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February 25, 2013

Is Buddhism a Religion?

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Culture, Judaism, Mobile, Mobile Sections, News /

By Yeshaia Blakeney

Buddhism is one of the fastest growing religions in the west.  One of the features of this religion that can help to account for its growth is that many don't consider Buddhism a religion at all.  Is Buddhism a Religion?  Many would say it is not, as it is often labeled a “philosophy” or “belief system” or a “practice.”  In the recent controversy between science and religion the new atheists often single Buddhism out as distinctly different than the three fountainhead religions.” Many of the new atheists have recognized that Buddhism doesn't quite belong with the other religious targets, and they reserve a vague respect for its philosophical core”. What in the history, practice and philosophy of Buddhism has created this categorical confusion?  What does this confusion tell us about Buddhism?  Is Buddhism so radically different from the Judaic faiths that it doesn't belong in the same category?

Huston Smith describes Buddhism as “Empirical, scientific, pragmatic, therapeutic, psychological, egalitarian and directed to individuals.” It is these qualities that attract the modern, western mind; these are the qualities of the idealized western man since The Enlightenment.  This perhaps goes a long way in explaining Buddhism’s growing popularity in the west, but at best would make it a practical reasonable religion but a religion none the less.  My opinion is that all of these controversies around whether Buddhism is a religion or not centers around this concept we call G-d.  Buddha himself was silent on issues of the supernatural; it seems clear that in the Buddhist faith however there is no personal G-d.  Buddha also did not believe in a soul that survives death, no soul, no G-d we seem to be quickly slipping away from religious territory, unfortunately it gets a bit more complicated.  There are two monkey wrenches in the Buddhist faith that make defining its theological boundaries difficult.  One is Nirvana, the other is Karma.  Buddhism is a redemptive faith in that if one lives right they can attain some freedom from the pain of this life.  In Buddhist doctrine there is an unseen, unprovable attainable goal to living, that is Nirvana.  There is also an unseen absolute moral order in Buddhism that is Karma.  Although this unseen order is not explicitly divine in origin it might as well be because it serves the same purpose.  In Buddhism, like the monotheistic faiths, there is an invisible meaningful world which we engage in heading towards some liberating grand finale.  For all its talk of transients, Karma seems to be a static supernatural force in the world and justice seems absolute.  Nirvana does resemble some abstract heaven at least in place holding, if not in description.

Buddhism is a religion like any religion.  What makes it so is its statement of an unseen moral order to the universe and transcendent potential.  It is less literal, and more abstract than the Judaic faiths.  It is also more in harmony with the current western ethos.  The fact that Buddhism doesn't mention G-d, to this author’s mind, is unremarkable, because the concepts of Karma and Nirvana do G-ds job for him.  Buddhism is unique from the perspective of a monotheist and its roots feel quite different, but those differences are cultural rather than categorical.

Is Buddhism a Religion? Read More »

Powers to offer Iran sanctions relief at nuclear talks

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Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday.

But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“There will be continued sanctions enforcement … there are other areas where pressure can be put,” the official said, on the eve of the first round of negotiations between Iran and six world powers in eight months.

A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who leads the talks with Iran on behalf of the powers, said Tehran should understand that there was an “urgent need to make concrete and tangible progress” in Kazakhstan.

Both Russia and the United States stressed there was not an unlimited amount of time to resolve a dispute that has raised fears of a new war in the Middle East.

“The window for a diplomatic solution simply cannot by definition remain open forever. But it is open today. It is open now,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in London.

“There is still time but there is only time if Iran makes the decision to come to the table and negotiate in good faith,” he added in a news conference in London. “We are prepared to negotiate in good faith, in mutual respect, in an effort to avoid whatever terrible consequences could follow failure.”

It was not clear what he meant by “terrible consequences.” Top U.S. officials have repeatedly said the United States will not take any options off the table, code for the possibility of a military strike. They also fear Iran's getting a nuclear weapon could set off an arms race across the Middle East.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there was “no more time to waste,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying in Almaty.

