Israel\’s military has nominated a new chief rabbi who seemed to imply in a past religious commentary that its soldiers are allowed to rape non-Jewish women in wartime.
Some thoughts for Rosh Hashanah: If we took a vote on what trait we human beings most value, goodness would undoubtedly win. Certainly goodness is the trait that we most want everyone else to possess. But if we say we value goodness above everything else — and surely Judaism does — why aren\’t there more good people? A big reason is that it is easier to value other things — including, and especially, positive things — more than goodness. So it\’s much easier to be just about anything rather than good. It’s easier to be religious than to be good.
An advisory governmental institution in an Australian state is recommending that it ban non-medical circumcision on boys \”except for religious reasons.\”
Czech Jewish leaders said they hoped their Senate would approve restitution of confiscated religious property.
In some prayer books, the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion serve as a preparation for prayer. The verses repeat over and over again that a perpetual fire shall continue to burn on the altar. Why the focus on the need to keep the fire burning? And what does it mean to us now, after the destruction of the Temple and the end of the sacrificial system, when there is no longer a literal fire?
Films that offer profound philosophical lessons are a rarity. I remember watching The Matrix several years ago, noting that the movie was really a sci-fi version of Plato’s “Metaphor of the Cave,” which posits that most people are living in a false reality of shadows. More recently, Inception explored the similar epistemological concept of solipsism, that we’re really all just dreaming and physical reality is only a construct of the mind. Such films, which tickle one’s philosophical funny-bone, are slim pickings among a feast of mind-numbing cinematic banalities.
The service was heartfelt, but it was also unsettling. There was a kind of emotional chaos in the air — almost a reluctance to accept that a beautiful life could be taken away from someone so God-fearing and life-giving.
Propelled by curiosity, I asked, \”By the way are you Jewish?\”
\”Not at all,\” he answered. \”I was born Presbyterian, and now I am a Baptist. Maybe one day I will become Jewish. What do you think of that?\”
Deciding it would be best not to answer, I acted Jewish and responded with a totally different question: \”How do you know so much about Judaism and Chanukah?\”
With total seriousness he said, \”You can\’t claim to be a religious Christian without knowing Judaism. All religious wisdom starts with Judaism.\”
Honestly, I\’m glad that the recent vote of the Conservative movement has opened the door a bit toward acceptance of gay and lesbian Jews. Now that this teshuvah, or legal interpretation, was one of two that received a majority vote, I know that this helps some of my gay \”friends and family\” squeeze sideways through the now partially open door. I nevertheless remain sad and disappointed that the door has only opened a little, and the idea that it is a qualified acceptance is troubling to me.
\”If we don\’t have something to yearn for, some dents in our life to fix, some messiness, some crucial quality of our life is missing,\” Kula tells the audience. \”Yearning can be a path to blessing.\”
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