The Last Trumpet

Drew, Substitute Torah Teacher

2008-04-03T00:50:00.002-04:00

There's a much longer and more substantive post brewing, but for now here's a recording of a parsha class I gave last night.

http://shlomoyeshiva.org/audio/Parshat%20Tazria%20&%20HaChodesh.mp3

Shabbat shalom

Exile

2008-03-15T14:55:00.004-04:00

I walked out

the walls
domed ceiling
ringing with prayers

songs
offered up
the night before
welcoming
the queen

and I saw
a small girl
crying

lost

separated

in what little I know
of the holy tongue

not thinking
to speak the language
I know

I asked where her parents where
what was wrong

she paused
looked at me

turned
and walked

and I went
to offer up more
songs

Baruch Dayan Emet

2008-03-06T17:07:00.005-05:00

First, everyone should know I am safe at home in Jerusalem, following the terrorist attack at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva.

Earlier this evening, I attended a hachnasat sefer torah (welcoming a Torah scroll) at my yeshiva. The last few letters of the Torah were filled in (thank G!d, my Rosh Yeshiva made it back from the states just in time to fill in a letter), and we sang and danced through the streets for hours.

People came out of their homes, celebrated with us, kissed to Torah, and threw candy from balconies. The Torah was finally placed in the aron (ark) in the synagogue where I often pray, no more than 200 ft from our apartment door.

It was a gevaldt! I celebrated with fellow students, teachers, the teachers of my teachers, and friends of the yeshiva or the shul. I recorded some of the comments made early in the evening for the yeshiva podcast (which I'm adminstrating), but everything was in Hebrew. Standing just outside my home, dancing and singing with a new Torah - feeling the joy of adar, the new month, feeling amazed at the blessing to be able to live in Jerusalem and to spend my days learning.

Kelly and I were planning to head to a costume party this evening, but heart about the attack before we left, and ended up spending the night at home speaking to friends and loved ones, checking in. One of my teachers lives in the neighborhood where the attack took place.

We were actually supposed to be on a trip to Bethlehem meeting with Palestinian peace activists with an organization called Encounter, which was canceled out of a concern for safety.

I'll be davvening tomorrow night at the yachad minyan at the conservative yeshiva - and I think about Rebbe Nachman's Azamra where he speaks about the qualifications of a prayer leader. Only one, he says, who can connect the good points in each person, and combine them into a song is able to be a messenger of the community (what we call our prayer leaders in Hebrew).

It occurs to me that when events like these occur, the only recourse we have is that of prayer. Shabbat is coming, a day when we won't be checking our computers for updates - a day when prayer is one of the few acceptable (holy) activities.

Beyond our understanding, all we can do is stand in the presence of the one who sustains the world, and pour out our hearts.

May we hear only good news.

Shabbat shalom

Really?

2007-12-24T12:08:00.000-05:00

In order to obtain a work visa, I was told I needed a letter from a rabbi in my home country, verifying my Jewishness. I asked a friend and teacher who happens to be a Reform rabbi for such a letter, and he graciously sent one my way.

I took my letter to the Jewish Agency for verification. The man at the Jewish Agency googled the rabbi's name, and when the synagogue web site came up on the first page of results, that was good enough. Didn't even click the link.

Malachim

2007-11-29T14:43:00.000-05:00

Kelly hasn't been feeling well, so we didn't make it to Bethlehem on this trip - we'll go next time. This morning, I went with her to the doctor's office, and while she was dealing with some bureaucracy, I headed downstairs to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled. Taking my number, I found a seat and wished I had brought a book or something.

A few moments later, an older religious man sat down next to me. He said something in Hebrew I didn't quite understand, and I tried to explain to him that I was in ulpan and didn't know what he said, at which point he switched to fluent English. As it turns out, he was from Atlantic City, NJ (before the casinos were there). He launched into a whole conversation about the nature of slavery - if, given that many times in the Torah we see the paradigm of servitude between brothers/tribes/families, might it be that there was something more than just "I'm stronger than you" contained within the notion of slavery. Something which, in the modern world, it is difficult for us to understand, given our social and cultural conditioning, and the changes in the world over the past century or so. He wasn't proposing an answer, just throwing out the question.

