On Not Being a Sausage

"A Peace that is not as the world gives" Sermon by Sarah Coakley

2008-05-15T11:40:00.002-04:00

One of our honorary degree recipients yesterday was Sarah Coakley. Here's a sermon of hers preached at the SSJE in May 2006.

‘I do not give to you as the world gives’, Jesus promises. We tend to think of peace simply as the cessation of hostilities, the ending of pain or sufferings, and we wait for it anxiously, wondering why it never comes; but that of course is the ‘wordly’ way of peace. It is hard to see, except when an unacknowledged saint so unexpectedly makes us ‘feel better’, that Christ’s transcendent peace is already given in hostilities, in pain and sufferings, here and now in the chaos and muddle and sin and physical frailty of this world. It is hard to see, in our rightful human struggles for worldly peace and justice, that even that worldly peace and justice, if we could ever attain them, would mean nothing without the unworldly peace of Christ attending and suffusing them. It is hard to remember, let alone understand, that the peace which the world cannot give is ever on offer, elusive as it may be, pressing amongst us now in the body of the saints which is the ‘church’, often most paradoxically held out to us by those in the greatest internal anguish themselves, yet enabling others simply to ‘go on’.

2008-05-14T07:55:00.001-04:00

Today is Commencement for seniors as they begin their new ministries. Blessings on them!

Tonite at 7pm at the Center for Jewish History

2008-05-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

GOD AND THE LAWS
The Roman Empire and the Rabbis in Pre-Christian Palestine.
Natalie Dohrmann, University of Pennsylvania Part of the series: "Beginnings: Jews, Christians and the Roman Empire"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A superb speaker conjures the cultural and political atmospheres in which modern Judaism unfolded...
Late Antiquity--the world which is defined in and by the vast and changing power of the Roman Empire--is one of the most significant eras in Western history, marked by the emergence of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, and the forces that lead up to the dramatic appearance of Islam in the early Middle Ages. This lecture will give an overview of the era, with special focus on the questions animating the current study of the period stretching from roughly 200 C.E. to 650 CE. We will imagine the complex and perhaps unexpected world shared and shaped by Jews, Christians, and Pagans.

Centro Primo Levi
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAY 12
7:00 pm - lecture
Q&A to follow
Refreshments
Center
for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
--------------------
General admission:
$15, students: $5
Tickets:
(212) 868-4444
www.smarttix.com
Information: 212-294-8301 ext 8202

2008-05-11T11:30:00.001-04:00

The new Rough Guide to England says it is a nation of "overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex- and celebrity-obsessed TV addicts" and that no other country is as "insular, self-important and irritating".

But in turn none is more "fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse", with such "an unparalleled range of historic buildings, monuments and landscapes".

The Bible and Motherhood -- Dr. Billy Graham

2008-05-09T17:10:00.004-04:00

This kind of article is marvelous. Dr. Graham is (ostensibly) advising a woman, soon to be a mother. It assumes the Bible is a model for behavior--that there's no gap between one ancient text and another, and between any biblical text and our own time. I understand the Bible to be authoritative but I don't expect that it will tell me how to behave.

So what does the Bible say about motherhood? Two quotes are given: "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you" (Deuteronomy 5:16). And, "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching" (Proverbs 1:8).

Take them at face value. What do they say to you? Both mention the parenting of father and mother. One is a command, the other a piece of advice. God's command to honor father and mother is non-negotiable; the other passes on something that will help you get along as you grow up. Jesus would have known both passages and would have kept the 10 Commandments. As we know from the gospels, he discusses application of this command in Matthew's gospel. What is being discussed are the ways to honor parents. If you take both passages together, the latter is the pragmatic benefits of the former.

Nothing of this is evident in Dr. Graham's arguments: The first text undergirds the notion that "motherhood is one of God's great gifts to the human race." And the second supports the assertion that "mothers especially are equipped to comfort and teach us."

To me, this is a great example of making the text say what one wants it to say (in this case about mothers) rather than taking the text at face value. Then the larger question is, does the Bible actually say anything specific about mothers? Does it in fact ascribe to mothers at any time and place particular roles?

