Loughner pleads not guilty in Tucson shooting
A smiling Jared Loughner pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges related to the Jan. 8 shooting in Arizona, the ” title=”NYTimes.com” target=”_blank”>NYTimes.com.
Loughner pleads not guilty in Tucson shooting Read More »
Compassion, Neighborly Gestures and Synchronicity
Everything is synchronistic. One thought reminds of another; certain events pave the way for others. It’s all cyclical.
Everything is a chance, teachable moment when you look at it right, and lately, honing compassion has never been easier for every single one of us.
May you find the compassion within the teachable moments now presented to You, to all of Us.
May you reach across the table, start new dialogue and learn to see and be the neighbor within us all.
B’shalom.
…..
I came back from helping to host an Eco-Shabbaton retreat this past weekend to celebrate Tu B’Shvat, where we made time for community building, resting, learning about our environment, planting trees and making diy tea-bags and home-made pickles. It was a beautiful moment in time, the first of its kind; a pioneering moment with no room for fear, just open-mindedness, pluralistic engagement and lots of eating.
A happy time.
How quickly it all came back – the fact that the wilderness may be an oasis, but outside there’s another reality.
I decided to go to a restaurant upon getting back into the city. A family of three came into the booth next to me and I soon found out that the youngest child was a special needs child. He screamed, he cried… he was having a hard time. But it didn’t bother me. The daughter apologized for her brother, whom I guessed to be around 10, and then I saw the mother re-locate the family to another booth. Seeing that the teenage sister felt embarrassed, I assured her with a smile that they weren’t bothering me at all. She smiled and said, “Thank you.” They wrapped up their meal a bit before I was about to head out and I made sure I said goodbye. As I went to pay, the waiter came back, apologetically and said, “Oh, sorry, they felt bad and paid for you.” I said, “Oh no, they didn’t have to do that. They were fine.”
I felt bad.
I mean, I like free meals, but they didn’t have to do that because I felt the family did nothing wrong. The son, did afterall, finally settle in.
Let’s face it, I’m cranky, too, when my french fries are late coming.
Though we may have only spent a few seconds actually engaging each other, I began to think: Has our world gotten to the place where compassion has to be rewarded?
I awoke this morning to my alarm. I never really set that alarm any more, but I did for some reason last night. The alarm was set to the talk radio station I listen to somehow. Usually it’s on that loud beeping sound. As soon as the alarm went off, simultaneously the radio came on and a radio voice said, “Breaking news”, and I found myself hearing my first waking thought at 7:22 am – a Russian airport had been attacked. It was scary and saddening to wake up to this, as I had only some hours before fallen to sleep after watching National Geographic’s “Inside 9/11: Zero Hour” with my grandpa, wherein through interspersed tears and memories I watched and re-lived that dark, dark day almost 10 years ago.
During that time in 2001, I was most open to the elements of my emerging womanhood. It was the preamble to a decade wherein I’d truly experience moments to hone my compassion.
Now here I am in 2011, wanting more than ever for everyone else to get on board.
… and if rewards are to be given, incentives to be portioned out, I’ll kindly foot the bill for the compassion to emerge because it’s been a long time coming.
Example:
A few days before the recent Martin Luther King holiday, JET Magazine, Compassion, Neighborly Gestures and Synchronicity Read More »
Israel’s partner for peace?
Thirty-five people were killed today in a ” title=”news that Israel” target=”_blank”>news that Israel has and has rejected a partner for peace in the Mideast. Or that Israel doesn’t have a partner in the Palestinian Authority, which is now in the embarrassing position of backpedaling before an angry Arab community from unprecedented concessions it offered Israel.
Here’s the story from ” title=”distorting reality” target=”_blank”>distorting reality” and trying to undermine Hamas’ rival in the Palestinian territory.
The sad thing is how FUBARed the whole Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” is at this point. If before today there was any blood still coursing through those veins, it’s all dried up and peace would appear to be a corpse. And both Israel and the Palestinians are to blame.
Israel’s partner for peace? Read More »
Let’s Finally Stop Sweeping the Guns Under the Rug
Since the Tucson massacre, the issue of gun control has risen to the top of the news pile, and has been the focus of several interviews on primetime news programs and an avalanche of articles in the major print publications across the country. We have had impassioned pleas from visiting French philosopher, Bernard-Henri Levy ” title=”CBS Evening News/Katie Couric” target=”_blank”>CBS Evening News/Katie Couric).
In the last few decades, close to half a million Americans have been murdered with guns, and every day, 34 more, are added to that number. Who can forget Columbine and Virginia Tech? And I can readily name five other shooting incidents, since Tucson, including two at schools here in Los Angeles.
No, things are not okay in America!