The immediate priority for the powers – the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France – is to convince Iran to halt its higher-grade enrichment, which is a relatively short technical step away from potential atom bomb material.

Iran, which has taken steps over the last year to expand its uranium enrichment activities in defiance of international demands to scale it back, wants a relaxation of increasingly harsh sanctions hurting its lifeline oil exports.

Western officials say the Almaty meeting is unlikely to produce any major breakthrough, in part because Iran's presidential election in June may make it difficult for it to make significant concessions before then for domestic reasons.

But they say they hope that Iran will take their proposals seriously and engage in negotiations to try to find a diplomatic settlement.

“No one is expecting to walk out of here with a deal but … confidence building measures are important,” one senior Western official said.

The stakes are high: Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed arsenal, has strongly hinted at possible military action to prevent its old foe from obtaining such arms. Iran has threatened to retaliate if attacked.

GOLD SANCTIONS RELIEF?

The U.S. official said the powers' updated offer to Iran – a modified version of one rejected by Iran in the unsuccessful talks last year – would take into account its recent nuclear advances, but also take “some steps in the sanctions arena”.

This would be aimed at addressing some of Iran's concerns, the official said, while making clear it would not meet Tehran's demand of an easing of all punitive steps against it.

“We think … there will be some additional sanctions relief” in the powers' revised proposal,” the official said, without giving details.

Western diplomats have told Reuters the six countries will offer to ease sanctions on trade in gold and precious metals if Iran closes its Fordow underground uranium enrichment plant.

Iran has indicated, however, that this will not be enough.

Tehran denies Western allegations it is seeking to develop the capability to make nuclear bombs, saying its program is entirely peaceful. It wants the powers to recognize what it sees as its right to refine uranium for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. official said the powers hoped that the Almaty meeting would lead to follow-up talks soon.

“We are ready to step up the pace of our meetings and our discussions,” the official said, adding the United States would also be prepared to hold bilateral talks with Tehran if it was serious about it.

Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann, said the updated offer to Iran was “balanced and a fair basis” for constructive talks.

Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Dimitry Solovyov and by Arshad Mohammed and Mohammed Abbas in London; Editing by Jon Hemming

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Women of the Wall Megillah reading undisturbed by Israeli police

Leave a Comment / Israel, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News /

A women’s Megillah reading at the Western Wall took place on Shushan Purim without incident or arrests.

Approximately 80 women turned out, some donning prayer shawls, others dressed as police and haredi Orthodox worshipers, on Monday morning in Jerusalem, the TImes of Israel reported.

Hallel Silverman, the 17-year-old niece of American comedian Sarah Silverman, who was arrested two weeks ago during rosh chodesh morning services for the Hebrew month of Adar, participated in the Megillah reading dressed in striped prison garb with two of her younger siblings dressed as police officers leading her by handcuffs.

Israeli police have made nearly monthly arrests related to dress code violations since June related to the Women of the Wall's monthly rosh chodesh service.

In 2003, Israel's Supreme Court upheld a government ban on women wearing tefillin or tallit, prayer shawls, or reading from a Torah scroll at the Wall.

Earlier in February, 10 women were arrested for praying with prayer shawls at the Wall as they celebrated the new Jewish month of Adar. Haaretz reported that the arrests took place after the services had concluded, which police had been observing.

Meanwhile, the Israeli nonprofit Learn & Live, established in 2009 to help at-risk youth, ran a Purim patrol on Sunday night assisting young women who were in distress because of drunkenness and brought them to one of two safe places in Jerusalem.

Women of the Wall Megillah reading undisturbed by Israeli police Read More »

Carrying The Torch | Guest Blog Post by Ashley Gleitman Waterman

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“Man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”
– William Faulkner, speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, December 10, 1950


As soon as I walked through the large double doors with my grandparents, both Holocaust survivors, we were overwhelmed by a flood of friendly faces.  “Irwin, how are you doing this week?  I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” asked Eva, another survivor, and one of my grandparents’ best friends with whom they speak almost every day.  But as soon as I gave Eva a hug, my grandma Freda was already busy shuttling me in a different direction, exclaiming, “You remember Gita – we were two of seven Holocaust survivor women who were finally bat mitzvahed at the age of 64!”

