Candlelighting: Week of Feb. 11, 2011
Candlelighting: Week of Feb. 11, 2011 Read More »
February 11, 2011
High School Reunion 101
Dear Yenta,
I am also 28 and go to my reunion this weekend from high school. I feel fat and ugly and unaccomplished, even nervous and excited. I feel a million things and like I could burst at the seams. Do you have any ideas on keeping my cool come Saturday night?
Sincerely,
Ten Years and Still Eighteen
Dear TYSE,
Some people have their lives figured out, some people don’t. Some people got fat, some people got hot, some people got sick, some people got svelte. Some people drink too much, some people became yogis and so on and so forth. In the end, who cares? Remember that your body, your heart, your career and all other elements of your being were formed by a real life full of real experiences, same with everyone else. Anyone judging you is denying their own complexity.
If I were to go to my reunion all over again I would have gone with a beer taped to my hand and no expectation of any depth. This is a HIGH SCHOOL reunion. Expect hugs and expect smiles and just ride the party wave, go home, and resume living as you did before. Placing any clout on the scenario is useless. They aren’t really judging you. And the ones that are suddenly fall off like barnacles because we aren’t in high school anymore. We are old now, like 28-years-old, and we have dreams. Dreams and high school drama don’t mix. So drink up, hug hard, and remember this is one night of your long and amazing life, a night all about remembering a yesterday that has already passed.
For inspiration, watch this clip from Oprah, “>www.send-email.org to ask anonymously.
One hundred faculty members at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have called on Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to drop criminal charges against 11 current and former students arrested in February 2010 for disrupting a public speech by Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. on the UCI campus. The district attorney’s office announced on Feb. 4 that it was filing misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and disturbance of a meeting against the defendants. On video tape that circulated widely on the Internet, each defendant can be seen standing up and shouting anti-Israel vitriol at Oren while he was speaking at the UCI Student Center. One of the defendants, Mohamed Mohy-Eldeen Abdelgany, 23, who was then president of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at UCI, is also charged with coordinating the disruption several days before the event. [UPDATE: If convicted, the defendants face sentences that could include probation with community service or fines or up to six months in jail.] The faculty signatories, who included several chancellor’s professors and seven professors of law, said they were “deeply distressed” by the district attorney’s decision to file criminal charges against the students. “The students were wrong to prevent a speaker invited to the campus from speaking and being heard,” the letter states. “And the Muslim Student Union acted inappropriately in coordinating this and in misrepresenting its involvement to University officials. But the individual students and the Muslim Student Union were disciplined for this conduct by the University, including the MSU being suspended from being a student organization for a quarter. This is sufficient punishment.” The MSU was reinstated on campus last month after a four-month suspension following a university investigation that found the Muslim council had violated campus codes of conduct for planning and coordinating the disruption. UCI also placed the group on two years’ probation and has ordered members to perform 100 hours of community service. The letter also states that use of the criminal justice system would be divisive and would risk undoing the healing process that has occurred on campus since the event took place. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has sparked critical and often hostile debate at UCI and has caused tense relations between Muslim and Jewish students. “These events were very traumatic for the campus last year,” said Jon Wiener, a professor of history who signed the letter. “There was a lot of debate among faculty, students and between faculty and the administration about what kind of punishment should there be, was it too much, was it not enough. The suspension of the MSU has ended and they’ve returned to normal campus life this quarter and it’s very important to us that we have a community building process. We thought that was well underway and then the DA has sort of given us potentially a big setback by disrupting this process and throwing us back to the debate over how much punishment is the right amount of punishment.” [UPDATE: Also a signatory on the petition, UCI School of Law Founding Dean Erwin Chemerinksy questioned the wisdom of the district attorney’s prosecutorial discretion in this case. On Feb. 9, Oakland-based Jewish Voice for Peace, whose website says it works to achieve a lasting peace that recognizes the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination and that supports the boycott, divest and sanction movement against Israel, delivered a petition with more than 5,000 signatures denouncing the charges. The group said members had similarly interrupted a speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jewish Federations General Assembly in November without being arrested or criminally charged. “The targeting of a group of Muslim American students, who were already sanctioned and whose organization was already suspended by their university as punishment, is unacceptable and will only strengthen Islamophobia and attempts to stifle political speech in this country,” Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement.] Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County District Attorney, said her office would not be swayed by public opinion or special interest groups. “The law against the disruption of a meeting has been on books for 100 years and was litigated at the California Supreme Court and it is constitutional,” Schroeder said. “We’re sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. You don’t have a First Amendment right to shut down other people’s right to speak and other people’s right to hear.” Arraignment of the 11 defendants is scheduled for March 11 in Santa Ana. UPDATED: 100 UC Irvine faculty protest criminal charges against Muslim Students Read More » In light of the recent Dating Advice For a Guy Who Really Needs It: Congressman Christopher Lee Read More » “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” – Southern Baptist preacher (and presidential candidate) Mike Huckabee, 2007 Q: So was Huckabee right? Do Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers? A: His disingenuous question was akin to saying “Don’t Jews believe in mutilating 8-day-old boys?” The answer is yes, but an explanation is necessary. We believe that every human being lived in heaven with our Heavenly Parents before coming to earth. Mormons believe that we are all literally spirit brothers and sisters. The most noble of God’s children was Jesus, while the blackest sheep was Satan, who defied God (his Father) and was cast down from heaven with his followers, forfeiting the chance to come to earth and gain a physical body. While Jesus and Satan share divine parents (along with the rest of us), they are working toward opposite goals and have nothing to do with each other. In other words, we believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers just as we believe that Adolf Hitler and Elie Wiesel are brothers since they are both children of God. A: By any fair definition, Mormons are Christians. They accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and their church (official name: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) bears His name. Some Christians believe that anyone who does not accept the Trinity (a three-in-one god, or one-in-three god if you prefer) cannot be a Christian. Like Jews, Mormons reject the Trinity, which was officially affirmed by the same council that initiated state-sponsored anti-Semitism. Other Christians have a problem with our belief in non-biblical scriptures. Mormons believe that God continues to reveal truths to prophets, and lose as much sleep over Evangelicals’ rejection of the Book of Mormon as Jews do over the refusal of Baptists to accept the Talmud. Q: Bill Maher and Lawrence O’Donnell have stated that Mormons believe that blacks do not have souls. Is this true? A: With all due respect to a noted atheist pundit and a “practical European Socialist” TV writer, they are as wrong as can be. There is absolutely no truth to this statement. Mormons believe that all people on earth are children of God with souls and divine potential. What Maher and O’Donnell may have intended to refer to is the denial of the LDS priesthood to black males from 1849 to 1978. While black members gave sermons, offered prayers, sang in choirs, and taught Sunday School, black men were not ordained to the priesthood. The reason for this has not been revealed, though many theories abound. Given my biracial ethnicity, I felt the need to pray, fast, and ponder over this issue before leaving on my LDS mission. Without an answer from God, I felt that I could not represent my church to others. Suffice it to say that I went on my mission. A public forum is not the place to discuss what my answer was, but biblical examples like the ancient Israelite restriction of the priesthood to the direct male descendants of Aaron, or Jesus and His apostles’ refusal to take the gospel to the Gentiles until after His death (indeed, we have no scriptural record of a divine appearance to non-Israelites), show that God’s love for all His children is not the only factor in play here. Two other reasons why contemporary Mormons don’t worry too much about the past priesthood denial: 1) the church is growing exponentially in Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean; 2) we don’t believe that God will hold people responsible for privileges that were denied them in this life. Q: Do Mormons still practice polygamy? A: No. For Mormons, polygamy is only acceptable when God authorizes it through prophets. The default arrangement is one man with one woman, as appears to have been the case from Adam until Abraham. We believe that God authorized Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David to take additional wives (Mormons believe that Hagar was married to Abraham – D&C 132:34). By the first century CE, the default arrangement was once again in force: bishops had to be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2). As far as we know, the next time that polygamy was authorized was in the 19th century, when LDS Church leaders took multiple wives. In 1890, Church President Wilford Woodruff declared in his “Manifesto” that polygamy was no longer authorized. [A second Manifesto was issued in 1904 in response to the refusal of some church members to comply with the church’s new policy]. Since that time, Mormons who enter into polygamous relationships are excommunicated. Today any “Mormons” who practice polygamy are either on the cast of “Big Love” or members of fundamentalist churches that have no relation