I’m sure it is the hope of many of us, that after the gunning down of Congresswoman Giffords, and the death of so many innocents, including little Christina Green, we won’t just sweep the guns under the rug and move on the next horror of the hour, as we are so much in the habit of doing.
Theoretically, it should be simple enough to make the kinds of changes we need: to at the very least, enforce the existing gun laws and restore the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. But since this is America, anything to do with guns seems well beyond the realm of common sense and basic morality. Nope, this is not the place for the average reasonable man or woman, this is the domain of the NRA. What should be a few, relatively, simple decisions made to protect the lives of innocent citizens, is instead a complicated political battle. Meanwhile, every day 34 more lives are lost.
This past week, as I wondered where the next shooting would be, if I would be among the next group of terrified parents waiting to learn if my child was the latest victim at school, or as I started looking over my shoulder in parking lots and askance at strange men, who may or may not be carrying a concealed weapon, “If he starts shooting I could duck behind that car,” I knew there had to be something we could do.
I believe there is almost always a lesson to be learned from our experiences, individually and collectively. Perhaps it is time for us to learn that we can no longer sweep this overwhelmingly, crucial issue under the rug and pretend things are okay. Neither can we cower in fear, or pass the buck and leave things up to those in Washington. We are a democracy. That places the burden of power with us, the people, whether we exercise it or not. So we must act!
A little research reveals that Bloomberg’s non-partisan ” title=”Fix Gun Checks ” target=”_blank”>Fix Gun Checks is an organization that is worthy of support. If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to click on the link Let’s Finally Stop Sweeping the Guns Under the Rug Read More »
Are Mormons Noahides? Brother, I Sure Hope Not
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you. – Genesis 9:8-9
Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come.—Sanhedrin 105a
——-
One of my regular readers is an LDS Swedish theologian who is doing her best to counter anti-Semitic and anti-Mormon bloggers in her über-secular country. This week she posed a question that would be a great topic for a book: Do rabbis believe that Mormons are Noahides? Rabbis who understand our beliefs would undoubtedly apply that label to observant Mormons and other practicing Christians. However, there are good reasons for Mormons themselves to reject it.
Rabbinic Judaism divides the world’s moral people into two groups: Jews who observe the laws of the Torah, and Gentile Noahides who observe the Seven Laws of Noah. Jews believe that these laws were given to all mankind through our non-Jewish common ancestors Adam and Eve (Talmudic interpretation of Genesis 2:16) and Noah (9th chapter of Genesis). According to Jewish teachings, only Jews are required to observe the Torah’s 613 commandments, which include the Ten Commandments and the Noahide laws, while non-Jews who keep the Noahide laws are considered to be “righteous Gentiles” who will be rewarded in the world to come.
Mormons certainly have no theological objection to any of the Noahide laws. We are firmly opposed to idolatry, murder, theft, sexual immorality, and blasphemy. While our scriptures do not contain a specific prohibition against eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive, I doubt very much that many Mormons are guilty of doing so. Moreover, the Word of Wisdom (our health and dietary code) commands Latter-day Saints to use meat sparingly and only in times of winter, cold, or famine. Mormons have always established legal courts in their communities and believe in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the laws of the land. In spite of our scriptures’ lack of an affirmative commandment to avoid eating meat cut from a living animal, I’m pretty sure that Mormons would get a passing mark on any objective Noahide assessment. When Mormons are asked by Jews whether they are Noahides, they almost always answer yes.
When asked, I always tell rabbis that I consider myself to be an Israelite, so I can’t be a Noahide. Faithful Mormons are given special blessings (patriarchal blessings) that declare in which Israelite tribe they will receive their spiritual inheritance. The tribe may or may not correspond to their blood lineage, but the tribal designation is very real to Mormons, who strongly believe that they are Latter-day Israelites. My patriarchal blessing goes one step further by informing me that I am a direct descendant of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. If Israelite descendants of Ephraim could somehow be found and identified by rabbis today, would they be expected to observe the Seven Laws of Noah or the laws of the Torah? My guess is the latter. The Hebrew Bible clearly teaches that all of the Children of Israel, not just the Jews, received the Torah at Sinai. The 10 Lost Tribes disappeared from history about 600 years after Moses, but while the Israelites wandered through the desert and lived in the Land of Israel, they all had the same responsibility to observe the Law of Moses. For this reason, I believe that a Mormon who claims to be a Noahide—outside the covenants of Abraham and Moses—is implicitly denying his Israelite identity.