Later (you wait a lot at the doctor's office), we talked about ahava/love and yirah/fear/awe, (though neither is a good translation), and how it seemed that the avodah/work of the Jewish people these days seems much more connected to ahava than yirah. With all of our scientific advancement, we've somehow lost our sense of awe, and those of us who grew up in America haven't really ever had to fear anyone. I told him where I was studying, and we talked about Reb Shlomo's kiruv work (bringing people back to Judaism) and how ahavah is much more likely to draw someone near than yirah.

Our numbers were eventually called, and we went on our respective ways.

Last week I was at the laundromat, and talked for a good long while with a German medical student here for a two-month stint doing surgical rotations. We had met the previous Friday night at Shabbat dinner - she spoke then about how touched she was that the room full of Jews didn't seem to care whether or not she was German, and on how much she was touched to hear us singing zemirot (Shabbat songs).

While doing laundry, we talked about the perpetuation of a feeling of victim-hood amongst Jews, Israeli and American, and about how German children grow up knowing that they were the perpetrators of horrible things, and how it affects their relationship with Israeli politics. When she expressed surprise at the fact that most young American Jews she met were more religious than their parents, I tried to give her an overview of the past few generations of American Jewry - trends of assimilation, and the desire, with newfound safety, to regain some of what was lost. She asked about my tzitzit, and I told her the story from the Talmud about the man who goes to the prostitute and is stopped when his tzitzit hit him in the face. As I finished my folding, we talked about her medical work - she said the most amazing thing is that no matter where you go, exotic diseases aside, the human body is basically the same.

Life in Jerusalem

2007-11-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Apologies for not having posted for so long.

Things have finally settled down (and as of today, we have an internet connection in our apartment), so I thought this would be a good opportunity to catch everyone up.

Kelly and I are living in an apartment in Nachloat (with a fireplace!), spending most of our mornings studying Hebrew, and our afternoons learning Torah - it's amazing living in a city where the most difficult decisions revolve around which classes you'll attend on a given night. In addition to a number of classes at Simchat Shlomo, this week we attended the first of a six-part overview of Jewish history with David Solomon, who I first learned with at LimmudNY this past year (and blogged about here).

This past Shabbat was perhaps my favorite yet - Friday night I co-led Kol Zimrah Jerusalem with BZ. There were about 40 or 50 folks (mostly American Rabbincal students) packed into an apartment, singing and celebrating together. It was my first time leading a full Kabbalat Shabbat, and I brought a Lecha Dodi tune from Uzbekistan that seemed to go over pretty well. Shabbat morning, we davvened at Kol Rina, one of the close to 100 synagogues in our neighborhood, and Aaron Rahzel, perhaps my favorite Israeli singer, led Musaf. There was great company, food and singing for the rest of the day. This coming Shabbat we'll be spending on Moshav Meor Modiin (the Carlebach moshav) with Rabbi Trugman, with whom we've been studying prayer (today he played the dulcimer in class!).

We're halfway through a first-degree Reiki training program through an organization called Reiki for Peace - you can hear an NPR interview with our teacher here - she explains better than I could what Reiki is, and what the organization is about.

We took a trip to Hebron with Breaking the Silence, an organization which allows Israeli soldiers to discuss their experiences in the occupied territories. There's a relatively good summary of the situation in Hebron here - it was the first time either of us had seen the occupation first hand, and it was a powerful experience. I'll reflect further in a future post.

We're going to be traveling to Bethlehem next week with Encounter, a trip designed for non-Israeli educators (because it's illegal to be in Bethlehem if you're an Israeli citizen) to be exposed to Palestinian life. We'll be staying overnight with a Palestinian family, and from what I've heard of these trips in the past, I expect it to be challenging and extremely worthwhile.

Thank G!d, life in the holy city is wonderful. Now that we have an internet connection, I should be able to post more frequently.

לך-לך - "Get thee out"

2007-10-15T15:51:00.000-04:00

A wise friend told Kelly and I before we left the states that no matter one's plans for time in this country, Israel often has its own plans for you.

We decided to leave the kibbutz, for a host of reasons, and are now living in Jerusalem.

We've enrolled in ulpan here - the first week or so may be a review of the stuff we learned on kibbutz, but whatever.

We've also started classes at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo - I'm most excited about the opportunity to study Ishbitz Chassidus with R. Betzalel Philips Edwards, translator of the Mei HaShiloach into English. After an introduction to the Ishbiter Rebbe's radical ideas on free will and determinism (also, not coincidentally, the title of this course) at least year's Jews in the Woods, I picked up a copy of his translation, but found most of it rather impenetrable without a teacher.