to us. As a frustrated bachelor, I am personally grateful that I am only asked to find one wife, not several. Q: What is The Book of Mormon? A: It is a book of ancient scripture written for modern times. At the beginning of the book, a prophet named Lehi leaves Jerusalem with his family during the reign of Zedekiah (600 BCE). He is a member of the tribe of Manasseh, and his group is eventually led to the Americas, where his descendants divide themselves into two civilizations. The more righteous of the two groups observed the Law of Moses, read from Isaiah, and built temples. The highlight of the book is the appearance by Jesus in the Americas after His resurrection. The book was translated from gold plates by Joseph Smith, the first prophet in modern times, and Mormons accept it as scripture. Q: Why can’t non-Mormons enter temples? A: Mormons worship in chapels on Sundays, and everyone is welcome to attend our services. However, temples are places where Mormons go to make sacred covenants with God. Only people who have made and kept certain covenants with God (including baptism into the LDS Church) are permitted to enter temples. The Abrahamic Covenant is the center of our temple worship, and the ordinances performed there seal families together for eternity. I feel closer to Jews when I am in an LDS temple than in any other place, including the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I will likely be posting similar Q&A posts in the coming months, so please feel free to write me with your questions. ——- Rabbi Arnold Rachlis, Dr. Armand Mauss, and Brett Holbrooke will conduct an LDS-Jewish dialogue at University Synagogue in Irvine, CA on Friday, March 11 @ 8:00 p.m. Mormon Q&A for the Upcoming Presidential Election Read More » Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reportedly is leaving Cairo, but who is in control remains unclear. Media on Friday afternoon said Mubarak was on his way to the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheik. There were conflicting messages, however, about whether Mubarak remained in control, or whether his vice-president, Omar Suleiman, or the military had assumed control. State TV said an announcement was imminent. President Obama called for greater clarity in a message Thursday evening after Mubarak delivered a statement in which he said he relinquished unidentified powers to Suleiman. “The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient,” Obama said in a statement. “Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy, and it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world. The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity.” Mubarak leaves Cairo as protests continue Read More » Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigned and the military has assumed power. Omar Suleiman, appointed vice president by Mubarak last week in a bid to quell burgeoning protests, made the announcement on state TV Friday and said that power had transferred to the military’s Supreme Council. Cheers erupted in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the focal point of the protests, after the announcement, but how and whether the military transitions to democracy remains to be seen. The military is seen as more trusted by Egyptians than the police, which Mubarak had used in an attempt to crush the protests launched Jan. 25. Western analysts had hoped the military would play a role in the transition because of its closeness to the United States and its cordial relations with Israel. Presidential elections are due in September. Mubarak left Cairo for his home in the Sinai resort of Shaem El Sheik. Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announces Mubarak’s resignation: Video from CNN. HAARETZ reports: Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian protesters waved flags, cried, cheered and embraced in celebration when the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak was announced. “The people have brought down the regime,” chanted the crowds in Tahrir Square. read more at HAARETZ.com. Mubarak resigns, army assumes power [LIVE VIDEO] Read More » CNN just announced that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigned. A supreme council of the Egyptian army will run the country. It’s unclear what role Mubarak’s annointed succesor, Omar Suleiman, will play in the new leadership. CNN and al-Jazeera report that the throngs of protesters angered by Mubarak’s stubborn refusal to resign on Thursday have turned jubilant. But they still want Suleiman out as well. So, now what? Last night at the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at UCLA, author and Middle East commentator Leon Wieseltier chastised the Obama administration for not getting out front of the protest and embracing the transition to democracy. But others in the audience, among them some long time Egypt experts, cautioned that the road to democracy will be challenging. “You’ll get a few days of chaos and another strong man,” said one man who has spent time in Egypt, and has met with regime officials on numerous occasions. The big obstacles to democracy in Egypt, he pointed out, are that there is no middle class, and the majority of people are still religious Muslims. That isn’t true in Tunisia or Turkey, he said. Mubarak has long crushed liberal opposition and civil society that might step in and form an effective counterweight to the well-organized Muslim Bortherhood. “Politics is all about organization,” my source said. “Who can get people to the polls.” In that sense, my source said the fact that a recent poll done by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy reported that the Muslim