2008-05-08T13:50:00.002-04:00

"Give us this day" Vasari Singers, Anthems for the 21st Century. Worth every penny of the .99 download from ITunes. Ward Swingle composed the setting. He says:

I was lucky to have a poem written for the occasion by Tony Vincent Isaacs. Tony had previously put words to the music of Scott Joplin for the Swingle Singers ‘Rags and all that Jazz’ album. For this new poem, called Give us this day, I’ve written a very simple four-part setting so that the words (and their important message) are quickly understood.

Scudding clouds of crimson flush
Skim the azure
Evening sky
Boding well the morrows dawn
To a cloudless glowing morn
Dragonfly
Neon’s treasure
Strafes the pool in summer’s hush.

Give us this day
That we may see
The beauty before our eyes
Give us this day
That we may cherish
The earth before it dies.

Curfew closing on the light
Pungent woodsmoke
Curling by
Autumn leaching summer cold
Breathing out in red and gold
Flocking high
Over tall oak
Storks migrating full in flight.

Give us this day …

All along the trestle bough
Incandescent
To the touch
Icy chandeliers ablaze
To the suns retreating rays
In the clutch
Omnipresent
Of the northwind’s bitter vow.

Give us this day …

Morning creeps upon the day
Stars pay homage
To the sun
Tumult in the swelling bud
Ripening with verdant blood
Surging through
Winter’s damage
Weaving tendrils on its way.

Give us this day

2008-05-07T17:41:00.003-04:00

I did an interview today with Reuters on Bloodline, a movie by Bruce Burgess about the bloodline of Jesus focusing in particular on a Templar grave in the south of France and artefacts found therein. Perhaps the piece will be picked up. Perhaps not.

Update (May 10):- Here's a link to the video.

2008-05-06T08:33:00.002-04:00

Is life in Kenya getting better? Jeffrey Gettleman reports in today's NY Times that formerly relocated people (mostly Kikuyu) are returning home.

Kenya’s leaders face a growing economic and food crisis, and they decided that, ethnic tensions aside, now is not the time for miles of productive farmland to go to waste. As part of Operation Rudi Nyumbani (Return Home), the government is promising food, tools, new houses and even cash for those who return to their farms.

To make its plan work, the government has said, there must be genuine ethnic reconciliation. Over the past several weeks, local administrators have held meetings, seminars and soccer games to build trust between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin.

“It’s a process,” said Katee Mwanza, Molo’s district commissioner.

And that process may be bearing fruit. Some Kalenjin elders, who just a few months ago had insisted that Kikuyus leave the Rift Valley, came to the Molo police station on Monday to welcome the Kikuyus back home.

Even this article points out problems:

But are the leaders really working together? Mr. Kibaki, who was declared the winner of the election despite widespread evidence of vote rigging, finally named a unity government in April, appointing his top rival, Raila Odinga, as prime minister. But the government’s first joint exercise, a tour of the turbulent Rift Valley, was marred by protocol wars centering on who was more senior, Mr. Odinga or Kalonzo Musyoka, the vice president and a Kibaki ally.

Serious criticisms are evident in commentary from local newspapers like the Daily Nation.

Getting from A-B in NYC is NEVER the same!

2008-05-04T19:19:00.003-04:00

Today was the 2008 Five Boro Bike Tour of 40 miles which I saw flying by on my way to Trinity to finish a marvelous series of Christian Education classes. The bike tour prevented some people from moving around the city. I took the E to the WTC without a problem.

Last week it was raining but I got a ride south to Trinity with J on her way back home. The week before the Pope was visiting Ground Zero so the whole area was out of commission. I walked to Union Square and took the 4 South to Wall Street. The first week, the subway stopped at Chambers Street for no apparent reason. We all got out and I walked to St Paul's and then further south to Trinity.

How do tourists manage to get around the city when they are visiting for the first time??

Religious Sites of Flushing, Queens

2008-05-03T10:18:00.002-04:00

From yesterday's NY Times, comes a video report by John Strausbaugh of the extraordinary religious diversity of Flushing. Here's another link to the article.
Fleeing persecution in England, members of the Society of Friends (also known, at first derisively, as Quakers) had begun to arrive in Flushing in the 1650s. Peter Stuyvesant, director general of New Netherland, saw them as dangerous radicals and forbade anyone in the colony to consort with them.