We had made plans to go to Tiberias for this coming weekend, as it was to be our free weekend from the Kibbutz, and the reservations are non-refundable, so we won't be here for Shabbat, but we'll be here most foreseeable future Shabbatot.

We're also thinking about planning a trip in the near future to the middle east rainbow gathering. Let us know if you'd like to join.

Tonight's plan is a trip with a crew from Pardes to Shushan (Jerusalem's only gay bar) for a drag show.

As Kelly mouthed to me mid-way through today's shiur (lecture) - "this is way better."

Adama Meshuga'at (crazy land)

2007-10-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

*the title of this post refers to this film, about life on a Kibbutz.

When asked why Kelly and I chose to do ulpan (Hebrew immersion) on a religious kibbutz/organic farm instead of Yerushalayim with all of our friends, one of the reasons I give is that we were hoping for something like Adamah, but with Hebrew. Adamah is a program for folks our age, training them both in organic farming and intentional community. Here, there is plenty of farming (even during Shmitta), but the Israeli version of intentional community is a far cry from anything one would call by that name in the US.

I've settled into what I think will be my job for the duration of our time here - working at Bio-bee, "a unique company which mass produces and implements beneficial insects and mites for agricultural purposes." I'm working in Bumblebee production, washing bee-producing implements, and disposing of dead bees. The work is fine, however my walk to work has recently become a bit disconcerting. This past Shabbat afternoon, while out on a hitbodedut walk, I noticed a row of small cages next to the refet (dairy farm), each containing one small calf, presumably for veal. Over the course of the week, one row became two became three, and the calves moo sadly at me as I walk by.

Before our Sukkot vacation, I spent an hour in the lool (chicken coop), unloading a new shipment of baby chicks. In the dark, we would dump trays packed as full as possible with tiny, chirping chicks onto the floor, starting at the far end of the room and working toward the door, all the while trying not to step on any of the chicks (I say trying because we were all unsuccessful, killing at least of few with our feet). There were rows of chicken feed on the ground, and I've been told that the coops aren't opened again until the chickens are ready to be "harvested."

Over Sukkot, we were privileged to have as a guest in our sukkah one of the co-chairs of the upcoming hazon food conference, where the possibility of shechting (slaughter in accordance with Jewish ritual laws) a goat has recently created quite a bit of controversy. We discussed the idea that it is important for those who eat meat to know where their food comes from, and my recent experiences with that area of the food chain have left me with questions about my eating habits and their methods of production (I still have no second thoughts about killing bees or picking the occasional pomegranate).

Much more than the livestock, what has been most jarring about our experience has been the vast difference of belief between ourselves and the others on the kibbutz (speaking mostly about our fellow ulpanistim, given that we've had relatively little interaction with the kibbutznikim - more on that later). Having grown up, worked in and left the Reform movement (for reasons repeatedly elucidated on Mah Rabu), I was of the opinion that moving to a dati (religious) kibbutz to learn Hebrew would be a way for us to make up for some of the lack of Jewish education in our Reform upbringing. I was looking forward to being part of a community with regular prayer, where Shabbat wasn't also Saturday, and where G!d's constant presence was acknowledged in a way I didn't find it to be in my previous line of work.

Now perhaps I should have known that my pacifism and/or my generally religious anti-zionist beliefs would be a far cry from anything I was to find on an orthodox kibbutz close to the green line, but I was not prepared for "killing arabs" to be a conversation topic taken lightly, or for the general acceptance of the idea that Reform Judaism and intermarriage were both guaranteed methods for ensuring the demise of the Jewish people. Much to my chagrin, I have discovered that those who self-identify as Orthodox seem to keep the mitzvot ben adam l'chavero (ethical commandments) no better than the Reformim.

In particular, I have found the Kibbutz's lack of hachnasat orchim (hospitality) to be tough to handle. In the chadar ochel (dining hall) and beit knesset (synagogue), everyone has assigned seats. The ulpanistim sit in the back corner of both, barely able to hear or see the Rabbi when he speaks, and always on the side of the dining hall without the singing. On Shabbat, after we finish eating, we bless the meal together and leave the dining hall, always attracting dirty looks from the members of the kibbutz, because we haven't waited for the communal blessing, even though little effort has been made to make us feel as part of the community as a whole (a fact which I'm hoping will change once we're introduced to our host family, although with the disorganization of the folks running program, I wonder if that is every going to happen).