Brotherhood would only gain a fraction of the popular vote in an election held today doesn’t mean much. That said, the Egyptian military, which receives its funding from the United States, is open to U.S. influence, and a smart policy that maintains security while establishing a transition to a broader civil society could work. One key will be for the U.S. to be firm in its resolve to see democracy through, rather than settle for the next strongman. The Egyptian people have spoken. Mubarak finally heard them. Now we must. I know this sounds like naivete to some people, but I call it enlightened pragmatism. I’m not naive that Israel now faces great dangers with the fall of Mubarak, and democracy is not fairy dust. But I’m not convinced that what’s happening in Egypt is AUTOMATICALLY bad. The fact that autocracy came crumbling down makes clear that even if autocratic secular regimes are”good” they are not sustainable. You could argue that keeping every Palestinian in hobbles and ball gags would be good for the Jews too, in the sense that they’d shut up and let Israel do what Israel wants, but it’s not sustainable. I’m not arguing what’s right, I’m arguing, in all my naivete, what’s pragmatic. The transition to democracy in Egypt is a long shot, but we tried bucking up a kleptocratic dictatorship and clearly that’s not gonna work in the long run. Never does. At UCLA last night, Wieseltier put it beautifully: Israel cannot rely for its security on autocratic Arab regimes and the suppression of Palestinian nationalism—neither one will last forever. So even though the current situation is dangerous, we have no choice but to climb on the wagon and help as best we can to steer it into the barn. (Yes, I know that sounded like Dan Rather. Sorry.) Mubarak Resigns: Now What? Read More » In initial statements, Jewish groups congratulated Egyptians on ousting Hosni Mubarak and expressed hope for continued peace with Israel. “The demonstrations by the people of Egypt against the regime’s authoritarianism and repression, and their demands for greater freedom, political accountability and transparency, have been inspiring to all who cherish democracy and liberty,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement Friday after Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had relinquished his powers to the army. “The people of Egypt must now channel their passion for change into the more difficult task of building the foundations for a true open, inclusive and stable democracy.” The statement noted uncertainty about “the new role of the military is and how they will govern” as well as “serious questions about what role the Muslim Brotherhood will play in the transition and beyond, and how this will impact Egypt’s policies, and its relations with the West and the State of Israel.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center said it “congratulates and commends the Egyptian people’s courageous and non-violent transformation of their country.” It continued: “We hope that future developments will help institutionalize individual and political freedoms and that the new Egyptian government will continue to maintain the legacy of peaceful coexistence with all its neighbors, including the state of Israel.” J Street’s President Jeremy Ben-Ami also issued a statement congratulating the Egyptian people, adding “The epic changes underway in the broader Arab world have important implications for Israel, beyond simply its bilateral relationship with Egypt, as well as for the United States. It is now even more imperative to seriously pursue a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert provided the following advice this week to his successor Benjamin Netanyahu in light of events in Egypt: ‘Don’t wait. Move, lead and make history. This is the time. There will not be a better one.’” Jewish Journal staff contributed to this report. Jewish groups congratulate Egypt, hope for continued peace Read More »
High School Reunion 101 Read More »
UPDATED: 100 UC Irvine faculty protest criminal charges against Muslim Students
“Criminal prosecution is unnecessary and undesirable. It sets a dangerous precedent for the unnecessary use of criminal prosecution against student demonstrators,” Chemerinsky said.
Dating Advice For a Guy Who Really Needs It: Congressman Christopher Lee
Mormon Q&A for the Upcoming Presidential Election
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It looks increasingly likely that there will be two serious Mormon candidates (Mitt Romney and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.) running for president this year. One hopes that they will do a better job handling the religion issue than Mitt did in 2008. If past campaigns with LDS candidates are any guide, we can expect to see theological cheap shots like Mike Huckabee’s being taken by other campaigns, political pundits, and journalists. It is unlikely that substantive answers to questions about Mormonism will be provided by either campaign, so in the interest of providing accurate information to my Jewish readers, I’ve attempted to answer questions about LDS theology posed by public figures and followers of my blog. As Jews know from painful experience, if a religious group doesn’t define its own beliefs, other people with different agendas are more than happy to do so.
Q: Are Mormons Christians? If so, why do some other Christians have trouble accepting their version of Christianity?
I will be speaking in San Antonio, TX on April 15 and 16.
Mubarak leaves Cairo as protests continue
Mubarak resigns, army assumes power [LIVE VIDEO]
Mubarak Resigns: Now What?
Jewish groups congratulate Egypt, hope for continued peace