My grandparents truly feel at home in this community of survivors who have experienced the worst atrocities ever committed by mankind.  As I witnessed the expressions of joy and happiness around the room, I felt bubbling within me the greatest of all human emotions – that of hope.  Even the horror of the Holocaust had not vanquished the human spirit.  The faces in the room bore testament to the fact that man has not merely endured, he has prevailed.

On this day, we were celebrating the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s (USHMM) 20th anniversary at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California.  A special ceremony of the flags of the US Army liberating divisions was performed to honor World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors.  During the ceremony, the Director of the USHMM announced that there were 250 survivors in attendance, and she promised the survivors that the museum will always be there to preserve their memory.  After asking my grandparents how they felt about the ceremony, my grandfather remarked, “After liberation we were told to forget about what happened.  It took decades before the Jewish people in the United States recognized and accepted what survivors went through and what we lost.  I’m grateful that they finally acknowledged our experiences and built a national museum to perpetuate memory.”

My grandparents’ hope is that generations of Holocaust survivor descendants will ensure that such an important chapter in human history is never forgotten.  The survivors’ hope, courage, and will to prevail have moved me to take action.  Under the aegis of Remember Us and as a PresenTense Fellow, I am developing a project called Tell and Retell that will train third generation Holocaust survivors to share their grandparents' stories with children and teenagers in the Los Angeles area. Through gatherings, professional development, and mentorship from writers, artists, and those experienced in transmitting life stories, a community of grandchildren of survivors will be given the opportunity to share their grandparents' experiences and help sustain the legacy of Holocaust memory.

As a third generation survivor, I recognize how challenging it will be to educate my children and grandchildren about the Holocaust when my grandparents’ generation is no longer with us. That is why I am so compelled to do my part to create skilled and passionate Holocaust educators who will be around in the absence of the survivor community.  At the USHMM 50th anniversary, there may not be any survivors left in the room, but I hope that we, the descendants will be there to carry the torch.

Ashley Gleitman Waterman is a Board Member of Remember Us.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education & Spanish Literature from Emory University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Columbia University. Ashley currently works at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles.  Her previous professional experience includes working at a non-profit for patients with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, leading HIV prevention programs in Togo, West Africa and in Harlem, New York, participating in a Fulbright teaching Fellowship in Spain, and creating a documentary on grassroots media during Apartheid in South Africa.

Carrying The Torch | Guest Blog Post by Ashley Gleitman Waterman Read More »

It is time for Israel and Turkey to remember their deep common history

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I am a Turkish Muslim and every time I have a conversation with an Israeli friend, they keep asking me why the relations between Israel and Turkey have reached such a nadir, why Turkey seemingly has an antagonistic stance against Israel.

First of all, Turkey's being totally against Israel is out of question. Turkey and Israel are two countries who have deep-rooted, solid relations, and there will be no change in that. Although the language in the political arena may give a different impression, the bond between the Turkish and Israeli public remains unshaken. Yes, there has been a tension between Turkey and Israel for the last couple of years; however this is a temporary thing. And the Turkish public has never ceased to care for Israelis.

The Mavi Marmara episode was an unwanted incident and I do not believe that no one ever presumed that things would end the way they did. I am confident that if both sides had known the result ahead of time, they would have striven to handle things in an entirely different manner. The Israeli public has to decide how they want to compensate, but we consider Israel as a friendly country in any event and we want to overcome this regrettable incident in the soonest time.

Turkey and Israel share common features that deepens their alliance. Both states are officially secular while their people are predominantly religious. Since secularism is both a precaution and a blessing against hypocrisy, in both countries people who chose to be religious follow their free will and no one can compel anyone to any religion. That is to say, there is a firm stance against bigotry and in both countries people are respected and embraced regardless of their religion. And in both, just like believers can live by their faith, non-believers live as they choose as well.