On Dec. 27, 1657, 30 citizens of Flushing, not Quakers themselves, signed a remarkable letter to him, now known as the Flushing Remonstrance. They refused to “stretch out our hands against” the Quakers, “to punish, banish or persecute them,” and reminded Stuyvesant that under Colonial law freedom of religion extended to “Jews, Turks and Egyptians” and “Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker.”

Here's a taste of present diversity:

Today, across Northern Boulevard, on a single block of 33rd Avenue between Union Street and Parsons Boulevard, you can get a sense of how many different religions are practiced in Flushing.

There’s the small B’Nai Abraham synagogue on one corner, the Korean St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Roman Catholic Chapel and Center around the other corner, the Evergreen Presbyterian Church in the middle of the block, and, right next door, the blue-topped dome and minaret of the Hazrat-I-Abubakr Sadiq mosque, opened in 1999 by the Afghan Turkistan Islamic Foundation in America.

Two blocks up Parsons Boulevard I turned right on Bayside Avenue, another leafy, almost suburban thoroughfare. There among the large, comfortable-looking single-family homes I came on the startling apparition of a soaring pagoda-roofed Buddhist temple still under construction. It’s being built by the Korean organization Hanmaum Seon Won, founded in the 1970s by a Buddhist nun, Dae Haeng Sunim. It’s typical of Flushing that a Christian Science reading room sits right next door.

And there's probably more diversity than is represented here!

UMC Anti-GLBTQ resolution upheld BUT the Spirit is moving

2008-05-02T12:26:00.002-04:00

After a long and emotional debate, the 2008 General Conference voted April 30 to retain statements in the Social Principles that the “United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.”

However, in an act of witness in front of delegates to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, more than 200 people declared that the denomination's policies and practices against homosexuality are "sinful" and that "sexuality is a gift from God."

Primarily dressed in black, demonstrators walked onto the legislative floor at the Fort Worth Convention Center, formed a two-lined cross around the communion table located in the center aisle and draped it in a black shroud to witness against the church's stance on homosexual practice. They entered silently, but once all demonstrators were in place, they sang, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"

The black shroud and the black worn by the demonstrators to "recognize our brokenness" and "to acknowledge that the body is broken," said Audrey Krumbach, who read a statement during the witness.

The 15-minute demonstration was in reaction to the April 30 decision to retain the denomination's decades-old proscription in the Social Principles and other parts of the Discipline describing homosexual practice as "incompatible with Christian teaching."

Delegates voted 501-417 to keep the stance and also passed a resolution against homophobia and heterosexism, saying the church opposes "all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation."

Among those who came forward was retired Bishop Melvin Talbert. Referring to the creation of the racially segregated Central Jurisdiction in 1939, Bishop Talbert said, “That action was a sin against God. In the name of Jesus Christ, we have taken an action that is wrong. Those in the Central Jurisdiction remained in the church and worked out our relationship. But we leave out these LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
“General Conference, General Conference, this is wrong. I invite you to reconsider your action.”

“We have agreed to love, serve and lead all United Methodists, to preach the gospel and to live out the ‘three simple rules’,” Bishop Palmer said. “We’re inviting the whole church to be in conversations.” [The “three simple rules” refer to John Wesley’s instructions for Methodists to “Do No Harm. Do Good. Stay in Love with God.”]

Also speaking during the press conference, the Rev. Troy Plummer, executive director of Reconciling Ministries Network, noted wryly that “today is better than yesterday.
“We were in shock,” Plummer said. “We were hurting at the harsh actions taken by General Conference on membership. We thought we’d have to have civil disobedience in order to be heard. Instead, the trust we’d built through our conversations with the Council of Bishops before and during General Conference saved us. We were able to tell the Good Friday story, to tell of the church’s brokenness.”

Plummer said the actions taken April 30 were so shocking because Common Witness observers had heard so many “holy conversations” around petitions relating to LGBT issues during legislative committee meetings.