Regular readers know that one of my goals is to seek common ground and promote understanding between Mormons and Jews. On one level, it’s great for Jews to consider their LDS friends as “righteous Gentiles” who live moral lives worthy of respect (and vice versa, of course). However, they should know that by doing so they are exempting Mormons from the religious obligations expected of members of the House of Israel, which is impossible to square with our theology. I wish I had a quick and easy answer for my Swedish friend, but on this important issue I think clarity is even more important than agreement.
Are Mormons Noahides? Brother, I Sure Hope Not Read More »
83rd Academy Awards Nominations Announced
Actor in a Leading Role
* Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
* Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
* Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
* Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
* James Franco in “127 Hours”
Actor in a Supporting Role
* Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
* John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
* Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
* Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”
Actress in a Leading Role
* Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
* Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
* Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
* Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
* Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”
Actress in a Supporting Role
* Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
* Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
* Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
* Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
* Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”
Animated Feature Film
* “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
* “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
* “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich
Art Direction
* “Alice in Wonderland”
Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
* “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
* “Inception”
Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
* “The King’s Speech”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
* “True Grit”
Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Cinematography
* “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
* “Inception” Wally Pfister
* “The King’s Speech” Danny Cohen
* “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
* “True Grit” Roger Deakins
Costume Design
* “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
* “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
* “The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan
* “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
* “True Grit” Mary Zophres
Directing
* “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
* “The Fighter” David O. Russell
* “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
* “The Social Network” David Fincher
* “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Documentary (Feature)
* “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
* “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
* “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
* “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
* “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
Documentary (Short Subject)
* “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
* “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
* “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
* “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
* “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
Film Editing
* “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
* “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
* “The King’s Speech” Tariq Anwar
* “127 Hours” Jon Harris
* “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Foreign Language Film
* “Biutiful” Mexico
* “Dogtooth” Greece
* “In a Better World” Denmark
* “Incendies” Canada
* “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria
Makeup
* “Barney’s Version” Adrien Morot
* “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
* “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Music (Original Score)
* “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
* “Inception” Hans Zimmer
* “The King’s Speech” Alexandre Desplat
* “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
* “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Music (Original Song)
* “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
* “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
* “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
* “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Best Picture
* “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
* “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
* “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
* “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
* “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
* “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
* “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
* “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
* “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
* “Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers
Short Film (Animated)
* “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
* “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
* “Let’s Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
* “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
* “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois
Short Film (Live Action)
* “The Confession” Tanel Toom
* “The Crush” Michael Creagh
* “God of Love” Luke Matheny
* “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
* “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
Sound Editing
* “Inception” Richard King
* “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
* “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
* “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
* “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger
Sound Mixing
* “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “The King’s Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
* “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
* “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
* “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Visual Effects
* “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
* “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
* “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
* “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
* “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
* “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
* “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
* “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
* “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
Writing (Original Screenplay)
* “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
* “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
* “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
* “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
* “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler
83rd Academy Awards Nominations Announced Read More »
Sizing Up Your Assets
I am not that private about money. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable to talk about it when it comes up, but then again, as a product of Sizing Up Your Assets Read More »
Hezbollah candidate to form new Lebanese government
The choice of Hezbollah’s candidate for prime minister has led to protests in Lebanon.
Najib Miqati, a billionaire and former prime minister, will set about forming a government after being chosen by Hezbollah and its allies, reportedly backed by Iran and Syria.
Miqati won 68 seats in Lebanon’s 128-member Parliament. He succeeds Saad Hariri, whose government was backed by the United States and France. Hariri’s father, Rafik, was assassinated in 2005 while holding the same position.
Saad Hariri was removed as prime minister after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from his government. He said he will lead the opposition against the new government.
Protesters demonstrated in streets throughout the country, burning tires and clashing with police, in what is being called a Day of Rage by Hariri supporters,.
Hezbollah officials are expected to be named in indictments by a United Nations-backed tribunal into the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah calls the tribunal, which was named in 2007, a tool of the United States and Israel, The New York Times reported.
In Israel, government officials said they are closely monitoring the situation in Lebanon but have not called up more troops. Israel fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israeli military officials say Hezbollah has since rearmed, building a stockpile of more than 40,000 rockets, including many that can reach far into Israel.
Hezbollah candidate to form new Lebanese government Read More »
Israeli scientist wins prestigious cancer research prize
Israeli scientist Yosef Shiloh became the first Israeli researcher to win a prestigious award given by the American Association for Cancer Research.
Shiloh, of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical School, was announced as the winner of the Clowes Award on Jan. 23. He will receive the award, including a $10,000 grant, at the AACR annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., in April, where he will deliver a lecture on his research.
Shiloh has devoted his research to ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare, neurodegenerative disease that is hereditary and is more prevalent among people of North African origin, as well as in the Palestinian and Bedouin communities.
Israeli scientist wins prestigious cancer research prize Read More »