Israel and Turkey being secular prevents coercion, compulsion in the name of religion, and does not give ground for hypocrisy. Their interpretation of secularism should not be confused with atheism; rather, it guarantees the freedom of the public to practice their religion as they see fit. In both Israel and Turkey, democratic awareness and democratic values are more firmly rooted than any other country in the region. There is no room or tolerance for dictatorship or despotic regimes.

Another commonality between the people of Turkey and Israel is that they do not have an overweening ambition to live a materialistic life in luxury. Both have known hardship and they have both been nurtured from their spirituality and conviction. They have been living under fire in a region that has never known stability and that has always been in the focus of the world with their conflicts.

As the Turkish nation, we want nothing more then the continuance of Israel’s existence in peace and tranquility. We are happy to see its being prosperous and all its citizens living in comfort and safety. As Turkish people, the settling of the Jews in the region, their residing in those lands and their being free is something that we are not uncomfortable about. On the contrary; when various public figures in the Middle East make threatening and, quite frankly, genocidal pronouncements against the Israeli state and its citizens, it disturbs us greatly and we would never let something like that happen.

Just like we came to the aid of our Jewish brothers and sisters and sailed them in private ships to Turkey in 1492 during the period of the Spanish Inquisition and welcomed them in our country, we will be ready to run to their help whenever they are in need. When Hitler targeted the Jews during the Nazis genocidal “Final Solution”, we struggled with all our might to protect them. We have lived in a friendly and brotherly manner together with our Jewish brothers. We have always provided good means for them, we have always wanted them to live in ease and comfort and that will always be the case as well. This is because such an attitude is the requisite of the morality that Islam requires. The Muslim Turks’ attitude for centuries has demonstrated that Turks and Jews have continued to help each other in times of great crises and it will continue to be this way, no matter what happens.

When we go a back a little further in history, this is even more evident that Jews and Muslims not only coexisted but also supported each other. After the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and took control of the city, they expelled Jews from the city forbidding them to live there. When Rome adopted Christianity, they maintained a strict ban on Jews coming near Jerusalem after 325 A.D. Jews were only allowed to enter once a year to pray on Tisha B'Av. The ban on Jews entering the city remained in force until the Muslim Caliph Umar took control of the city. Muslims then welcomed the Jews to come back to Jerusalem for the first time in about 600 years. During the Abbasid Caliphate, Muslims continued to welcome Jews to settle in the city and this situation continued until the city was invaded by the Crusaders in 1099. Another point to be emphasized is that Muslims and Jews fought side-by-side to defend the city against the invading Crusaders. After the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, and put a good many of the inhabitants to the sword -both Jewish and Muslim alike- Jews were once again prohibited to enter Jerusalem. This prohibition continued till the Muslim leader Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known better as Saladin, finally liberated the city in 1187 from the Crusaders and invited the Jews to return to Jerusalem with no restrictions and allowed them to take up residence.

The existence of Turkey is a safeguard for Israel. We will be the first ones to stand up for any kind of threat that might be aimed at Israel. There will never be a formation in Turkey that would aim to harm the Jewish people. Just as it could be in any society, there may be one or two rare extreme radical people and those individuals might come up with some unreasonable or irrational opinions. But radical thought can never find a broad foundation in Turkey.
What matters is that we are not a state in search of hostility. From time to time, we might have problems, as is inevitable between sovereign nation-states, but there will never be a complete termination of our friendship.

We both want peace, friendship, democracy, human rights, goodness, compassion and love to be dominant in the region and we want to live a beautiful life together. Turkey and Israel working in unison can make the entire region faithful, prosperous and put an end to terror, radicalism and anarchy. Israel and Turkey will continue with their alliance as strong as steel and bring peace, love and tranquility to the region.

It is time for Israel and Turkey to remember their deep common history Read More »

Just say no: Sequestration hurts families

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The sequester principle — that a sword of Damocles hanging over Congress and the White House would produce good public policy that reasoned debate could not — never made any sense. It hardly matters who thought of it at this point. The good news is that it is a man-made disaster for which a man-made solution is ready at hand — just say “no” to the across-the-board cuts contained in the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act. Repeal them and start over.