Bishop Scott Jones (Kansas Area) said he joined the conversations May 1 in response to a plea for volunteers from the Council of Bishops from Bishop Sally Dyck, one of the negotiators. He emphasized that “holy conversations” are difficult to sustain amid the legislative context of General Conference.

“Holy conferencing requires time, small groups and building trust,” he said. “How do you do that with 1,000 people in only 10 days? You’d need a month-long General Conference.”
Bishop Dyck (Minnesota Area) said the conversations between bishops and LGBT leaders on the last day of General Conference probably will focus on next steps in continuing the dialogues.

“We have no idea where this will go,” she said. “We’re building this bridge as we’re walking on it.”

2008-05-02T11:55:00.002-04:00

The reading from Ezekiel 1 at Evensong last night for the feast of the Ascension resounds with analogy. This is how it concludes: "Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD." What are we to make of the language of reticence?

The location is Babylon. First Ezekiel sees a cloud out of which comes a fire and in the middle of the fire, "something like gleaming amber" or "a gleam, as of amber." The NRSV repeats "something like" as a refrain: something like four living creatures; something like a wheel within a wheel; something like a throne; something that seemed like a human form seated on the throne; something that looked like fire enclosed all around and finally the conclusion quoted above.

Ezekiel uses language of analogy indicating human authorship of the text. The unseeable is described by similies. This is not a direct but an indirect vision. These are not meant to be literal representations. That this language indicates human authorship not divine speech (as in other prophetic oracles) makes it distinct.

Caesar's Coin Conference today

2008-04-30T14:53:00.003-04:00

The morning was given over to Faith Communities: Looking Forward and Working Together.

The Rev. Dr. Bernice Powel Jackson, President and Moderator of the WCC for North America spoke of her experience pastoring a church in New Orleans and the slow laborious road to restoration of the city. How do we move from charity to justice? By making the rebuilding of New Orleans a priority of our synagogues and congregations. By keeping this on the agenda of public discussions in this election year and not just writing but visiting our congresspersons and staff to declare their accountability on this issue to us and to our congregations.

Rabbi Marla Feldman, Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, spoke of the Massachusetts Health Care initiative being instigated by faith communities listening to the stories of people without health care or with restricted access to it. Our mandates for speaking out are from the Holiness Code of Leviticus and the Hebrew Prophets; from the notion that humanity is created in the divine image and God's covenant with creation. She spoke of not waiting for consensus to emerge in our faith communities but creating a climate for social change.

To be reminded of the biblical mandates for implementation of religious values and social justice in our society is a good thing for a biblical scholar. And to hear from such excellent speakers as these, in addition to E.J. Dionne last night, was a priviledge. I know it's not kosher for a New Yorker to be star-struck, but the arrival of Gloria Steinem in the refectory for dinner last night as the guest of Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun was unforgettable!

2008-04-29T09:28:00.002-04:00

The PEN Writer's Festival is underway and here's a free event today that interests me:

April 29 | Circumference Celebrates Poetry in Translation

When: Tuesday, April 29
Where: Housing Works Bookstore Café: 126 Crosby St.
What time: 7 p.m.

With Brian Henry, Christina Svendsen, Jeffrey Yang, and special guests

Free and open to the public. No reservations.

Join translators Brian Henry, Christina Svendsen, and Jeffrey Yang for a reading of poetry in English and the original languages. Brian Henry will read his translations of Tomaž Šalamun and Ales Steger from Slovenian, Christina Svendsen will read her translations of Kurt Schwitters from Germany, and Jeffrey Yang will introduce us to the work of Su Shi and other Chinese poets.

Cirumference is a biannual journal of poetry in translation devoted to presenting translations of new work from around the globe, new visions of classical poems, and translations of foreign-language poets of the past who have fallen under the radar of American readers.

For more information, please visit: www.circumferencemag.com

Location of Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho:

126 Crosby Street, NYC 10012
(212-334-3324)

Subway:

* W / R to Prince Street
* B / D / F / V to Broadway-Lafayette
* 6 to Bleecker Street

2008-04-28T16:57:00.003-04:00

Bishop Gene Robinson is currently being interviewed by Paul Allen on BBC Radio 3's Night Waves. The first clarification is that he was elected not appointed to the Episcopate (as is the case in the C of E). Then follows a discussion of interpreting the will of God and the role of the Bishop as a prophet and critic of the state.