In contrast, erev Simchat Torah we went with friends to a tiny Yemenite synagogue in Jerusalem, and not only were the people there extremely kind and welcoming, making sure we had seats and knew where we were in the prayer book, but someone even paid for a friend and me to have the honor of carrying sifrer Torah (Torah scrolls) during the hakafot (festive circling/dancing with the Torahs). During simchat beit hashueva at the sukkah of to Rosh Yeshiva of the school where I plan to study, I saw the host, Rabbi Brodt, personally greet each any every person by name, and make sure they had a place to sit and something to eat and drink.

The worship here also leaves me wanting - rushed through simply to fulfill the obligation, with little joy (and even less singing). The members show up not a minute early, and race through the liturgy as fast as possible, even on Shabbat when there is literally nothing else to do (except eat lunch at 11 AM and shoot dirty looks at the ulpanistim as they leave the dining hall).

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh. Thankfully, Kelly and I have one another, and our Hebrew is improving, if slowly (but I imagine more quickly than it would have in Jerusalem with all of our English-speaking friends). Our friend Benjamin should arrive in about half an hour to spend Shabbat, and this week the kibbutz is hosting the Jerusalem Cantor's Choir, which I hope will make the services at least a bit more musical.

The Kibbutz Rabbi, who has begun once-a-week lessons for us (which have been quite good) spoke about Shmitta as a time to concentrate more on the spiritual aspects of living than on the physical. I hope the folks here heed his advice.

Shabbat Shalom to all.

5768 - Happy Shmiity!