If the sequester provisions are not repealed, the consequences are indeed dire, even if they take effect slowly. Yes, it is true that the day after the sequester occurs (March 1), the sky will not fall. It will just begin falling. Over the next seven months alone, the cuts will reduce defense spending by $55 billion and nondefense discretionary spending by $27 billion. At stake is a slowdown in economic growth that could cost up to 1.4 million jobs, according to the Congressional Budget Office and an increase in the unemployment rate that would bring that figure back up from 7.9 percent to 9.1 percent.

But the most vulnerable among us would be the most drastically affected. That's what happens when cuts are applied across the board. And they aren't really across the board — some programs are cut entirely while others escape relatively unscathed. The rich and the poor may each experience a cut of some sort. But for the rich, the impact is inconsequential; for the poor, it is catastrophic. An analysis of the cuts translates the dollars into people, and it is clear the impact spreads far and wide.

It starts with children. Education would be cut $2.3 billion. Title I grants to local education agencies would serve 1.2 million fewer students. Cuts to special education would end funding for nearly 296,000 children with special needs and result in jobs losses for up to 7,200 teachers and staff. Early-childhood education will be reduced by nearly $600 million, including $425 million less for Head Start, cutting enrollment by 70,000 preschoolers. Block grants to the states that help fund childcare would lose $121 million, dropping 30,000 to 50,000 children from child care assistance.

More than $350 million will be cut from child-nutrition programs. About 600,000 of the nine million low-income mothers and their children who get supplemental food and health care assistance from the Women, Infants, and Children program would be dropped.

Reduced funds to state block grants for maternal and child health would deny help to 4.58 million children, women, and families, while the $243 million cut to children's health programs would be reduce the number of children vaccinated by 144,000.

Other cuts are also deeply harmful. Reductions to housing assistance will take more than 110,000 families off Section 8 housing vouchers that help pay most of their rent. More than 100,000 homeless people will lose access to housing and emergency shelters as a result of a cut of $100 million in housing assistance. Low income heating assistance will be cut by $285 million. Those with AIDS will lose housing assistance and access to benefits from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Seniors will receive four million fewer home-delivered meals. A description of the chaos of the sequester could go on and on.

Congress must come to its senses before the country suffers a completely self-inflicted grievous wound that weakens our economy and imposes gratuitous hardship on the least fortunate. The federal budget — how we choose to allocate the resources we hold in common — is a moral document. It reflects our priorities, and those priorities must reflect our values. The government must first provide for the women, children, and families among us that desperately need our help. To let the budget process break down so badly, with such immoral implications for so many, is a stain on our country and a bludgeon to our future.

Nancy K. Kaufman is CEO of the National Council for Jewish Woman, and for 20 years served as executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston.

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This week from Israel

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Messi to visit Israel

Israeli President Shimon Peres and the president of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell,  announced that Barcelona football team will arrive in Israel on July 31st to face a mixed-team of Israelis and Palestinians, as a part of a peace initiative.

Read more ” target=”_blank”>here.

 


Mishloach Manot to thank our volunteering soldiers

“Gesher” (bridge) group for religious-secular unity in Israel has decided to say  special “thank you” to Israel's volunteering Haredi and Bedouin soldiers. Last week, the young members of “Gesher” handed out Purim baskets of sweets (Mishloach Manot) to the soldiers, who have the choice of whether to serve in the IDF. The soldiers, on their behalf, expressed their gratitude for the unexpected gift. 

Read more ” target=”_blank”>here.

 


Israeli musician Shmulik Kraus died at 77 from Swine Flu

Singer and composer Shmulik Kraus was born in Jerusalem in July 1935. He began his musical career during the 1950's, and became one of Israel's most influential musicians.  Kraus has lived according to the full, stigmatic definition of a rock star, and also had a history of violence, which got him hospitalized in a mental institution several times.

Read more ” target=”_blank”>here.
 

 

The Diplomatic Seminar for Young Jewish Leaders is looking for young Jewish leaders

The Diplomatic Seminar for Young Jewish Leaders is a study program conducted annually by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for young Jewish men and women of outstanding leadership potential. The coming seminar will take place between June 30th – July 11th, 2013 and is open to participants aged 26-37 from Jewish communities around the world.