2008-04-28T16:41:00.001-04:00

The Marys of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Traditions.

Mary Magdalene, Jesus' mother Mary, and Mary of Bethany are three prominent Marys in the gospels of the New Testament and Christian tradition. Aspects of their lives and ministries are rooted in the figure of Miriam in Hebrew Scriptures and resonate with interpretations of Miriam in the second temple period. In the Qur'an, Mary is sister of Aaron and mother of the prophet Jesus. We will meet in a seminar discussion format to explore the origins and development of these female figures.

This one credit course will meet one Thursday a month, 6:00 to 8:45pm including dinner, on September 18, October 23, Nov 20 and Dec 18th, 2008. The course will be limited to 12 students of which three may be full-time students. Auditors are also welcome to apply, but preference will be given to those students registering for academic credit. Please register as soon as possible to ensure your place in this fascinating course.

In May I will send out more details including a list of books, resources, and proposed summer readings!

To register for the course, please be in touch with:

James W. N. Murphy
Program Manager of Lifelong Learning &
Center for Christian Spirituality
Director of the Master of Arts Program
murphy@gts.edu
212-243-5150 ext. 461
Toll Free: 888-487-5649 ext. 461
General Theological Seminary
175 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011-4983

Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah, May 11-12

2008-04-28T11:16:00.001-04:00

The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah
May 11 – 12, 2008
Inaugural conference of the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies
Honoring Professor Louis H. Feldman

May 11 • Noon – 6:00 pm
Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th Street

Noon – 1:00 pm • Viewing of "Imagining the Temple: The Models of Leen Ritmeyer"

Session 1, 1: 00 – 3:30 pm

From the Tabernacle to the Dead Sea Scrolls
Chair: David Horwitz, Yeshiva University

Gary A. Anderson, University of Notre Dame
The Inauguration of the Tabernacle Service at Sinai

Shawn Zelig Aster, Yeshiva University
Centralization of Worship in the First Temple and Israelite Religious Belief

Shalom Holtz, Yeshiva University
Temple as Asylum and God as Asylum in the Psalms

Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University
The Temple Scroll: A Utopian Temple Plan from Second Temple Times

Session 2, 3:45 – 6:00 pm

The Second Temple: Between Rome and Eternity
Chair: Moshe Bernstein, Yeshiva University

Menachem Mor, Haifa University
The Jewish and Samaritan Temples: Religious Competition in the Second Temple Period

Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, Ben Gurion University
From Tolerance to Destruction: Roman Policy and Jewish Temple

Joshua Schwartz and Yehoshua Peleg, Bar Ilan University
Notes on the Virtual Reconstruction of the Herodian Period Temple and Courtyards

Leen Ritmeyer, Trinity Southwest University
Envisioning the Sanctuaries of Israel—The Academic and Creative Process of Archaeological Model Making

May 12 • 9:00 am – 5:30 pm

Stern College for Women
Geraldine Schottenstein Cultural Center
239 East 34th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)

Session 3, 9:00 – 11:30 am

The Jerusalem Temple in Medieval Christianity and Islam
Chair: David Berger, Yeshiva University

Frank Peters, New York University
Ruined Expectations: Christians and Muslims and the Jerusalem Temple

Moshe Sokolow, Yeshiva University
Fadai’l al-Quds: Jerusalem, The Temple and The Rock in Muslim Literature

Vivian B. Mann, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Imagining the Temple in Late Medieval Spanish Altarpieces

Session 4, 12:30 – 2:45 pm

The Jerusalem Temple in Medieval and Early Modern Thought
Chair: Elisheva Carlebach, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

Jonathan Dauber, Yeshiva University
Images of the Temple in Sefer ha-Bahir

Mordechai Z. Cohen, Yeshiva University
God Dwelling in the Sanctuary? Interpretive Strategies of Maimonides, Nahmanides and Sefer ha-Hinnukh

Jacob J. Schacter, Yeshiva University
Remembering the Temple: Commemoration and Catastrophe in Medieval Ashkenazi Culture