2007-09-17T10:55:00.000-04:00

click here for the origin of Shmitty

~~~~~

Rosh Hashana in Jerusalem was awe-some. Three straight days of nothing but praying, sleeping and eating (and a game or two of anagrams). As a matter of fact, given that at no point did I have to work or hear an organ or choir, I think I have to say it was the best Rosh Hashana I can remember (which could only have been made better by mom's brisket).

Moving to the organic farm, we more or less expected the food to be hippie-ish - organic veggies and such, something like a vegetarian pot-luck with the fruity Jews. Not so much the case - for the most part, the kibbutz sells the yummy organic stuff and buys cheaper food for the chadar ochel (dining hall) which is not bad, but not so exciting either. That being said, three days of pot-lucks with the fruity Jews were a culinary delight. Second night, we had a wonderful seder of new fruits and simanim (significant omens - really, food puns), including BZ's delicious chana masala.

I do appreciate, however, that we're more or less able to live out our 60's kibbutznik fantasy - Sde Eliyahu has resisted privatization, and it's as socialist as they come. All the meals are served in the dining hall, no one owns a home or car, and there's quite a bit of agricultural work going on - blooming desert and all that.

As far as praying, we davvened in five different places in three days, only one of which was a shul which owned its own building. Second morning of RH at Amika De-bira was the highlight, both because of Ebn Leader's rock star prayer leading and Noam Zion's bibliodrama-style Torah reading, including an appropriately wielded kitchen knife. I really relished the slower pace of praying, given the kibbutz's super-speedy services.

We picked up some supplies (power converters - finally!) in Jerusalem, and I bought my first tallit katan - a new mitzvah for the new year. Really, a few mitzvot, because I made the decision a number of months back that my kashrut and shabbos practices needed some adjustment before I felt comfortable with my tzitziot hangin' out (the fact that now I look like a settler is another post for another time).

I searched, unsuccessfully, for the new Aharon Rahzel CD (though I did pick up an excellent album by his brother) and was disappointed to discover that Israelis don't seem to eat salt & vinegar potato chips.

We had class today, and tomorrow I'll be working with the bees, followed by our first tiyyul (field trip). Given the suggested packing list, I think we're going swimming.

non-stop adventures

2007-09-11T13:54:00.000-04:00

Today Kelly and I worked with Mario - the 85-year-old grandfather of organic farming in Israel. Mario still works long, hard days, and we got to spend the morning planting broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and learning a bit about irrigation. We also got to ride on this cool tractor-pulled planting gizmo (perhaps to be described another time). I'm hoping that once I have enough Hebrew I'll be able to interview Mario for Jewschool or something - he seems like a sweet old man. Though I hear he's stressed lately because he's got to get everything planted before shmita (the sabbatical year), which starts tomorrow (I think we finished planting the whole field today). We're not clear exactly on how the kibbutz handles shmita, but we've been promised that the kibbutz rabbi will make it clear to us once the ulpanistim have our meeting with him.

After work (and a shower), we had our first "tramping" (hitch-hiking) experience. We tramped to the bus station, and the kibbutznikim who gave us a ride encouraged us to tramp to Jerusalem, since the bus wasn't coming for 45 minutes. Israelis, when they do their army service, tramp home - so it's part of the national culture in a way it isn't in America (it's also legal). It took about 10 minutes for someone to stop, and we were on our merry way with another Israeli fellow we'd met at the bus station. Everything was hunky dory for the majority of the ride. We turned right at the dead sea, and headed up the hills to Jerusalem. When we got to the checkpoint to enter the city, the car we were in stalled, and the driver couldn't get it started again. He tried for a while, there was lots of honking, and eventually he told us to get out and walk. The soldiers at the checkpoint were very friendly, and after they were unsuccessful at signaling to the bus to stop, hailed us a cab that took us to our friends' place where we are staying. The cab ride ended up costing us as much as the bus tickets would have, but we're here in one piece, baruch Hashem.

Kelly has passed out (we did get up at 5:15 this morning), and I'm watching BZ and ER try to figure out how to bake in Israel. Between the different sized packages of things, the metric system and an uncooperative oven, it doesn't seem too easy. (BZ just asked me if I was a Kohen, and when I said yes, gave me an appropriate-sized priestly gift of challah dough)

Other than that, kibbutz life has been good. The davvening is extremely fast - Shabbat morning, with musaf, an ufruf, a bar mitzvah and a bris, took all of 2 hours. I've only made it to shacharit once (it is at 5:25). We've learned a few new songs in class - this big hit of the summer is apparently a setting of Ana Bekhoach, which is very cool.

We'll be in Jerusalem until Sunday (2 days of chag, shabbat and tzom gedaliah - woohoo for a dati kibbutz), and back on Kibbutz on Monday.

Simplification

2007-09-04T23:53:00.000-04:00