Want to apply? Read more ” target=”_blank”>here.

 

Lady GAGA's climbing wall

On 2/21, Lady GAGA's perfume, FAME, launched in Israel, in one of the most extravagant, unique, ways: a giant climbing wall in the middle of Tel-Aviv port, and a flashy event. 

 

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A Reflection on Awakening & Encountering

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The Jewish tradition seeks to startle us, to challenge our routine and our dogmas. Slavoj Zizek, the Slovene philosopher and social critique writes poignantly about this point.

“There is an overwhelming argument for the intimate link between Judaism and psychoanalysis: in both cases, the focus is on the traumatic encounter with the abyss of the desiring Other, with the terrifying figure of an impenetrable Other who wants something from us, but does not make it clear what this something is – the Jewish people’s encounter with their God whose impenetrable call disrupts the routine of human daily existence; the child’s encounter with the enigma of the other’s (in this case, parental) enjoyment,” (Zizek, How to Read Lacan, 99).

This is what Emmanuel Levinas similarly calls “the ethics of alterity” and what Buber refers to as the “I and Thou.” It is about human encounters and the responsibilities born out of them. Encountering the human face and presence is indeed the birth of the ethical moment. Poverty is not an abstraction and it can take consistent conversations with the homeless to remember the pressing needs. So too, social change does not happen from the email or the office but in the streets and in relationships. Being in relationship with G-d is described as being panim-el-panim (face-to-face). How much more true for humans where the face can be taken literally. Perhaps one of the most powerful ways that one may encounter the Divine is in the face of the human, in the calling of the ethical moment of the encounter.

Zizek explains the thinking of Jacques Lacan, the 20th century French psychoanalyst. “For Lacan, the ultimate ethical task is that of the true awakening: not only from sleep, but from the spell of fantasy that controls us even more when we are awake,” (Zizek, How to Read Lacan, 60).

To truly live we must break free from fantasies and from our slumber. To do this, we must take off the veils that block us and hide us from true encounters with G-d and man. When we have the true courage to see and be seen, we can awaken our deeper spirit and our authentic self.

Sigmund Freud often took a very negative approach to the human psyche and to human nature. Here is how he understood the depth of the myth of Gyges:

The bit of truth behind all this [talk of virtue]—one so eagerly denied, is that men are not gentle, friendly creatures wishing for love, but that a pow¬erful desire for aggression has to be reckoned with as part of that instinctual endowment. The result is that their neighbor is only to them not only a possible helper or sexual object, but also a temptation to them to gratify their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without recompense, to use him sexually without his con¬sent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him; homo homini lupus—who has the courage to dispute it in the face of all the evidence in his own life, and in history?

But we need not, and must not, view ourselves and others in this way. Humans are capable of doing terrible acts of evil but we are also capable of performing tremendous acts of love. With each new human encounter we must see the beautiful potential in the face of that other.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Founder and President of ” target=”_blank”>Jewish Ethics & Social Justice: A Guide for the 21st Century.” Newsweek named Rav Shmuly A Reflection on Awakening & Encountering Read More »

Oscars win awards for sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and racism

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Was anybody else offended by the not-very-subtle onslaught of sexist, racist, homophobic and anti-semitic “jokes” at the Oscar ceremony on Sunday night?

It seems as though the Oscar writers think that Hollywood is so liberal that it can get away with making offensive comments because everyone knows that they are “just joking.”

I don't agree.

At a time when America is facing an epidemic of gun violence and debating how to limit the spread of assault weapons, host Seth McFarlane thought it would be clever to make a joke about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

“Daniel Day-Lewis is not the first actor to be nominated for playing Lincoln,” McFarlane said. “Raymond Massey portrayed him in 1940′s Abe Lincoln in Illinois. I would argue, though, the actor who really got inside Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth.”