Matt Goldish, Ohio State University
The Temple of Jerusalem from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment

Session 5, 3:00 – 5:30 pm

The Jerusalem Temple in the Modern World
Chair: Joshua Zimmerman, Yeshiva University

Jess Olson, Yeshiva University,
“Jerusalem Rebuilt”: The Temple in the Fin-de-siècle Zionist Imagination

Maya Balakirsky Katz, Touro College
The Second Temple in Contemporary Orthodox Visual Culture

Ann Killebrew, Pennsylvania State University
Recent Excavations and Discoveries On and Near the Temple Mount

Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University
Digging the Temple Mount: Archaeology and the Arab-Israeli Conflict from the British Mandate to the Present

Concluding Remarks

Louis H. Feldman, Yeshiva University
Steven Fine, Yeshiva University

Attendance is free and open to the public.
Register at http://www.yu.edu/cis or call (212) 960-0189

About the Center

The Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, established by President Richard M. Joel in 2007, is an expression of the longstanding relationship between Yeshiva University and the land and state of Israel. The Center nurtures excellence in interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching of Israel from the biblical period to the modern state.

The Center for Israel Studies supports research, conferences, publications, museum exhibitions, public programs, and educational opportunities that enhance awareness and study of Israel in all of its complexities. The Center seeks to be a national and international forum for engagement of the political, economic, social, historical, religious, and cultural significance of Israel in the world community.

2008-04-28T08:10:00.002-04:00

Peter Pham reports on the recent successful transition of power in Botswana in contrast to the plight of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. On March 31st, President Festus Gontebanye Mogae of Botswana stepped down and was succeeded by his vice president, Seretse Khama Ian Khama (generally known as Ian Khama).

Mogae had more than a year left on the five-year term to which he was reelected in October 2004 (Botswana is what could be described as a hybrid Westminster parliamentary democracy with the executive state president being elected by a majority vote of the newly returned legislators after each general election; there is also an advisory upper House of Chiefs).

However, having succeeded to the presidency upon the retirement of his predecessor, Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, on April 1, 1998, Mogae faced the fact that the Batswana constitution set a limit of ten years on any incumbent's tenure as chief executive. Hence, as he simply stated at the end of his State of the Nation address last November: "Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the Constitution, I will leave the leadership of our country to His Honor the Vice President – a patriot, who I am sure will carry the mantle of leadership with distinction, as he has previously done."

The rest of the article explores reasons for Botswana's political and economic stability.

Bethany beyond the Jordan and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

2008-04-27T18:15:00.003-04:00

The Christian Century reports that King Abdullah of Jordan has given a 2 and a half acre site at the traditional location of Bethany beyond the Jordan to the Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Jerusalem. A church and a retreat center are to be built there. The Baptismal Site (Bethany beyond the Jordan) is already a proposed World Heritage Site.

Here are some pictures.

The hill at the heart of Bethany was already revered in antiquity as a holy site marking the spot from which Elijah ascended to heaven (2 Kings 2:5-14); perhaps that is why John the Baptist lived and baptized there, for the personalities, lifestyles, and missions of John and Elijah are frequently associated in the New Testament. The Byzantine writers Jerome and Eusebius mentioned 'Bethabara beyond the Jordan' in the 4th Century as a pilgrimage destination where people went to be baptized in the same waters that John the Baptist used for his mission. Pilgrims' accounts as early as the 4th and 6th Century' AD mention the hill at Bethany east of the river where Elijah ascended to heaven. In the late 3rd or early 4th Century' AD, according to much later sources from the I1th and 14th Centuries. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is said to have crossed the Jordan River and visited Elijah's Hill and the cave where John the Baptist lived, and built a church there to commemorate John the Baptist.

2008-04-26T16:35:00.001-04:00

In case anyone missed it, here's a eulogy for Bishop Krister Stendahl posted in Episcopal Cafe earlier this week.

2008-04-25T17:22:00.002-04:00

This week J. is in town and we took off one morning to visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Japanese cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Here's the flowering cherry.