We arrived yesterday at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, our home for the next five months. The Kibbutz is located in the Beit Shean valley, between the Gilboa and Gilad mountains. It's pretty. There are acres and acres of organic fields & vineyards, and yesterday afternoon we were taken on a tractor tour of the kibbutz fields. The kibbutz grows 9 kinds of dates (who knew there were that many?) and on our tour, we got to taste some fresh dates, which are nothing like the ones you get in the store. There's a pomegranate tree right outside our room, as well as a lime tree and pomelo tree. All the veggies in the dining hall come from the fields, and are about as local as you can get.

On the housing side, one of our hopes in leaving the states was to live a bit more simply. That seems to have been accomplished. We're sleeping on what would best be described as cots, and the shower is just a faucet on the wall in the bathroom. We do have our own room and bathroom, which was a concern we had coming in.

Ulpan classes start in an hour, and we're off to grab some breakfast.

Pictures will be coming as soon as we figure out some power converter issues.

Return Again

2007-08-25T23:05:00.000-04:00

(Cross-posted to Jewschool)

Tshuva, translated as repentance but literally meaning "return," is, on the cognitive level, simply a return to what the Buddhists call Right View, or in the words of the popular Neo-Hasidic song, the "Return to Who you are." It's the shuv of ratzo v'shuv, running and returning -- coming back to the Source, the undifferentiated Awareness that somehow gives birth to the cosmos. Running out into differentiation, with (for all but the most awakened of us) all its traps and delusions -- but then, at special times in the year, returning. And from that place of unity, reflecting on the actions of the small self, observing how they may have caused harm, and attempting to repair the harm by reconnecting with other people and with God. - Jay Michaelson Full story.

***

A king once wanted to test the faith and love of his subjects. So he chose one of his closest servants, dressed him up as a great king and sent him out to declare war against his subjects. When the servant appearing as king met the first group and declared war, they immediately prepared themselves for the battle. When he came to the second group, they said “Since he is such a great king, why should we fight?” Finally, the faux king traveled farther until he came to a town of sages. The sages inquired deeply, until they were able to see through the disguise. (Sefer Toledot Ya’aqov Yosef, Va-yaqhel, see Sefer Ba’al Shem Tov, Bereishit, 141).
The meaning is that serious challenges that confront us are essentially tests of our faith in the non-dual nature of reality and our love and devotion to the divine source. Whenever we face these tests, there are basically three ways of responding. The two conventional responses are either to be overwhelmed by the challenge and to capitulate without a fight or to attempt to combat the problem with the rigidity of “fight or flight” mode. Although both of these conventional responses may be the best that we can do at certain stages in our development, neither will aid us very much in our conscious quest to further evolve. The third mode of dealing with such tests is the way of the wise, who have cultivated judges and executors (see previous parashah). In this way, one neither avoids nor rushes into combat, but sees through and dissolves the shell of separation from Divine Presence with the gnostic eye of faith. - Reb Miles Krassen Full Story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Shabbos at NHC was ending, I heard a bissel torah from Mitch Chefitz.

First, a little background - at LimmudNY in '06, my first dip into Jewish pluralism (and my first in-person connection to Jewschool), Chefitz made quite an impression. After we'd had an intense breakfast conversation about my possible future in the Rabbinate, I attended a workshop he was offering on Storytelling as a Mystical Discipline. Chefitz, who learned to tell stories from Carlebach, told stories through the four worlds, and I may have had my first serious mystical experience. The primary result was my enrolling in a course on Zohar taught by Arthur Green, the rector of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School, and a subsequent course on niggunim with Nehemia Polen, whose clearly had learned some of his love of niggunim from Reb Shlomo.

Back to the story - I shared Carlebach's Gam Ki Eilech at NHC Shalosh seudos, which prompted Chefitz to tell Shlomo stories, and just before Havdallah, he explained to a small group of us that there were only three who came from pre-war Chassidism, had a deep understanding of the Jewish spiritual tradition, and had the chutzpah to share that openly with all of us maskilim: Those three were Shlomo, Zalman, and Heschel. Chefitz explained that in his mind, Hebrew College is maintaining that line - training Rabbis to carry on their legacy.

The following Shalosh seudos at Contemporary Kabbalah week at Elat Chayyim, Rabbi Miles Krassen, with whom I'd been studying The Future of Judaism & The Evolution of Consciousness all week, spoke about Elul and the process of Tshuvah. Check out his drash on the parsha for a taste of his style. Shabbos afternoon, at the culmination of a week of teaching, Reb Miles broke down the barrier between ego and Ein Sof - I've gotta say, it truly blew my mind. All week, we'd learned about the shift from a consciousness represented by the sefirah of Binah, which separates and differentiates (about orange/green in the spiral dynamics model) to Chochmah consciousness, a non-dual, integral way of being (2nd tier). Shabbos afternoon, as Reb Miles taught Likutei Moharan, I experienced for the first time what he had been talking about, if only for a brief moment.

