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the red cloth clutched in one hand and three safety pins in the other. Following the careful steps of a youtube tutorial, I slowly wrapped and pinned until the fabric finally resembled a headscarf. I looked up at the mirror, proud and a little unused to the lack of auburn frizz in the reflection that staring back at me.<br /><br /> With some self-conscious jitters, I went about my day as usual. I drove my family to the doctor’s, looked at old pictures with my mom, and spent the rest of the day at Fashion Island, looking for belated Chanukah gifts and hanging out with my grandma. But, I felt different. Even if it wasn’t my own religion, I suddenly felt like I had to reflect what the scarf represented. I tried walking straighter, grinned at strangers, and tacked extra pleases and thank yous on every sentence to the sales clerks at Macy’s. Despite feeling like I looked different, wearing hijab made me feel more comfortable in some ways. It reminded me of those mornings when you put on a favorite a baggy sweater, too relaxed to dress to impress. There was a certain calm in feeling like I didn’t have to look cute for anyone.<br /><br /> At the same time, wearing hijab attracted some unwanted attention. Walking through Fashion Island produced long stares, mostly curious but a few hostile. One man continued glaring even after I looked him in the eye while a saleswoman, chatting up other customers, spoke curtly and would not look me in the eye at all. Still, the amazing thing is the number of odd looks was nothing compared to the number of smiles. Throughout the day, I got wide grins from absolute strangers.<br /><br /> I would like to say I reached some mind-blowing conclusion after thinking on the experience and unpinning my scarf that night. What I came away with was more modest, but I still think entirely worth it. After a day, I can’t claim to know what it’s like for women to wear hijab: how it feels, what they believe, or how they are treated. Still, I ended the day impressed by women willing to hide parts of themselves but at the same time stand out, for the sake of their God and their religion. In the end, the biggest lesson I learned was that clothing can be fabric or it can reflect who a person wants to be. For Muslim women, hijab is a constant reminder that they are always aspiring toward better observance of their religion. The take-home message I got from a day in hijab was we can change our clothes but more importantly our clothes can change us. The question is what do we want them to reflect?Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-24091602578796699242011-10-28T13:43:00.000-07:002011-10-28T13:48:50.548-07:00The No-Kvetching Challenge!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP4_Yx9S0Clnls2amLE1hFHUCI7z6DkrLl-FAAY-98k_KDaFZ9BoFzuVowk6vV9gAK6rQBkLovRchiLJoJZnW292aa8KDMrB2DWY7KtISJFmszyMkuaFDLh95mn55Rfs0KwltsE4AHUE/s1600/just+do+it.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP4_Yx9S0Clnls2amLE1hFHUCI7z6DkrLl-FAAY-98k_KDaFZ9BoFzuVowk6vV9gAK6rQBkLovRchiLJoJZnW292aa8KDMrB2DWY7KtISJFmszyMkuaFDLh95mn55Rfs0KwltsE4AHUE/s200/just+do+it.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668647715166835826" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Over the last few months I have taken a challenge on myself to fast from complaining for Shabbat. (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown). I have not always been entirely successful but even the effort is a wonderful experience. I have used twitter to invite others to join me in the fast. I invite my fellow fasters to post their non-complaining experiences here, so others can share their successes and their "failures" so we all can grow.</span>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382434094642330871.post-13825890813290488852011-10-27T22:02:00.000-07:002011-10-27T22:08:09.446-07:00Five "Lunar Lessons" In Honor of the New Moon (Rosh Chodesh -Mar Heshvan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4Pcg3lQugqNRxKvHed5uBZzzIXPS3y4Zhv9hJy-KCLmE_kTsrYZ_pDBmnhyFF6q6LnxpyvP6AYciB4j8OTDOMpPPyCEZUzm9dh80k-IroRIKgkpARlTeSJOBJuKmBN__SZ56aPZUP0s/s1600/The-Moon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4Pcg3lQugqNRxKvHed5uBZzzIXPS3y4Zhv9hJy-KCLmE_kTsrYZ_pDBmnhyFF6q6LnxpyvP6AYciB4j8OTDOMpPPyCEZUzm9dh80k-IroRIKgkpARlTeSJOBJuKmBN__SZ56aPZUP0s/s200/The-Moon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668404151691845506" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Lunar lesson 1: We have no light of our own. At our best, we reflect the light of our Creator. At our worst, we conceal it almost completely.<br /><br />Lunar lesson 2: The service of G-d depends on lots and lots of new beginnings.<br /><br />Lunar lesson 3: Don't be afraid of the ups and downs, waxings and wanings. Even when your light grows dim, it is part of the process.<br /><br />Lunar Lesson 4: We all look very luminous from a distance, get closer and you see the craters and wear and tear. And yet we are beautiful.<br /><br />Lunar Lessons 5: There are times to be bigger and times to be smaller. It takes both great self-esteem and great humility to serve G-d.<br /></span>Lee (Tzvi) Weissmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11309136974282210244noreply@blogger.com4