Civil Liberties and the FLDS Raid in Texas

2008-04-24T17:50:00.002-04:00

Earlier this month, Texas authorities raided a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) ranch and took more than 400 children into state custody. As the custody hearings regarding these children continue, questions of the child, parental and religious rights implicated in the controversy continue to emerge.

As part of the NYCLU's continuing Civil Liberties Discussion Series, Lisa Graybill of the ACLU of Texas will discuss the civil rights and civil liberties issues at play in FLDS case.

The discussion is on Tuesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. in the NYCLU offices at 125 Broad Street on the 19th floor.

Following the presentations, NYCLU staff will lead a discussion with the speakers and attendees. Pizza and drinks will be provided to get the discussion going.

The Mozarabic version of the Canticle from Sirach 51:13-19

2008-04-21T16:33:00.003-04:00

A Song of Pilgrimage (from Ecclesiasticus 51)

While I was still young,
I sought Wisdom openly in my prayer.

Before the temple I asked for her,
and I will search for her until the end.

From the first blossom to the ripening grape,
my heart delighted in her.

My foot walked on the straight path,
from my youth I followed her steps.

I inclined my ear a little and received her,
I found for myself much instruction.

I made progress in Wisdom;
to the One who sent her,
I will give glory.

I directed my soul to Wisdom,
and in purity have I found her.

With her, I gained understanding from the first,
therefore will I never be forsaken.

My heart was stirred to seek her,
with my tongue will I sing God's praise.

This beautiful canticle included in Enriching our Worship and now part of our Daily Office in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd and elsewhere originated in a sub group of the Standing Commission on Liturgy of which I was a part way back in the 80's. Howard Galley was a part of that sub group. We were looking for Wisdom Canticles and he sent me to look at examples in the Latin Mozarabic Psalter in the library. What you see here is the end result.

Now I find that 11QPSa Column 21 has the following indicating that a version of our Psalm was sung at Qumran!

When I was still young, before I had gone astray, I searched for her. She came to me in her beauty, and up to the end, I kept investigating her. Even when the blossom falls, when the grapes are ripening, they make the heart happy. My foot tread on a straight path, for since my youth I have known her. I had hardly bent my ear, when I found much teaching. A wet-nurse she became to me, to my teacher I give my honor. I determined to enjoy myself, I was zealous for the good,incessantly. I became ablaze for her, I could not avert my face. I stirred my soul for her and on her heights I was not calm...(the column breaks off...)

World Earth Day, April 22

2008-04-21T10:41:00.006-04:00

The Times of India reports on World Earth day tomorrow April 22. Here are some resources for religious leaders.

Purple Finches and Goldfinches at our feeder in Maine!

Amy-Jill Levine, May 2-4, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

2008-04-20T12:14:00.001-04:00

Friday - Sunday, May 2-4 Scholar in Residence
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
30 West 68th Street, New York NY 10023

Prof. Amy-Jill Levine
Gender & Sexuality: Old & New Testaments

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies, Director, Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender Sexuality, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, is a widely respected scholar and exceptional teacher, deeply versed in Christian and Jewish traditions.

Author of numerous books and articles on Second Temple Judaism, Christian origins, Jewish - Christian relations and Biblical women, she received awards from the Mellon Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Levine returns to Stephen Wise Free Synagogue as scholar in residence for the first weekend in May. Her previous visit provided our congregation and visitors with remarkable insights, delivered with clarity and a wonderful sense of humor.

Friday, May 2
6pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Oneg Shabbat - Light Supper and 8:00pm talk on "The Bible, Gender & Sexuality, Part I: Adam & Eve - Desire & Destiny"

Saturday, May 3
9:30am Torah Study
"The Bible, Gender & Sexuality, Part II: Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27): Sex & Sin"
11am Adult Study
"The Bible, Gender & Sexuality, Part III: Deborah & Jael - Motherhood & Murder"
12:30pm
Shabbat lunch with Professor Levine
1:30pm Shabbat Afternoon Study
"The Bible, Gender & Sexuality, Part IV: Jesus, Gender & Judaism"

Sunday, May 4, 9:30am Lecture
"Torah from Sinai & The Sermon on the Mount"

Free of Charge. All are welcome.