[ANOTHER TAKE: Seth MacFarlane: Not an anti-Semite]

Perhaps hoping to win an award for “most racially insensitive” comment, McFarlane joked about Lewis' habit of staying in character during the filming of Lincoln, even when the cameras were off. “If you bumped into Don Cheadle in the studio lot,” McFarlane said, looking at Lewis in the audience, “would you try and free him?”

McFarlane also made outrageous remarks about Adele's weight, gays, women, Latinas, and Jews.

It would be difficult to pick a winner in the “most sexist comment” category. McFarlane sang a juvenile song, “We Saw Your Boobs,” about movie scenes where former Oscar nominees posed topless. Referring to the decade-long quest to find Osama bin Laden by Jessica Chastain's character in Zero Dark Thirty, McFarlane said it was an example of women never being “able to let anything go.” To those women who lost weight before attending the Oscar ceremony, McFarlane said: “For all those women who had the 'flu,' it paid off … lookin' good.”

Referring to Latina actresses Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek — both of whose English is impeccable — McFarlane said: “We have no idea what they're saying, but we don't care, cause they're so attractive.”

After singing the “We Saw Your Boobs” song with the Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus, MacFarlane made a point of explaining that he wasn't actually a member of the chorus, as if being gay was something to be ashamed of. MacFarlane also observed that the show's producers had invited the cast of Chicago to perform on the telecast because “the [Oscar} show isn't gay enough yet.”

Perhaps the most offensive comments were made by “Ted,” the talking stuffed bear who bantered (through McFarlane's voice) with actor Mark Wahlberg about Hollywood's domination by Jews. If putting those words in the mouth of a talking bear is supposed to make these remarks cute and cuddly, it didn't work with me.

The set-up was Ted's desire to gain acceptance with the Hollywood “in” crowd — which he said were the Jews — so he could attend a post-Oscar orgy party. After Ted begged Wahlberg to tell him where the orgy would be held. Wahlberg spilled the beans, saying that it would be “at Jack Nicholson's house.” This was a not very subtle — and not very funny — reference to a 1977 incident that occurred at Nicholson's home, where director Roman Polanski raped a 13-year-old girl. Polanski pleaded guilty but fled to Paris before he was sentenced.

Remarking on all the talent assembled at the Oscar ceremony, Ted said to Wahlberg: “You know what's interesting? All those actors I just named are part Jewish,” referring to Joaquin Phoenix (who has a Jewish mother), Daniel Day-Lewis (ditto), and Alan Arkin (whose parents, in fact, were both Jewish).

“What about you?,” Ted asked Wahlberg. “You've got a 'berg' on the end of your name. Are you Jewish?”

Wahlberg explained that he is Catholic. Ted responded: “Wrong answer. Try again. Do you want to work in this town or don't you?”

To gain favor with the Hollywood crowd, Ted claimed that he was Jewish, that he “was born Theodore Shapiro,” and that “I would like to donate money to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever.”

When Wahlberg called Ted an idiot, Ted responded: “We'll see whose an idiot when they give me my private plane at the next secret synagogue meeting.”

Ted's (or, in reality, McFarlane's) remarks about the “secret” Jewish cabal that controls Hollywood, discriminates against non-Jews, and is tied to Israel were not clever and witty. They were anti-semitic.

I'm certain that many film industry folks sitting in the audience were uncomfortable with the barrage of offensive comments throughout the evening. I'm not a prude and I believe it is OK to make fun of one's foibles. But McFarlane’s (and Ted’s) comments did not simply poke fun at specific individuals. They targeted entire groups. Sunday night's Oscar show crossed that invisible line between satire and bigotry.

As a progressive and a Jew, I found these comments outrageous, and I'm confident that many of the millions of Americans watching the show on TV were also offended by the bigoted stereotypes about women, gays, Latinas, and Jews throughout the broadcast.

Of course, there were no hooded sheets, burning crosses, N-words, or “fag” jokes. But bigotry comes in various shades. Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony was ugly and unfunny.

Peter Dreier teaches politics and chairs the Urban & Environmental Policy department at Occidental College. His most recent book isThe 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame (Nation Books, 2012).