I spent the better part of this last week (until I get sent home with poison ivy) singing with 130 teenagers at NFTY-NE Summer Institute (I tried to stay away from smooth jazz) - the organization that in my teenage years helped me understand the real power of music, and of the Jewish tradition. I served as a regional board member when I was in high school, and this summer a fellow board member and dear friend became regional director. All in all, four members of the nine-member board (and a member-by-marriage) were working to facilitate the retreat. Our advisor was also on faculty, and got to schep some more nachas (he already officiated at two of our weddings this summer). There was a sense of torch-passing, and I was thrilled to see the region finally in the hands of someone who remembers how much Torah we learned back in the day. The credit for our experiences goes to the individuals running the organization when we were members, but the movement provides the structure that made those experiences possible. For the past 11 years, NFTY-NE has been both my spiritual home and laboratory - and I get the feeling that many of these kids are tasting the next step in their evolution, and without that first taste, how can we know to want more?

At Shabbos dinner, I had a fascinating debate with a faulty member and Reform Rabbi on denominationalism and post-denominationalism, (it began as a conversation about the job prospects of the students in the Hebrew College Rabbinic program, to which I hope to apply in the near future primarily for the aforementioned reasons). In NFTY-NE I see room for growth (I suppose we can't teach them to do everything), but I see sparks of holiness, and have faith in those guiding the region's growth. In a non-dual world, that is to say if everything (and then some) is G!d, G!d is in the Reform movement too (and the other ones), at least for the time being. Judaism certainly has further to evolve, and I believe that denominationalism is resultant of Binah consciousness, that of separation and differentiation, and post-denominatiolism represents a step toward Chochmah, toward the unity that we acknowledge in the Sh'ma.

Reb Miles taught in the name of Rebbe Nachman that as we move to a higher madrega (leve) there is always someone to step into our previous level. It is up to each of us to pass on each bit of soul-warming Torah, because once it's stopped warming us, it's ready to warm someone else, and that is how we will all grow together.

Summer lovin'

2007-08-25T22:33:00.000-04:00

So it's been a while since I've posted here with any regularity, but we're ready to leave Boston for a year in ארץ ישראל, I'm stuck at home with a beard full of poison ivy (please don't ask), and I need to get back to blogging, so folks can keep track of our adventures.

So in the interest of bringing y'all up to date before the trip, here are the summer highlights: '

Marriage.

Europe:

Electric Ladyland - the First Museum of Flourescent Art: Amsterdam. We got a private, hour-and-a-half tour from the guy who owns and runs the place. The best shiny rocks I've ever seen. Highly recommended.
Cirque Rasposo: Brussels. Traveling gypsy circus in a tent seating about 200 people in a square between a bunch of hotels & tourist traps. The band was tight, and the beautifully integrated into the action. (no English web site)
Escher in the Palace: Hague. What it says.
Wittamer : Brussels. The supplier of chocolate to the Belgian royalty.

Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, Trumansburg, NY:

Arrested Development - They played Tennessee AND Mr. Wendel.
Scythian - Irish Klezmer Punk. Had the whole crowd doing line-kicks to Fiddler.
Black Castle - An I-town wall of Reggae sound.
The Believers - Kind of morbid alt-country.
The Duhks & The Greencards - Canadian and Australian Bluegrass, respectively.

Rabbi Elliot Ginsburg @ TBZ

2007-04-11T13:34:00.000-04:00

TBZ Annual Shabbaton

with

Guest Scholar Rabbi Elliot Ginsburg, PhD

April 20 - 21, and Sunday, April 22
Shabbat Tazria-Metzora

Rabbi Ginsburg will teach during Shabbat at the these times:

Kabbalat Shabbat services at 6:00 pm
before our Shabbat morning service at 9:00 am, services at 10:00 am
at Shabbat lunch, 1:00 pm
at Seudah Shlishit - the 3rd meal of Shabbat, 6:00 pm which will include niggunim and havdalah.

Themes of Rabbi Elliot Ginsburg's teachings will be:

Entering Shabbat
Holy Ground
The Mystical Shabbat
Brokenness and Wholeness
Et Ratzon: Practices of Ending Shabbat

Join us for a special Sunday Learning with Rabbi Ginsburg on Preparing to Stand Again at Sinai, Mystical Teachings and Practices

A Guide to Eating Reincarnated Souls

2007-03-26T23:19:00.000-04:00

Cross-posted to JewSchool

From Lazer Beams:

Once a year, during the Hebrew month of Nissan, we have the special mitzva of making a blessing over (at least two) blossoming fruit trees. According to Kabbala, this blessing is deeply significant, and helps correct the soul that is reincarnated within the tree. That soul is forever beholding to the person that makes the blessing, for he or she has done a great favor in helping that soul attain its tikkun, or correction.

For your convenience, here is the blessing,

In English: Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the Universe, who let nothing lack in His universe and created within it good creatures and good trees in order to give pleasure to human beings.

In Transliteration: Baruch ata Adonoi, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, she-lo chisar be-olamo klum v-vara vo beriyyot tovot ve-ilanot tovim lehanot bahem bnai Adam.

In Hebrew: ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם שלא חסר בעולמו כלום וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובים להנות בהם בני אדם

It's significant that the trees are fruit-bearing. The ultimate pleasure those trees give us, as Reb Lazer explains later, is when we eat their fruit - "If you haven't eaten a red grapefruit right off the tree in Eretz Yisroel, you don't know what the taste of heaven is."

Does anyone know any for veggies? Or for non-tree fruit? Is it safe to assume that the same principle applies?

I'm liberating kiwi souls right now.

On to meat -

From The Ba'al Shem Tov on Pirkei Avot:

"If three have eaten at one table and they have spoken no words of Torah over it, etc."

Woe to sons who have banished from the table of their father. In the name of the Maggid of Mezritch I heard an account of the way in which the Baal Shem Tov explained this text, which declares that it is as though these three ate of sacrifices to dead idols. The Hebrew, though, means literally, "as though they ate of the sacrifices of the dead." The esoteric meaning is that a dead person may be reincarnated into an animal that will serve as food for humans, in order that they should say words of Torah over it at their meal table (emphasis mine) -- and through this the dead person that was reincarnated will be given new life in the heavenly realm. But if no words of Torah are said, the dead person reincarnated into the source of that food is simply "sacrificed" and cast off to remain an inanimate entity.

This is why the text speaks of "the sacrifices of the dead," And this is why we find in the Talmud (Berachot 3a), "Woe to sons who have banished from the table"; whom have they banished? -- "their father"! For it is possible that it was the father of the man who is dining, that was reincarnated into the creature that provided the food…

Be'er Mayin Chaim on the Passover Haggada; L'shon Chassidim; Midrash Rivash Tov (5)

I've heard something very similar as a case against Jewish vegetarianism. I don't remember if he cited this teaching, and it was explained as applying to making the bracha over the food.

Does an environmental concern trump the BeShT? I imagine that absent major agro-business, meat could be raised for food in a sustainable way. The Rabbi wasn't arguing for 20oz steak - he just wanted a few bites.

MP3 Shiurim

2007-03-26T12:41:00.000-04:00

So I'm learning Pirkei Avos with two of my favorite colleagues (one of whom I like so much, I'm marrying her), and today we read:

4. Rabbi Chanina the son of Chachina'i would say: One who stays awake at night, or travels alone on the road, and turns his heart to idleness, has forfeited his life. (3:4)

Which is to say, if you're driving by yourself, as I sometimes find myself doing, it's a good idea to study some Torah. So... here's a list of my favorite shiurim for your next walk/drive/bike/whatever.

Reb Mimi Feigelson - Me'or Einayim on the Parsha (and the occasional Rosh Chodesh Tisch)

Torah for Real Life - from Aish Kodesh in Denver - Kabbalah, Chassidus, general soul-nurturing goodness

J-Rhythms - a brand new Jewish Music podcast. Episode 1 has a terrific interview with Yehuda Katz of Reva L'Sheva.

Manischewitzville

2007-03-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

" Manischewitzville " | Send To Friends | Flash Cartoons at JibJab

Yid on the street

2007-03-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

Or, rather yidden on the JiTW list-serve, responding to a request for a definition of "frum points":

* Here's hoping they have nothing to do with USY points...

* i believe i have heard it used jokingly to describe how things impact people's perceived frumness.
for instance:
"wow that's a great old skool denim full length skirt"
"totally, major frum points"

* basically, if you have enough "frum points" you can get away with doing something edgy without losing your frum credibility.
an example would be an ortho girl who wears long skirts, is shomeret negiah, and thus gets away with being feminist or agreeing with biblical criticism, without being considered "not frum".

* You earn them by proving that you're very very frum through lots of strictness. You then gain a reputation as being a very dependably frum halachic authority, and thereby gain the ability to make rulings that may make a radical change without being completely denounced for heresy/radicalism.

NSFW Torah Study (Gen. 19)

2007-01-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

The Real Thing

2006-12-19T23:38:00.000-05:00

A discussion between Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Rabbi Gedaliah Fleer on Alternadox

Mp3s:
Part 1
Part 2

David Ingber on Integral Judaism (videocast)Kaphtziel

2006-12-07T01:29:00.000-05:00

Part 1 - 09:27

Part 2 - 7:55

Tip to TikkunGer

Melave Malka with Rabbis Fleer & Polen

2006-11-30T17:13:00.000-05:00

This Motsei Shabbos, Saturday night Dec. 2, from 8:00-10:00 p.m., come to a special melave malka with Rabbi Gedaliah Fleer to celebrate the conclusion of this year’s Feast of Learning in Boston. Warm yourself with Divrei torah, music and light refreshments. In addition to Rabbi Fleer there will several other local teachers including Rabbi Nechemia Polen and Rabbi Joshua Zuber. Chassidic melodies will be played by local musicians on violin and other instruments.

Location: Adams Street Shul, Newton

Cost: $10/person

Tuesday night @ the Paradise Lounge

2006-11-27T02:03:00.000-05:00

Get your tickets here

Is Thanksgiving Kosher?

2006-11-22T00:57:00.000-05:00

Depends who you ask - three premier authorities of the previous generation have taken three conflicting views. Read on

tip to DovBear

A bunch of silly quizzes

2006-11-16T01:59:00.000-05:00

What King of Jew Are You? - Hippie Jew. Guilty
Which Religion Is The Right One For You? - Judaism. Duh.
Jewish Identity Quiz - Tzimmes Jew
Belief-O-Matic - %100 Neo-pagan.

Tip to Jewbiquitous