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Involuntary Participant Observation in the ultra-Orthodox World

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The recently published The Rebel and the Rabbi’s Son is a fascinating read, even for someone such as this reader who grew up among the ultra-Orthodox without the heavy burdens of a dynastic lineage on his shoulders as did the author, Izzy Eichenstein. The situation is rare and the readable recounting is even rarer, but exceptionally instructive.

The story recounted has a very small element of open rebellion, but rather it’s a description of some choices that were made generations back, first by Izzy’s grandfather to leave the chassidic home kingdom where his future place in the Ultra-Orthodox world may have been prescriptively assured but ultimately, as seen in retrospect, swept away by the tides of World War II.  Later Izzy’s father’s decision to answer the call of a large congregation of Jews who were experimenting with bonafide emancipation, freedom and the experiment that is the retention of Judaism in America.  For Izzy this has consequences that place him into the rebel’s role that was not his choice.

The well-intentioned father/rabbi inadvertently let his young Ultra-orthodox princeling glance through the cracks in the the walls of the fortress of ultra-Orthodoxy.  The tragedy is that this is something that neither Izzy’s older brother and sister as well as their extended families had ever done at such a young age, and try as he might, Izzy cannot bond and cleave to a pre-emancipated Jewish life that everyone else in his immediate and extended family seems to like and is happy to live in from cradle to grave.

Fortunately, Rita, the classically modern-Orthodox Jewishly-raised woman and eventually Izzy’s wife,  is willing to accompany Izzy on his journey of exile.  Izzy and Rita slowly and painfully go from a “narrow” but status-rich ultra-Orthodox life to a new life where they can embrace their Judaism which they claim as their birthright rather than being driven out to a desert of historical discontinuity. Izzy ultimately has to ignore his Rabbi-father’s devastating opposition to name his son after Izzy’s grandfather. That was Izzy's first open act of rebellion, the open claim of the family heritage on his own terms.

Izzy and Rita continue to struggle with the recurrent experiences of discontinuity and their children struggle with the effects of the the discontinuity. The well-intentioned roads are a paved at great cost until a place of congruence is found and traveled to.  It's a lonely journey often travelled to other narrow places with peril and potentially disastrous outcomes. Just a couple of real-life situations I personally have had the opportunity to witness:  A 12 year-old girl yanked out of a co-ed modern Orthodox school by her ultra-Orthodox dynastic court family for having a crush on a boy and married off by 16 to a ultra-Orthodox European banker and mother of two children by age 18.  The tragic death of a lively-minded gay descendent of a venerated rabbinical line. Only two stories of dynastic children, such as Izzy, in the name of preserving the admittedly rich tradition and life of ultra-Orthodoxy lived and loved by many Jews.

The exercise of spiritual life-choice is not undertaken without hazard. The autobiographical author describes his ultra-Orthodox milieu, at one point, as a cult. He describes being slapped across the face for reciting a prayer for the State of Israel and being torn away from an idyllic religious-Zionist camp after two weeks, but the author neglects to elaborate on the schism between the ultra-Orthodox non-Zionism or anti-Zionism and the Zionism of the other streams of Judaism such as modern-Orthodox, Conservative and Reform that he explores and ultimately thrives in.

This book puts sorely needed flesh on a representative ultra-Orthodox dynasty, a group I often research and is the fastest growing demographic segment of the Jewish world,  but is often only poorly understood and described in caricature.  It is not a group that is going to fade in time, but rather ultra-Orthodox are emerging more and more in the crucial issues of the day within the life of the Jewish community of America and Israel because of their sheer demographic success.  It’s a well-written contemporary personal journey with great Jewish descriptive and demographic relevance.

Pini Herman, PhD. has served as Asst. Research Professor at the University of Southern California Dept. of Geography,  Adjunct Lecturer at the USC School of Social Work,  Research Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles following Bruce Phillips, PhD. in that position and is a past President of the Movable Minyan a lay-lead independent congregation in the 3rd Street area. Currently he is a principal of Phillips and Herman Demographic Research. To email Pini: pini00003@gmail.com To follow Pini on Twitter:

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